This weekend's best bets: June 20

Looking for something cultural to do in the next week or so? Here’s our select list of recommendations. Pictured: A scene from Georgia Shakespeare’s luminous and inventive “Metamorphoses,” previewing tonight and opening Fridays.

RECOMMENDED

Metamorphoses. PREVIEWS TONIGHT | OPENS FRIDAY. Everybody into the pool! Put Georgia Shakespeare‘s reprise of this 2005 hit on your must-see list. This beautiful, bawdy, raucous and heartbreaking piece tells 10 stories about what it means to be human. The 2002 Broadway hit from creator Mary Zimmerman is based on the myths of Ovid, an ancient Roman poet, and it does place in pool. Producing Artistic Director Richard Garner again directs. Contains brief nudity. $13.08-$44.86. Through July 21. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Additional shows: 8 p.m. June 25; 2 p.m. June 29 and July 6; 7 p.m. June 30 and July 7. No show July 4. Conant Performing Arts Center, Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.504.1473. Discount vouchers at  PoshDealz.com.

The Velveteen Rabbit. THROUGH JULY 27. Travel to a time when toys were sewn by hand and modern technology was not all the rage. Serenbe Playhouse‘s third season opens with this original adaptation (set in the Civil War era) of the Margery Williams classic about a toy rabbit that longs to be real. The critics: “Imaginative, playful and often interactive” (Jim Farmer, ArtsATL.com). All Serenbe shows are performed outdoors. This event takes place in the Grange Creek area, behind Fern’s Market. Please bring your own seating. $15; $10 age 13 and under. 11 a.m. Friday-Saturday. 9110 Selborne Lane, Palmetto, about 30 minutes from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Details, tickets HERE or at 770.463.1110. Half-price tickets (July 6, 13, 20 shows) at PoshDealz.com.

OPENING THIS WEEKEND

Dementia Juice. OPENS FRIDAY | THROUGH JULY 27. Dad’s Garage Theatre Company says goodbye to its memory-filled mainstage with this off-kilter, puppet-filled ride to hell, aka the inlaws’ house. The plot: Making a good first impression on a girlfriend’s parents is pretty hard to do when the walls are melting, everyone’s faces keep swapping and her dad catches on fire. This is either a Dalí painting or a serious acid trip! This scripted comedy uses moving set pieces, masks and puppets to help the audience experience what the main character does. Written and directed by Dad’s Artistic Director Kevin Gillese and Michael Haverty (7 Stages, the Object Group, etc.). $7-$28 (pay-what-you-can show at 8 p.m. July 1). 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. 280 Elizabeth St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.3141. Buy online and save. Read more about Dad’s imminent, involuntary move from Inman Park in this Encore FEATURE. (Pictured, from left: Lucky Yates, Amber Nash and Tom Rittenhouse.)

THIS WEEKEND ONLY

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles and German pianist Lars Vogt close the classical season with a program of works by Brahms — Tragic Overture, Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 1. Vogt (pictured, at right) came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition. The Financial Times of London calls his playing “an experience that is as much spiritual as it is intellectual.” $32-$84. 8 tonight and Saturday. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.

2nd Annual Black Vintage Movie Series. SATURDAY. The event celebrates African-American pioneers in the film industry. Doors open at 2 p.m., and Still Waters Sinfo-Nia Quintet performs at 2:15 and 5 p.m. The movies: Hallelujah (3 p.m.), King Vidor’s 1929 film about a sharecropper who falls for a beautiful dancer; and Broken Strings (6 p.m.), a 1940 film about a musician father and son divided, then united, in their passion for classical and swing. Anointed Voices of Tabernacle Baptist Church performs at 7 p.m. $25 plus fees for an all-day pass; $15 plus fees per screening. Balzer Theater at Herren’s (the home of Theatrical Outfit), 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE.

STILL PLAYING

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat. THOUGH JULY 28. The Center for Puppetry Arts teams with the rhythm doc for this Atlanta premiere. Go totally Seussian with the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. Told with rod puppets and animation. Originally produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain. Directed here by Jon Ludwig. $16.50 non-members; $9.25 members. 10 a.m. and noon Tuesday-Friday; 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday. Closed July 4. 1404 Spring St. N.W. at 18th Street. Details, tickets HERE, at tickets@puppet.org or 404.873.3391.

Samurai Davis Jr. and Dim Sum’s Super Mega Happy Fun Time Improv Show. THROUGH JULY 26. Dad’s Garage Theater Company‘s improvised Japanese game show returns with peanut butter lap dances, cheeseburger milkshakes, karaoke flash mobs, non-English-speaking hosts and sassy sailor girls. $14-$26. 10:30 p.m. Friday. Dad’s Garage mainstage, 280 Elizabeth St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.523.3141. Buy online and save. Read more about Dad’s move from Inman Park in this Encore FEATURE.

LAST CHANCE

Hamlet & Rosencrantz | Guildenstern Are Dead. The New American Shakespeare Tavern rings down the curtain (metaphorically speaking) on this two-show repertory.  Jonathan Horne plays the melancholy Dane in Hamlet. Tickets remain for only the 6:30 p.m. Sunday performance ($15-$22 plus fees). R&G is a hilarious inversion of  the tragedy, as seen through the eyes of two bumbling gravediggers and the imagination of playwright Tom Stoppard. 7:30 tonight and Saturday ($15-$36 plus fees). Yummy pub menu and adult beverages available. 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE. Get a $50 Tavern gift card good for tickets and food, at PoshDealz.com for $25.

The Great McAnigan. CLOSES SATURDAY. This Collective Project world premiere tells a tale of the amazing, the astounding and the poetically disabled Andrew McAnigan, who excels at almost everything. The script is by Atlanta writer-actor-teacher-director Dave Lauby. The critics: “A lot that goes on is clever and inventive” (Jim Farmer, ArtsATL.com). The Collective is experimenting with a “see the play before you pay” system. Patrons can reserve a priority seat HERE or by calling 678.680.3853, then see the play and pay afterward. Anyone wishing to opt out of this system can buy tickets at the regular price at the door or ONLINE ($20; $15 age 25 and younger). Goat Farm Arts Center’s Rodriguez Room, 1200 Foster St. Directions HERE.

LOOKING AHEAD

Dance Truck Returns. JUNE 28 ONLY. Atlanta’s mobile movement project Dance Truck presents new works by BEATRIX, Kala Seidenberg, Erik Thurmond and guest artists tEEth. The performance takes place in the driveway surrounding the magnolia tree at the Arts Exchange. 7-10 p.m. $10 at door. 750 Glenwood Ave. S.E. Details at atldancetruck@gmail.com or 971.404.7228.

5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche. OPENS JULY 3 | THROUGH JULY 15. Weird Sisters Theatre Project, a company committed to creating theater by women, for everyone, opens a two-show summer season with this clever comedy by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood. It’s 1956 and the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their annual quiche breakfast. Will a Communist strike interrupt their idyll? Kelly Criss directs. $15. 7:30 p.m. July 3, 9-10 and 15 (limited Shakespeare Tavern menu available); and 10:30 p.m. July 5-6, 12-13. The New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details HERE. Tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299.

A Walk in the Woods. OPENS JUNE 27 | THROUGH JULY 14. Can major change happen with a simple walk in the woods? That’s the question asked in A Walk in the Woods at Serenbe Playhouse, in which two superpower arms negotiators — a Russian and an American — meet outside Geneva, Switzerland, to negotiate nuclear disarmament. Cast: Robin Bloodworth and Allan Edwards. Lee Blessing’s 1987 drama was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Performed in the clearing at the Serenbe Farmers and Artists Market. $25 plus fees; $20 students. 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. 9110 Selborne Lane, Palmetto, about 30 minutes from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Details, tickets HERE. Half-price tickets (June 19, July 5-6, 12-13 shows) at PoshDealz.com.

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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, covering or working in the performing arts for most of her life. Full disclosure: She’s affiliated with Weird Sisters Theatre Project listed above. Please email: kathy@encoreatlanta.com.