Stage performances, art walks and live music highlight this weekend’s events on the North Olympic Peninsula.
• “Macbeth, or The Curse of the Scottish Play” will open with performances at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Little Theater on Peninsula College’s Port Angeles campus, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Tickets are $18 per person and can be purchased at the box office one hour before showtimes.
The production begins with a modern-language adaptation of the Shakespearean play and finishes with a brief version of the play in period language.
The Curse of the Scottish Play refers to the widespread superstition among Shakespearean actors that the play is cursed and that the name “Macbeth” should never be uttered inside a theater except during a rehearsal or performance and then only when called for in the script.
Because of that, the play is commonly referred to as “The Scottish Play,” due to its setting, or “The Bard’s Play.”
In this adaptation, created by Anna Johnson Andersen, the first act is a comedic take on a rehearsal of the notoriously cursed tragedy with the company paraphrasing lines while dealing with a reduced cast and dealing with conflict between the actors and their director.
Andersen, who co-teaches the college’s Drama 101 class with Lara Starcevich, will direct a cast that includes experienced community actors, students from the drama class and some stars from a local troupe of actors with developmental disabilities.
• The First Friday Art Walk will celebrate with a gold-themed event from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at various venues in downtown Sequim.
Maps for the self-guided tour are available at www.sequimartwalk.com.
Special events in December include:
— The Three Little Birds Studio d’Arte, 112 W. Washington St., will host a grand re-opening starting with a ribbon cutting at 4:30 p.m.
The opening will include live music starting at 5 p.m. while visitors enjoy hand-crafted artisan goods from local arts vendors.
— The Sequim Holiday Stroll and Sale will run from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Attendees will experience an old-fashioned small-town Christmas with holiday lights, carolers and downtown merchants open late.
— No Batteries Required, featuring members of Juan de Fuca Harmony, will be caroling downtown.
— The Blue Whole Gallery, 129 W. Washington St., will host a reception for “A Silver Lining” from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
During the reception, representatives from Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP) will we on hand to provide information and answer questions about the services the nonprofit provides.
The exhibit, which will be displayed in the gallery’s windows throughout December, will include works by all the gallery’s artists.
The Blue Whole Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.
For more information, visit www.bluewholegallery.com.
— The A. Milligan Art Studio & Gallery, 520 N. Sequim Ave., will host the Olympic Peninsula Art Association’s Members Show and Fundraiser.
A portion of the proceeds from the annual event will benefit the association’s art scholarship program, which assists graduating high school students fund their future education in the arts.
The show will feature the diverse works of the artist members of the association as well as a 50/50 raffle.
— Sequim Museum and Arts, 544 N. Sequim Ave., will feature an exhibit by the Peninsula Art Friends in the Judith McInnes Tozzer Gallery.
The exhibit, which will be open the first two weeks in December and the last two weeks of January, will include works by Beverly Beighle, Melissa Doyel, Connie Drysdale, Ceclilia Olivera-Hillway, Sarah Hurt, Roger Huntley, Jerri Moore, Shirley Rudolf, Georgianna Seko and Susan Stewart.
The Peninsula Art Friends also will exhibit at Wind Rose Cellars, 143 W. Washington St., and in the lobby at 1st Security Bank, 114 S. Sequim Ave., throughout December.
— Pacific Mist Books, 122 W. Washington St., will host author and financial and travel coach SharonAnn Hamilton with her two newest publications, “Balance for Seniors” and “The Garden of Enough.”
— The city of Sequim’s Arts Advisory Commission will host the annual Holiday Tree Lighting at the civic center, 152 W. Cedar St., and a reception for the fourth-grade student ornaments project with the mayor and deputy mayor.
The exhibition “Black & White” will remain on display in the Karen Kuznek-Reese Gallery through mid-January.
— Pondicherri, 121 E. Washington St., will host Kathy Nichols from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Nichols will show attendees how to use watercolors and the table salt method to create textured paintings inspired by Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”
RSVP at 360-681-0954 or walk in. All art supplies will be provided.
For more information, including adding a venue or an artist to the list, call Renne Emiko Brock at 360-460-3023 or email renneemiko@gmail.com.
• The Port Angeles Community Players will kick off its 74th season with a production of “Sugar Plum Done” at 7 p.m. Fridays and Tuesdays and at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until Dec. 21 on the main stage at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles.
Tickets are $18 per person, $9 for students at www.pacommunity players.org or at the box office.
All seats for Tuesday night performances will be $9 at the door.
The family-friendly comedy was written by local playwright Shannon Cosgrove, known for her PA Panto shows, and is co-directed by Cosgrove and Melody Todnem.
“What I love about this show is that it’s brought together different generations of people to create an original work,” Cosgrove said. “It is the truest representation of community theater. Adults support the young people in the cast to take chances, and the result is magic.”
“Sugar Plum Done,” set just before Christmas, tells a harrowing tale of what happens behind the scenes of Santa’s SweatWorkshop when the man in red’s midlife crisis takes the form of a Las Vegas residency.
Left to their own devices, the elves walk out, the reindeer fly the coop and Christmas is on the verge of cancellation.
A cast of more than 20 actors will fill the Playhouse stage while theatergoers wonder if a small cadre of loyal elves and a handful of TikTok-dancing reindeer find a way to make and deliver a world of toys.
• “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” will open with performances at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and matinees at 2 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 21 at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.
Tickets are $20 per person at www.olympic theatrearts.org.
Following the kidnapping of Santa Claus by Martian leaders, it’s up to youngsters Betty and Billy to help Santa escape back to Earth in time to save Christmas.
The comedy is a stage adaption of the sci-fi Christmas film of the same name.
The 1964 film ranked No. 17 on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the 22 worst Christmas movies and No. 4 on IMDb’s 25 Worst Christmas Movies of All Time listing.
• Cleaving Form will be on display from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Low Fence Horse Sense Gallery on 57th Street between Hill and Jackman streets in Port Townsend.
The exhibit will feature practice pieces, works in progress and completed works by Elisabeth Haight and Anne McGowan.
• Sarah Shea and Chez Jazz will perform from 4:30 to 6:30 tonight at Vintage, 725 Water St., Port Townsend.
No cover charge, but reservations are recommended by calling 360-344-8271.
• Queen of Hearts will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at Studio Bob, 118½ E. Front St., Port Angeles.
The group features Carrie Jennings along with Tara Chugh, Karen Laura Peters and Thomas Jennings.
Local singer Hannah Hockett will open for the band.
For more information, call 360-775-2160 or email info@studiobob.art.
• Variety DJ Dance with Jean and Tom is set for 7:15 to 9 tonight at Brigid’s Loft, 280 Quincy St., Port Townsend.
The dance will be preceded by West Coast Swing practice at 6 p.m. and a West Coast Swing lesson at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is $10 per person.
• Sarah Shea and Chez Jazz will perform from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at the Crazy Otter, 141 Chimacum Road, Port Hadlock.
There will be no cover charge at the 21-and-older venue.
• The North Olympic Library System will present a free program with Mikey the Rad Scientist on Saturday.
Mikey will perform for children ages 2 to 8 and their caregivers at 10:30 a.m. at the Port Angeles Main Library, 2210 S. Peabody St., Port Angeles, and at 3 p.m. at the temporary location of the Sequim Branch Library, 609 W. Washington St., Sequim.
The program uses original songs, movement and fun facts to spark curiosity.
Mikey the Rad Scientist has been bringing science to life with nature songs about symbiosis, the water cycle, plant and animal biology, astronomy and math for more than 10 years.
For more information, visit www.mikeytherad scientist.com.
• Ken Wiersma will present “Backyard Birds in Winter” at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road, Sequim.
Wiersma will discuss basic winter identification tips, patterns of movement and bird sounds as well as ways to support birds with water, food and shelter throughout the winter.
The presentation is part of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society’s Backyard Birding series.
Admission is by $5 donation. Proceeds support the society’s education and bird conservation programs.
• Putsata Reang will present “Resisting Erasure through Storytelling” at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Forks Branch Library, 171 S. Forks Ave., Forks.
Reang will explain how she uses storytelling as an antidote for shame, discrimination and erasure.
Reang’s debut memoir, “Ma and Me,” earned the 2023 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association prize for nonfiction and was a finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award.
For more information, visit www.nols.org.
• Nina Cesena will host a book launch party for her new book, “Battles and Breakthroughs: Victory in Christ for Chronic Illness and Life’s Toughest Battles,” at 2 p.m. Saturday at Psalm 40, 1033 River Road, Sequim.
Attendees will be able to meet the author, purchase copies of the book and get them signed.
For more information, visit www.battlesand breakthroughsbook.com.
• David B. Williams will present “Exploring History and Nature in the City (Seattle) and beyond … ” at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Williams will address a meeting of the Quimper Geological Society at the First Baptist Church, 1202 Lawrence St., Port Townsend.
Carol Serdar Tepper will discuss Williams’ new books, “Seattle Walks” and “Wild in Seattle,” with the author.
Williams will have copies of his books available for purchase and to sign.
For more information, visit www.quimpergeology.org.
• Elizabeth Monica will call a contra dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Black Diamond Community Hall, 1942 Black Diamond Road, Port Angeles.
Music will be provided by The Contraband, featuring Joey Gish, David Rivers, Will Jevne and Claire Furtwangler.
Monica will teach a free lesson at 7 p.m. to those who have paid admission.
The requested donation is $10 to $20 per person. Youths younger than 18 are half price.
