Rom-Com with a fresh, contemporary flare - 'Table 17' at UAC

Cast of Table 17 (photo by Giao Nguyen)

Table 17

Union Arts Center
Through November 15, 2026

Romantic comedies (rom-coms) are actually quite difficult to write. They have a simple concept with a plot as familiar as time itself. Since we are all, if we’re over 12, familiar with relationships that fail, as really most of them do, it takes real writing skill to make the story interesting to watch.
 
Table 17 is a 90-minute rom-com by Douglas Lyons. Lyons is a fresh voice and rising playwright/musical theater writer. His writing voice is colloquial and current and slangy and fun. The reason why this rom-com works is because of that writing style in dialogue. He’s got what seems like a natural voice in comedy.
 
The characters in Table 17, Jada (Bria Samoné Henderson), Dallas (Brandon JonesMooney) and River/Eric (Lamar Legend), don’t take themselves too seriously and poke fun at themselves and their own weaknesses, while striving to be their best selves. Their dialogue clearly differentiates their personalities. They enjoy teasing each other.

Quick Take Review: Linda Vista at SecondStory Repertory

Lantz Wagner and Sara Albertson in Linda Vista (courtesy SecondStory Rep)

Linda Vista
SecondStory Repertory
Through October 11, 2026
 
Playwright Tracy Letts isn’t known particularly as a comedic writer. But SecondStory Rep found his Linda Vista, and produced a great show with a solid cast. Led by Lantz Wagner, as Wheeler, a 50-year-old divorcee working at a camera shop and bemoaning a lost career as a photographer, the ensemble cast of Tadd Morgan, Lisa Branham, Tamara Burgess, Jay Jenkins, Sara Albertson, and Lauren Erwin join together in this rueful comedy.

Quick Take Review: The Chinese Lady at ArtsWest (with Yun Theatre)

Sebastian Wang and Zoe Ding in The Chinese Lady (photo by John McLellan)

The Chinese Lady
ArtsWestwith Yun Theatre
Through October 11, 2026
 
Afong Moy came to the States from China when she was 14 years old in 1834. Believed to be the first Chinese female to come to our shores, she was sent by her parents for what was to be a roughly three-year period to be “exhibited” so that sightseers could experience the “real” Chinese lifestyle. She was displayed in a confined box-space. However, she and her translator Atung never left.
 
Lloyd Suh created a heart-breaking two-hander, here performed by Zoe Ding as Afong Moy, and Sebastian Wang as Atung. Both characters address the audience primarily, and only occasionally each other. These actors did a masterful job managing both talking directly to the audience and breaking out of “performance mode,” to develop their private relationship.

Quick Take Review: Conscience at Taproot Theatre

Cast of Conscience (photo by Robert Wade)

Conscience

Taproot Theatre
Through October 17, 2026
 
Margaret Chase Smith was an American politician from Maine and the first woman to serve in both houses of the US Congress. Beside her ceiling-breaking political career, she is best known for standing up to the wild, rogue carnage of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, as he destroyed lives by simply announcing that well-known individuals were “communists.”
 
This extremely pertinent production of Joe Dipietro’s Conscience starred a superb cast of four: Alyssa Keene as the indomitable Chase Smith, Jonathan Swindle as McCarthy, Christopher Clark as Chase Smith’s staffer, William Lewis Jr., and Kelly Karcher as Jean Kerr, McCarthy’s staffer and eventually wife.

Quick Take Review: Eureka Day @ Seattle Rep

Cast of Eureka Day (photo by Sayed Alamy)

Eureka Day

Seattle Rep
Through November 15, 2026
 
The parents at Eureka Day school in Berkeley, CA strive to do everything by consensus. The leaders of the school “council” have been there forever, but also want to be accessible to new parents. So, they welcome Carina (Hemuna Ceesay) to their group when her child enrolls. A lot of what the audience experiences is through Carina’s eyes as casual micro-aggressions cause her to wince and become alienated.
 
Mostly, the usual school issues pop up until suddenly mumps starts breaking out in the area. The parents find themselves definitely not in consensus when one of their children gets sick and it starts to spread. Vaccination policy doesn’t seem to come with kumbaya moments.
 
Playwright Jonathan Spector wrote the play prior to 2018, presciently anticipating that something could happen that might have real life consequences. He brilliantly straddles humor and real-world consequences leading us through a range of points-of-view that we now recognize instantly.
 
The six cast members, including imperious founder, Suzanne (Sara Hennessy), harried school administrator Don (Jonathan Slavin), gregarious, bombastic stay-at-home dad Eli (Quinn Mattfeld), and single mom Mieko (Ashley Song), and a cameo by Winter (Marena Kleinpeter) mesh well and their comic timing is pretty spot on. Each member has a distinct back-story that gives them uniqueness. It’s fun to watch.

Spookies, World Premieres, and Much More for October Theater

Cast of Escaped Alone at As If Theatre (photo by Christine Mitchell)

Fall Theater is proving to be eclectic and electric. There’s so much wonderful stuff to schedule. Get out yer calendars!
 
References To Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot
10/1-17/26 (at Center Theatre)
Sound Theatre Company, www.soundtheatrecompany.org
Set in the desert of Barstow, California, Gabriela, the wife of a career soldier, escapes into a dreamlike fantasy world during her husband’s prolonged absences. Under a glowing moon, reality gives way to a surreal world where a Coyote and a Cat mirror the passions and questions in Gabriela’s own marriage.
 
Escaped Alone
10/1-18/26
As If Theatre, www.asiftheatre.com
In a quiet suburban garden, three old friends and a visiting neighbor share tea and small stories. But how long can they skim the surface when beyond the fence the world is on fire? This Caryl Churchill play weaves together the rich histories of four women staring down a catastrophic future.
 
Don’t Call It A Journey
Through 12/5/26 (at University Heights)
ese Teatro, https://eseteatro.ludus.com/index.php
Written and co-created by Julieta Vitullo and performed and co-created by Iveliz Martel, Don’t Call It a Journey is a one-woman show based on the playwright's experience with love and loss. Told through tape recorders, overhead projectors, a walking stick, and a house full of tchotchkes, this solo performance moves between a Seattle kitchen, a hospital room, and a dreamscape where crabs, hydras, and robins carry what words can't.