It’s Girls Night Out at Outerland next Thursday night, Nov. 29, when the New England male revue show Men in Motion comes to Martha’s Vineyard. In a bid to warm up the approaching winter, Outerland is importing professional male dancers for a fun evening that begins with dinner and drinks at the club’s bistro from 5 to 9 p.m. Show time is 8 p.m. and tickets are $12 at the door for ages 18 and over.

What do tick bites, moldy homes, depression and alcoholism have in common? The Vineyard Haven Public Library continues its evening lecture series with a presentation by Dr. Lisa Nagy on environmental health — and the controversial connection between ill health and chronic Lyme, depression, alcoholism, and living in a moldy home. The lecture is at Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven on Thursday, Nov. 29, with 7 p.m.

“I don’t even like musicals,” says Donna Swift, writer and producer of more than a dozen musicals and founder and excutiver director of Troubled Shores Inc., a not-for-profit theatre organization. She is sitting on a newly painted stage prop for her latest production — a reworking of the Seventies musical Godspell — in the cafeteria of the Oak Bluffs elementary school.

“I try to put that in my writing, though — to say, ‘Look how ridiculous this is — I’m singing now.’”

Alpaca Farm Open House

The Island Alpaca Farm on Head of the Pond Road in Oak Bluffs will hold pre-holiday open houses on Sunday, Nov. 18 and Sunday, Nov. 25 from noon to 4 p.m. Besides offering products from the farm, the open houses will provide snacks and hot cider. More information is available by visiting islandalpaca.com.

Wanted: Directors

Island Theatre Workshop, Inc., celebrating its 40th year in 2008, invites proposals from directors for one-act plays to be produced in March.

New directors are encouraged to submit proposals; plays can be from 10 minutes to just under an hour. Collections of 10-minute plays and one-act plays are available in local libraries.

To apply please call 508-693-5290. Copies of plays to be considered must be submitted no later than Dec. 15 to be performed at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven in March.

The acclaimed feature film Away From Her screens on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

An accomplished directorial debut by Canadian actor Sarah Polley, Away From Her is a touching exploration of the effects of Alzheimer’s, with a wonderful performance from Julie Christie.

The film also features Michael Murphy as Aubrey, a patient, Olympia Dukakis as Aubrey’s wife, and Kristen Thomson as a nurse at the facility.

Celebrate Jewish Book Month with the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center at 130 Centre street in Vineyard Haven, with a special reading on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. by author and seasonal resident Professor Edward Kaplan. He will speak about his new book, Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America 1940-1972.

Refreshments will follow, as well as the center’s book fair, with books for all ages.

Gazette contributing photographer and Chilmark resident Peter Simon has published a new book, The Reggae Scrapbook. It’s an 11 X 12 coffee table book with more than 300 photos, an authoritative text by co-author Roger Steffans, and much splashy reggaemobilia such as stickers, ticket stubs, posters and album covers, some of which are detachable.

Free concerts are scheduled for Nov. 27 and 29 at the Performing Arts Center at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

A regional high school instrumental concert featuring the concert band and the string orchestra is set for the center at 7 p.m. Nov. 27. Selections will include Greek Folk Song Suite, a contemporary selection by Cesarini, Chant and Jubilo, a dramatic piece for symphonic band, and Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, a classic example of Baroque orchestra repertoire.

In the aftermath of the Patriots Day northeaster this spring, Chappaquiddick resident Francesca Kelly climbed into her pickup truck. She drove over debris-strewn roads, finally making her way to Norton Point. The whole time, a piece of classical music played on the stereo. When she got there, she parked and watched the water rush through the breach, a dead dolphin caught in the sands nearby.