The Hysterical Alphabet: A Multimedia History, a live, 70-minute, audio-visual performance will be performed on Wednesday, April 20 at 8 p.m. in the Nourse Little Theater at Carleton College. Performed by the Chicago-based Theater Oobleck, this piece explores the “history of hysteria” with humor, critical insight, and a playful spirit—and features three performers: John Corbett (sound), Terri Kapsalis (voice/sound), and Danny Thompson (video/voice)—along with plenty of panic.  This event is free and open to the public.

Art meets activism in a new Carleton College gallery exhibit, Everybody! Visual Resistance in Feminist Health Movements, 1969-2009. Opening Friday, April 1, with a special reception from 7:30 to 9 p.m., Everybody! presents work by artists and activists engaged with the women’s health movement, inaugurated by feminists in the later 1960s and 70s and continuing up to the present day. Featuring advocacy posters and self-education publications, polemical paintings, descriptive drawings, poetic artists’ books and a provocative performance sculpture, this exhibition provides visual evidence of the struggle to define health care as a human right, and the quest to view every body as beautiful. On display through May 8, 2011, admission to Everybody! and the Carleton College Art Gallery is free and open to the public.

The Carleton College Players will present the world premiere of acclaimed playwright Naomi Iizuka’s “The Last Firefly” on Fridays and Saturdays, Feb. 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the College’s Arena Theater. Special matinee performances will also be presented on Saturdays and Sundays, Feb. 19, 20, 26 and 27 at 2 p.m. Directed by Sean Graney of Chicago, “The Last Firefly” is a newly commissioned play adapted from Japanese folk tales and produced in partnership with the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company. Developed at Carleton along with Carleton students, “The Last Firefly” will introduce audiences to traditional Japanese literature and fairytales using the theatrical elements of Kabuki. This event is free, open to the public, and suitable for children of all ages. Seating is limited and reservations are required and can be made by calling (507) 222-4471.

In conjunction with the Carleton College winter arts festival “Visualizing Japanese Theater,” Tokyo artist Bidou Yamaguchi, a master Noh mask-maker and artist-in-residence during the month of February, will host a series of campus events. On Monday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Boliou Hall room 104, Yamaguchi will deliver a lecture, describing his journey from a traditional working artisan to creator of innovative works with inspiration drawn from the Noh form. On Tuesday, Feb. 15 beginning at noon, Yamaguchi will lead a guided tour of the current exhibit “The Art of Sight, Sound, and Heart,” which includes six pieces by Yamaguchi. He will then offer a Noh mask-making workshop at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16 in the Boliou Hall Woodshop, open to students, faculty, and others interested in Japanese arts and culture. These events are free and open to the public.

Carleton College launches a new year of innovative arts programming with Visualizing Japanese Theater, an interdisciplinary celebration of Japanese traditions in visual art, drama and dance extending from January through early March. Most events are free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit http://go.carleton.edu/japan.