‘Glow’ from afar
ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET The sleek and versatile dancers of this acclaimed company, a Pillow favorite for more than a decade, offer Boston Ballet fans the chance to see how another troupe handles the work of BB resident choreographer Jorma Elo. His “Over Glow” (2011) shares a program with two other contemporary ballets, Cayetano Soto’s “Beautiful Mistake” and Nicolo Fonte’s “The Heart(s)pace.” Pictured: Katherine Bolanos. Through Aug. 24. $19-$150. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Theater
Finding Neverland The ART and Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein plan to hold hands and fly to Broadway with this new family musical showing how playwright J.M. Barrie was inspired to write “Peter Pan” by a widow and her four sons in 1904 London. A good cast and terrific stagecraft from director Diane Paulus and crew overcome the rather pedestrian songs. Through Sept. 28. American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge. 617-547-8300, www.americanrepertorytheater.org
JOEL BROWN
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DANCING LESSONS Mapping the common ground between outwardly dissimilar people is a specialty of playwright Mark St. Germain (“Freud’s Last Session’’), and he does it again in this fine new comedy-drama about the relationship between an embittered dancer coping with a major leg injury and an awkward academic with Asperger’s syndrome. Directed by Julianne Boyd, with strong performances by Paige Davis and John Cariani. Through Aug. 24. Barrington Stage Company, at Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, Pittsfield. 413-236-8888, www.barringtonstageco.org
DON AUCOIN
SISTER PLAY Tropes including family secrets and a mysterious stranger who exposes them are given a fresh rendering in this world premiere play by John Kolvenbach. Brenda Withers and Stacy Fischer head a stellar ensemble as sisters Anna and Lilly who, accompanied by Anna’s husband (Robert Kropf), arrive at the Cape Cod house of the sisters’ dead father. The delicate balance is disrupted by the arrival of a drifter (Jonathan Fielding) that Lilly befriends. Through Sept. 6. Harbor Stage Company, Wellfleet. 508-349-6800, www.harborstage.org
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LOREN KING
JULIUS CAESAR With this “bare Bard” production, director Tina Packer reminds us just how skillful she is at clearing away anything that might distract from William Shakespeare’s tale of ambition, pride, and political manipulation. Seven actors play more than 40 characters, morphing easily from distinct individuals — a husband and his heartbroken wife, a faithful servant and his master — to an angry mob, for an effect that is never less than exhilarating. Through Aug. 30. Shakespeare & Company, at Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre,
Lenox. 413-637-3353, www.shakespeare.org
TERRY BYRNE
Dance
LEESAAR THE COMPANY Israeli-born choreographers Lee Sher and Saar Harari bring Ohad Naharin’s Gaga techniques to bear on the new, animalistic “Grass and Jackals,” for seven women. The duo’s Brooklyn-based company consists of remarkable dancers from Asia, America, Canada, Malaysia, and Israel. Through Aug. 24. $19-$75. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org
TAKE DANCE COMPANY Choreographer Takehiro Ueyama and his troupe return to PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century’s outdoor Chatham Dance Festival, with two new works created on site with area residents, as well as his nostalgic “Somewhere Familiar Melodies,” a memory piece created in response to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Aug. 22-23. $18-$30. PS21, Chatham, N.Y. 800-836-3006, www.ps21chatham.org
SATRANGI: SEVEN SIDES OF A WOMAN The three-year-old Bollywood dance troupe Nazar, a sister organization of Boston Bhangra, devotes its second annual showcase to the beauty and complexities of the female gender. Aug. 23, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. $15-$25. Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown. 617-923-8487, www.nazarbollywood.com
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KAREN CAMPBELL
Galleries
CAPE ANN QUARRIES Granite boomed on Cape Ann in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This show spotlights artists inspired by local quarries and rocks, including modernists Adolph Gottlieb and Ben-Zion and contemporary artists Michael McKinnell and Deborah Epstein. Aug. 23-Sept. 14. Mercury Gallery, 20 Main St., Rockport. 978-546-7620, www.mercurygallery.com
QUEER FELLOWS: A SIDE SELDOM SEEN Hunter O’Hanian, director of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York and former executive director of the Fine Arts Work Center, curates an exhibition celebrating gay Work Center Fellows. Aug. 22-Sept. 2. Hudson D. Walker Gallery, Fine Arts Work Center, 24 Pearl St., Provincetown. 508-487-9960, www.fawc.org
SONANCE This hands-on exhibit features sound sculptures that function as visual art and musical instruments. Artists Vic Rawlings, Derek Hoffend, and Jason Sanford crafted site-specific works that encourage listening, playing, and awareness of the space. Through Sept. 14. Distillery Gallery, 516 East 2nd St., South Boston. www.distillerygallery.com
OUT OF THE EVERYWHERE . . . EVOLUTION OF THE GRAFFITI ARTIST This show taps local taggers who have expanded their purview into contemporary art and design, including Percy Fortini Wright, Cedric Douglas, and Jason Talbot. Through Oct. 18. Mother Brook Arts & Community Center, 123 High St., Dedham. www.motherbrookarts.org
CATE MCQUAID
Museums
RAGNAR KJARTANSSON: THE VISITORS A spellbinding, nine-screen video installation showing Kjartansson and a number of musician friends playing and singing in unison in the separate rooms of a mansion on the Hudson River. Through Nov. 2. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org
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GOLD AND THE GODS: JEWELS OF ANCIENT NUBIA More than 100 dazzling works in gold and other materials from Ancient Nubia (now Sudan), all from the MFA’s superb collection. Through May 14. Museum of Fine Arts. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
ANSELM KIEFER A major long-term installation of works by the German artist from the Hall Art Foundation in a new gallery repurposed by the foundation. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org
SEBASTIAN SMEE
Drama comes in waves
TURNER & THE SEA Joseph Mallord William Turner’s vision of the sea as a stage fit for stirring drama is extensively demonstrated in this show organized by the National Maritime Museum in London. The great painter gives us the full treatment in a memorable show. Pictured: “Sheerness as Seen From the Nore (1808).” Through Sept. 1. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. 866-745-1876, www.pem.org
SEBASTIAN SMEE