There's an awful lot going on this weekend- Yo-Yo Ma is in town, Booker T opens up SFJazz's fall season, Turandot and Heart of a Soldier are both onstage at the War Memorial Opera House. And there are two other things you should see if you can.

First of all, on Friday and Saturday night YBCA presents  Big Art Group's The People: San Francisco at Z Space - a narrative constructed from interviews with members of the local community who voice their thoughts about democracy, war, terrorism and justice as it relates to their personal histories. Live theatrical reenactments are intercut with earlier, taped interviews, which will be projected via large-scale video onto the side of the Z Space building where the live-play and video will be viewed by the audience at street level.  Perceived as a kind of “living television,” The People repurposes commonly used media strategies such as video clips, interviews and re-enactments, to explore extraordinary forces reshaping contemporary government. It then sculpts these developments into a performative action that takes as its inspiration the foundational idea of community dialogue and the birth of democracy. Below is a video prepped for the event:

Starting at 6:00 p.m., there will be a pre-show, no-host party with a beer garden at the Coffee Bar, which is across the street from Z Space at Mariposa and 17th streets. Friday night will feature a Taco Thrown Down with special guest chefs, and on Saturday surprise specialty chefs will prepare some of their favorite dishes. The cost is $10, free for YBCA members.

The other big deal this weekend is Laura Marling's debut in the U.S. at Bimbo's 365 Club on Saturday night (she hits LA for gigs Sunday and Tuesday, Chicago on Thursday). Touring in support of her third album, the stunning A Creature I Don't Know, the young British singer is a recent NME and Brit award winner and seems on the verge of breaking out in a tremendous way. She's popping up in the press all over place, and in this case you can believe the hype. Alessi's Ark opens the show. Tickets are $20.

Below is a video of Marling performing "Sophia" from her new album:

See you there?