Regional arts and entertainment events
Sunday Conflicted images The woven rugs of Afghanistan are more than mere decorations (although, decoration is never really mere). The patterns of flowers, birds, and vines have particular meaning and identifiers. But with the nation stricken with nearly continu
Sunday
Conflicted images The woven rugs of Afghanistan are more than mere decorations (although, decoration is never really mere). The patterns of flowers, birds, and vines have particular meaning and identifiers. But with the nation stricken with nearly continuous warfare for more than three decades, the images used by the weavers are just as likely to be tanks, planes, or grenades. The exhibition Battleground: War Rugs From Afghanistan comprises more than 60 examples, most woven in refugee camps since 1980. The camps' mixing of ethnic groups has resulted in a fusion of styles that has erased clues to the origins of the weavers and made them both more individual and more mysterious. The exhibition is at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St. Admission is $10; $7 for seniors; $6 for ages 6 to 17 and students. Call 215-898-4000.
Mad man Set amid a garbage strike in 1970s Manhattan, Neil Simon's comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue is a bit of a time capsule. Still, there's a contemporary (or perhaps timeless) element: The title character, a middle-aged advertising executive, has lost his job and it's left to his wife to keep the pieces together during a heat wave with a broken air-conditioner, bothersome neighbors, crazy relatives, and a burglar. The show goes on at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Montgomery Theater, 124 Main St., Souderton, and continues with shows at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $26 to $35. 215-723-9984.
Monday
Distinctive voices Painter and musician Diomira Keane performs smart takes on traditional folk with an avant edge. One-man band Andrew Clotworthy cloaks his downbeat bedroom recordings with sprightly electronica melodies. They share a bill at 8 p.m. at North Star, 2639 Poplar St. Admission is free. Call 215-787-0488.
Tuesday
Dark secrets Often said to be Alfred Hitchcock's favorite among his films (though he later played a twist on that, denying it), the 1943 thriller Shadow of a Doubt, with a screenplay by Thornton Wilder, mixes noir and horror in the tale of a young woman in a small California town who comes to believe that her glamorous uncle, just in from Philadelphia, may be a murderer. The film screens at 7 p.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. Tickets are $10; $7 for seniors and students. Call 610-527-9898.
Wednesday
Weather alert Big-voiced Rock Star: Supernova finalist Storm Large fills in for ailing vocalist China Forbes when the alt-cabaret combo Pink Martini plays at 7:30 p.m. at Longwood Gardens, Route 1, Kennett Square. Tickets are $39 to $65. Call 1-800-745-3000.
Funny stuff Deadpan comedian Tig Notaro (The Sarah Silverman Program) reflects on awkward interactions, the ubiquitous Taylor Dayne, sharks, the ridiculousness of popular phrases and, of course, Winnie the Pooh on her hysterical new album Good One. She'll likely add some new stuff when she performs at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, and 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10 to $32. Call 215-496-9001.
Thursday
Amatory adventures Back in what now seems a quaintly innocent time, Erica Jong gained fame writing about women's sexuality in her 1973 novel Fear of Flying. In the collection Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex, Jong gathers more recent reflections on the subject. She discusses the book with contributors Julie Klam and Karen Abbott at 7:30 p.m. at the Free Library, 1901 Vine St. Admission is free. Call 215-567-4341.
Classics by the sea The Dolce Suono Ensemble plays works by Claude Bolling, Jehan Alain, Henri Dutilleux, Jelly Roll Morton, and William Bolcom at 7:30 p.m. at the Great Auditorium, Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways, in Ocean Grove, N.J. Tickets are $13. Call 1-800-590-4064.
Sweating it out Andrew's Video Vault revisits that unique art form, the exercise video, with some 1990s examples. The triple bill: 1990's Dance! Workout With Barbie starring a 12-year-old Jennifer Love Hewitt; 1995's The Grind Workout: Fitness With Flava, with the erstwhile hip-hop icon and reality TV star Flava Flav; and 1995's Minimum Maintenance Fitness for Men Hosted by O.J. Simpson which was later subpoenaed because . . . well, you know. The films screen at 8 p.m. at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. Admission is free. Call 215-573-3234.
Friday & Saturday
Local hero Philly singer-songwriter Dan May plays his topical, Americana-tinged pop gems at Crossing Vineyards and Winery, 1853 Wrightstown Rd., Washington Crossing, at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $15. Call 215-493-6500, Ext. 19.
She belongs The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is missing more than a few of the greats. Consider this our bid to redress one omission: Lesley Gore, if only for the protofeminist anthem "You Don't Own Me." The 1960s legend performs at the Landis Theater Performing Arts Center, 830 E. Landis Ave., Vineland, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $45 and $55. Call 856-691-1121.