February 7, 2024

In the latest adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the star crossed lovers get that much closer to the stars– leaping, bounding, backflipping and flying high by way of the 7 Fingers circus troupe. In this spin on Shakespeare, the doomed romantics don’t need cupid's wings to soar above a common bound, because they’ve got a trapeze. I’ll talk to Aerial Emery, one of the hip-swiveling performers, about the US premiere, now onstage at The Cutler Majestic Theater. From there we enter the year of the dragon through Chinatown. To get a jump start on Lunar New Year, Julia Swanson leads the way, taking us on a tour of the public art hiding in plain sight. And, it’s time for AI: Actual intelligence. Mahesh Daas, president of the Boston Architectural College, says robots and artificial intelligence are striding into all walks of life, changing architecture and design along the way.