Must List: Animals Chomping on Pumpkins, ‘Mr. Burns’ at ACT

Must Watch
Woodland Park Zoo Pumpkin Bash
(10/24 and 10/25, times vary) From lions and jaguars to wolves, the Pumpkin Bash reveals the ferocious and silly side of the season. Take note: Hippos love to munch pumpkins, and it is good for their gums and teeth.

Must C. Montgomery Burns
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play at ACT
(10/16 to 11/15, times vary) In this dark comedy, playwright Anne Washburn imagines a postapocalyptic future in which verbal recaps of The Simpsons take on the weight of oral history. Ragtag survivors gather around a fire, retelling a favorite episode, and in the process begin to cement a mythos that carries through to a whole new existence.

Must Screen
The South Asian Film Festival
(10/15 to 10/25, times vary) The 10th annual showcase of contemporary films will feature standouts from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and elsewhere at venues all over town, including Bellevue Arts Museum, Northwest Film Forum and Renton’s Carco Theatre.

Must Bravo
Seattle Opera Presents The Pearl Fishers
(10/17 to 10/31, times vary) More than 10 years before penning his masterpiece Carmen, 19th-century French composer Georges Bizet wrote this Sri Lankan love story that puts the unsavory “bros before hos” maxim to the test. Two pearl fishers vow that their friendship is more important than winning the beautiful priestess they both adore…until it isn’t.

Must See
Emily Johnson’s Shore at On the Boards
(10/15 to 10/17, 8 p.m.) When it comes to performance, Minneapolis-based artist Emily Johnson thinks holistically. Raised in Alaska and of Yup’ik descent, she creates dance that is often more art installation than choreography. In Seattle, her performances begin outside and progress to the stage, and will be paired with volunteerism, readings by Native American authors and a feast.