The Five

Don’t-miss picks for Wednesday, March 5 through Tuesday, March 11

1 Chapatti

Theatre: A pair of magnificent actors—John Mahoney and Penny Slusher—team up for Christian O’Reilly’s Dublin-set romance between a man, a woman, 19 cats, and the titular beast: a dog.
3/7–4/13. $15–$58. Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie, Skokie. northlight.org

2 La Clemenza di Tito

Opera: Evanston’s own Matthew Polenzani plays the lead, Tito, in Mozart’s underrated opera seria about political and romantic intrigue in old Rome.
3/5–3/23. $34–$294. Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker. lyricopera.org

3 Chi-Town Jazz Festival

Jazz: Enjoy performances from talented musicians such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and Nick Mazzarella at this fifth annual charity benefit.
3/7–3/11. Various prices and venues. chitownjazzfestival.org

4 Thodos Dance Chicago

Dance: The star architect Jeanne Gang teams up with modern dance choreographer Melissa Thodos, who has made a career out of unusual pairings.
3/8–3/9. $20–$60. Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph. harristheaterchicago.org

5 Venus in Fur

Theatre: Increasingly high-profile Chicago director Joanie Shultz helms this adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s notoriously kinky novel.
3/8–4/13. $25–$86. Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre, 170 N Dearborn. goodmantheatre.org

What I’m Doing This Weekend

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals—a.k.a. people we like: David Sieren, member of the artist collective The Post Family. The Post Family Party takes place on Saturday, March 8.

“Friday night, I’m planning on going to Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport for Typeforce. It’s a show curated by Ed Marszewski that shows typographic artwork from Chicago and around the country. The opening was last Friday, but it was crowded, so we’re going back to actually see the work tonight. A couple of the Post Family are in that show too.

“[Then] we’ll probably go to Maria’s afterwards. I like their beer selection and they’ve got an amazing Manhattan.

“Saturday, we’ve got our opening at Comfort Station, [where] we’re doing nine events in March. We’re having a collaborative collage art making party. We’re going to have everyone draw on three big wood panel collages. A green sustainable grocery store Plenty will be catering the event and then after that Longman & Eagle is sponsoring an after party. It’s absolutely free.

“Sunday is a chill day. My wife and I going to hit up a couple of other art shows. There’s a show closing, Discarded, about the afterlife of electronics. The Post Family has a piece in it so we’re going to go check it out and then Columbia’s Center for Book and Paper Arts has Social Paper, about papermaking as a fine art. Then we’re going to head over to a furniture shop called Unison that our friends own. They’re having a product launch. If we’re not tired, I would love to go to The Book Table; it’s an indie bookstore in Oak Park with an amazing art and design section.” —As told to Tomi Obaro

Freebie of the Week

Victoria Fu

Art: Praised for her colorful, abstract photography and enigmatic short videos, the San Diego artist mounts her first solo Chicago exhibition before heading to the Whitney Biennial next month.
Through 3/8. Free. Document, 845 W Washington. documentspace.org