Friday 7/17 – Thursday 7/23
JULY
By Cara Jepsen
17 FRIDAY When U.S.-supported President Suharto held sway in Indonesia, our government avoided criticizing that nation’s human-rights record and its long-term occupation of East Timor. But since he stepped down Washington has taken a tougher stance on reported abuses there. Despite the pressure, Suharto protege B.J. Habibie has adopted a business-as-usual approach. Today, 22 years to the day after Indonesia declared East Timor its 27th province, the East Timor Action Network will host a demonstration against Indonesia’s annexation of the tiny country at 5 at the Indonesian Consulate, 72 E. Randolph. Call 773-395-1792 for more information.
18 SATURDAY The annual Bring It on Home to Me Roots Festival usually takes place in a vacant lot in Bronzeville, but this year headliners Lou Rawls, Millie Jackson, and Otis Clay will be taking it to the street. That’s because the eight-year-old fest has been so successful it helped spark construction of the 1,000-seat Lou Rawls Theatre and Culture Center on the lot. The theater, which is being built by the nonprofit Tobacco Road Inc. (headed by Rawls), will feature a library, a museum, a roller rink, classrooms, and radio and TV stations. This year’s fest, which includes food and drink, is from noon to 10 at the intersection of 47th and King Drive. Admission is free. Call 773-373-3228.
On the north side of town, the Old Town School of Folk Music is in the midst of a $9 million renovation of the former Hild Library into the Chicago Folk Center, set to open in September. This weekend the folkies are celebrating the new Lincoln Square digs with a two-day Chicago Folk & Roots Festival. Today the entertainment includes Sones de Mexico, Albert Baba & the Eastern Stars, Willy Porter, and the Chicago Celtic All-Stars; tomorrow’s performers include David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Rick “Cookin'” Sherry. The fest also offers food, drink, dancing, art, and a kids’ tent. It’s from 10 to 9 today and tomorrow in Welles Park, Lincoln and Montrose. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, and $1 for children. Call 773-525-7793 for more on the festival, and check out this week’s Post No Bills for the full story on the school’s expansion.
19 SUNDAY In 1921 Ernest Hemingway and his new wife, Hadley, lived at 1239 N. Dearborn for four months before leaving for Paris. Mark Weyermuller, who lives with his family at Papa’s old haunt, has set up a “Hemingway hallway” on the first floor, which includes books, articles, and photos. But the real treats are the G.I. Joe- and Barbie-populated dioramas, one of which depicts Hemingway receiving electroshock therapy at the Mayo Clinic. There’s even a display about the history of suicide in the writer’s family that ends with granddaughter Margaux’s death two years ago. Weyermuller’s exhibit, Ernest Hemingway Lived Here, will be open from noon to 6 today as part of the Dearborn Garden Walk and Heritage Festival. Call 312-944-7368. The garden walk, held from noon to 6 on Dearborn and adjacent streets between North and Division, features 50 gardens, food, and entertainment. Admission is $5; call 773-472-6561.
20 MONDAY In Margaret Atwood’s 1977 short story “Rape Fantasies,” a group of women discusses rape scenarios that involve bubble baths and Tarzan. “Listen…those aren’t rape fantasies,” a character butts in. “I mean, you aren’t getting raped, it’s just some guy you haven’t met formally…and you have a good time. Rape is when they’ve got a knife or something and you don’t want to.” Tonight Ann Erlandson will direct the Hostage Theater Company’s world premiere of an adaptation of the story as part of the Bailiwick Directors’ Festival. Rape Fantasies will be staged tonight and August 3 at 7:30 with Euripides’ The Women of Troy, directed by Darcy Hughes, and Love Scene(s), directed by Sam Jordan. The festival is at the Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont. Admission is $8. Call 773-883-1090 for information and tickets. For a full schedule of this week’s offerings, see the sidebar in the Section Two theater listings.
21 TUESDAY During the making of the movie Twilight of the Ice Nymphs the principal actor got impatient with Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin’s unconventional methods and announced that he didn’t want his name associated with the film. The resourceful Maddin kept the footage, and another cast member dubbed in the character’s voice. The movie itself is about a political prisoner returning to his strange, hallucinatory homeland, where the sun never sets and the people never sleep–except with each other. It’ll be shown at 7 and 9 tonight (and through Thursday) at Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton. Facets is also showing Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight, a film about the making of the movie in which Maddin also discusses his earlier work. It’s narrated by Tom Waits and will be shown tonight at 7:45 and 8:50. Admission is $7 for each film. Call 773-281-4144.
22 WEDNESDAY “The one who cries out, sings, and dreams within us all” is the theme of Cirque du Soleil’s latest show, Quidam. The French-Canadian circus will combine its traditional mix of spectacle and technology with an edgy rawness and intensity that is supposed to make the production “more human.” It opens tonight at 7:30 and will be in town through September 6 under the blue-and-yellow big top in parking lot K of the United Center, 1901 W. Madison. Tickets are $22.75 to $52.50 for adults, $11.50 to $36.75 for kids. Call 800-678-5440.
23 THURSDAY Forty-two years after its release, the G-rated Forbidden Planet still ranks as one of the best science-fiction films of all time–not because of the special effects but for the story, based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Set in 2200, the plot centers on a space crew from earth that touches down on planet Altair-4, the home of an embittered doctor named Morbius; his talking robot, Robby; his beautiful daughter, Altaira; and an evil force that is the product of the not-so-good doctor’s unconscious thoughts. The movie will be shown on the big screen tonight at 7 as part of the Adler Planetarium’s “Downtown Thursday Night” science-fiction film series. It’s at 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive. Admission is $5, which includes access to the museum proper. Call 312-922-7827 for more.