It’s a week of words. One of the greatest pun-jugglers in the history of the theater, Tom Stoppard, speaks at Yale. The inventor of a new, condensed and convenient language is interviewed (in conventional English) at the Institute Library. A painting is described through words and music at the Yale Art Gallery. Then of course there’s the international language of jazz.
Monday, Sept. 8
The Arcadian Himself
When some theaters present Tom Stoppard plays, they may put together a post-show panel of scholars to discuss the work of one of the world’s greatest living playwrights. When the Yale Rep presents a Tom Stoppard play (Arcadia, coming Oct. 3 – 25), Tom Stoppard himself comes to town. Now 77 but still churning new stage plays, radio plays and screenplays, when not checking out major revivals of his older work, Stoppard is also a terrific public speaker. He delivers the Maynard Mack Lecture, an honor bestowed by Yale’s Elizabethan Club on major theater folk, 5:15 p.m. in the Yale University Theater (222 York St.). Admission is free.
Tuesday, Sept. 9
Wordsmiths
The latest Amateur Hour event at the Institute Library (847 Chapel St., 203 – 562-4045) has the event’s co-creator and alternate host, Joshua Foer, interviewing John Quijada, inventor of the practical new language Ithkull. 7 p.m. $15, $10 for Institute members.
Wednesday, Sept. 10
Inventive Art
The Yale Center for British Art marks the opening of its new exhibit Sculpture Victorious: Art in an Age of Invention, 1837 – 1901 with an “opening conversation” among British art scholars Michael Hatt (of the University of Warwick) and Jason Edwards (University of York) and the YCBA’s Martina Droth. 5:30 p.m. in the museum’s lecture hall at 1080 Chapel St. (203) 432‑2800.
Thursday, Sept. 11
Talking the Tauk
Tauk, a rock-fusion instrumentalist four-piece band from Oyster Bay, New York, plugs in at Stella Blues (204 Crown St.) tonight. If you’ve pigeon-holed the club as a place for hippie jams, shows like Tauk will set you straight.
Friday, Sept. 12
Dancing on the Walls
After a postponement last semester, the Yale campus finally gets a chance to see David Michalek’s art show Slow Dancing, which slows down images of dancers to super-slow speeds and projects the results on the gigantic screens along the sides of buildings. The hard-to-miss installation, which has been brought to New Haven by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, went up Sept. 10 and continues through Sept. 16 in Cross Campus Plaza (110 Wall St., 203 – 432-5062). Today at 3 p.m. in the auditorium of the Yale Art Gallery (1111 Chapel St., 203 – 432-5062) there’s a panel discussion about Slow Dancing featuring Michalek himself on the panel.
Firehouse Reignites
Firehouse 12’s Fall Jazz Series for 2014 begins tonight — 13 cutting-edge modern jazz acts playing the immaculate listening room, one each Friday from tonight through mid-December. (You can get a season ticket for $225.) The series opens with the Ingrid Laubrock Quintet. The innovative saxophonist/composer’s band includes trombonist/visual artist Ben Gerstein, tuba player Dan Peck, Tim Berne on alto sax and Tom Rainey on drums. Two sets, at 8:30 p.m. ($20) and 10 p.m. ($15). 45 Crown St. (203) 785‑0468.
Saturday, Sept. 13
Common and Goin’
Today, from the 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., is the day-long closing conference of Artspace’s imaginative weeks-long Vagaries of the Commons event. Using the New Haven Green and other common-land traditions as a model, the gallery/organization rethought the very meaning of an arts community. It formed new bonds, created new works and turned its own website over to an artist. Today’s panel discussions include “Disrupting the New Haven Green” at noon, with the city director of Arts, Culture & Tourism, hip-hop artists Dooley‑O and berto colon, still-active members of Occupy New Haven and others. Other talks are on “Forging New Borders” (1:30 p.m.) and “Evidence Fetish: Excavating the Public’s Trash and Artifacts” (3:15 p.m.). There’s also food art from Nadine Nelson at 4:30 p.m. and a performance by Laurelin Kruse of the Mobile Museum of American Artifacts at 5:15 p.m. The conference is free, but you need to register, here.
Sweet and Tweetie
There is no way to improve on this listing for “Classic Cartoons and Vintage Candy” from the New Haven Free Public Library website, so we quote it in full: “A well-rounded child’s education should include a familiarity with the major Looney Tunes characters. This introductory seminar also includes a thoughtfully chosen sampler of mid-century American candies, for the discerning child! All ages.” 2 p.m. Ives (main) library, 133 Elm St. (203) 946‑2282. At the Mitchell branch (37 Harrison St.) meanwhile, the 2 p.m. “Kids Matinee Movie” is Monsters University.
It’s All Jake
Jake and the Family Jewels, founded by singer/songwriter Allan Jacobs, was an important act in this region through the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. The band holds one of its rare reunions tonight at 7 p.m. in Lyric Hall (827 Whalley Ave.).
Sunday, Sept. 14
The Sound of Art
The Haven String Quartet is doing another series of its “Playing Images” concerts, where the classic troupe provides musical accompaniment to artworks at the Yale University Art Gallery. The museum’s Senior Associate Curator of Public Education, Jessica Sack, introduces the concert. 12:30 p.m. 1111 Chapel St. (203) 745‑9030.