‘Romeo and Juliet’ on Dot Ave.
Since 2010, Brown Box Theatre Project has been producing quality outdoor theater along the East Coast, including venues in New York, Maryland, and Delaware. Now in its third season, the company has returned to its founders’ old stomping ground to extend its “Free Shakespeare at the Beach program” not, alas, to Carson Beach, but to a nearby yard at 666 Dorchester Ave. This weekend, Brown Box will present “Romeo and Juliet” just over the border in Southie in a space donated by the non-profit Still Point, best known as a Christmas tree lot across from Our Lady of Czestochowa church.

All members of this talented multiracial cast are in their 20’s, many of them with roots in Boston. The free performances (Fri-Sun) start at 6:30 and run for two hours without intermission. Bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on.

 Adult-Oriented Marionettes in Fields Corner
 This Saturday (Sept. 1) at 9 p.m., the Howard Art Project on the second floor of 1486 Dot Ave. will present “the first and one-night only performance of ‘Heart Shards,’ an allegorical, experimental marionette theater for melancholics.”

“Heart Shards” is a psychological fairytale written by Nina Prader, who also built the marionettes and will operate them with the aid of friends.

She describes the show’s themes: “After the death of her mother, Crimson refuses to feel sadness again and puts her heart in a jar. She takes it to the playground where Tara, Clumsy Klaus, and Simon don’t understand. Out of conflict emerges a story about community and empathy.”

Acrylics in Ashmont … and Elsewhere
 The artist currently featured in the ongoing series at Flat Black is Dot resident Norma Tavoliero. Largely self-taught, Tavoliero studied at The Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT. Her preferred medium is acrylics; however, she also works in oils, water colors, charcoal, and pastel. Her impressionistic landscapes reflect the diverse scenery in New England that has impacted her greatly. 

 Her work will be displayed in all the Flat Black locations (Ashmont, Lower Mills, and Downtown) and in the gallery space at The Real Estate Group (next door to the Ashmont Flat Black), where there will be a reception in early September. The show runs to October 1.
 

Poetry in Savin Hill
The Local authors’ collaborative, Write  on the DOT,  kicks off  its fall season next Thurs., Sept. 6, at the Savin Hill Yoga Studio at 11 Pearl Street.  The reception commences at 6:30 p.m. with drinks and live music from Dorchester singer-songwriter Brendan Little.  At 7 the readings begin, featuring Uphams Corner journalist and fiction writer Charles Thiesen; the multilingual Dot native Teresa McMahon; UMass’s Shilpi Suneja; and Carol Dowd-Dickerson, a member of the Pentimenti Women’s Writing Group in Codman Square. The event also promises the first ever *Insta-Poet Showdown* and sales of the new anthology “Write on the DOT: Vol. 1” ($3).