“Fox Bramble Theatre Company exists to explore the weird and wilder sides of theatre,” its founders, Todd Brian Backus and Beka Bryer, explain in a press release. “[T]he prickly, thorny parts of the canon that are oft left unexplored in favor of more well-trod paths. Like a fox on the hunt, we aim to seek out fresh plays of the American theatre that draw blood.” Thus Heart of Duckness, the darkly absurd political satire by A.J. Ditty that Fox Bramble is producing at Portland Stage Company’s Studio Theater (25 Forest Ave.) tonight (at 7 p.m.) through Sept. 4. Set in Berlin in 1884, the play portrays European and American delegates attending a conference about their colonial holdings in Africa as ducks squabbling over stolen morsels and the pecking order. “[T]hough inherently majestic and beautiful,” the production notes observe, ducks “are more often than not … the most violent, horrible creatures ever to walk this Earth. So, basically, exactly like us.” Tix: $30.
Ouch! Yet another sharp political play is drawing blood around here. The Portland Theater Festival concludes with a production of Enemy of the People, Amy Herzog’s modern adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 drama in which a doctor’s efforts to alert his community about water contamination make him … you guessed it: Antifa! Or a far-left communist wacko who believes everyone should have clean water, etc. Tonight’s preview performance at the Crewe Center for the Arts (111 Bedford St., Portland) starts at 7:30 p.m. Tix: $30. Continues through Sept. 6.
Tall Heights pointedly does not draw blood. The Boston cello/guitar duo of childhood friends Paul Wright and Tim Harrington stresses togetherness, harmony and healing in their easy-on-the-ear pop-folk songs. They play a free show in the sculpture garden at the Portland Museum of Art (7 Congress Square) as part of this evening’s Concerts on Congress summer music series that also includes reggae by Catcha Vibe in Monument Square at 4:30 p.m. and the hot emo-raised country of Toby McAllister & The Sierra Sounds in Congress Square Park at 6 p.m. Keep an eye out for intaglio printmaking demos, food trucks and other sidewalk attractions, too.
Dude, look at that ax! With all due respect to modern luthiers and the designer of Gibson’s Flying V, the early “guitars” made during the Baroque period of the 17th and early 18th centuries slay the instruments of today. Lutenist Timothy Burris joins violinist Sylvia Swartz and cellist Raffael Scheck, also performing on period instruments, for a free concert at the Portland Conservatory of Music (28 Neal St.) at 12:15 p.m.
Gipsy Kings founder and leader Tonino Baliardo leads an incarnation of his famously virtuosic gypsy-guitar group, which now includes sons Mikaël and Cosso Baliardo, on its Historia Tour, stopping at the State Theatre (609 Congress St., Portland) for an 8 p.m. show. Tix: $45-$75 (all ages).
It’s been called “jazz punk jam,” the intense, mostly instrumental music by bands like The Messthetics, formed by Fugazi’s rhythm section, and Winged Wheel, which counts former Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley among its members. A trio version of Winged Wheel plays SPACE (538 Congress St., Portland) after a set by Double Gaze, the new harmonic project of Portland musician Ian Paige, at 8 p.m. Tix: $20 (all ages).
Finally, someone in the government is doing something good for us! I don’t mean Aunt Janet’s $300 checks, which have begun arriving in mailboxes, though that’s nice. I mean the Governors of Groove, WMPG DJs spinning soul, funk, disco and hip hop at The Thirsty Pig (37 Exchange St., Portland) every third Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. for free! This month’s selectors are Low Down Dirty Shane, Mr. Dana, DJ Comrade, and my comrade from the Soul Mates show, Ben Allen.
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