Colonial Players kicks off the new year with a production of “Other Desert Cities,” a 2011 dark comedy that explores depression, addiction, family and memory.

Cast members Kaitlin Fish, Stephen Nickens, Rebecca Kyler Downs, James Gallagher and Debbie Barber-Eaton portray a family fracturing during a Christmas vacation to Palm Springs.

The community theater production runs through Jan. 31, with 8 p.m. performances Thursdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $28 for adults, with discounts for senior citizens, full-time students and active military.

Opening weekend offers a buy-one, get-half-off sale. There will be a free reception on opening night.

Here are some other great things to do in the week through Wednesday, Jan 14.

Ye old balls

Friday 6 p.m.

The Maryland Yule Ball and Yuletide Celebration offers a chance to dress up in Renaissance costumes, dance, dine and say things like “forsooth.”

The celebration stretches over two nights and includes the Yule Ball on Friday and a Winter Fantasy Ball on Saturday, plus a two-day Renaissance marketplace for all your bodkin needs at the DoubleTree Hotel.

Tickets are $67 plus taxes and fees for each ball, with rooms available at the hotel.

Local lyrics

7:30 p.m. Saturday

Sounds of Presents stages its first singer-songwriter concert of the year at the Winter Songwriter Showcase.

Stella Rose, Brandon Walker, Shaina House and Scott of the Andes will perform at the 49 West coffeehouse.

Tickets are $18 at the door. Call for reservations.

Art on display

1-3 p.m. Sunday

Artists Kathy Strouss and Robert Neales will talk about their creative processes and techniques during a demonstration at Gallery 57.

Strouss will demonstrate batik, while Neales will show how he creates aluminum sheets with layered inks and textures inspired by Africa and the natural world. Their works, along with those of 21 other artists, are on display this winter.

Sh-boom

7:30 Monday

The monthly cabaret at Classic Theatre of Maryland dives into the 1950s for two nights.

Rock ’n’ roll, doo-wop and crooner hits will be performed on stage in a nostalgic revue of jukebox favorites and love songs.

“At The Hop” repeats at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $81-$89.

Tolkien fights the future

5 p.m. Tuesday

Graham McAleer, a professor of philosophy at Loyola University Maryland, will talk about another side of the beloved fantasy author in “Tolkien’s Fight Against Futurism.”

The Prof and Pints Lecture at the Graduate hotel will examine J.R.R’s fascination beyond writing “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” — a lifelong campaign against a school of modernism in early 20th-century art.

Tickets are $14.70 plus taxes and fees.

Not just for lawmakers

7:30 p.m. Wednesday

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra returns to Annapolis for the opening of the General Assembly.

“Music For Maryland” features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Jean Sibelius, Fanny Mendelssohn and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Assistant conductor Jiannan Cheng leads the orchestra.

Tickets to the Francis Scott Key Auditorium at St. John’s College are $10, but the orchestra has a “pay what you can” option.