Every Thursday, WGBH Arts Editor Jared Bowen sums up the exhibitions, theater, movies and music you should check out in and around Boston and delivers news from the region’s arts scene.
OFF THE WALL: GARDNER AND HER MASTERPIECES, on view at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum through Aug. 15
Synopsis: Instead of packing away Raphaels and Hans Holbein the Youngers while renovating the historic palace’s second floor, the Gardner has installed 25 hallmark works in the contemporary Hostetter Gallery. Visitors get to take a rare, close look at Mrs. Gardner’s collection of Dutch, Italian and Spanish masterworks.
Jared says: “This is a great opportunity to take these works, which are normally seen in the palace, and put them in a new light…They’re not in the context of the rest of the museum, so you can really spend time with the masterpieces Isabella Stewart Gardner collected.”
BOOTYCANDY, presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA through April 9
Synopsis: Robert O’Hara’s 2014 dramedy based on his own life tells the coming of age of a black, gay man through nonlinear, satirical sketches—warning, one includes full-frontal nudity—that take on sex, sexuality and racism.
Jared says: “You have this pastiche of his childhood, told in the most fabulous and most absurd ways …This is a very pointed piece.”
FAST COMPANY, playing at The Lyric Stage of Boston through March 27
Synopsis: The Kwan family of con-artists assemble, at their mother’s request, to commit their last crime together, stealing back a valuable comic book.
Jared says: "It’s very entertaining …You just get to see these capers flash back in time, flash forward in time, and see it all come together, pieced before you like some great mystery.”
EYE IN THE SKY, in theaters Friday
Synopsis: Presiding over a drone-strike operation targeting a Nairobi home where high-profile members of a terrorist cell have gathered, a British colonel (Helen Mirren) and an international team of operatives must confront the casualties of war when a young girl steps into target range. The film also features an excellent Alan Rickman in his final on-screen performance.
Jared says: “This is a fantastic film … really a reflection of our time.”
