The Blackbird Theatre’s Raw Weekend II is upon us.

No, the event doesn’t involve sashimi and steak tartare. Rather, it aims to lay bare the writing found in plays and, new this year, celebrity memoirs.

On Friday, December 3 at 8 p.m., the Blackbird will offer Michigan’s first fully staged reading of “Double Falsehood,” which, after inciting years of debate, was finally included in the most recent edition of “The Arden Shakespeare.”

“It was thought to be a hoax for years,” said Blackbird co-founder Barton Bund. “It’s fabulous play. … If it had been around for the last 500 years, people would probably consider it up there with best of Shakespeare’s tragedies.”

Officially, “Double” was written in 1727 by a lawyer/writer named Lewis Theobald, who claimed to have three different manuscripts of an otherwise lost Shakespeare play called “History of Cardenio,” which focuses on one section of Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.”

“Double”’s story focuses on an aristocratic scoundrel who ruins a low-born woman while also attempting to woo a high-born woman who’s engaged to his friend.

“I would say that in tone, … it’s got a toughness that’s like ‘Measure for Measure’ or ‘Othello,’” said Bund. “There’s a real rawness, frankness, and straightforwardness about it. And it’s plot is a little bit like ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona,’ where two friends let their feelings for women get in way of their friendship. … If ‘Two Gentlemen’ became a tragedy, it would be this.”

Jeff Thomakos will direct the reading, which will feature Guy Sanville, Dennis North, Bund, James Kuhl, Michael Brian Ogden, Julia Garlotte, and Hallie Bee Bard.

“One of the cool things about it is, the audience is seeing the first real run-through, … when we’re still discovering a lot of things,” said Bund.

And for something completely different, patrons need only come back to the Blackbird on Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m., when a handful of actors will present a program called “Celebrity Autobiography.”

As you might guess, the event will be comic and lighthearted, with actors reading (unintentionally) silly passages from published celebrity memoirs.

“We thought we’d be picking out the books, and matching up actors with the material, but once we started mentioning it to people, they were like, ‘Oh, my God, I know what I want to do.’ … We’ve got a lot of fun stuff to choose from.”

Among those whose “works” will likely be featured are TV star Suzanne Somers, tennis champion Martina Navratilova, and pop star Marky Mark (who went on, of course, to make a new name for himself in acting as Mark Wahlberg).

“It’s not so much about doing an impression of the famous person,” said Bund of the event. “It’s more like you’re a historian, … analyzing the work for its merits. … Of course there are some moments in these books that are tragic and poignant, but the authors are constantly undercutting the power that these stories might have with moments of stupid, materialistic shallowness.”

If you’re thinking that Shakespeare and celebrity memoirs have nothing to do with each other, you’d be right. But the Blackbird Theatre Company happily embraces opportunities to showcase the broad range of its interests and sensibilities.

“Raw Weekend is just this wildcard weekend, when we put on stuff that we want to try,” said Bund. “The two events couldn’t be more diff in terms of literary value, but we believe it all belongs.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.