Those pesky buskers of Busker Fest have come and gone, and Lawrence has a bit of downtime before the flurry of Free State Festival events get underway later this month. But you’ll still find plenty of cultural activity over this weekend and next week. This week’s diverse picks should appeal to families, nerds and fans of art, music and theater. Dig in.

[Updated from earlier post]

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Free State Festival Under the Stars: The Breakfast Club, 9 p.m. Friday outside Lawrence Arts Center

Well, it turns out that Mother Nature is stronger than a bunch of velociraptors. Thursday’s screening of “Jurassic Park” at the Lawrence Public Library was cancelled due to a threat of late-evening storms. Your children are probably crying right now.

Perhaps the weather will be kinder for Friday’s planned outdoor screening of “The Breakfast Club” (and even if it does rain, it will be moved inside the Arts Center). So pack some sandwiches made of Pixie sticks and Cap’n Crunch and hope for the best. But remember that this film is R-rated if you’re bringing the kids along. Smoke up, Johnny!

The Facebook event page is here.

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‘True West,’ 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and June 12 and 13 at Liberty Hall

Our pick for the most important local theatrical event of the summer (and possibly the year) is Rob Schulte’s production of Sam Shepard’s classic 1980 play about identity and brotherhood, “True West.”

We’re excited to see Card Table Theatre trying their hand at an established and challenging classic in an unusual performance space that will utilize Liberty’s stage in fascinating ways: the audience will be seated onstage, very close to the actors. Rob is also utilizing the Broadway technique famously employed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly, in which the lead actors trade roles on alternate nights. True theater buffs should not miss this. Oh, and did we mention that Liberty Hall’s own beloved Maggie Allen is (briefly) in this play? The Facebook event page is here.

Only 60 seats will be available for each of the four productions, and they are selling quickly at Liberty Hall, so don’t delay. In keeping with the experimental nature of all this, we’ll be reviewing the play next week for Lawrence.com in a professional but perhaps a bit unusual style, so check the site for our thoughts on Monday. Read more about the production in this Lawrence.com story.

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Lawrence artists at First Friday in KC, 5 p.m. in Crossroads Arts District

Are you finding LFK’s Final Fridays a little stagnant these days? Or maybe you just crave two consecutive Fridays of art openings? Make the short jaunt down I-70 for KC’s ever-popular First Friday. This month’s installment features a wealth of Lawrence artists.

Lawrence artist Karen Matheis has new “Color Block” paintings at Blue Gallery. Her painting “Color Block #10” is included above, and you also can watch Karen cook some nice soup in a promo for the show here.

Other Lawrence artists on the scene: Jeremy Rockwell and Clare Doveton have a show called “Unsettled Plains” next door at Weinberger Fine Art.; Dave Dehetre (known for his “Alley Art” in LFK) has a show at LOA; and Kenny Bini’s “Paintings” are at The Late Show gallery.

While you’re on the scene, make sure to also check out the cool underwater-art of “Tank” on display at Grand Arts. It’s featured in this week’s “Kansas City Connection” column in the LJWorld.

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Girls Rock! Lawrence Band Showcase, doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Saturday, Bottleneck

This is the first summer for the new Girls Rock Lawrence music camp, and tonight brings a cool event where the campers will perform some original songs followed by performances from three female-centric Lawrence and Kansas City bands. So come support the kids and then stick around for some tender bluegrass murder ballads from MAW and fierce rock and roll from Sister Rat, Katie Guillen and the Girls, and KC rapper Morwasha.

The Facebook event page is here. And check out more about what the kids learned about rocking at the camp this week in this LJWorld story.

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Science on Tap: Cicadas, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Free State Brewery

Didn’t get your fill of cicadas at Thursday’s “Adventurous Eating Event” in South Park? Head to Free State Brewery tonight as Science on Tap serves up a cicada-centric installment of Science on Tap. Robert Hagen, the Field Education Coordinator of the KU Environmental Studies Program, will offer a presentation on this year’s extra-frisky batch of “17-year cicadas,” which are probably raising a ruckus outside your window as you read this.

Find more info here via the KU Natural History Museum website.

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Nerd Nite, 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at Maceli’s

Finally, a quick heads up for next week’s Nerd Nite, which should serve as a great precursor to the music and comedy events of the upcoming Free State Festival. This installment offers talks on hidden album tracks, subversive rock humor and “fourth-wave feminism” in stand-up comedy. Find all the details here.

Tweet us @LarryvilleLife with questions, complaints, or high praise.