Two plays soaked in technological anxiety. "An Ark" resembles a webinar with a staring contest, one that no human can win. Before you enter "An Ark," a "mixed reality" performance at the Shed, you check your coat and, more oddly, your shoes. Inside, there are three concentric circles of chairs arranged on a red carpet and, overhead, a white globe resembling a hot-air balloon. A docent explained that, through my virtual-reality headset, I would see four more chairs--and, ideally, they shouldn't float.

Three of my movie recommendations this time around are about thinking: There's an aging detective trying to recover the memory of his last case, a wife who discovers the true nature of her relationship after repeatedly lying to him, and a group of smart people who sit around drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and talking about life. Since we're in the midst of the Olympic Games, I'd also encourage you to catch T-Rex, a documentary that's not about a terrible lizard, but a terrific female middleweight boxer named Claressa Shields. Other new and notable movies this week involve physical activities of their characters and subjects, whether it's making punk music or folk music, shooting an erotic movie, exploring a terrifying underworld, or defending yourself with a machete. Sometimes the act of escaping can be physical, with the fear of getting caught increasing the adrenaline flow. Characters this week escape from a tyrannical dystopian future and with a stolen baby.