The best things to do in and around Boston this weekend

Welcome to The Ticket, our guide highlighting the top things to do in and around Boston each weekend, as curated by Globe critics, editors, and writers.

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On tap this weekend: Dine Out Boston is back, plus Zac Brown Band returns to Fenway Park. — Matt Juul

JAWS Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, catch a free screening of 1975’s “Jaws,” directed by Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. Known for its haunting score composed by the legendary John Williams, as well as its iconic New England setting (the movie was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard), the summer classic screensat BPL’s Charlestown location. July 31, 2 p.m. Free. BPL Charlestown, 179 Main St., Charlestown. bpl.bibliocommons.com— Daisy Levine

PARANORMAL CIRQUE SPECTER In a fusion of cabaret and theater, acrobats, illusionists, and performers bring a paranormal circus show to Boston, presented by Cirque Italia. No one under 13 is permitted at the show, while guests ages 13 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult. July 31-Aug. 3. Tickets start at $20. Suffolk Downs, 525 William F. McClellan Highway, East Boston. paranormalcirque.com — Janira Skrbkova

RAT CITY ARTS FESTIVAL A grassroots celebration of local artists, poets, and musicians returns to the Allston-Brighton area for its fifth year while also promoting neighborhood rodent mitigation. The lineup includes nu metal band Cheem and alternative rock band Makeout Palace. Aug. 1, 3-10 p.m. Free. Charles River Speedway, 525 Western Ave., Brighton.ratcityartsfestival.com — JS

SOULFUL BLISS Head to the Seaport this weekend for a celebration of music, culture, community, and joy. Organized by Boston-based event agency AfroDesiaCity, relive the R&B sounds of the ’90s and 2000s while enjoying live performances, DJs, art, community storytelling, and artisan markets. Aug. 1, 4-10 p.m. Viaduct Plaza, 9 World Trade Center Ave. afrodesiacity.com/event-details/soulful-bliss-2026-seaport— DL

KEVIN NEALON “Do you know what the most stressful job in the world is?” asks former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Nealon. “Air traffic controller. But not if you don’t take it seriously.” Aug. 1, 7 p.m. $45-$59.The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St. thewilbur.com — Nick A. Zaino III

ESTHER KU Ku started her stand-up career in Boston before appearing on shows like “Girl Code” and “Wild ’N Out.” She doesn’t get back to town often, and she is headlining with a great supporting group in Dan Crohn, Zach Stewart, and Chef Phil. Aug. 1, 9 p.m. $39.90. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St. 617-725-2844, laughboston.com — NZ

ROARING TWENTIES LAWN PARTY Jazz, vintage vendors, and flappers take over Ipswich this weekend, creating a Gatsby-esque 1920s-themed summer bash. On hand will be music, dancing, contests, fashion parades, food and beverage vendors, and more. Aug. 1-2, 2-8 p.m. Tickets start at $52. Castle on the Crane Estate, 290 Argilla Road, Ipswich. roaringtwentieslawnparty.org— DL

DINE OUT BOSTON Meet Boston’s semiannual restaurant week returns this summer featuring multi-course fixed-price lunch and dinner menus across almost 200 participating establishments. Among the hot spots making their Dine Out debuts are Rosa y Marigold, Maple & Ash, and Fallow Kin. Aug. 1-15. Various locations.meetboston.com/dine-out-boston — JS

ZAC BROWN BAND AT FENWAY Joined by special guest Old Crow Medicine Show, Zac Brown Band returns to Fenway Park for the latest stop of its “Love & Fear Tour.” The concert marks the country group’s 15th time playing the beloved ballpark. Read more about the latest concerts coming to the Boston area in this week’s Sound Check column. Aug. 2, 7 p.m. Tickets start at $89. Fenway Park, 4 Jersey St. mlb.com/redsox/tickets/concerts/zac-brown-band— DL

HAVE FUN, BE YOURSELF In 2024, Andrew Mayer brought this one-person show to Edinburgh Fringe; now he is recording it as special. The story centers on Mayer’s struggles to stop resisting his nervousness and just be himself, played out in three dates over the course of six years, and the relief he felt at the end of that process.Aug. 2, 7 p.m. $20-$25. The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Somerville. therockwell.org — NZ

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TANGLEWOOD This weekend’s flagship event at Tanglewood is surely Saturday’s semi-staged performance of Mozart’s madcap “The Marriage of Figaro,” featuring music director Andris Nelsons on the podium, and an ensemble cast including baritone Michael Sumuel as Figaro, Nikola Hillebrand as Susanna, and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller as the Countess; in the director’s chair is James Darrah Black, who also stage-directed the Handel and Haydn Society’s excellent 2022 “Figaro” at Symphony Hall. Friday evening, Finnish composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen visits the podium for a program of Wagner’s Prelude and “Liebestod” from “Tristan and Isolde,” Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” the latter featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman. Sunday, Nelsons ends his summer stint at Tanglewood with a visit from violinist Joshua Bell, performing Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy,” and Tuesday afternoon into evening unites all the BSO and Tanglewood-based ensembles — and many more local groups too — as the grounds come alive for Tanglewood on Parade, this year curated by Yo-Yo Ma. Tanglewood, Lenox. 617-266-1200, tanglewood.org

BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA Landmarks steps out of its usual Wednesday evening Hatch Shell timeslot this week, traveling to Jamaica Plain and Roxbury to present a program including Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and several shorter pieces by Florence Price, William Grant Still, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Julia Perry. As with everything this orchestra does, attendance is free, but given the limited space of the indoor venues, online registration in advance is recommended. July 31, 7 p.m., Bethel AME Church, 100 Wachusett St., Jamaica Plain. Aug. 1, 3 p.m., Twelfth Baptist Church, 160 Warren St., Roxbury. landmarksorchestra.org

SAY IT LOUD: AAMARP, 1977 TO NOW Closing this week: The Black Arts Movement came to be in a critical time in 1960s and ’70s America when the civil rights movement had given way to more forceful ideas around Black rights. In Boston, those ideas found root in the African American Masters Artist in Residence Program, founded by the firebrand artist and activist Dana Chandler. This show charts the organization’s long evolution through decades of cultural and racial tumult, and its unwavering devotion to the cause of Black representation. Through Aug. 2. Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-478-3100, icaboston.org

CELTIC ART ACROSS THE AGES Closing this week: Spanning almost three millennia, 800 BCE right up till now, this show takes a liberal approach to art made by Celtic people and their vast diaspora through the ages, stretching from Northern Europe to every corner of the globe. From the Iron Age through the Roman Empire to today, it attempts to weave connection across eras to both reveal lineage and unwind cliche. Through Aug. 2. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-9400, harvardartmuseums.org

SPRAY: JULES OLITSKI IN THE 1960s Closing soon: Olitski represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1966 and was the first living artist ever to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969, but his long-ago star turn hasn’t been as enduring as New York abstract painting peers like Mark Rothko or Jackson Pollock. This exhibition is a chance to wonder why: A showcase of his signature spray-painted canvases from that era, rendered in mesmerizingly loose fogs of color, the show is a rare opportunity to contemplate his fade from renown. Through Aug. 9. Currier Museum, 150 Ash St., Manchester, N.H. 603-669-6144, currier.org

DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEAÑERA In the premiere of a dark comedy by Haitian-American playwright and screenwriter Phanésia Pharel (“The Waterfall”), a teenage girl disappears during her quinceañera celebration, triggering an investigation by her three best friends in which they set about “interrogating suspects, spinning increasingly wild theories, and roasting one another along the way,” according to press materials. Directed by Melia Bensussen. Aug. 5-29. Coproduction by Barrington Stage Company, Goodman Theatre, and Hartford Stage. St. Germain Stage, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield. 413-242-6411, barringtonstageco.org

A NEW ERA Miranda Austen ADEkoje’s new play about the Black suffragist movement in 1890s Boston deftly avoids the trap of “message” art by telling a rich story full of complex, conflicted characters. The world premiere production from Company One focuses on the real-life Boston suffragist, journalist, and activist Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin (played here by Patrice Jean-Baptiste) as she tries to build coalitions without sacrificing her ideals. You can feel the ideas crackling as the drama builds. Through Aug. 8. Pay what you can. Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Dorchester. companyone.org

COMING OUT PERFECT Richard Mercado’s debut YA graphic novel, “Coming Out Perfect,” is autobiographical and extremely poignant, funny, and charming. His previous minicomic, “I Owe It to My Parents to Not Come Out” won accolades, and this more expanded version will win readers’ hearts. He’ll read at All She Wrote Books on Sunday. Aug. 2, 5 p.m. Tickets are on an income-based sliding scale and include a copy of the book. 75 Washington St., Somerville. allshewrotebooks.com

BETRAYAL The three lead performances are as exquisitely controlled as Shana Gozansky’s direction in this fine production of Harold Pinter’s 1978 drama of infidelity, which famously unspools in reverse chronology. In tracing the entwined lives of lovers Jerry (Michael Underhill) and Emma (Liza Giangrande, remarkable once again) and Emma’s husband, Robert (Tanner Efinger), Gozansky does not overdo the famed “Pinter pause.” But she does allow space within Pinter’s characteristically spare dialogue for meaning to take shape between the words as “Betrayal” winds its way backward from 1977 to 1968 in London and Venice. The production reminds us that there’s seldom anything small about Pinter’s small talk. Also featuring invaluable contributions from composer and sound designer Julian Crocamo. Through Aug. 1. Gloucester Stage Company. Natti-Willsky Performance Center, 267 East Main St., Gloucester. 978-281-4433, gloucesterstage.com — Don Aucoin

BUYER & CELLAR Inspired by the strange-but-true fact that Barbra Streisand had a private shopping mall built in a basement on her Malibu estate, this comedy by Jonathan Tolins stars Victor L. Shopov as a struggling actor hired to work at the mall — which has only one customer. Directed by Daniel Bourque. Through Aug. 1. Hub Theatre Company. Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave. hubtheatreboston.org — DA

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