What they’re saying: live arts in Brooklyn this week, April 8

A roundup of Brooklyn’s cultural offerings this week, from comedy to theater to music to art, and what critics are saying about them.

April 10, 2024 Evan Rosen

The Theatre for a New Audience in Fort Greene.

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Fashion Week Brooklyn
Fashion, Clothing
630 Flushing Ave, Bed-Stuy
Thursday April 11 through Saturday April 13

Fashion Week Brooklyn is coming to Bed-Stuy this week, with national and international designers, after successful programs in London and Paris. Founded by the non-profit BKStyle Foundation, FWBK gives a platform to emerging creatives in the fashion industry.

This week-long event features multiple runway shows in Brooklyn and a meet-the-artists pop-up event in Manhattan. The program as a whole, centers on the concept “Fashion is Art.”

“As one of New York City’s premier fashion events, FWBK has become a major platform for local and international designers to present their collections, gain exposure, and connect with industry insiders.” – Dustin Lin, BK Reader

“FWBK promises a grand showcase of the art in fashion and style from designers from London and Paris coming to Brooklyn because of the global reach of FWBK’s European show. The “Fashion is Art” season will pay homage to art and creativity, inspiring new trends in design and fashion with a strong focus on sustainability and reusable materials.” – Brooklyn Paper

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Macbeth (an undoing) @ Theatre for a New Audience
Theatre
TFANA, 262 Ashland Pl, Fort Greene
Shows April 5 through May 4
New Deal tickets available for $20 for those under 30. Use code: NEWDEALER at checkout

Playwright Zinnie Harris has adapted Shakespeare’s legendary play in a production that focuses on the perspective of Lady Macbeth and undoes the classic story we’ve come to know. After making its world premiere at The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh last year, the same team, featuring Nicole Cooper as Lady Macbeth and Adam Best as Macbeth, is bringing the acclaimed production to Brooklyn.

“It is not so much a revival as an exhumation, one in which [Harris] dares to speculate what the playwright might have done had he been true to his own instincts.” – Mark Fisher, The Guardian

“Cooper conveys all this with a ferocious intelligence that brims with barely restrained rage amongst the everyday madness in a thrilling reimagining that lays bare the real power behind the blood- spattered throne.” – Neil Cooper, The Herald Scotland

“Zinnie Harris reinvents Lady Macbeth as a flawed feminist icon in this respectful but powerfully reimagined adaptation.” – David Pollock, The Stage

Tastes of Bed-Stuy
Food, Culture, Community
393 Lewis Ave, Bed-Stuy
Saturday April 13 @ 2pm

Tastes of Bed-Stuy allows you the opportunity to curate your own culinary adventure through the historic neighborhood, while simultaneously supporting a good cause.

Event organizers will provide a menu and map of over 20 participating restaurants and allow you to roam free on a food and drink crawl of your choosing. Proceeds go to Seeds in the Middle, a culinary apprenticeship program led by local chefs, and also help schools and communities fight food insecurity and inequality.

“Tastes of Brooklyn, founded in 2011 by Nancie Katz, aims to showcase the many historic restaurants, bars and bakeries within the borough while supporting Seeds in the Middle, Katz’s charity, which provides children in Brooklyn with access to healthy foods and produce.” – Isabel Song Beer, Brooklyn Paper

“The whole event began with the fact that we were losing the international nature of the neighborhood. We want to save the small businesses and keep the charm of these neighborhoods. The character of our neighborhood is built on these small businesses.” – Nancie Katz, executive director of Seeds in the Middle, via Brooklyn Reporter

Artland: Drop in Art-Making @ Brooklyn Museum
Art, Arts & Crafts
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy, Prospect Heights
Sunday April 14 @ 12 to 4pm

Artland is a colorful clay installation created by South Korean artist Do Ho Suh and his two young daughters. As it travels the globe, children and visitors are invited to contribute to the piece and create their own figures and structures.

This event is designed for children to attend, guided by their parents, and there are additional drop-in workshops offered to build on distinct aspects of the fantastical world Suh has created.

“What is unique about this exhibition, is that it was developed with his children, whom he credits as being the artists for the sculptural art installations, besides inviting participation from visiting children, young people and families.” – Sukanya Deb, Stir World

“It could easily be an alien civilization: Its citizens have no gender, no organized religion, no formal government. They inhabit a lush ecosystem of candy-colored vegetation, where plants can grow infinitely tall … In some ways, the installation symbolizes the new center, which aims to help visitors find their own pathways into art.” – Laurel Graeber, New York Times

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Monkey Man @ Alamo, Williamsburg & other cinemas
Movies, Action, Culture
Alamo Drafthouse, 445 Albee Square W, Downtown Brooklyn
Multiple showtimes all week

Dev Patel’s action-packed directorial debut hit Brooklyn cinemas this weekend and surpassed $10 million in domestic box-office sales.

Produced by Jordan Peele, the story follows a young man who is tortured in an underground fighting ring for years, before he turns the tables and infiltrates the lives of the rich and powerful, unleashing a violent John Wick-style revenge campaign.

“It’s clear that while Patel wants to say something about that world, however unclear, his character would be happier delivering beat downs in that magical, mystical land where John Wick and other violent screen fantasies live, fight and die in blissful unreality.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times

“Do you like ‘John Wick’?” asks the back-alley gun dealer as he displays his wall of automatic weaponry for the hero. He might as well be directing the question to the audience, since “Monkey Man” seems hellbent on establishing itself as the latest wrinkle in post-Wickian cinema: nonstop mayhem featuring an actor previously thought of as a sweetie pie. – Ty Burr, The Washington Post

Animal Encounters @ Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Kids, Animals, Interactive
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Crown Heights
Thursday April 11 @ 3pm

Animal experts bring live creatures for children to interact with at this event held at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

Turtles, lizards, snakes and more are included in this program, which offers two runtimes. One show starts at 3 pm and another starts at 3:45 pm.
“As the world’s first children’s museum, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum has been a beloved NYC destination since 1899. This Crown Heights institution offers three floors of rotating and permanent interactive exhibits plus hands-on cultural and science programs for little ones, ages 6 months to 10 years. The Brooklyn Children’s Museum aims to inspire children to ask questions and discover answers through exploration and play.” – Rosalind Muggeridge, Mommy Poppins

Inspired by the energy and diversity of our borough, Brooklyn Children’s Museum creates experiences that ignite curiosity, celebrate identity and cultivate joyful learning. – Jeff Simmons, Patch.com

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Good People Comedy
Comedy, Stand-Up
Somethin’ Else, Dekalb Market, 445 Albee Square W, Downtown Brooklyn
Good People Comedy Tickets
Shows every Wednesday @ 8pm

Some of New York’s best young comedians are flocking to the new comedy show in Dekalb Market’s hidden back-area bar every other Wednesday.

The room is an up-scale lounge space, with couches instead of front-row seats, the space has the new-age aesthetics and positive vibes that are reshaping the city’s comedy scene in Brooklyn’s image. This week’s set is headlined by Jeff Scheen from “The Late Show.”

“After spending much of my adult life around stand ups, I finally realized there’s a real negativity that hangs around the scene. I decided to make this show to have a space for comedy where we’re not complaining about everything being horrible.” – Sam Poznak, Founder of GPC.