A guide to the arts in the Boston area for the chilly (and the warmer) months ahead.

Professor Stephen Greenblatt sits down with Bill Rauch ’84, director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to discuss a new production of “Othello” now at the A.R.T.

Scholar Stephanie Paulsell discusses her forthcoming book, “Religion around Virginia Woolf,” in which she explores religious elements in the work of one of literature’s most noted atheists.

Federico Cortese, director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, explains how the choreographer George Balanchine transformed Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” into an American classic.

A new Radcliffe exhibit reminds viewers how Harvard astronomer Henrietta Leavitt’s efforts helped unlock mysteries of the cosmos.

“Nine Moments for Now,” an exhibit at the Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art in the Hutchins Center, explores social engagement, civic discourse, and the fragility of democracy.

Playwright Inua Ellams talks about the research behind “Barber Shop Chronicles,” which is at the American Repertory Theater through Jan. 5.

Geraldine Brooks discussed her work as a war correspondent and her Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction during a visit to Houghton Library sponsored by the Harvard Review.

Now through Dec. 30 at Harvard’s Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, a series of photos shines a light on the America that author and social critic James Baldwin was responding to with his words. “Time is Now: Photography and Social Change in James Baldwin’s America” tracks the social unrest that drove his writing and reflect turbulent times past and present.

The American Repertory Theater’s production of "ExtraOrdinary" samples a decade of musicals while tapping into performers’ stories.