artquicks

More stuff going on this week…

Books

Author Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club) reads from her latest release, The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, a collection of essays about writing, trips to China and performing in a rock band -- and the role fate has played in all of the above. Tue., Oct. 28, 8 p.m., $6 (simulcast seating only; auditorium seating sold out), Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine St., 215-569-9700.

Art

Let out some artistic -- and physical --energy by putting paintbrush to wall this Saturday. The Mural Arts Program continues its month-long celebrations with this Community Paint Day in Mantua. Sat., Oct. 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free, 37th and Mt. Vernon sts., 215-685-0750.

Theater

The Barnes scandal was screaming for artistic interpretation, and here it is: Permanent Collection, a play by Barrymore-award winner Thomas Gibbons, an astute observer of race relations in America. This time, it's not so much about a famous art collection but about space – how much is afforded to whom and why. Oct. 24-Nov. 23, $14-$25, InterAct Theatre Company, 2030 Sansom St., 215-568-8079.

Theater

Playwright William Mastrosimone (Extremities) spent time in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and in Afghan Women, he writes not just about the struggles of a woman working at an orphanage, but the nation's cultural and political wars. Through Nov. 2, $25, Mill Hill Playhouse, Front and Montgomery sts., Trenton, N.J., 609-392-0766.

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