Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

UPDATE: The Bulladora Music Experience, which was on this list when it first published, has been canceled due to weather.

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The first weekend in June is deceptively busy around the Dallas area. While we only list 10 events below, many of them include multiple activities that span the spectrum of theater, music, art, movies, television, comic books, and more. In other words, you'll have no trouble finding something to do.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, June 2

Vitruvian Nights Live Concert Series
Starting Thursday, Vitruvian Park in Addison is hosting a bi-weekly concert series featuring live music; gourmet food trucks; drinks; mobile boutiques, and giveaways from radio stations like 106.1 Kiss FM, 102.1 the Edge, and Lone Star 92.5. Kicking things off is Warehouse, a Dave Matthews Band tribute group.

Audacity Theatre Lab presents 2016 Dallas Solo Fest
The Dallas Solo Fest, presented by Audacity Theatre Lab, features eight one-person shows that include a mix of local and national solo performers. Taking place at Magnolia Lounge at Fair Park through June 12, the purpose of the festival is to celebrate extraordinary solo theater, as well as increase awareness and appreciation for the form in the North Texas area.

Friday, June 3

Soluna Festival finale
The Soluna Festival is coming to a close with three final events. The highlight includes three performances, Friday through Sunday, by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra of Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony, complemented by two performances at Nasher Sculpture Center by artist Mai-Thu Perret: Figures on Thursday and O on Saturday.

Red Bull Global Rallycross Dallas
Completing an exceptionally busy weekend at Fair Park is Red Bull Global Rallycross, which makes a return to the Lone Star State with its inaugural Dallas event. The competition pits star-driven, production-based cars against each other in door-to-door racing featuring dirt, asphalt, and tabletop jumps. There will be racing on both Friday and Saturday.

Fan Expo Dallas
The largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event in Texas, Fan Expo Dallas features a slew of big names from movies, TV, and comics. The three-day festival at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center includes special events like a free presentation with William Shatner, Sci-Fi Speed Dating, a forum with Jay and Silent Bob, and Breakfast with Stan Lee.

WaterTower Theatre presents Outside Mullingar
The latest from WaterTower Theatre is Outside Mullingar, written by Pulitzer-, Oscar-, and Tony Award-winning author John Patrick Shanley. The play is a romance about Anthony and Rosemary, two introverted misfits in rural Ireland. Anthony is oblivious to the longing of his neighbor Rosemary, but when his father threatens to disinherit him, it spurs a delightful tale about love and its many surprises. The production runs through June 26.

R. Kelly in concert
R&B singer R. Kelly has been unapologetic in making his music as sexy as possible, with examples like his biggest hit, "Bump n' Grind," and his 2013 album, Black Panties. The always memorable performer is playing at American Airlines Center in support of his 2015 album, The Buffet.

Saturday, June 4

VolunteerNow presents Voly in the Park 2016
Voly in the Park, a daylong event at Klyde Warren Park, is Dallas’ only volunteerism festival, featuring 75 nonprofit agencies, hands-on volunteer projects, live entertainment, and more than 5,000 attendees. This festival showcases VolunteerNow’s volunteer matching program, Voly.org, an online platform that makes it quick and easy for volunteers to connect with more than 1,000 North Texas nonprofits.

Kenny Chesney in concert with Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, and Old Dominion
The first big concert of the summer is this monster at AT&T Stadium, featuring country superstar Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, and Old Dominion. Chesney is touring in support of his forthcoming 2016 album, Some Town Somewhere, while Lambert is still riding high off the success of her 2014 album, Platinum.

Dallas Solo Fest takes place at Magnolia Lounge at Fair Park through June 12.

Photo by Erik Carter

Dallas Solo Fest takes place at Magnolia Lounge at Fair Park through June 12.

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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