From Shakespeare to Grier to Tchaikovsky, icons get the spotlight this weekend in Olympia

Shakespearean silliness

Harlequin Productions is summarizing and skewering Shakespeare in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again].” The comedic classic — in which a trio of actors romps through all 37 of the bard’s plays in less than two hours — opens Friday, March 15, at the black box at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. (Harlequin’s own State Theater is undergoing renovations.) “Works” features Harlequin regulars Alyssa Kay and Eleise Moore, along with Drew Doyle, familiar to local Shakespeare fans for his work with Animal Fire Theatre. Doyle’s costumes will look familiar, too: Designer Melanie Ransom made the actor a suit and a pair of pumpkin pants from fabric that replicates the design of John Tafejian’s mural at Fifth Avenue and Water Street in Olympia. “I wanted to work with a local artist to put something that looked like Olympia on the stage for this show,” said Ransom, the company’s resident costume designer. “John’s murals feel really Elizabethan to me. … My hope is that when audience members see the suit in the show, they’ll think, ‘Hey, haven’t I seen that somewhere around town?’ ” “Works” will be on stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 15-16, plus March 20-23 and 28-30; and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17, plus March 23-24, 27, 30 and 31. Some shows, including opening night, are already sold out. Tickets are $28-$43. For the March 20 and 27 performances and the March 30 matinee, pay what you can.

‘70s action star Pam Grier comes to town

Film icon Pam Grier, whose powerful characters made the bad guys pay in ’70s action flicks, will host screenings and talk about her career Saturday, March 16, in Olympia. Grier, a star of the Blaxploitation genre and a favorite of director Quentin Tarantino, was one of the first Black women to become an action heroine in mainstream American films. The Olympia Film Society is screening her breakout hit, 1973’s “Coffy,” at 4 p.m. Saturday and 1975’s “Friday Foster” at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia. Grier will answer questions after both screenings. Tickets are $25-$30 for one film or $50 for both.

Symphony celebrates love and pride

The Olympia Symphony Orchestra’s “Pride”celebrates prohibited love with a mashup of music from “West Side Story” and Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” along with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, which Tchaikovsky wanted to dedicate to his male partner but didn’t due to societal pressures. Kristin Lee, a celebrated violinist and the artistic director of local chamber series Emerald City Music, is the soloist for the concerto, which Tchaikovsky composed at about the same time as his own version of “Romeo and Juliet.” The program ends with a mystery piece. The concert will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17, at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $15.52-$84.75.

Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks with DJ Kevin the Brit about what’s happening around town on KGY-FM’s “Oly in a Can,” airing at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fridays.