FRIDAY

Enjoy food and fun at summer’s final Picnic on the Pier event

Enjoy a picnic on the waterfront and get a blast of history at this summer’s final Picnic on the Pier.

The evening of entertainment on the Battleship Missouri Memorial will feature tours of the historic battleship, which served in three wars and was the site of the signing of the formal declaration of surrender by Japan.

Picnickers are invited to bring their own food and drink (no glass bottles, please) or enjoy food by Gordon Biersch restaurant. Bring beach chairs and blankets to set up along the pier.

Entertainment will be provided by Randy Allen, who is known for looping his guitar and ukulele to create a multi-instrumental sound and is considered one of Hawaii’s best wedding entertainers.

Other activities include a session on making and using signal flags for kids and a raffle offering gift certificates, tote bags, coffee mugs and coffee.

Park at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center parking area and catch the free shuttle to the pier.

SATURDAY

Gala helps kick off Rainbow Film Fest

The Rainbow Film Festival, featuring 20 films and 22 shorts, kicks into high gear this week with screenings of two films tonight, a red-carpet gala on Saturday and more film showings on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 27.

Festival organizer Brent Anbe said the festival will be bigger and better than ever, and the gala should be especially fun, with a hosted bar, signature cocktails from Hula’s Bar & Lei Stand, bites from popular eateries including Chef Chai, Pig & the Lady and Baker & Butcher, and live music.

“Usually we pair it with a film, but we would have to have a fun party, then rush everyone downstairs into the theater,” he said. “This time we’re going to have an all-evening affair so that people can enjoy their whole evening.”

Actors and filmmakers whose work is featured in the festival will appear at the gala, including Flavio Florencio, director of “Made in Bangkok,” which screens at 6:15 p.m. tonight; Chris Kelly, supervising producer at “Saturday Night Live” and director of the feature film “Other People,” which screens tonight at 8 p.m.; and director Andrew Ahn and lead actor Joe Seo, pictured at right, of “Spa Night,” winner of a special jury award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which screens at 7 p.m. Sunday.

“It’s our party of the year for our community,” Anbe said. “It’s the chance for people to mix and mingle with all of our filmmakers, celebrities and special guests.”

All films and the gala are at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Visit hglcf.org for a complete festival schedule.

Partake in arts at free events in Chinatown

Head into Chinatown on Saturday for DiscoverArt, the recurring arts festival that offers visitors the chance to learn and partake in arts activities.

The free festival, which started in February and has continued on the second Saturday of every month, is intended to be a family-friendly, participatory offshoot of First Friday, which has become more entertainment-oriented. “It is a new initiative, so each month we learn something new. It’s getting better and better,” said Miki Lee, a senior community builder for the Honolulu Culture and Arts District.

For DiscoverArt the Pauahi Street sidewalk will be turned into a street festival featuring whimsical ceramics by Peter Murray, improv poetry by Tamara Moan, an exhibit by the Hawaii Pastel Association and more. You can also get a cartoon of yourself by caricaturist Tiki Wolf, pictured at left, who will draw it on an iPad for use on social media.

The ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave., meanwhile, will present performances by On the Spot Improv, along with music by traditional Hawaiian music group Maikapu‘uwai, all-women flamenco-rock band Nightbloom, and Middle Eastern folk and jazz trio Island Oasis.

Other activities include hanafuda classes, using new Hawaii-themed hanafuda cards at Louis Pohl Gallery, 1142 Bethel St.; and free ukulele lessons by Terry Oyama, in the courtyard outside the post office at 1170 Nuuanu Ave. (Only a few instruments will be available, so participants should bring their own if possible.)

Environmentally conscious visitors also might want to check out DiscoverArt’s small “parklets,” transforming parking spaces along Nuuanu Avenue. Used packing crates will be transformed into furniture by members of SHADE (Sustainable, Humanitarian, Architecture & Design for the Earth), a public-interest design initiative.

Shakespeare comedy set in modern-day Honolulu

Early Shakespeare gets a local twist in Hawaiian Mission Houses’ latest production, “Two Gentleman of Verona,” which opens today.

The play, which many consider to be the first Shakespeare ever wrote, is a coming-of-age tale about two young friends, Valentine (Brandon DiPaola) and Proteus (Nick Jeffs, pictured), who leave home for a better life and get caught up in a love triangle involving Julia (Lacey Chu, pictured), the daughter of a duke. Various misadventures involving servants and cross-dressing ensue.

Inspired by stories about the recent closure of Maui’s last sugar plantation, director Will Ha‘o set the play in modern-day Hawaii, with two friends leaving Maui for Honolulu and arriving in Chinatown during First Friday’s downtown bar crawl. “It’s going to be culture shock,” Ha‘o said.

With Mission Houses’ stage outdoors and off a busy street, Ha‘o thinks the modern setting will work just fine. “Even if you hear sirens or helicopters above, it just blends right in with the whole environment,” he said. “Last year we did ‘The Tempest,’ and I think we heard a police siren once; for a deserted island, that was kind of funny.”

Ha‘o and the Mission Houses players will keep to the original language for the play. “It’s a funny story, and I think if this was his first play, then it shows he was onto greatness just by the monologues he wrote, especially for the servant Launce (Richard Valasek),” Ha’o said, “Anyone would say those were some of the best monologues ever.”