5 Things To Do This Weekend, From A Handmaid's Tale Opera To A Comedy Fest

There’s some exciting stuff coming up this weekend in Boston, including a "Handmaid’s Tale" opera and the 10th anniversary of the Women in Comedy Festival. Here’s what’s on tap:

Before “The Handmaid’s Tale” was a hit Hulu series starring Elisabeth Moss, it was an award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood. After that — but before the TV series — it became an opera. In this rendition, the Boston Lyric Opera rises to the challenge of bringing Poul Ruders’ music and Paul Bentley’s libretto to life in the #MeToo era.

Now in its 10th year, the Women in Comedy Festival brings in national acts and features lots of locals, with a packed schedule of stand-up, improv, podcasts, sketch shows and workshops. Headliners this year include stand-up comics Nikki Glaser and Phoebe Robinson and improv troupe Wild Horses.

The Wake Up the Earth Festival is a Jamaica Plain tradition commemorating activists’ successful prevention of the interstate expansion through the city in 1979. Now, it’s a free festival with local music, performances, crafts and food — plus a huge community parade.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded in 1958 in New York City, a small ensemble of black modern dancers determined to push the boundaries of the form. Now an institution, the troupe marks 60 years with a series of three programs, each anchored by Ailey’s groundbreaking work “Revelations.”

Soccer is the vehicle through which Marc Bamuthi Joseph explores the struggle and beauty of his Haitian-American identity in this vibrant dance-theater piece. The poet-performer brings in his experiences at the World Cup in Brazil and South Africa, and what the socio-economic impacts of those tournaments are. (Read more about the performance here.)