Art: Jump In

Up now at Future Tenant gallery, Downtown, "Work with Me," an exhibition organized by Owen Smith of the Mattress Factory, presents the works of six visual and performance artists from the Pittsburgh region who were paired off, mostly at Smith's whim, into collaborating teams.

Collaboration among our area artists is nothing new, but here Smith went a bit further, making sure each participant worked simultaneously on two separate projects thus creating a "collaboration circle." Now, it's your turn to jump into the middle of that circle and see what resulted. But you'd better do it quick, the exhibition closes Feb. 16.

Gallery hours are 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Future Tenant is at 801 Liberty Ave., Downtown.

Details: 412-325-7037 or www.futuretenant.org.

-- Kurt Shaw

Outdoors
Winged friends

People who want to develop bird-watching skills can go to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania which is hosting "Family WalkAbout: Backyard Bird Identification." The event, open to all ages, is 2-4 p.m. Sunday at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, Indiana Township. Admission: $4; $3 for members. Reservations are required.

Details: 412-963-6100.

-- Kellie B. Gormly

Rock
A different Down Under

Anne McCue might be from Australia, but you'd never know it listening to her music.

McCue more than capable of changing vocal accents. Her new album "Koala Motel" features the country-flavored "From Bakersfield to Saigon" and the darkly hued overtones of "Driving Down Alvarado." What's remarkable is she also is a versatile guitarist -- there are no hired guns backing her on the release.

McCue performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Club Cafe on the South Side.

Admission: $10; $12 day of show.

Details: 412-431-4950, or www.clubcafelive.com.

-- Rege Behe

Theater
Cutting commentary

When it comes to writing about what you know, Vaclav Havel may easily be the best candidate to create a satirical play about government bureaucracy and workplace insanity.

The last president of Czechoslovakia, the first president of the Czech Republic and one of the leaders of the country's 1989 revolution, Havel knows this world first-hand.

His play, "Memorandum" explores the madness, mayhem and opportunism that erupts in a government office when its workers are forced to conduct business in a new language that no one has ever heard, much less speaks or understands. It's billed as a biting commentary on contemporary life filled with dilemmas and situations as recognizable as those in a Dilbert cartoon.

"Memorandum" is being performed by students of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama through Saturday in the Philip Chosky Theatre in the Purnell Center on the Carnegie Mellon University campus at 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Performances: 8 p.m. today-Saturday.

Admission: $22-$25; $11-$25 for students; $13.25-$25 for senior citizens.

Details: 412-268-2407 or www.cmu.edu/cfa/drama.

-- Alice T. Carter

Not for the timid

If you love live theater, but want something a little more challenging than yet another take on "Our Town," well, here's something you probably haven't seen before.

As part of The Andy Warhol Museum's "Off the Wall" series of cutting-edge performance art, Brooklyn's Young Jean Lee is coming to the New Hazlett Theater on Saturday. Her play "Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven" rips into stereotypes about Koreans, Korean-Americans and their complicated relationship with mainstream "white" American culture. It's shocking, offensive and very funny -- so if you're of the easily offended variety, you might want to sit this one out. The show starts at 8 p.m.

The museum is at 6 Allegheny Square East on the North Side.

Admission: $18; $15 for students and members.

Details: 412-237-8300.

-- Michael Machosky

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