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The Washington area heads into the Aug. 13-17 weekend with a packed schedule of concerts, films, theater, exhibitions and family activities. Highlights include “Carmen” at Wolf Trap, free waterfront movies and music, salsa dancing, an origami workshop and a chance to meet the C&O Canal’s working mules.
Music and crafts
Origami artist Sarah Rosenthal will lead a paper-folding class from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave. Participants will review basic geometry and folding terminology before making two paper cranes with Japanese origami paper. Supplies and printed instructions are included.
Wolf Trap presents Bizet’s “Carmen” at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at the Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road in Vienna. The French-language production, accompanied by English captions and the Wolf Trap Orchestra, features such familiar music as the “Habanera” and “Toreador Song.” Conductor José Luis Gómez and Wolf Trap Opera’s Arianna Zukerman will hold a pre-performance discussion at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $39, including fees.
Mary Chapin Carpenter returns to the Filene Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, with Brandy Clark opening. Carpenter’s catalog includes “Passionate Kisses,” “Down at the Twist and Shout,” “I Feel Lucky” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her.” Tickets start at $54.50, including fees.
The Local Honeys and TreeSap perform at “The Road to the Ramble” Thursday, Aug. 14, in The Vault at Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road in Tysons. Doors open at 7 p.m. TreeSap features JP, Mickey and Dylan of Cabinet.
Creative Cauldron’s Summer Passport Music Festival continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, with QuinTango at 127 E. Broad St. The ensemble combines violins, bass and vocals, bandoneon, piano and Argentine dancers. The concert introduces pianist Hai Jin ahead of QuinTango’s Aug. 17-30 European tour. Tickets range from $15 for streaming to $30 for tier-one seating, with reserved tables also available. The festival runs through Sept. 14.
Founders Groove closes its summer season with country performer Ty Sherwood from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, at Founders Row, 110 Founders Ave. Attendees may bring folding chairs.
Several free concert series also continue around the region. Alisha Glover brings a mix of jazz fusion, funk, gospel, rock, R&B and pop to The Grove at The Wharf from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. Dejay Sax follows Aug. 22, with Tre4mdc scheduled for Aug. 29.
Justin Trawick and The Common Good perform from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, in Glen Echo Park’s Bumper Car Pavilion. The James Bazen Big Band closes that series Aug. 21. Admission and parking are free, and the concerts proceed rain or shine.
At The Wharf’s Transit Pier, DuPont Brass plays its blend of big horns and electric soul at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13. Upcoming “Rock the Dock” performers include Uncle Jesse on Aug. 20 and Pink PaLiSh on Aug. 27. The family-friendly concerts welcome leashed dogs, with limited seating available first come, first served.
Movies, theater and dance
“Pitch Perfect” screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, during Sunset Cinema at The Wharf. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” follows Aug. 21, and “La La Land” closes the series Aug. 28. Admission is free, and guests may bring blankets or folding chairs. Closed captions are available by request.
The Library of Congress presents “The Muppet Movie” on the southeast lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. The rescheduled, ticket-free screening features the 1979 adventures of Kermit, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and their companions. Space is limited, and guests may bring chairs, blankets, food and nonalcoholic drinks.
“Paddington in Peru” plays at Georgetown Waterfront Park from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, with the film beginning at sunset. The free series continues with “Top Gun: Maverick” Aug. 22, “Coco” Aug. 29, “Twilight” Sept. 5 and the 1978 version of “Grease” Sept. 12.
The National Gallery of Art screens “Nocturnes” from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. The 83-minute 2024 film follows two observers studying moths in the Eastern Himalayas near the India-Bhutan border. It is presented in Hindi, English and Bugun with English subtitles.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, the gallery presents Leonard Retel Helmrich’s “Shape of the Moon.” The 92-minute Indonesian film follows the Sjamsuddin family amid the social and political upheaval that followed the end of Suharto’s regime. English subtitles are provided.
Signature Theatre’s “Play On!” continues at 4200 Campbell Ave. in Arlington through Oct. 5. The musical reimagines Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” in 1930s Harlem with Duke Ellington songs including “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Mood Indigo” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” The roughly two-and-a-half-hour show is recommended for ages 8 and older and includes adult themes, theatrical haze, loud noises, strobe effects and herbal cigarettes.
“Everything is Wonderful,” Chelsea Marcantel’s drama about an Amish family confronting grief, forgiveness and buried trauma, runs at 8 p.m. through Aug. 23 at Theatre on the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington. The production contains themes of death, grief and sexual trauma.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” continues its North American tour at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. Aug. 13-15; 1 and 7 p.m. Aug. 16; and 1 and 7 p.m. Aug. 17. The six-time Tony Award winner follows Harry Potter’s son Albus and Draco Malfoy’s son on a time-bending adventure.
Free salsa dancing begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at The Wharf’s Transit Pier. Salsa with Silvia will teach accessible moves before open dancing to René Ibáñez & Cubano Groove. All ages are welcome.
The Dance Institute of Washington’s pre-professional dancers perform at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens on Wednesday, Aug. 13. Guests may explore Hillwood from 5:30 to 7 p.m., followed by the performance and a question-and-answer session from 7 to 8 p.m. Tickets range from $5 for children ages 6-18 to $30 for general admission; children younger than 6 enter free. Inclement weather would move the program to Aug. 14 or, if necessary, to a livestream.
Art, history and natural wonders
Falls Church Arts opens “Layers,” an all-media exhibition featuring 68 local artists, on Aug. 16. A free meet-the-artists reception runs from 7 to 9 p.m. that day at 700-B W. Broad St. The exhibition remains on view through Sept. 28.
The National Gallery of Art hosts a free virtual discussion of Wassily Kandinsky’s “Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle)” from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. The interactive program is open to adults and requires no art-history background.
“Cut + Paste: Experimental Japanese Prints and Photographs” remains at the National Museum of Asian Art’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery through Nov. 30. Drawn from the permanent collection, the exhibition features 17 Japanese artists whose layered works combine printmaking, photography and unconventional materials.
The museum’s “Body Transformed: Contemporary South Asian Photographs and Prints” closes Aug. 17. The exhibition examines gender, identity, power, place and sexuality through works by artists including Pushpamala N., Clare Arni, Vivek Vilasini, Ram Rahman, Naveen Kishore, Jitish Kallat, Rashid Rana, Krishna Reddy, Chitra Ganesh and Jyoti Bhatt. Some material may not be suitable for all visitors.
At the National Museum of the American Indian, “InSight: Photos and Stories from the Archives” presents selections from more than half a million photographs. The images depict Indigenous people across the Western Hemisphere in family portraits, social gatherings and everyday moments, accompanied by perspectives from Native communities.
The National Museum of Natural History’s “Dazzling Diversity” explores insects through illustrated natural-history books published from the late 1700s through the early 1900s. The ground-floor exhibition, open through Dec. 16, includes material from “Biologia Centrali-Americana,” a survey of Central American and Mexican species published over 36 years from 1879 to 1915.
Family outings and outdoor activities
The C&O Canal National Historical Park invites visitors to meet working mules Jen and Julie from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15-16. The free, registration-free program takes place at the mule pen behind the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center, 11710 MacArthur Blvd. Visitors can learn how mules once pulled canal boats between Georgetown and Cumberland and how the park cares for them today.
Adults can take a slower approach to the weekend during “Woodland Nature Therapy: Flourishing with Tranquility” from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court in Vienna. Certified nature and forest therapy guide Ilana Rubin will lead mindful walking, reflection and facilitated conversation, followed by tea and light snacks. The route covers about a mile or less on paved and unpaved terrain. Registration is $35, and advance enrollment is required.
For a much wetter sendoff to summer, Twelve After Twelve hosts a rooftop Super Soaker party from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at 1212 18th St. NW. The 21-and-over-style day-party atmosphere includes low-pressure water guns, open-format music, temporary tattoos and plastic bags for phones. Tickets start at $18.46 and are nonrefundable.