Four Chord Music Festival at Highmark Stadium; Last Day for ‘Cambodian Rock Band’ at City (Sun., 10/6/19)

1) The organizers couldn’t have picked a more apt name. Four Chord Music Festival at Highmark Stadiumfeatures pop-punk, guitar-based bands, such as headliners the Offspring. “Come Out and Play,” from 1994’s Smash, was a smash single. “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” and “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” were other hits. Simple Plan are also on the bill as are numerous other openers. There will be live wrestling too. 11 a.m. 510 W. Station Square Dr., Station Square. (CM)

CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND by Lauren Yee. Through Oct. 6, City Theatre. 

Actor Aja Wiltshire plays two roles in a multifaceted time-travel show; here she’s belting a tune as a 1970s rock star. (photo: Kristi Jan Hoover)

2) Chicago is a big theater town, so when a play gets rave notices like “the best show you’ll see in Chicago this spring. Maybe all year,” it’s probably pretty good. Cambodian Rock Band  is now at City Theatre in Pittsburgh, where the early returns have been strong as well. (See our review for details.) The play is an unusual hybrid. It deals with a grim subject, the reign of terror imposed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia during the 1970s, by telling a story of rock musicians who’ve been targeted for death as enemies of the people. That story is bracketed by another one, a father-daughter seriocomedy set in today’s Cambodia. Cambodian Rock Band is fictional but includes true events, characters based on real people—and plenty of live music. Written by Lauren Yee, the play is co-presented by City Theatre along with Victory Gardens Theater, which staged it in Chicago a few months ago, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre of Lowell, Massachusetts. Today’s performance is an audio description and open caption show. 2 p.m. Ends today. 1300 Bingham St., South Side. (MV)

Sunday, October 6

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