BEST BETS Saturday 8/5

HUNTINGTON BEACH

3-6pm

Art

An exhibition titled “Ties That Bind” focuses on works created with such materials as paper, fabric and synthetic hair. Featured artists are Castillo, Matt Driggs, Robin Jankowski, Janice Ledgerwood and Christine J. Morla. Collectively, the works, curated by Darlene D. DeAngelo, explore themes of childhood, family, marriage, tradition, life and death, and romance.

* “Ties That Bind,” Huntington Beach Art Center, 538 Main St. Artist reception, 3-6 p.m. Free. (714) 374-1650.

DANA POINT

6:30pm

Theater

Dana Point is just a freeway drive away now, but when Richard Henry Dana sailed there on a brig in 1834, it seemed like an unattainable destination. Actor Jeffrey Paul Whitman brings that journey back to life in “Two Years Before the Mast,” a one-man production of Dana’s famous travel account, playing not only the young Dana but also the sharp-tongued Captain Thompson and five other characters.

* “Two Years Before the Mast,” Ocean Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point. 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. $20. Continues every Friday-Saturday at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. through Aug. 19. (949) 496-2274.