Your Valentine’s Day Weekend Guide
By Maria Rodriguez
It’s lover’s weekend, and the Tower has scrounged through their threadbare pockets, saddened that a night of expensive chocolates is, well, out of reach on a student’s budget. So, we have found hope, with free and cheap events around D.C. this Valentine’s weekend.
For the Hopeless Romantic:
Make a Love Letter, Shakespeare Style
Friday, 6 p.m., Folger Shakespeare Library (behind the U.S. Capitol)
If you like the idea of seal ing your love letter with melted wax and you want your Valentine’s day card to look more fancy than the $2 version from CVS, the Folger Shakespeare Theater has you covered.
Friday at 6p.m. an archivist and librarian from the Folger Shakespeare Library will take attendees down the storied lanes of the art of Renaissance letter-crafting. Participants will learn how to make a “pleated” letter, which according to the Folger was “one of the most intimate letter-locking techniques from Shakespeare’s day.” Folded into a small packet that is sealed with silken thread, these letters were made for maximum discretion. Communicating with your loved one during the Renaissance was an art. The “pleated” letter’s small size allowed it to be transferred, secretly, from hand to hand.
You will have to reserve a space to join in on this unique event. Hop over to the Folger’s website to reserve your spot.
The event is part of Free Folger Fridays which offers lectures and events at no charge on Friday evenings throughout the year.
For lovers of Dark Comedy (or Russia):
Pay-what-you-can Night at Spooky Action Theater
Friday, 8 p.m., on 16th St near Dupont Circle
Spooky Action Theater has a great deal for Friday’s performance of their dark comedy The Collaborators. CUA alum Bridget Grace Sheaff, is serving as the production’s Assistant Director, but you should not just go to support the CUA family, go because the ticket price is going to be whatever you want it to be.
The deal is, you must buy this ticket at the door. As a student, Spooky Action Theater offers discounted tickets of $15 with your student ID for every performance. But tonight is the night to drop that price tag even lower. If you want to ensure a spot, you can buy a ticket online and ahead of time at the student price.
The Collaborators is the story of a Russian writer who is forced by the NKVD (the earlier version of the KGB) to write a positive play on the life of Stalin. Written by a British playwright in 2011, the play takes dark material and makes it funny. Exactly what House of Cards lovers need while waiting for the next season’s episode dump.
ForHighbrow Film Aficionados:
Two Iranian films at National Gallery of Art
Saturday, 2 p.m., in the East Gallery Building (the triangle looking one)
If a foreign film about a largely unknown culture is your idea of a good Saturday afternoon, this is the event for you.
The first film shown Wolkaan, is the shorter of the two, with a runtime of only 34 minutes. It tells the story of two families, one in America and one in Iran. According to Canadian film director Danis Goulet, the placement of these stories side by side are a “rich meditation on diaspora, memory, and loss.”
Monir is a documentary which tell the story of an Iranian artist, Monir, who used Iran’s ancient artistic tradition to inform her own style of art, an Iranian-American blend. Working in the 1970s, the documentary provides a backdrop of a different sort to one of the most fraught periods in the relationship.between the US and Iran.
