What to do this weekend: REDCAT NOW Festival 2023

May 30, 2023

Over the weekend, I needed some good R&R. Luckily, the film adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s “Red, White and Royal Blue” debuted on Amazon Prime Video and made for the perfect movie night. I have to say, I’m a big fan. Check out Times deputy editor Matt Brennan’s take on why the novel-turned-movie is the “gay rom-com we’ve been waiting for.” I’m Steven Vargas, your L.A. Goes Out host, and here are the top events for the upcoming weekend recommended by the crew (sign up here for the newsletter):

1. REDCAT NOW Festival 2023Get ready for new performances through the end of the month at REDCAT in downtown L.A. for its 20th New Original Works Festival. Performances range from music to theater and address current issues with experimental takes. This year’s artists include JOJO ABOT, Tuixén Benet, Erica Bitton, Cade, Vanessa Hernández Cruz, Melissa Ferrari, Mark Golamco, Ironstone, Huntrezz Janos, Jordi, Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou and Kevin Williamson. The festival is known for providing artists space to explore and develop works in progress in hopes of developing them into larger pieces. But don’t take my word for it.

Sara Lyons presented an early version of “This Emancipation Thing” at last year’s NOW Festival and will now be sharing a full-length version of the experimental theater piece at REDCAT in December.

“The NOW Festival has been completely crucial in developing this really big ambitious piece,” they said.

“This Emancipation Thing” re-performs documents about second-wave feminism with a diverse ensemble, contextualizing and adding new perspectives to the texts of the ’60s and ’70s. At the 2022 festival, the piece was 40 minutes long. It has now evolved into a durational piece that lasts six hours. Throughout the performance, texts about sexual politics and abortion in the ’60s are recited and followed by discussion. When the text is revisited and shared again with the audience, “the relationship to it evolves,” Lyons said.

Lyons attributed the development of their theater piece to REDCAT’s willingness to offer space and support for experimental work.

“It’s one of the few places where it’s possible to get support for a new piece from the very beginning of the idea through to the premiere,” they said.

Performances for NOW Festival are at 8:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday until Sept. 2 and tickets to a single performance range from $10 to $25. A festival pass to view all performances ranges from $50 to $60. More details can be found on REDCAT’s website.

It's a date

Get our L.A. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

2. ‘Hip Hop at 50’ Hip-hop turned 50 on Friday. In honor of the monumental occasion, Morrison Hotel Gallery presents “Hip Hop at 50,” an exhibition co-curated by Queen Latifah and Whoopi Goldberg. The show displays 50 iconic photographs documenting the artists who have shaped the genre over the years, including Run DMC, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Dr. Dre, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and the Wu-Tang Clan. The exhibition will be on view until Aug. 24 at the gallery located in the lobby of the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. More information on the free exhibition can be found on Morrison Hotel Gallery’s website.

3. ‘¡azúcar!’The Ford in the Hollywood Hills presents CONTRA-TIEMPO’s newest work, “¡azúcar!” The dance piece addresses anti-Blackness in Latinidad through the complicated history of sugar. The piece, with music by Celia Cruz, digs into ancestral wisdom about a plant known for healing and sweetening that later turned sour as an industry. The work also shares personal narratives about food, labor, community, family and healing. “¡azúcar!” is a two-year project that has evolved over time with a film, podcast, writings, live exhibition of photography and community engagements. The one-night-only performance is at 8 p.m. Friday and tickets range from $20 to $68. More details can be found on the Ford’s website.

4. ‘Suchitra Mattai: In the absence of power. In the presence of love.’Suchitra Mattai has her first exhibition with Roberts Projects in Hollywood running until Aug. 26. “In the absence of power. In the presence of love.” includes new mixed-media paintings, tapestries and soft-sculpture installations that highlight the Indo-Caribbean experience. The pieces touch on themes of migration and displacement, pulling from Mattai’s ancestral history. She describes her process as “brown reclamation,” reinterpreting original images to create new stories. The Times’ Carolina A. Miranda recommends this exhibition, describing Mattai’s use of color, material and texture as fascinating. The exhibition is free and the gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. More information on the exhibition can be found on Roberts Projects’ website.

5. ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’What could go wrong? Well, a lot. “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” makes its way to the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown L.A., providing comedic mayhem on stage. Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields’ reinterpretation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tells the story of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempting to stage a production of “Peter and Wendy” — essentially a play within a play. In the rush to bring the story to the stage, disasters like technical hitches and cast disputes make the magical journey to Neverland a bit bumpier. Still not convinced? Bradley Whitford will join the cast until Aug. 27 and Daniel Dae Kim will perform from Aug. 30 to Sept. 10. Tickets range from $40 to $155 and more info can be found on Center Theatre Group’s website.

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes presents “18th and Grand: The Olympic Auditorium,” an immersive exhibition that takes viewers through 80 years of the venue and the cultural movements of L.A. that it held. The auditorium was a core part of Mexican and Mexican American culture in the city and held a boxing ring that offered communal space for people to embrace rivalries and athleticism. The exhibition takes up both floors of the museum and cultural center, showing objects, relics and images of boxing, lucha libre matches, roller derby races and punk rock concerts. There will be a free opening celebration from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday filled with tours, a book signing, workshop and party with KCRW Summer Nights. If you can’t make the jam-packed day, the free exhibition runs until May 12, 2024. LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and more details can be found on the museum’s website.

There are a lot of gallery exhibitions coming to an end next weekend. So this week, I’m spotlighting seven shows before they close on Aug. 26. Start planning your gallery scavenger hunt here:

Go out before it closes: Moral Turgeman’s “Rooted Signals” exhibition at Praz-Delavallade Projects Los Angeles closes Saturday. The exhibit pays homage to the mushroom, the most intelligent of simple multicellular organisms. Turgeman immerses viewers in sounds and sculptures, inviting them to sit and reflect on the relationship between humans and the natural world. The exhibit is free and the gallery space in Carthay is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. More details can be found on Praz Delavallade’s website.

Go out for free: Tatyana Fazlalizadeh’s latest exhibition at the California African American Museum in Exposition Park, “Speaking to Falling Seeds,” portrays portraits of Black Angelenos wheat-pasted across the atrium’s monumental walls. The artwork envisions how safety is felt and built for L.A.’s Black residents. Fazlalizadeh will be in conversation with actress, producer and screenwriter Lena Waithe at the museum about the latest addition. The free event is from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday and more details can be found on CAAM’s website.

Go out and craft: LACMA in Mid-Wilshire presents the pop-up “Listening to Geometric Abstraction.” The workshop dives into the connection between music and art. For example, Piet Mondrian used jazz as an inspiration for abstract, geometric artwork. The workshop will explore the connection and let you try it out for yourself, creating art out of your favorite songs. The drop-in event, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, is free with museum admission. More information can be found on LACMA’s website.

Go out with the kids: The Academy Museum in Mid-Wilshire has a workshop for kids that is all about food. The workshop centers on the animated films “The Princess and the Frog” and “Encanto” to show how food, whether it be gumbo or arepas, can play a key role in storytelling in film. Families are invited to create their own mini food props inspired by the movies. Join in from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Shirley Temple Education Studio. The workshop is free with museum admission, which ranges from free to $25. More details can be found on the Academy Museum’s website.

Go out on a date: Take your date on a culinary journey centered around olive oil. Sounds odd, but the versatility and breadth of the oil can surprise you. Nuvo Olive Oil presents “The Feast of the California Olive,” an evening that includes a three-course seasonal meal from chef Isaac Gamboa (with a specialty cocktail). The experience is $95 per person and you can reserve a time from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday on Eventbrite.

Go out all day: Tambayan Collective presents a new free exhibition titled “You Are Welcome.” The show centers around Filipino American identity and includes artistic creations that range from photography to sculptures. Artists include Michael Rippens, Jimmy Quinzon and Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, and the exhibition in Silver Lake is curated by Edmund Arévalo and Tim Obar. There will be an opening reception from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, and the space will also be open from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday. More details can be found on the collective’s Instagram.

Go out all night: Coco Jones, who plays Hilary Banks in Peacock’s “Bel-Air,” has taken over the R&B charts with “ICU,” off her debut EP “What I Didn’t Tell You.” If you haven’t heard her sing live, now is the time. Jones will be performing with Ebony Riley at 9 p.m. Tuesday at Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. Tickets to the Goldenvoice event range from $35 to $146 and details can be found on AXS.

Go out and wander: CicLAvia returns with a new opportunity to take to the streets and explore the city. This time around it will be opening up the streets connecting Koreatown and Hollywood for people to ride, jog, bike, skate, run, walk or board. The free event presented by Metro is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and more information can be found on CicLAvia’s website.

Go out and plan in advance: This event isn’t until Aug. 23, but with an artist like Jon Batiste taking the stage, it’s worth getting tickets early. The album release event for “World Music Radio” will be held at Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. Tickets are $35 and more details can be found on AXS.

The heat is reaching new heights. Cool off in 14 of L.A.’s hottest pools with day passes.

If you’d rather take a dip in the ocean, here’s where to catch a wave this summer in SoCal, for every kind of surfer.

For those who aren’t outdoorsy but still need to cool down, try these 10 inspiring L.A. libraries for when you want free AC and a quiet place to work.

Still can’t escape the unbearable heat? Not to worry, summer is almost over. In the meantime, here are 25 terrific things to do in L.A. before summer ends.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Follow our feed of recommendations and itineraries on Instagram and Twitter, and if you have recs of your own, send them to [email protected].