Night+Day

wednesday
june 21
Time Keeps on Slippin' What happens when Aristophanes' Lysistrata astral projects into the future? The answer to this strange question can be found in Galaxy Date 2022, a new play by Jessica Yarbrough that jumps back and forth between the titular time and ancient Greece in its exploration of gender bonds and rifts. Take a theatrical trip at 8 p.m. at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter, S.F. Tickets are $16; call 392-4400.

thursday
june 22
Dancing Near the Streets With "Dancing Downtown 1995," Brenda Way and ODC San Francisco continue to set original choreography to unconventional music. This year's two-week, two-program season includes K.T. Nelson's Angel's Doll (with a sound collage of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Glenn Branca), Way's Scissors Paper Stone (featuring words by John "Mighty Mouth" Moschitta and riffs by John Lee Hooker and Jimi Hendrix), and Western Women, a trilogy by Way incorporating the a cappella talents of Bobby McFerrin's SoVoSo. Tonight's performance begins at 7:30 p.m.; the festival continues Thurs-Sun through 7/2 (times vary) at Center for the Arts, 700 Howard, S.F. Tickets are $8.50-26.50; call 978-2787.

Different Drums Son of the legendary Nigerian drummer Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti now leads his own band, and he's one of the main acts at "Africa Féte Three," a rhythmic caravan featuring the traditional/folk fusion of Senegal-based Baaba Maal, the trance-inducing repetition of Haiti's Boukman Eksperyans, and Oumou Sangare, whom some crazy critic recently labeled "the Madonna from Mali" (probably because she incorporates contemporary female perspectives into ancient Malian music). Produced by Island, Motown, and Rounder Records, this year's event starts at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore, 1805 Geary, S.F. Tickets are $21.50; call 346-6000.

GLAAD All Over Regardless of what one thinks about their local actions, GLAAD's monitoring of gay representation in national media is influential. Seen Anything Good Lately? is a 75-minute program featuring TV clips from a time -- now -- when television is obsessed with gays and lesbians. Are talk shows freak shows, or are they educational? Are fictional characters as important as factual action? These are some of the questions Supervisor Tom Ammiano, talk-show host Joan Jett Blakk, comics Robin Greenspan and Sabrina Matthews, and KPIX reporter Hank Plante wrestle with, in between funny clips from The Simpsons and Roseanne and sad bits from the late, great My So-Called Life. The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, Castro & Market, S.F. Tickets are $7; call 621-6120.

Ru Better Work "I wrote this book because I wanted to reveal my soul to the world," writes RuPaul at the beginning of Lettin' It All Hang Out. Of course, in between autobiographical bouts of deep thinking and soul-searching, Ru offers plenty of dish: Afrocentric (with an emphasis on Afro) childhood photos, top-10 favorite lists, helpful hints on being fabulous, and candid thoughts on Milton Berle, Spike Lee, Bill Cosby, Kurt and Courtney, and, of course, the one and only Miss Ross. Catch a big star at 5:30 p.m. at A Different Light, 489 Castro, S.F. Free; call 431-0891.

friday
june 23
Lightning Strikes A Match to the Heart is Gretel Ehrlich's award-winning account of a uniquely awful experience: being struck by lightning. In the process of relating her slow, painful, sometimes terrifying recovery, Ehrlich ventures into natural and spiritual concerns; the result is a book that draws basic wisdom from bizarre experience. Hear Ehrlich at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck, Berkeley. Free; call (510) 486-0698.

Powwow Known as the only woman hoop dancer in America, Jackie Bird can spin 38 hoops at one time. She sings too, and she's one of many Native American performers (Lawrence Martin, Keith Secola, and the Wild Band of Indians) taking part in the eighth annual Silver Star Concert and Powwow, a benefit for the American Indian Film Festival. A concert featuring Bird kicks off three days of events -- including ceremonies, tribal dances, and arts and crafts involving more than 75 tribes -- at 7 p.m. at Kaiser Arena, 10th & Fallon, Oakland. Tickets for the concert are $7-15; tickets for the powwow are $1-2.50. Call 554-0525.

Schlocky Shocks In the time-honored tradition of mutant horror/comedy hybrids like Snow White's Bloody Valentine, A Partridge Family Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw 90210 comes A Facts of Life Prom Night, the latest tasteful, highbrow effort from Tony Vaguely's Sick and Twisted Players. See how Jo, Blair, Natalie, and Tootie fare in an ax-or-be-axed scenario. Heads will roll at 9 p.m. at Bernice Street Playhouse, 21 Bernice, S.F. The show continues Fri-Sat through 7/8. Tickets are $8-12; call 826-5358.

saturday
june 24
Unity 95 In celebration of the U.N.'s 50th anniversary, the nonprofit Unity Foundation has about a billion cultural and technological things happening. They're offering magic castles, 3-D virtual roller coasters, video conferences, lectures, and exhibits. They're also offering music by Harvey Mandel and the Electric Snake Band, the Caribbean Allstars, Venusians, didgeridoo whiz Stephen Kent, the Vukani Mawethu Choir, Zensnap, and more. The festivities take place noon-midnight at Fort Mason Center, Festival Pavilion, S.F., and continue Sunday. Tickets are $7; call 789-7673.

World's Greatest Bird Chaser The aforementioned title belongs to a charismatic pooch named Mr. Lunch, star of a fantabulous pair of kids books by the husband-wife team of J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh. In the new Mr. Lunch Borrows a Canoe, the cute canine dog-paddles all the way to Venice, Italy, encountering hundreds of neatly labeled, artfully designed, brightly colored doodads and doohickeys. Meet the authors/artists at noon at the Booksmith, 1644 Haight, S.F. Free; call 863-8688.