With ‘low tech stage magic,’ "Chaos Theory" brings the apocalypse to Annex Theatre

(courtesy Capitol Hill Seattle)

 (DangerPants Photography) Keiko Green and Jana Hutchison

Maybe Courtney Meaker writes plays about the end of the world because she grew up in small-town Tennessee and had to hang out with a lot of people who didn’t hate homosexual people, they just hated homosexuality. Courtney says that she majored in creative writing and theater, but had never written a play before coming to Seattle.

Meaker

Her work Chaos Theory begins a one-month run Friday at 11th and Pike’s Annex Theatre. (April 18-May 17, 8pm)

“Writing a play felt a lot more rewarding because you could experience it in a lot of different ways, where you never know if someone is going to read a short story,” Meaker said. “It was a more fun thing to write than a short story.”

Chaos Theory is Courtney’s second full length play. Last year, Macha Monkey produced Buckshot.

Courtney says, “Chaos Theory is about Franny. She has just been left by her partner and her friends are trying to coach her through a break up. By the end of this time cycle (first scene), her friends decide the only option left is to give her a book about chaos theory and parallel dimensions to pull her out of the dumps.

“From there, the story unravels as an exploration of how we define our world. It messes a lot with genre and storytelling and different conventions. There might be a laugh track or things might fall from the sky. The core is very basic that everyone goes through feeling like you’ve been abandoned.”