Weekend Art Events: August 17-19 (Naked Theater, Small Press Flea, Summer Fest & More)

Whether you love theater, books, movies, or music, you won’t be disappointed with the options this weekend. If you prefer to just hang out with your neighbors at a local street fair, there are lots of those lined up as well.

Check the BKLYNER Calendar for more events happening around town or to list one of your own.

Torn Out Theater Presents The Rover by Aphra Behn
When: August 16 through August 26, Thu. & Fri. at 5:30pm, Sat. & Sun. at 2pm
Where: Prospect Park Music Pagoda, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
What: Torn Out Theater’s naked actors return for eight performances of The Rover by Aphra Behn, England’s first professional female playwright. This “gender-bending production” uses nudity selectively “to explore the play’s themes of personal agency, true love, and the roles we play to get what we desire.”
How Much: Free, chair rentals available for $7

Mie Yim | Sfumato
When: On view from Thursday, August 16 through Sunday, September 16 (opening reception August 16 from 6pm to 8:30pm)
Where: Ground Floor Gallery, 343 5th Street, Park Slope
What: The Sunset Park-based artist presents this series of abstract works, “larger-scale, sumptuous paintings created between 2017 – 2018.” The name of the exhibit, “Sfumato,” refers to a technique of “blending colors and shapes” which Yim credits Leonardo DaVinci for creating.

Mirage Cinema Presents: The Fifth Element
When: Friday, August 17, 6pm to 11pm
Where: The Brooklyn Mirage, 140 Stewart Avenue, Bushwick
What: This outdoor screening of the 1997 sci-fi flick The Fifth Element will feature 360-degree projections, a pre-film cocktail hour, movie trivia, interactive photo booths, and a post-movie ice cream social and dance party.
How Much: Tickets $14-$50

The Small Press Flea 2018
When: Saturday, August 18, 10am to 4pm
Where: Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Heights
What: The Brooklyn Public Library and Bomb Magazine host this summer market featuring local publishers and magazines. Support the local literary community and independent publishers while finding some end-of-summer beach reads.

Tompkins Avenue Merchants Association (TAMA) Summer Fest
When: Saturday, August 18, 12pm to 6pm
Where: Tompkins Avenue (between Halsey Street & Gates Avenue), Bedford-Stuyvesant
What: Tompkins Avenue will be closed off from Gates Ave and Halsey St for this 8th annual summer event featuring an Afrobeats fitness class, rock-climbing wall, S.T.E.M tent, kid’s play corner, dance party, live entertainment, wine tasting, fashion show, and more!
How Much: Free

Creekers Jamboree With Piedmont Blūz & Pointers Revenge
When: Saturday, August 18, 5pm to 8pm
Where: Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, 165 2nd Street (between Bond & the Canal), Gowanus
What: Valerie and Ben Turner of Piedmont Blūz play country blues using the Piedmont-style of fingerpicking, educating audiences about this unique aspect of African-American culture. Pointers Revenge open up the show with a selection of murder ballads and songs performed with guitars, ukuleles, washboards, harmonicas, kazoos, and more. Enjoy a free pre-concert canoe ride with the Gowanus Canal Dredgers Canoe Club from 1pm to 5pm.
How Much: Free, donations encouraged

FDC Presents Summer on Cortelyou
When: Saturday, August 18 and August 25, 5pm to 10pm (rain or shine)
Where: Cortelyou Road from East 17th Street to Coney Island Avenue, Ditmas Park
What: Flatbush Development Corporation presents this outdoor event on two consecutive Saturdays. This Saturday features a screening of the 1984 film Beat Street, as well as Assembly Member Bichotte’s Back-To-School drive, a raffle, a pop-up museum, music, and activities.
How Much: Free

North Slope Summer Stroll, Part 2
When: Saturday, August 18, 5pm to 9pm
Where: 5th Avenue (from Dean to Sterling), Park Slope
What: Enjoy car-free streets and free activities including an inflatable obstacle course, bouncy house, face painting, bubbles, a giant chess board, a pop-up park, live music, and vintage cars at the final Park Slope Summer Stroll of the season. Since last week’s event was rained out, this week will feature Yayo’s salsa dance party and a silent disco, as well as Artichoke Pizza’s pizza-eating contest.

A Brooklyn Cabaret: Temptations
When: Saturday, August 18, 7:30pm to 9pm
Where: Brooklyn Music School, 126 Saint Felix Street, Fort Greene
What: The 6th annual “A Brooklyn Cabaret” will feature scenes inspired by Venus, the goddess of love, and Adonis, the hunter. The cast will perform classic selections by Kurt Weill, Misha Spoliansky, and original works by emerging cabaret composers.
How Much: Tickets $20, $15 BMS students

Battle of Brooklyn and Beyond: The Evergreens Military History Tour
When: Sunday, August 19, 11am to 12pm
Where: The Evergreens Cemetery, 1629 Bushwick Avenue, Bushwick
What: A walking tour commemorating the 242nd anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War after the U.S. declared its independence. Explore the Rockaway Footpath and retrace the British flank march that helped determine the outcome of the Battle. Attendees will also visit the graves of “an eyewitness to those events and of a rabble-rousing Son of Liberty who participated in the evacuation of New York during that conflict,” as well as the final resting places of military figures who fought in other wars.
How Much: Free, $5 suggested donation. Register here.

Film Screening: Little Voices From Fukushima
When: Sunday, August 19, 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: Interference Archive, 324 7th Street, Park Slope
What: Alternating between Fukushima and post-Chernobyl Belarus, this film follows people making difficult decisions about radiation —”whether it is safe to return home, to eat local produce, to let children play outdoors.” Little Voices from Fukushima follows a  neighborhood association made up of Fukushima mothers who united to share resources, support one another, and take action. A short presentation about radiation monitoring in the United States will follow the screening.

Erwin Wurm: Hot Dog Bus
When: On view from Saturday, June 9 through Sunday, August 26, 12pm to 6pm (weekends)
Where: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1 and Pier 5
What: The Austrian artist will be passing out free hot dogs to park visitors all summer from a bright yellow, overstuffed Volkswagen Microbus. The bloated-looking bus will force audiences to consider the relationship between capitalism and consumption in society. The Hot Dog Bus will be on view and serving free hot dogs at BBP’s Pier 1 on Saturdays and Pier 5 on Sundays.

Coney Island Creek and the Natural World
When: Exhibition on view Saturday, May 26 through Monday, September 3 (open Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays)
Where: The Coney Island History Project, 3059 West 12th Street (at the entrance to Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park), Coney Island
What: Organized around a timeline of Coney Island Creek from 1645 to 2018, the exhibition illustrates Coney Island’s original attraction with maps, photographs, posters, art, artifacts, oral history, and video. The exhibition describes the Creek’s environment through history, art, and ecology.
How Much: Free

Wes Modes Presents A Secret History Of American River People
When: Exhibition on view Saturday, July 28 through Sunday, September 16
Where: The Waterfront Museum, 290 Conover Street, Red Hook
What: California artist Wes Modes traveled down the Hudson River in a recreation of a 1940s-era shantyboat, collecting stories from the people who live and work along the waterway. The artwork on view in this exhibition is part of a larger project spanning several years and covering multiple river communities.