Freebie of the week: Passion, power struggles, betrayals, suicides, armed bloody conflicts and – gasp – venomous asps are in the offing, as the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, now in its 44th year, unleashes its Free Shakespeare in the Parks’ San Francisco run of the Bard’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” kicking off at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park. The play is set 13 years after the assassination of Julius Caesar, when the triumvirate of his nephew Octavius ruled the farflung Roman Empire in conjunction with Lepidus and Mark Anton. The production, directed by Katja Rivera, stars Jeremy Ohta Lee as Antony, Tyler Aguallo as Octavius Caesar and Elizabeth Carter as the ill-fated Queen of Egypt. Performances continue at 2 p.m. Sunday, Labor Day Monday and Sept. 12-13 before moving to Sue Bierman Park for performances from Sept.19-27. Find more information at sfshakes.org.
Bargain day alert: University of California, Berkeley’s revered Lawrence Hall of Science, which usually charges $27 for admission to its collection of intriguing exhibits and hands-on learning experiences, is offering a $5 Labor Day “Unplug and Explore” opportunity for families to do just exactly that. Dinosaur-crazy kiddies (and their curious parents) can come face to face with life-size animatronic prehistoric creatures on the outdoor plaza featuring the Dinosaur Lookout Exhibit; or go inside to the Animal Discovery Zone to meet some real life furry and scaly animals; or explore Ohlone science and knowledge. Hours on Monday are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for $5 per person. Furthermore, there is a day-long free shuttle running from the downtown Berkeley BART station to the hilltop center at 1 Centennial Drive in Berkeley. Find more information at lawrencehallofscience.org.
The Buck stops here (twice!): Peter Buck, back in the Bay Area for two concerts this week, is one of the best and most impactful guitarists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. First and foremost is his stint with R.E.M., which came out of Athens, Georgia, in the early 1980s and – along with the Pixies, Pavement and Nirvana – essentially wrote the book on alternative rock. Buck’s so-called “jangle” guitar style stood apart from the work of his alt-rock contemporaries and was just a hint of the vast breadth of sonic styles he would explore with such groups as Arthur Buck, Hindu Love Gods, The Minus 5, the Venus 3, The Baseball Project and many more. His latest venture is Drink The Sea, a rock supergroup featuring members of Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age, which dabbles in a wide range of rock and world music styles. Buck—who was born in Berkeley but fortunately moved to Atlanta in time to meet future R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe at a record store—performs with Drink the Sea at 8 p.m. Friday at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park. Tickets start at $64.48 on guildtheatre.com. He also plays at 9 p.m. Saturday at The Chapel in San Francisco. Tickets start at $58.14 on thechapelsf.com.
Tickling the funny bone: For those who want to escape reality, there are several good comedy shows in the Bay Area this weekend. At the Bankhead Theater in Livermore, Bay Area favorite Paula Poundstone holds forth on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $45-$75 and are going fast at livermorearts.org. Her knack for being quick on her feet and wildly creative makes her a great stand-up performer and serves her well on “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” the NPR radio comedy show disguised as a current events contest. At Tommy T’s in Pleasanton, catch comedic history in action with TK Kirkland, aka “The King of Hip-Hop Comedy.” He came to fame as a 1980s comedy act opening for such hip-hop stars as N.W.A., Jay-Z, Nelly, and more. He performs five shows Friday through Sunday with tickets ranging from $40-$50 on tommyts.com. At the Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco, catch Lebanese comedian Malik Elassal Thursday through Saturday. He gained attention winning comedy competitions in the early 2020s and might be best known as a star of the FX series “Adults.” Tickets are $32-$46 on www.punchlinecomedyclub.com. Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco is hosting Michael Yo on Thursday; Blair Socci on Friday, and Ron Taylor who recently won the grand prize on the Netflix show “Funny AF With Kevin Hart” on Saturday and Sunday. Visit www.cobbscomedy.com for tickets.
Lobster LOLs: San Francisco has a rich history of sketch and improv comedy, dating back to The Committee, a troupe formed by Chicago Second City alumni that performed in the Bay Area from 1960-72. Since then, there have been several groups and performers who’ve brought improv comedy to Bay Area stages, along with the annual SF Sketchfest, one of the biggest events of its kind in the country. There’s also Killing My Lobster, the popular sketch comedy troupe that has been performing its lively, quick-paced form of improv since 1977. As with most purveyors of live theater/comedy, KML, as it’s known, has seen its ups and downs. The troupe went dark for a time but was resurrected in December and will be in action this weekend and next at the Z Space performance venue at 470 Florida St. in San Francisco. KML shows generally have a theme, and this one, titled “Hysterical Historium,” takes viewers on a gut-busting exploration of San Francisco’s wild Gold Rush era of the late 1800s, when a sudden explosion of wealth brought out the best a city has to offer – greed, crime, liquor and prostitution. A co-production with Red Barn Productions, “Historium” plays at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Sept. 11-12 at Z Space. Tickets are $12.24-$79.75 and can be found at www.zspace.org.