Welcome to the Big To-Do: Short Cuts, our guide highlighting the top things to do in and around Boston each weekend, as curated by Globe critics, editors, and writers.

On tap this weekend: Chris Stapleton hits Fenway, plus the Fisherman’s Feast returns. — Matt Juul

Things to do in and around Boston this weekend

SUMMER DANCE PARTY Get your groove on at an evening of DJ sets, live music by Nahli, food trucks, and good company as a part of Mayor Michelle Wu’s summer dance party series. Aug. 14, 5-10 p.m. Free. City Hall Plaza, 1 City Hall Square. boston.gov/calendar/summer-dance-party-series — Janira Skrbkova

WWE SMACKDOWN Friday means “SmackDown” night for WWE fans, and this week, the high-octane wrestling action hits Boston. See stars like Cody Rhodes, Trick Williams, and more (talent subject to change) when the long-running program touches down at TD Garden. Aug. 14. 7 p.m. Tickets start at $52. TD Garden, 100 Legends Way. tdgarden.com/events/detail/wwe-friday-smackdown — Daisy Levine

LET THE WOMAN SPEAK “I’m a real introvert, I’m pretty shy,” says Tricia Tea, who is recording a special at this gig, presented by Laugh Giraffe. “I can’t look people in the eye. I’m looking at the ground. Honestly, being an introvert? Best way to hide a foot fetish.” With Nicholas Stubblefield and Liam McGurk. Aug. 14, 8 p.m. $15.45. Union Tavern, 345 Somerville Ave., Somerville. eventbrite.com — Nick A. Zaino III

JANELLE’S DIRTY BASEMENT COMEDY SHOW Boston comic Janelle Draper hosts this monthly show where the comics work blue, including Peter Liu (who also headlines the Off Cabot on Aug. 15), Cam Ohh, and Ron Draper. Aug. 14, 8 p.m. $25. The Cabaret Café, 1A North Road, Chelmsford. 978-250-3780, chelmsfordarts.org — NZ

CHRIS STAPLETON It’s a country weekend at Fenway Park as Kentucky singer Chris Stapleton comes to the beloved ballpark as part of his “All-American Road Show” tour. The show will also feature openers Zach Top and Allen Stone. Aug. 14-15. 5:30 p.m. Fenway Park, 4 Jersey St. mlb.com/redsox/tickets/concerts/chris-stapleton — DL

FILMS AT THE GATE Chinatown’s annual film festival returns for its 20th year. In dedication to Hong Kong martial arts choreographer and filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping, screenings include Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” on Friday, Woo-ping’s “Blades of the Guardians” on Saturday, and Tsui Hark’s “Once Upon a Time in China II” on Sunday. Aug. 14-16, performances and activities at 5:30 p.m., screenings at 8 p.m. Free. China Trade Gate, John F. Fitzgerald Surface Road.  asiancdc.org/fatg — JS

AFRICAN FESTIVAL OF BOSTON Now in its 16th year, the annual fest returns for another vibrant celebration of African culture. Saturday’s festivities will include live performances and traditional dance, as well as fashion shows and authentic African cuisine. Aug. 15. 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Boston Common, 139 Tremont St.  eventbrite.com/e/16th-annual-african-festival-of-boston-tickets-1993620539701 — DL

NATIONAL TREASURE As a part of the city’s ongoing movie night series, enjoy a film under the stars. The classic flick stars Nicolas Cage as a treasure hunter who steals the Declaration of Independence in search of clues leading to the hidden riches of the Freemasons. Complimentary popcorn will be provided while supplies last. Aug. 15, 8 p.m. Free. Jamaica Pond Sugar Bowl, 345 Jamaica Way. boston.gov/calendar/movie-night-national-treasure  — JS

SOMERVILLE FERMENTATION FESTIVAL It’s exactly what it sounds like: an annual festival celebrating all things fermentation. The festivities return this year with even more access to vendors, merchandise, and limited-availability products. Programming includes a diverse marketplace for goods, speakers and panel discussions, a microscope table, and the “Kraut Mob,” where you can make your own sauerkraut. Aug. 16. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. The Center for the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., #1c. Somerville.  somervillefermfest.com — DL

HOT GOOF SUMMER The Inside Job sketch collective, who performed a Christmas-themed show at Goofs last year, returns to the club for this revue with summer vibes, hosted by drag performer Candace Persuasian and directed by Christine Cuddy. Aug. 16, 7 p.m. $30. Goofs Comedy Club, 432 McGrath Highway, Somerville. goofscomedy.com — NZ

Critics’ and editors’ picks

Don Aucoin’s picks

RHINOCEROS John Turturro, Paul Giamatti, Tatiana Maslany, and Kristine Nielsen star in Eugène Ionesco’s anti-fascist 1959 play about the perils of conformity, in which the residents of a town in France inexplicably and inexorably begin to turn into rhinoceroses, one after another. Directed by  Diane Paulus. Aug. 14-Sept. 27. American Repertory Theater. At Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge. 617-547-8300, americanrepertorytheater.org

DEAR ALIEN Described as a “cheeky existential comedy,” this play by Northampton-based playwright Liz Duffy Adams (whose “Or, ”  was presented at Boston’s Lyric Stage in 2011 and at Lenox’s Shakespeare & Company in 2016)  centers on an advice columnist known as “Dear Alien.” Played by Bill Kux, the columnist is trying to finish a book on deadline while besieged by needy readers and online trolls alike. Also featuring David Keohane and Eliza Fichter as various letter-writers. Directed by Michelle Ong Hendrick. Aug 14-23. Chester Theatre Company. At Chester Town Hall Theatre, 15 Middlefield Road, Chester. 413-354-7771, chestertheatre.org

DALLOWAY: FIRST LOVE Crafted as a prequel to Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” this new play by Lindsay Joelle — whose “The Garbologists”  was presented at Gloucester Stage last summer — stars Josephine Moshiri Elwood as Victorian-era teenager Clarissa Parry, later to be Clarissa Dalloway. Clarissa is unenthralled by the male suitors who seek her hand, encouraged by her impecunious father, who hopes a propitious marriage will save the family estate. The person who does draw Clarissa’s attention is Sally Seton (Haley Dyana Schwartz), an independent-minded suffragist who leads Clarissa to rethink the possibilities of her life. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw, with Shobhit Piasa and Jesse Garlick also in the cast.  Through Aug. 29. Gloucester Stage Company, Natti-Willsky Performance Center, 267 East Main St., Gloucester. 978-281-4433, gloucesterstage.com

Odie Henderson’s picks

SLEEPAWAY CAMP “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” which opens this week, pays tribute to the trashy slasher movies of the 1980s. Two examples of these movies are being screened at midnight this weekend. The Coolidge is showing the extremely sleazy “Sleepaway Camp.” This 1982 summer camp slasher is referenced in “Miasma” and features some very nasty murders. The controversial twist ending is still being discussed today. Aug. 15, 11:59 p.m. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline.  coolidge.org/films/sleepaway-camp

CHOPPING MALL If killer robot slashers are more your speed, the Somerville has a 40th anniversary screening of “Chopping Mall.” This enjoyable New World Pictures campfest features mall security bots who short-circuit and kill randy teens. Roger Corman staples Dick Miller and Mary Woronov show up, as does the legendary Barbara Crampton from “Re-Animator.” You’ll never look at Marty the Stop & Shop robot the same way again. Aug. 15, 11:59 p.m. Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville.  somervilletheatre.com/production/chopping-mall

A.Z. Madonna’s picks

TANGLEWOOD  Friday evening, the Martha Graham Dance Company joins the BSO and assistant conductor Anna Handler in the Shed for Copland’s “Appalachian Spring”; the program also includes Christopher Rountree’s Graham-inspired “For Martha (Variations on a Theme of Leonard Bernstein)” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Saturday evening brings the Boston Pops, conductor Ken-David Masur, and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz to the stage for John Williams Film Night. Sunday, it’s the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra’s turn, with distinguished TMC alum Marin Alsop on the podium, and guest violinist Ray Chen taking center stage for Bruch’s Violin Concerto. Aug. 14-16. Tanglewood, Lenox. 617-266-1200, tanglewood.org

APOLLO ENSEMBLE “Duende: From Andalusia to the Andes” offers a flamenco-infused afternoon of music from and influenced by Spain, including an intermezzo by Giménez and suites by Bizet and de Falla. Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Andean Elegy” calls on dances from Europe, the United States, and Peru. Aug. 15, 1 p.m. Great Brook Farm State Park, 165 North Road, Carlisle; Aug. 16, 3 p.m. Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center, 19 Elmwood St., Roxbury.  apolloensembleofboston.com

Murray Whyte’s picks

DANNY LYON: THE BIKERIDERS Last chance: For one of the definitive documentary photography projects of the 1960s, Danny Lyons joined the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club while still an undergraduate at the University of Chicago to capture his subjects from the inside. The result, a raw portrait of a subculture that helped define a generation of America, is now a totem of the form. Through Aug. 16. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester, N.H. 603-669-6144, currier.org

LUCY RAVEN: ROUNDS It’s summer, which means the Watershed, the ICA’s seasonal annex on the East Boston side of the harbor, in full swing. This year features Lucy Raven, known for her meditative film installations that set the heroic landscapes of the American West on a collision course with the historic exploitation and extraction economies that have left it heavily scarred. Case in point: “Murderers Bar,” a 2025 film that witnesses the removal of a colossal concrete dam in northern California, and the cathartic, destructive deluge of release. Through Sept. 7. ICA Watershed, 256 Marginal St., East Boston. 617-478-3100,  icaboston.org/ica-watershed

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: AMERICA AT 250 A celebratory occasion turned fraught and contentious by a radical turn in American government, the semiquincentennial this summer became yet another battleground in the daily culture war grind. At the MFA, there’s no backing down: It turned down a $400,000 federal grant for the full do-over of its Art of the Americas wing for fear of meddling, and has gone ahead with its vision of an inspiring, imperfect, still-in-progess nation with much left to aspire to — a far more hopeful view than the simple-minded celebration the administration touted. Ongoing. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave . 617-267-9300, mfa.org

Last chance

FISHERMAN’S FEAST Billed as Boston’s oldest continuous Italian festival, the annual celebration returns for its 116th year with a weekend of activities in the North End. Featured programming includes the 2026 Fisherman’s Feast Meatball Contest as well as traditional parades and the Sorrento Cheese tower building competition. Through Aug. 16. Free. Fleet, North, and Lewis streets. fishermansfeast.com — DL

DINE OUT BOSTON Don’t miss out on the final days of Meet Boston’s biannual restaurant week, which features multi-course lunch and dinner menus at fixed prices from across almost 200 participating establishments. New to the restaurant lineup are Rosa y Marigold, Maple & Ash, and Fallow Kin. Through Aug. 15. Various locations. meetboston.com/dine-out-boston — JS

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