Get Artsy with Film, Theater, and Paintings in This Week’s Boston Events

Reading out loud in a bookstore is generally frowned upon, and even reading to yourself could get you kicked out because hey, this isn’t a library, you’re going to have to buy that if you want to find out which shade of grey to wear to get people to have weird sex with you or whatever that book is about. The exception is when Hub Theatre Company comes to Trident Booksellers & Cafe for a live reading of Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline.” The film adaptation comes out later this year, but it stars Ethan Hawke who somehow hasn’t figured out that people only want to see him in Richard Linklater movies. (7 p.m., FREE, all ages)

Bringing low-cost, fun activities for the whole family to downtown, the North End, and the Harbor Islands, Downtown Week wraps up with Open Studios at Design Museum Boston on the waterfront. The museum’s decentralized pop-up exhibitions will, um, pop up all over the city and surrounding neighborhoods, so this is your chance to see what they have planned for the rest of the summer and fall in one place. It’s like if the “NOT ART” stencil guy would just put all of the non-art stuff in the city in one place for Open Not Studios. (11 a.m., FREE, all ages)

We’ve all been there: You just got to the bar and ordered your first round, everyone’s having a great time, and your friends lets out a big yawn. Then because yawns are contagious, your other friends start yawning, then you do, too, and yawns must mean you’re really tired and next thing you know you’re leaving the bar before last call, which is a crime when last call in Boston is like 10:45 p.m. SoonSpoon’s Caffeinated Cocktails Pop-Up solves the problem, bringing together Tyler Wang (bar manager at Audobon )with Josh Gerber and Hannah Epstein (owner and barista extraordinaire, respectively, at 1369 Coffee House) to craft three coffee-based cocktails that’ll keep you awake long enough to get drunk enough to pass out. (6:30 p.m., $30, 21+)

It’s only fun to joke about “starving artists” when those artists are just pretending to be poor and actually have a trust fund to fall back on. Founded by Boston brother and sister duo Liz and Spencer Powers, ArtLifting empowers homeless, disabled, and other disadvantaged individuals through the celebration and sale of their artwork on the web. The site is hoping to expand to five additional cities in the next six months, kicking off with a Kickstarter launch party Tuesday night featuring ArtLifting artists on-site to discuss their work. (6 p.m., FREE, all ages)

It’s understandable if you’ve recently forgotten that video cameras can be used to film other stuff besides Facebook videos of people dumping ice buckets over their heads. The new season of Boston Open Screen at the Coolidge Corner Theatre kicks off Tuesday, welcoming amateur filmmakers to sign up and show their (under 10-minute) projects on the big screen, whether they’re filmed on 35mm film or an iPhone camera. It’s like an open mic night for filmmakers, which is great because like comedians most filmmakers are essentially broken inside and need to share their feelings with the world to fill a deep existential hole in their beings. (7 p.m., FREE, all ages)

The Seaport might not have better restaurants than any other neighborhood/town that’s hosted a “Taste Of” event this spring and summer, so what sets Taste of the Seaport apart? It’s free! Food just tastes better when it’s free, or if you’re drunk enough to not care about spending $37 on Dominos just for yourself because you’re not going to see it on your bank statement until the next day. Enjoy samples from a variety of area restaurants, plus live music from local artists in the South Boston Maritime Park. (12 p..m., FREE, all ages)

Bridge Repertory Theater came up with a pretty genius idea to promote and raise funds for its upcoming season: Bridge Rep Brews pairs each of the season’s four upcoming productions with a carefully selected creative beer tasting, along with food and a sneak peek at the first show at a swanky renovated warehouse space, Studio Twenty Two. The catch is you have to go to Malden, but if you try hard enough you can probably convince your friends that Malden is only a couple years away from becoming the next Somerville. (6 p.m., $15, 21+)

See, this is the kind of thing IndieGoGo was designed for, not so Zach Braff can make a pointless “Garden State” sequel without even having to beg his rich Hollywood friends for money. Local theater group The Opposite of People backed their new production of ”Romeo Juliet” through the online fundraising tool, although they apparently couldn’t afford the word “and” for the title, or even an ampersand. A new interpretation of the text that draws from multiple sources to plunge the title characters into a dystopian future (everyone’s favorite kind of future, utopia would be so boring) the play runs Thursday to Saturday at Watertown’s Arsenal Center for the Arts. (8 p.m., $10, all ages)

Photo credit: Dhyana H.J.F. from ArtLifting.com

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This article was provided by our content partner, The Boston Calendar.