How do you like your Shakespeare? Light and comedic or deeply tragic? The Vineyard Playhouse is offering both this year in its annual summer run of outdoor Shakespeare productions at the Tisbury Amphitheatre. Those who fancy both will have the opportunity to see Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, which are each running twice a week at the woodsy amphitheatre near the Tashmoo Overlook until August 18.

And this is Shakespeare with a slight gender twist.

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evenings at the Chilmark Community Center. The films begin at 6 p.m., but at 5 p.m. the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets underway.

An advanced screening of the films was arranged. In a world with few certainties, the kid critic is the critic to trust. This week’s reviewers are Ella and Lathrop Keene.

Kitten’s First Full Moon (Dir. Gary McGivney / U.S.A. / 2011 / 9 min.)

This column by Arthur Railton appeared in the Vineyard Gazette in June 1990:

All of a sudden, like the curtain going up at a Broadway musical, the beat has started. Longer lines at checkout counters, bumper-to-bumper along Main street, no place to park. More cars than pickup trucks. It’s that time again. For me, it’s not an easy time. My conscience gets in the way. It’s look-in-the-mirror time. Time to ask myself if I’m still the courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, etc., man that my Scoutmaster told me to be.

How do you get kids to care about a bird that no longer flies to the treetops, nor whistles to greet the day? Appeal to their senses and their incomparable imaginative faculties, says Todd McGrain, artist, arts educator and activist.

Mr. McGrain did just that last week, during his visit to Sense of Wonder Creations summer camp, when he asked children to touch a reproduction heath hen, listen to its call and imagine what it must have looked like.

People in Oak Bluffs late this week won’t be thinking about the next number 13 bus leaving for Edgartown — they’ll be thinking about the legendary Freedom Rides that bused through the Deep South and hostile racism during the Civil Rights movement.

On Thursday and Friday, The Cottagers Inc. of Martha’s Vineyard sponsor the eighth annual African American Cultural Festival, an event packed with free educational programs and culture. The festival takes place in Hartford Park off Massassoit avenue and at Cottagers Corner on Pequot avenue..

Finish off a hard day’s night with some classic Beatles music, performed by The Daytrippers.

The band is performing at the Flatbread Company in Edgartown at 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, for the Raise the Roof concert to benefit Habitat for Humanity for Martha’s Vineyard and the Island Housing Trust.

This week, Polly Hill Arboretum continues its legacy of multidisciplinary programming as it invites the public to engage in the topic of landscape history at the arboretum in West Tisbury. The first lecture is by landscape historian Judith Tankard, who will discuss her latest book, Gertrude Jekyll and the Country House Garden. Ms. Jekyll is considered to be one of the most important garden designers of the 20th century. Book signings and light refreshments will follow Ms. Tankard’s talk held today, July 24, at 4 p.m. The cost is $20 or $10 for Polly Hill members.

Music Makers Band Together for Library

The Flying Elbows string band featuring Jemima James, Dan Waters and Al Schackman performs tonight, July 24, at the Grange Hall as part of the Tuesdays at Twilight concert series to benefit the West Tisbury Library.

YMCA Says Pick Your Pool Party

The second annual Cool Pool Parties fundraising event to benefit the YMCA is this Saturday, July 28, from 7 to 10 p.m.

The idea is simple and yet ingenious. Guests are invited to choose one of three private Vineyard properties to relax poolside and enjoy a party matched to a particular theme.

Batch on Hatch is hosted by Kathy and Jim Gidwitz and takes place in Vineyard Haven. This party features music by Andy Suzuki and food by Kitchen Porch catering.

What follows are the three winning essays from the annual Della Hardman essay contest at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Students were asked to write opinion pieces about the use of digital devices at the high school. Winning essayists will be recognized at the annual Della Hardman Day event in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, July 28. The Gazette publishes the winning essays annually in advance of the daylong event which celebrates the arts and literature each year on the last Saturday in July.

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By BRIAN HURLEY