A short, sharp guide to what’s on this weekend:

Friday

Listen to cellist Matthew Barley play two of composer JS Bach’s suites and talk about the healing power of music that fascinated the Greeks and Chinese. From 7.30pm, at Town Hall, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16. Costs £12, email paul@julians.me.uk.

Laugh at audacious comedy play Don Gil of the Green Breeches about a woman who is jilted by her dashing suitor for a wealthy heiress. She impersonates him in a bid to cause a change of heart. From 7.30pm, at the Arcola Theatre, Ashwin Street, E8. Costs £18, call 020 7503 1646.

Watch Mexican comedy We are the Nobles about Herman Noble, a self-made construction millionaire, who has transformed his family’s fortunes, only to realise to his horror that his three children are lazy and spoiled beyond belief. From 11pm, at Hackney Picturehouse, Mare Street, E8. Costs £10, call 08719 025734.

Saturday

Enjoy a fun mix of variety and circus acts at the Variety Spectacular 2014 from Hackney Children’s Theatre. From 10am, at St John-at-Hackney Church, Lower Clapton Road, Clapton, E5. Costs £4, call 0208 525 5476.

Knit a raglan-style sweater or cardigan at a class for fairly new or experienced knitters. From 10am, at Fabrications, 7 Broadway Market, E8. Costs £30, call 020 7275 8043.

Listen to BBC 6 Music’s Gideon Coe play indie-pop, post-punk, new wave, sixties, C86 and lo-fi music. From 10pm, at the Moustache Bar, Stoke Newington Road, N16. Costs £4, email paul@scaredtodance.co.uk.

Sunday

Check out exhibition Masques which explores notions of self-hood and the idea that people wear masks as a form of protection. From noon, at the Transition Gallery, Unit 25a Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road, E8. Free, email corinna@transitiongallery.co.uk.

Enjoy a lounge day with a Japanese double-bill featuring animated feature From Up On Poppy Hill about postwar life and Like Father, Like Son about two children from different walks of life who are mixed up at birth. From 1.30pm at the Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, E8. Costs from £8, call 020 7241 9410.

Listen to the Phil Meadows group, dubbed “a collection of rising stars” by BBC Radio 3’s Jez Nelson, From 8pm, at The Vortex Jazz Club, 11 Gillett Square, N16. Costs £12, call 020 7254 4097.