THEATER

Tonight only, Taffety Punk Theatre Company will present another installment in its intentionally thrown-together Bootleg Shakespeare series. Tonight's show is King John—and while we can't guarantee "honest-to-Yoda lightsaber duel complete with telekinetic chokeholds" like last year's staging of The Two Noble Kingsmen, there is still high potential for greatness. Get your free tickets starting now at the Folger Theater. 7 p.m.

BOOKS

"The Dresden Files" series author Jim Butcher is at Barnes & Noble in Tysons Corner to read from his latest title in the series, Ghost Story. 7 p.m. Free.

Melanie Benjamin's second book, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, is not actually an autobiography, of course, but it imagines what life must have been like for the 32-inch woman (Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump), best known for marrying the 19th-century entertainer Tom Thumb. Benjamin speaks at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose. Free.

MUSIC

More Fort Reno. Tonight: Caustic Casanova, Loose Lips, and one more band TBD. 7:15 p.m. Free.

FILM

Screen on the Green continues with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Sundown on the National Mall. Free.

To judge, however, by the group's MySpace page, YouTube videos, and an enthusiastic review of their New York City debut earlier this month, one can get a picture of what the combo will offer tonight. This is not quiet, pretty bossa nova. Featuring two vocalists, a horn section, two percussionists, guitar, bass, and a trap drummer, Orquestra Contemporânea blends upbeat Northeast Brazilian frevo brass-band bleats and bursts; rock, ska, and maracatu rhythms; and sing-songy, carnivalesque melodies. There are also traces of jazz, funk, and afrobeat. The vocalists sing in counterpoint and offer backing harmonies for each other.  Some songs feature frantic, speedy percussion; others move at a more traditional, loping, Brazilian pace, or a skittering Jamaican one. I’m not sure what their Portuguese lyrics mean, but the music feels exuberant.

Orquestra Contemporânea de Olinda performs for free from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday night at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F. St. NW (202) 467-4600 (The show will also be streamed live and archived at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage website )

Rafrechi’s manager, Woolley Antoine, told me that for the Columbia event, the group will perform an acoustic set rather than its normal electric one. The function will include a guest speaker to talk about the situation in Haiti since last week's 7.0-magnitude earthquake,  as well as an open mic for anyone else who wants to perform.  He noted that the group has lost on the island “countless friends and fans. We still haven't heard from some people yet. We are praying to God that they are OK in Haiti.”  Antoine said the beneficiary of the event, the Caribbean American Network, “have been around for nine years. They are very legit and dependable.  They already have people in Haiti working day and night reaching out to the countryside.  They are helping in locations where the big organizations have yet to reach.”  Rafrechi itself had pre-earthquake plans to go to Haiti that are now on hold.  “The last time we went to Haiti was in 2006 and the whole Rafrechi crew went," Antoine said. "We had so much fun. We were in the middle of our preparation to go to Haiti for carnivale—that was supposed to take place on Feb. 14, 15, 16—and for a summer tour 2010.”

The Kennedy Center, in partnership with the Embassy of Haiti, is presenting a free musical benefit for relief efforts in Haiti with konpa stars Tabou Combo, members of the National Symphony Orchestra, Haitian singers Tatiana Pierre and John Pierremont, and the Let Freedom Ring Choir.  At the performance, patrons can deposit donations to the “Haiti Relief and Development Fund” of the American Red Cross in designated receptacles.  The pioneering Haitian dance band Tabou Combo should provide the most excitement and emotion on the bill.  The group has been mixing funk, African, Cuban, and uniquely Haitian Creole sounds since 1968.  Through plenty of touring, they are beloved throughout the French-speaking world.  While their keyboards and vocals make the band sound loungelike on the occasional ballad, most of the time the group generates striking Caribbean polyrhythms.

Tabou Combo, members of the NSO, Tatiana Pierre & John Pierremont, and the Let Freedom Ring Choir on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Tabou Combo are scheduled to play from 6:15 to 6:45 p.m.) at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F St. NW. Free. (202) 467-4600

Rafrechi and guests Friday January 22 at 8 p.m. at Kahler Hall, 5440 Old Tucker Rd., Columbia, Md. (410) 852-3886.  Donation required.

Fresh off a well-reviewed performance at NEARfest, the most prestigious progressive rock festival in the United States (don't laugh), Mexican instrumental trio Cabezas de Cera are playing two dates this week in D.C. plus one in Baltimore. Cabezas de Cera aren't your typical bombastic prog band; rather, they combine folk, prog, free improv and a touch of the avant-garde into a fascinating and fairly uncategorizable mish-mash, and they've been doing it for about ten years now. While the basic format of the trio (plus a member credited as a "sound designer") is guitars/saxes/drums, in reality they play a bewildering array of instruments, from traditional instruments to nontraditional rock instruments like the Chapman Stick, plus a variety of homemade implements.

Cabezas de Cera are playing the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage tonight at 6pm sharp, then at Artomatic tomorrow night at 8:30pm. Both these shows are free. On Sunday, they will make an appearance at Orion Sound Studios in Baltimore alongside Might Could – you can expect a longer set at this show for your $15. Orion is at 2903 Whittington Ave, shows are usually scheduled to start around 8pm.

Have a listen at Myspace or check out their website for more info.

Image courtesy Cabezas de Cera's Myspace page