Theater: GableStage and its artistic director Joe Adler have an affinity for the plays of David Mamet, so it was probably inevitable that he would bring to the area the wily wordsmith’s latest Broadway script, Race, which looks at three attorneys, two black and one white, offered a chance to defend a white man charged with a crime against a black woman. As the characters grapple with their own feelings about race, Mamet makes sure that the audience does the same. The cast includes South Florida fixture Gregg Weiner, as well as local veteran Joe Kimble and newcomers Ethan Henry and Jade Wheeler. The production continues at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables through Aug. 5. Call (305) 445-1119 for reservations.
Film: Make time this weekend to head to the Mos’Art Theatre in Lake Park for the small, human drama Take This Waltz, directed by Sarah Polley, the Canadian actress who made such an impressive filmmaking debut six years ago with the Alzheimer’s film, Away From Her, starring Julie Christie. This time she has the remarkable Michelle Williams, as a Toronto woman drifting away from her husband (Seth Rogen, in a surprisingly effective serious role) of five years. She met a guy (Luke Kirby) on a business trip, the flirting started right away, and now back at home, the passion is palpable as they try to resist the inevitable affair. Polley’s script is full of little knowing touches, as is her camerawork. At Mos’Art Theatre.
Music: Béla Bartók was not a man to back down from a challenge, and when he got a letter from the violinist Jozsef Szigeti in 1938 asking him for a duo for him and his clarinetist friend Benny Goodman to play, he responded with a clarinet, violin and piano trio that has become one of the classics of 20th-century chamber music. That work, Contrasts, is on the third week of programs for the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, along with three rarely heard works: Six Promenades for two flutes, clarinet, oboe and bassoon, by Edward Elgar; a Divertissement for bassoon and string quintet by Jean Françaix; and Suite in the Old Style, for trumpet, two flutes and string quintet, by the now-neglected French composer Vincent d’Indy. The programs continue tonight at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens and Sunday afternoon at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach. Call 800-330-6874 or visit www.pbcmf.org.
Somehow, the South African-born guitarist and songwriter Dave Matthews was able to distill the culture of Charlottesville, Va., in the early 1990s and turn it into a funky, loose polyglot style of pop music that fit the slacker vibe perfectly. He and his band remain one of the most popular acts in the country, and they return tonight to the Cruzan Amphitheatre. Matthews is a frequent target of critical disdain, but give him credit for writing heartfelt, serious songs and for having the intellectual integrity to work hard and long for the causes he believes in. The concert starts at 7 p.m.; tickets are available through Ticketmaster.