Steven Avery says he didn't do it. Courtesy Netflix Wednesday, January 6Conventional wisdom

Steven Avery says he didn’t do it. Courtesy NetflixWednesday, January 6

Conventional wisdom commands never discussing religion or politics in polite, social settings; yet, in Ayad Aktar’s Disgraced, that is exactly what happens. American-born, Muslim-raised, lawyer Amir Kapoor and his Caucasian wife Emily host a party where the conversation verges into controversial territory detonating their dinner and threatening their lifestyle. Exploring themes of identity, religion, and American prejudices, this play proves increasingly pertinent in 2016 as we observe both ISIS intensifying and increasing Islamophobia. Seattle Rep’s production, in association with Goodman Theatre and Berkeley Rep, is directed by Kimberly Senior, who piloted the Chicago premiere and its subsequent transfer to Broadway. It promises to provoke thought and possibly create some cognitive dissonance as we reconcile our own views. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222, seattlerep.org. $17 and up. Opens Jan. 8. Runs 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sun. plus 2 p.m. some Wed., Sat., & Sun. Ends Jan. 31.

ALYSSA DYKSTERHOUSE

DoNormaal with a few of her non-human collaborators. GIF by Kelton Sears

Thursday, January 7

“In the Seattle scene I see a lot of hip-hop that feels like hip-hop that’s been made for a long time,” Ballard rapper DoNormaal told me back in November. “I think it would be cool if we saw more artists create something only they could create because they’re in this time, in this body, in this city.” 69/50 is a relatively new hip-hop collective that DoNormaal and her partner Raven Matthews are at the center of, dedicated to curating and cultivating this kind of artistry in the city—something they’re doing at tonight’s combination show with fellow local collective Stay Happy. Matthews and DoNormaal will be performing alongside the smooth stylings of Wolftone, the down-tempo production of Brakebill, the vibey rap duo Sendai Era, and the inventive surrealism of Roland SP-404 master Diogenes. Central Saloon, 207 First Ave S., 622-0209, centralsaloon.com. Free. 21 and over. 7 p.m–midnight.

KELTON SEARS

Saturday, January 9

Local cartoonist Jim Woodring’s wordless Frank comics are already pretty psychedelic. Everything in them is alive and vibrating and constantly spiralling in on itself. The eponymous bucktoothed protagonist merely passes through the bizarre landscape around him trying not to get killed. So it makes complete sense that after almost 25 years of wandering around trippy landscapes, Woodring decided to take Frank to the next level and do a 3-D book. The result, Frank in the 3rd Dimension, is a dual effort between Woodring and 3-D technician Charles Barnard, who collectively molded 150 layers per drawing to achieve full eye-popping majesty on the page. Both will be present to sign books and give you advice on how to get into the equally esoteric comics and “3-D technician” industries. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery, 1201 S. Vale St., 658-0110, fantagraphics.com. Free. 6–9 p.m.

KELTON SEARS

Kyle Loven always makes us look a little bit closer—as a puppeteer, he creates new worlds and manipulates them as we watch. Retraces, his new work, brings dance, music, and ham radio into the mix as we try to unravel a nest of conspiracies that exist in the airwaves. Collaborating with dance artist Ezra Dickinson, composer Paurl Walsh, and video designer Leo Mayberry, among others, Loven’s world is dark and beautiful—perfect for the middle of winter. 12th Ave Arts, 1620 12th Ave., brownpapertickets.com. $20. 8 p.m. Thurs.. Jan. 7–Sat., Jan. 9; 2 p.m. Sat., Jan. 9–Sun., Jan. 10.

SANDRA KURTZ

Get your freak on this weekend at Neumos’ saucy burlesque bash, featuring Seattle’s unstoppable funk sensation, Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme—13 fun(k)-loving musicians who’ve been tearing down the house all over town for at least the past five years. With horns, drums, at least three vocalists, a rapper, and more than a dozen people onstage at a time—usually in costume and with choreography—The Court Supreme is nothing if not a rippingly badass party. Officially headlining Saturday, though, is Good Co, a sassy, brassy, six-piece electro-swing band that combines ’20s speakeasy flourishes with deep, funky electronic beats. Think flapper dresses, jazz hands, stiff drinks, trumpets, honky-tonk piano . . . and dubstep. The event is a CD-release party for their new album, Big Time Business, available for purchase onsite as well as online starting Jan. 9. And if all that isn’t enough, you can also catch D20 Brass Band (aka “Nerd Funk”) and the smart-sexy dance troupe Sinner Saint Burlesque at the show. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St, 709-9442, neumos.com. $12. 21 and over. 8 p.m.

SARA BERNARD

Sunday, January 10

It’s tough not to fall fast and hard for the sultry stylings of Grace Love, Seattle’s self-dubbed “first lady of soul.” She’s the eponymous star of Grace Love & the True Loves—a heartstrings-pulling, hip-rocking, soul-jiving, funky-ass nine-piece soul band totally ruled by the velvety voice of their stage-commanding diva. The band has some steady rock power, with a slammin’ horn section and creamy electric-guitar jams, but this kind of thing is all about the vocals, and Love is no exception. She seduces, woos, implores, and bedazzles, riles you up and rocks you to sleep. Her songs hark back to the funk-tastic beats and throaty songstresses of the ’70s (“Fire”) or to soulful ballads with Motown flair (“Mean to Me”), but all are fresh, contemporary tunes born not long ago in our very own Emerald City. The band has been playing up a storm in the region, from Bumbershoot to Bellingham to Olympia, then out to Leavenworth for the Timbrrr Fest on January 29. They’ll share the Tractor stage tonight with Big World Breaks, a funk and jazz production company that’s celebrating the official release of their single, “Timeless.” All proceeds from tonight’s sales will benefit Washington Middle School’s Drumline and Seattle JazzED. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599, tractortavern.com. $10–$12. 21 and over. 8:30 p.m.

SARA BERNARD

Tuesday, January 12

Descriptive keyboard pieces are as old as the keyboard itself—battle pieces in the renaissance, pastoral idylls in the baroque. But for vividness and atmosphere, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, from 1874, was unprecedented. Inspired by a memorial exhibit of paintings by his friend Viktor Hartmann, Mussorgsky’s 15 movements evoke far-flung scenes from Russian folklore and beyond: the legendary witch Baba Yaga, a medieval castle, scenes of children at play and in ballet costume (the twittering “Ballet of Chicks in Their Shells,” which never fails to raise a chuckle from the audience). The gallerygoer’s stroll from painting to painting is even depicted, by a brief, tuneful chorale titled “Promenade.” Garrick Ohlsson plays it (with Beethoven and a bouquet of Chopin, a renowned specialty of his) at his Meany Hall recital next Tuesday; a pianist who’s mastered extremes of power and lyricism, he’ll be ideal for Pictures’ monumental, clangorous finale, “The Great Gate of Kiev,” which pushes piano sonority to its limit. Meany Hall, UW campus, uwworldseries.org. $37–$42. 7:30 p.m.

GAVIN BORCHERT

Pick Package

A BOWIE WEEKEND

On Friday, David Bowie will celebrate his 69th birthday by giving a gift to the world in the form of the British icon’s 28th full-length album, Blackstar. Fans who paused their lives long enough to watch the brilliantly strange video for the album’s 10-minute title track—directed by Breaking Bad’s Johan Renck—can’t help but be excited for this release. The video features blindfolded Bowie emitting a wavering croon over a skittering beat as scenes of intense religiosity and a smooth saxophone set the mood. So, yes, the Thin White Duke appears to again be in the firm grip of a kind of messiah complex, which we all know is a good thing. Carve out an hour to explore his new weirdo pop gospel, then dress up as your favorite Bowie (Aladdin Sane if you have facepaint, Jareth from Labyrinth if you have an enormous codpiece handy) and head out to one of two (or maybe both) tributes in Seattle on Friday night.

For Highline’s “Queen Bitch Burlesque: A Bowie Tribute,” seven dancers, including headliner Jacqueline Hyde, will shake it to Bowie classics played by a live band featuring members of Dreadful Children and Legion Within. Over at Chop Suey, Hero Worship is hosting a Bowie Birthday party with more live music from Dejha (Blackie, The Union Gospel), Teevie Coahran (Gazebos), and more. After communing with your fellow Bowie fanatics, complete your weekend of worship with a dose of humility. Visit What Did David Bowie Do At Your Age? (supbowie.com) and find out what Bowie did at your age (duh). Queen Bitch Burlesque, Highline, 210 Broadway E., 328-7837, highlineseattle.com. $10 adv./$15 DOS. 21 and over. 8:30 p.m.; Hero Worship Presents David Bowie’s Birthday, Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 538-0556, chopsuey.com. $5 adv./$10 DOS. 21 and over. 9 p.m.

MARK BAUMGARTEN

Pick Mix

The best part of Undertale is meditating with this ghost guy in his living room. Via Toby Fox.

JOYSTICK PICK

I’m so tired of killing everything in video games. Every year it seems as though 50 new space marine shoot-’em-ups come out where the only goal is to FRAG EVERYTHING THAT MOVES. That’s part of what makes the new Steam-available RPG adventure Undertale such an interesting, well-written game—you don’t actually have to kill anyone if you don’t want to. Your character, a human child who accidentally falls down a hole into a surreal monster-inhabited 8-bit underworld, can simply talk to all the monsters they encounter in battle. Turns out, lots of them don’t really want to hurt you at all, they just have complicated, strange social needs they want fulfilled, just like the rest of us. The sword-wielding dog knights, yeah, you can just murder them—but if you decide to pet them over and over instead, their heads will joyfully extend across the battle screen more and more until you decide to end the encounter, enemy thoroughly appeased. Woshua, a bizarre turtle-like washing-machine monster, straight up just wants to wash you, if you’ll let him. If you time it right, his washing “attacks” will actually heal you. The one-man project from indie developer Toby Fox has scored universally glowing reviews and won the Gamefaqs.com Best. Game. Ever. user poll two weeks ago, beating out Ocarina of Time. Pretty impressive for a game that’s been out for three months. Mac/PC. Available at store.steampowered.com. $10.

KELTON SEARS

FLIX PICK

Somewhere around episode four of the must-binge Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, I realized that I hadn’t gotten this much thrill from a TV show since The Wire. Through perfectly edited court footage, b-roll, and insider access to the family of a man who says he’s been framed, MaM has all the elements of a smart procedural, with the almost unbelievable bonus of being true. Set in rural Wisconsin, interviews are soaked through with dialectical tics, hairstyles are outrageously tacky, government officials are cagey and thick as thieves. Also like a good drama, some of your favorite characters are the minor ones who show up at just the right moment (love you, Silver Fox!). At the end of episode 10 you may have doubts about whether filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi told a full, unbiased account. Worry not; you have hours of Reddit reading ahead of you if you’re so inclined. But before you get to that, watch the show so your friends don’t have to leave the room to talk about it. Netflix.

com

DANIEL PERSON

CLICK PICK

Net art can be a self-reflexive bore sometimes—a lot of people making GIFs of rotating iPhones on a weird background. We get it—your art is on the Internet, how novel! The real beauty of net art isn’t the “Gee whiz, computers make art too!” element—it’s the unfettered, lawless surreality the Internet opens to artists who wouldn’t normally be in a gallery. You can wield nothing but a loose understanding of MS Paint and score a huge following on Tumblr or Facebook if you are a legitimately fascinating freak (search: “Simpsons pictures that I gone and done”). The net artist killing the web-freak game the hardest right now is the mysterious CGI wunderkind known only as Brian, whose new website Cool 3D World is a master class in the potential that Vine and looping art have to offer as a legitimate artistic medium. His prolific Vine output, full of melting, screaming, disfigured humanoids wallowing their way through insane six-second hallucinatory clips, are disturbing and brilliant. They’re what your Second Life avatar’s nightmares probably look like. While Cool 3D World is Brian’s first foray into looping art with audio, it’s an obvious evolution from his similarly bizarre GIF work, which you should also check out if you can stomach some truly twisted grotesques on infinite repeat. cool3dworld.com and brianbrianbrianbrian.com

KELTON SEARS

OUT IN THE STICKS PICK

The snowpack is back—with a vengeance! If you haven’t made it out to the Cascades yet this winter, go! Seriously! Feet and feet of snow are blanketing trees and rivers and rocks with a thick, sparkling mantle of winter wonderland straight out of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Grab your snowshoes, ice axes, and long underwear and get out there for a day or two—it’s the best way to cure these deep-gray Seattle blues. And while camping might not sound like something most of us would want to do this time of year, if you have a sizzling hot spring near your tent, it’s totally worth it. The storied Goldmyer Hot Springs’ Middle Fork Road, closed all summer for renovations, is officially open for business, and by “business” we definitely mean “very, very high-clearance 4-wheel-drive monster trucks.” So yes, the road work they’ve been speaking of is far from finished, and will continue throughout the 2016 summer season; the potholes are still gigantic and terrifying. But still, if you’ve got a fierce vehicle (or can borrow one), and don’t mind a 4.5-mile winter hike, the magic that awaits you in a steamy cave surrounded by dripping icicles and milk-white snowbanks is unparalleled. Goldmyer Hot Springs, 789-5631, goldmyer.org, $20 per night for camping, call in

advance for reservations.

SARA BERNARD