THEATER‘The R&J Project: Romeo and Juliet Re-Imagined’Friday through SundayBrian Sanders’ Junk2040 Christian St.$10-$15madnessmostdiscreettheatre.ticketleap.comThe new local theater company Madness Most Discreet presents this experimental production of “Romeo and Juliet”. Shakespeare can have a stuffy, stiff reputation, which is ironic, since in his own time theater was much more spontaneous and improvised. That’s the tack Madness Most Discrete takes, making each show unique a unique experience—the audience even gets to choose who plays which characters!‘The Matchmaker’Through April 4Tomlinson Theater, Temple University1301 W. Norris St.$10-$25, 215-204-1122www.temple.edu/theaterTemple University presents Thornton Wilder’s play, which found the playwright, most famous for the melancholic “Our Town,” in a farcical mode. The matchmaker of the title is Dolly Levi, a window who brokers marriages. When a shopkeeper hires her to find him a wife, the zealous Dolly gets far more involved than he imagined, leading to an amusing series of romantic complications.Corps Exquis: Daniel Wohl featuring TransitFriday, 8 p.m.FringeArts140 N. Columbus Blvd.$15, 215-413-1318www.fringearts.org“Corps Exiquis” is a multimedia show integrating experimental film, classical, rock and electronic music, video art and — most important of all — serendipity. Each person involved had to make their contribution knowing only a bit of the previous part, leading to plenty of accidental invention. It’s a working method composer Daniel Wohl borrowed from the surrealists of 1920s Paris.ARTGrowth and Form: Glass and Silk SculpturesFriday through April 24University City Arts League4226 Spruce St.Free, 215-382-7811www.ucartsleague.orgSara Bakken creates pseudo-organic forms with glass and silk organza, many of which look like sea creatures frozen by some weird magic spell or natural phenomenon, calling to mind the otherworldly diversity of that parallel Earth that exists beneath the ocean’s surface. They give the enchanting impression that they were not made, but collected from some far-off beach.MUSICThe African Children’s ChoirFridayZellerbach Theatre at the Annenberg Center3680 Walnut St.$20 to $60215-898-3900www.annenbergcenter.orgThe African Children’s Choir is visiting Philly for a one-night performance of traditional spirituals, children’s songs, and contemporary songs. The choir is made up of kids age 7 to 10 who have survived war, famine and diseases, and many of them are orphans. But this isn’t just a charity concert you can feel good about supporting — versions of the choir have been travelling around the world impressing audiences for 20 years.Myths and Magic: Voice of StorytellingFriday and SaturdayTemple Performing Arts Center1837 N. Broad St.$10-$40, 215-751-9494www.philadelphiasingers.orgThe Philadelphia Singers will perform Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore,” a piece about a poet with a rather unusual series of pets, and the East Coast premiere of “The Radio Hour” by Jake Heggie, which features a solo dancer and a small instrumental ensemble as well as the choir.Regina CarterSaturday, 8 p.m.Annenberg Center3680 Walnut St.$20-$60, 215-898-3900www.annenbergcenter.orgOn her most recent project, “Southern Comfort”, MacArthur Fellow and violin virtuosa Regina Carter explores a wide variety of Southern musical strains, attempting to connect with her family history. From blues to funk to ballads that sound like they came off Ken Burns’ “Civil War” soundtrack, she proves a deft and evocative interpreter, assimilating a myriad of voices into her own idiom.DANCETamagawa Taiko Drum and Dance TroupeSaturday, 4 and 8 p.m.Painted Bride Art Center230 Vine St.$25-$30, 215-925-9914www.paintedbride.orgThis Japanese troupe, which has won accolades both at home and abroad, return to Philadelphia for another thunderous performance, combining tightly choreographed moves with a spontaneous, infectious energy. According to Japanese legend, taiko was invented to lure a sullen goddess from her cave — the original drum was an empty bottle of sake. The technology’s improved since, but it can still wake the gods.MOVIES‘Sophie Scholl: The Final Days’Sunday, 6:30 p.m.A-Space Community Center4722 Baltimore Ave.$5, 215-821-6877www.facebook.comThis 2005 film tells the story of Sophie Scholl, a nonviolent student activist from Germany who was executed in 1943 for protesting the Nazi regime along with her compatriots in the pamphleteering group White Rose, who included her brother. Like fellow martyr and contemporary Dietrich Bonhoeffer, she based her opposition the Nazis on deeply rooted Christian faith.‘It Follows'Friday through April 2PFS Theater at the Roxy2030 Sansom St.$9-$10, 267-639-9508www.filmadelphia.orgThis new thriller deconstructs the tropes of ’80s teen horror flicks, making explicit what those movies tended to shrug off with campy dialogue and over-the-top deaths. The monster here isn’t some snarky slasher like Freddie Kreuger: It’s an invisible, creeping presence, able to take whatever form most terrifies its victim, and it’s contracted like a disease from — what else? — sexual contact.COMEDYFive Dollar Comedy WeekThrough SundayPlays and Players Theater1714 Delancey St.$5-$25, 215-735-0630www.fivefollarcomedyweek.comThis epic weeklong comedy festival features experimental comedy, weird late-night fare, phony workshops and other entertaining strangeness. Each show is $5, and $25 will get you a pass for all of them. It kicked off earlier this week, but there are still 20 remaining to choose from, with intriguing titles like “The Tinder Show,” “Eat Your Beats” and “Unlocking Your Superpower.”
