It's Friday! Celebrate the weekend and all this glorious rain we've been getting with these five events, expertly selected just for you:
Bay Area Derby Girls Season Opener
During the Bay Area Derby Girls’ league championship game last July, underdog team the Oakland Outlaws eked out a win against the San Francisco ShEvil Dead by 23 points. This Saturday, at the season opener at the Craneway Pavilion, the Outlaws will try to maintain their heavyweight status in a battle against longtime victors the Richmond Wrecking Belles, who are looking to redeem themselves after failing to make it to the championships last year. The double-header will also include a matchup between the San Francisco ShEvil Dead and the Berkeley Resistance, but that game is more of a wildcard since both teams have almost entirely new rosters this year. For those who haven’t been to a derby bout before, expect to see intense competition and impressive athletic maneuvers. If you buy a VIP pass, you’ll be able to ask questions to the “Talk Derby to Me” liaisons. Saturday, Mar. 1. 6 p.m., $25-$50. BayAreaDerbyGirls.com — Zaineb Mohammed
Bread and Circuses
Impact Theatre is known as the kind of company that puts on Shakespeare productions, but with machine guns as props. So when longtime Impact playwright Steve Yockey approached artistic director Melissa Hillman last year with the idea of exploring the theme of violence in a series of plays, it seemed like a perfect fit for the Berkeley-based theater company. The playwrights — Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Prince Gomolvilas, Declan Greene, Lauren Gunderson, Dave Holstein, JC Lee, Ross Maxwell, Lauren Yee, and Yockey — each contributed a unique perspective on the theme. For example, in Yockey's play, Bedtime, the "damsel in distress" who is targeted by a psychopathic serial killer takes drastic measures to kill him herself. Other plays offer a humorous take on violence. In Don't Turn Around by Ross Maxwell, a zombie apocalypse forces a couple to flee to the mall and seek shelter in a janitor's closet. While they hide out, their ten-year-long relationship begins to unravel when the man makes an unexpected revelation. The nine short plays, which will be performed at La Val's Subterranean, do not moralize about violence, but rather raise questions about what we are afraid of and why, making connections between horror movies and issues like feminism and class. Preview shows on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27-28. 8 p.m., $10. Play runs through April 6. $15-$25. ImpactTheatre.com — Z.M.
White Elephant Sale
Held in a 96,000-square-foot warehouse with seventeen departments featuring items such as clothing, furniture, jewelry, antiques, sporting goods, art, and electronics, the White Elephant Sale is not your average garage sale. The event began in 1959 as a way to generate funds for the creation of the Oakland Museum of California, and 55 years later, it remains the museum’s biggest fundraiser, as well as Northern California’s largest rummage sale. Last year, the event raised $1.8 million. The goods, which are all donated, can run the gamut from high-end merchandise to bargain tchotchkes. This year, collections of vinyl records, comic books, and train sets will be among the items being sold. According to organizers, some shoppers buy their wardrobes for the entire year at the sale, as well as wedding dresses, engagement rings, and costumes for Bay to Breakers. Be prepared for a crowd — lines to enter usually go down the block. Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 1-2. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., free. WhiteElephantSale.org — Z.M.
Plus... Get your cheapskate on: This is how much we love you guys: Here are our searchable listings of every single free event happening in the East Bay this weekend.
Feed Us: Got any East Bay news, events, video, or miscellany we should know about? Holler at us at Zaineb.Mohammed@EastBayExpress.com.