True Love

"True Blood" star Rutina Wesley , who plays Tara on the popular HBO vampire series, was in Boston over the weekend to participate in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's "American Voices" reading of Sam Shepard 's "Fool for Love. " Wesley, who hung out at the Nine Zero hotel before heading out to the gig (which was held last night at the Calderwood Pavilion) told us that her two days in Boston wound up being rather romantic. Wesley read the play with her husband, actor Jacob Fishel . She told us that she hasn't read opposite her spouse since the two were students at Juilliard.

"Carry the One" is a brilliant feat of storytelling, a total immersion into a family deeply injured, fractured, wounded in every way by a tragic death that occurs after the last truly happy, free moment in the lives of three siblings: a backyard wedding in rural Wisconsin in the early 1980s. Carol Anshaw takes chances from the first moments of the novel, her fourth book. The plot, which dives in and out of 25 years in the Kenneys' lives, does not come in neat increments or even chapters that feel the necessity of traditional arc. It's not "plates spinning in the air," as some writers say, or a...

READY, SET, DATE: Dating life got you down? Don't worry, Mr. Right is out there, and VH1 wants to help you find him. This weekend, VH1 is calling all the single ladies (all the single ladies) to make their way to Stoddard's Pub in Boston to audition for the reality dating series "Tough Love. " It's an open casting call for women ages 23-39 looking to find true love, and fame, the American way: through reality TV. Go forth and date, ladies! Dec. 10, noon - 6 p.m. Stoddard's Fine Food and Ale. 48 Temple Place, Boston.

It's easy to see why Sam Feinstein chose the North Bennet Street School to help him put his upended life right. It's a magical place. Entering the 127-year-old trade and craft school on the corner of Salem and North Bennet streets in the North End is like going back in time. Furniture-making students bend over benches, creating intricate inlays for clocks and coffee tables. Jewelry students coax braided silver rings into perfect circles. Aspiring violin makers shave slivers of wood off instruments so they curve just so. It can be noisy and crowded, but it's also incredibly serene.

It's easy to see why Sam Feinstein chose the North Bennet Street School to help him put his upended life right. It's a magical place. Entering the 127-year-old trade and craft school on the corner of Salem and North Bennet streets in the North End is like going back in time. Furniture-making students bend over benches, creating intricate inlays for clocks and coffee tables. Jewelry students coax braided silver rings into perfect circles. Aspiring violin makers shave slivers of wood off instruments so they curve just so. It can be noisy and crowded, but it's also incredibly serene.

"Carry the One" is a brilliant feat of storytelling, a total immersion into a family deeply injured, fractured, wounded in every way by a tragic death that occurs after the last truly happy, free moment in the lives of three siblings: a backyard wedding in rural Wisconsin in the early 1980s. Carol Anshaw takes chances from the first moments of the novel, her fourth book. The plot, which dives in and out of 25 years in the Kenneys' lives, does not come in neat increments or even chapters that feel the necessity of traditional arc. It's not "plates spinning in the air," as some writers...

Haunted past It's 1940s Mississippi, and WWII veteran Evans wants a church to lead and his true love, Nettie. Racial tensions and buried secrets complicate matters in Tennessee native Will Fancher's "The River Was Whiskey. " Fancher also wrote the original music. Oct. 27-Nov. 20. Thurs 7:30 p.m. Fri-Sat 8 p.m. Sun 2 p.m. $30, $25 seniors, $10 students. Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Comm. Ave., Boston. 866-811-4111, www.bostonplaywrights.org Milva DiDomizio, Boston.com Staff

The focus in the days ahead is on Madonna the musician. She's set to perform the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Sunday and her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," with the white-hot Nicki Minaj, hits radio airwaves this week. But the 53-year-old superstar is surely hoping that some of that spotlight will shine on her new movie, "W.E.," about the celebrated romance between divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson and Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne for love in the 1930s.

Unfortunately, “Any Human Heart’’ arrives in the afterglow of the extraordinarily excellent “Downton Abbey.’’ As a result, this new three-part installment of PBS’s “Masterpiece Classic’’ just may get a less eager welcome than it deserves. While it’s not the triumph that “Downton’’ was, it’s a special, lovely miniseries that lingers in your imagination like a richly drawn memoir. Yes, “Masterpiece’’ fans, we’re entering “embarrassment of riches’’ territory.

The Kingston Public Library will host a public program, "The Amazing Image: Wildlife Photography Seminar," on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in the library's meeting room. Photographer Charlie MacPherson, owner of MacPherson Studios in Scituate, will explain how to capture striking wildlife photographs. The seminar will include a demonstration of camera lenses, bodies, and other gear used in creating the images. Although his business includes commercial clients such as Dunkin' Brands and Banker & Tradesman, MacPherson says his true love remains nature photography.

ON WGBH Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One 6 p.m. WGBH (Channel 2) The Atlantic senior editor Ta-Nehisi Coates. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS Innovation Hub 7 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding: A new way of solving problems. This American Life "What I Did For Love" 11 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) Stories of people going to extremes as they fall in love, chase love down, and try to make sense of it. Mountain Stage 2 p.m. WUMB-FM (91.9) Bela Fleck, Dar Williams, the David Wax Museum.

The focus in the days ahead is on Madonna the musician. She's set to perform the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Sunday and her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," with the white-hot Nicki Minaj, hits radio airwaves this week. But the 53-year-old superstar is surely hoping that some of that spotlight will shine on her new movie, "W.E.," about the celebrated romance between divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson and Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne for love in the 1930s.

The Bachelor 8 p.m., Channel 5 Viewers of this ABC franchise don't seem to care that its success rate has been dismal and that the likelihood of it improving with its "throw 25 women against a wall and see who sticks" approach is minuscule. So on it goes as "Bachelorette" also-ran Ben Flajnik- a 29-year-old California vintner - returns to wade through his choices and find true love, or at least a reasonable reality-show facsimile. Two and a Half Men 9 p.m., Channel 4 So, now that Schmidt has happened, what is everyone thinking about Ashton Kutcher since he's settled...

READY, SET, DATE: Dating life got you down? Don't worry, Mr. Right is out there, and VH1 wants to help you find him. This weekend, VH1 is calling all the single ladies (all the single ladies) to make their way to Stoddard's Pub in Boston to audition for the reality dating series "Tough Love. " It's an open casting call for women ages 23-39 looking to find true love, and fame, the American way: through reality TV. Go forth and date, ladies! Dec. 10, noon - 6 p.m. Stoddard's Fine Food and Ale. 48 Temple Place, Boston.

"True Blood" star Rutina Wesley , who plays Tara on the popular HBO vampire series, was in Boston over the weekend to participate in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's "American Voices" reading of Sam Shepard 's "Fool for Love. " Wesley, who hung out at the Nine Zero hotel before heading out to the gig (which was held last night at the Calderwood Pavilion) told us that her two days in Boston wound up being rather romantic. Wesley read the play with her husband, actor Jacob Fishel . She told us that she hasn't read opposite her spouse since the two were students...

Haunted past It's 1940s Mississippi, and WWII veteran Evans wants a church to lead and his true love, Nettie. Racial tensions and buried secrets complicate matters in Tennessee native Will Fancher's "The River Was Whiskey. " Fancher also wrote the original music. Oct. 27-Nov. 20. Thurs 7:30 p.m. Fri-Sat 8 p.m. Sun 2 p.m. $30, $25 seniors, $10 students. Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Comm. Ave., Boston. 866-811-4111, www.bostonplaywrights.org Milva DiDomizio, Boston.com Staff

The title of "Let's Go to Prison" aptly sums up the experience of watching it: 84 minutes of hard time. Directed by comedian Bob Odenkirk (of "The Ben Stiller Show" and the beloved cult HBO series "Mr. Show"), it's a remarkably laugh-free comedy that takes on a dark subject and skitters along its surface. Comic Dax Shepard ("Employee of the Month") plays John Lyshitsky (are you laughing yet?), a three-time loser who gets out of prison burning to avenge himself on the judge who sent him up. The judge has passed on, but his son lives: Nelson Biederman IV (Will Arnett...

In “Post Grad,’’ Ryden Malby has a plan: Graduate from college armed with a gilded resume, cruise into a top publishing firm, and snag an airy apartment overlooking downtown LA. Naturally, the floundering job market intervenes to torpedo her dreams. “The world is a screwy place,’’ Ryden’s father says. “It doesn’t play by the rules.’’ In the end, neither does “Post Grad,’’ a disjointed patchwork of zany character sketches lacking in coherence and credibility.

The Kingston Public Library will host a public program, "The Amazing Image: Wildlife Photography Seminar," on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in the library's meeting room. Photographer Charlie MacPherson, owner of MacPherson Studios in Scituate, will explain how to capture striking wildlife photographs. The seminar will include a demonstration of camera lenses, bodies, and other gear used in creating the images. Although his business includes commercial clients such as Dunkin' Brands and Banker & Tradesman, MacPherson says his true love remains nature photography.

It's my birthday this week. No need to concern yourselves with how old I am. But since it's my party, I'll cry if I want to. Here are five movies that consistently reduce me to a blubbering little girl: — "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982): If you follow Five Most each week, you know of my nostalgic love of "E.T. " I've seen it a million times and I know what's going to happen every time. I know E.T. is going to live, and that the little guy is going to phone home, and that his spaceship is going to swoop down in the middle of suburban Southern California to pick him up and take him...