Ashley Phillips, Warden Cassidy, ‘High School,’ and more this weekend

This weekend offers music, family arts-and-crafts fun, a new play inspired by Philly’s most famous prison, and lots more.

On Friday night at 7:30 at International House, Intercultural Journeys continues its 2018-19 “Origin Stories” theme with new work from singer/songwriter/guitarist Ashley Phillips. Tell ‘Em I’m Gone ($15 to $20; $10 for students), according to IJ, “traces songs of work and play from the folk music of the African diaspora to its 21st-century forms in an interactive performance,” including songs, hand games, and chants.

Phillips, a black, queer artist based in Philly, calls it “my journey into the legacy and spirit of Black resilience and resistance through song, movement, and storytelling,” inspired by her work as a teaching artist with young people of color, songs from her childhood, and “my desire to create an experience that highlights Black American traditions for a multi-generational audience.” The accompanying ensemble promises to be a treat, including dancer/choreographer Maria Bauman-Morales, vocalist/pianist V. Shayne Frederick, and vocussionist Bethlehem Roberson. The International House building and theater are accessible by ramps, and there’s a central elevator to downstairs restrooms.

The warden’s trial

On Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm, PHIT at the Adrienne hosts an interesting new hourlong play by Alanna Shaffer and Christine Freije. The Investigation of Warden Michael J. Cassidy ($5 to $18) visits an important figure in Philly’s late-19th-century history.

Cassidy starting working at Eastern State Penitentiary as a carpenter in the early 1860s and worked his way up to become ESP’s longest-serving warden. He wrote an influential treatise on corrections and presided over the building of four cellblocks added onto ESP’s original seven-cellblock design (he famously claimed the new cells were as nice as a room at the seashore). But his administration was also marred by reports of abuse of the inmates.

Shaffer and Freije’s play takes place in 1897, as Warden Cassidy is accused of cruelty, neglect, and incompetence. The audience hears his testimony and decides his fate in a show that’s “half historical drama, half immersive absurdist comedy,” examining “hypocrisy, power, human isolation, and the limits of impunity.” The second-floor theater is accessible by an outside ramp and elevator, with ground-floor ADA restrooms.

An extra fun day

On Saturday from noon to 4pm, East Fairmount Park’s Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse and the Pincus Family Foundation host the 6th annual David Pincus Extra Fun Day. The afternoon of free activities includes live music, kid-friendly food, and sculpture-making inspired by Mark di Suvero’s bright-red, 40-foot, 17.5-ton metal Iroquois sculpture at Eakins Oval. David N. Pincus, who died in 2011, was a Philly philanthropist, art collector, and Smith supporter who donated Iroquois to the Association for Public Art in 2007. For accessibility info, call Smith Memorial Playground at 215-765-4325 or e-mail [email protected].

Usiloquy dance celebrates 10 years

On Saturday night, Usiloquy Dance Designs celebrates its 10th anniversary with a performance, fundraiser, international cuisine, and dance party at Asian Arts Initiative. Usiloquy is our region’s only organization dedicated to Bharatanatyam, an intricate and immersive dance form going back thousands of years in southern India, and the group uses its events as bridges for intercultural learning.

From 5 to 6pm, enjoy performances from sitar player Thomas Wave, experimental hooper Gabrielle Revlock, and Usiloquy. A silent auction alongside drinks and Caribbean, Sicilian, and Indian bites follows, and from 7 to 8pm the Asian Arts auditorium becomes a dance party for all. Tickets are $30 (discounts are available for groups of four or more). The Asian Arts event space is accessible by an entrance ramp.

Back to high school

Back at International House on Sunday at 7pm, Lightbox Film Center hosts a fascinating Philly-centric screening. The Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of Frederick Wiseman’s groundbreaking cinéma vérité documentary High School, with a 35mm screening ($7 to $15). The film was made over five springtime weeks inside Philly’s Northeast High School in 1968. It follows teachers and students in their everyday social lives, lessons, and power struggles and examines how “schools succeed in transmitting social values from one generation to another.” The evening features conversation with special guest Tim Corrigan, professor of English and cinema studies at the University of Pennsylvania.