THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27
FILM Watch contemporary Irish cinema at the 14th Capital Irish Film Festival at AFI Silver. See documentaries about Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney (Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens, 2/29) and the photographers who captured day-to-day life during The Troubles (Shooting the Darkness, 3/1), or watch lighter fare: the festival opens with the comedy A Bump Along the Way about the relationship between a newly pregnant mom and her teenage daughter (2/27). Through March 1. All-access pass $120; individual screenings $8-$13.
BEER California brewery FiftyFifty is known for its line of barrel-aged imperial stouts called Eclipse; the brewery releases several versions of the stout every year, each aged in different spirit barrels, which allows the flavor of the spirit to shine. ChurchKey is celebrating both the stouts and the whiskeys by offering six vintage variants of Eclipse (from 2014 and 2015) alongside the six different whiskeys whose barrels they were aged in. Try Eclipse beers aged in barrels of Evan Williams, Four Roses, Woodford Reserve, and more, head-to-head with whiskey pours. Free to attend (beer and whiskey prices vary), 4 PM.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
MUSEUMS Portrait artist John Singer Sargent switched his medium from oil to charcoal in the early 1900s; the National Portrait Gallery will present the first exhibition of these drawings in over 50 years in “John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal.” The exhibit will show portraits of men and women who were accomplished in their fields; many of these portraits come from private collections. Through May 31.
THEATER Arena Stage’s new play Celia and Fidel is a fictional play inspired by Fidel Castro and his political partner Celia Sánchez. The play imagines a conversation between the two as Castro ponders how to move the country forward despite a failing economy—while 10,000 Cuban citizens seek asylum at Cuba’s Peruvian Embassy. Through April 12. $72 – $115.
FILM Watch some of the best selections from the DC Shorts International Film Festival at a series of screenings at the Miracle Theatre. The Jury Award Winners and the Audience Award Winners will screen each night; each showcase runs 90 minutes. Through February 29. $15 per showcase or $25 for both screenings in a night.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29
SPORTS D.C. United didn’t make it past the first round of the MLS playoffs last season, but they are ready to kick off 2020 with the first home game of the season at Audi Field against the Colorado Rapids. The team is missing Luciano Acosta and Wayne Rooney this season, but keep an eye on midfielders Edison Flores and Julian Gressel, plus forward Ola Kamara. The regular season runs through October 4. $28-$240, 1 PM.
MUSEUMS The Phillips Collection highlights the work of African American artists with “Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition.” Presenting works by 20th and 21st century African American artists alongside early 20th century European artists, the show aims to illustrate the influence of European modernist art on black artists. Through May 24. $12.
SUNDAY, MARCH 1
MUSEUMS Impressionist artist Edgar Degas is known for his paintings of ballerinas, but he was also fascinated by the Paris Opéra. The National Gallery of Art’s new exhibit of his work, “Degas at the Opéra,” will show around 100 of Degas’s works (paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints) that depict both the public and private spaces of the Opéra, as well as its dancers, musicians, and patrons. The exhibit coincides with the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Opéra. Through July 5.
PERFORMANCE Drag queen and recording artist Trixie Mattel won Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2018, co-hosts the web series “UNHhhh” and “The Trixie & Katya Show,” and has released three studio albums. She will perform her music (with a live band) and deliver her humorous stories at the Lincoln Theatre. $39.50, 8 PM.
LAST CALL: Here’s what’s closing this weekend
“PRESENT TENSE: DC Punk and DIY Right Now” closes 2/29 at Transformer.
“Future Sketches by Zach Lieberman” closes 3/1 at Artechouse.
