Warm and Loving "Mary Jane" at Seattle Rep

Shaunyce Omar and Brenda Joyner (Sayed Alamy)

Mary Jane
Seattle RepertoryTheatre
Through April 19, 2026
 
I think of playwright Amy Herzog as a naturalistic writer, a slice-of-life storyteller, and one who lets the audience get to know her characters as they interact with each other’s lives. Mary Jane, now playing at the Rep, is very much a character reveal. The five lovely actors, led by a luminous performance by Brenda Joyner in the title role, present a story any of us might identify with in some aspect.

March Shows Around Town

It might be a bit rainy outside, but inside Seattle area theaters there is plenty of variety to be had! Get out yer calendars!

"I will miss you when you're gone" - Shattered Glass Project (Kirk Hostetter)

I will miss you when you’re gone

3/5-21/26 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
Shattered Glass Project, https://www.shatteredglassproject.org
Celeste tries to contact her dead mother Theresa, but instead is haunted by Evelyn. Evelyn jumped off the top of her office building, run by Robin. Robin just wants to get these files in order, until the spirit of Theresa shows up. Is it an administrative filing error from the afterlife? Or can the living and the dead help each other find the connections they so desperately need? A comedy about sad things
 
I Love You, I Miss You. I’m Glad You’re Gone.
3/5-15/26
Key City Public Theatre, www.keycitypublictheatre.org
Join Filipina-American Master Magician Maritess Zurbano as she confronts her family's sudden abandonment after her Stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis. Blending humor, enchantment, and audience participation, Maritess finds hope and peace in the most unexpected places.
 
The Foreigner
3/6-29/26
Harlequin Productions, www.harlequinproductions.org
When a painfully shy Englishman lands at a rustic Georgia lodge, his fear of small talk inspires a harmless fib: he doesn’t speak English! But as locals pour out secrets, Charlie becomes the perfect confidant—and whispers of a secret society stir old resentments beneath the lodge’s pastoral calm. As laughter turns to high stakes, Charlie must summon unexpected courage—and maybe foil a sinister plot.
 

Bunny
3/12-21/26 (at Jones Playhouse)
UW School of Drama, www.drama.uw.edu
For most of Sorrel’s high school career, she was friendless and quietly weird. She didn’t even seem to fit in with the geeky kids. When she turned seventeen, and late puberty produced a supermodel physique, she became seen as a “hot dork”. Bunny spans twenty years of Sorrel’s life. Unencumbered by the burden of shame, she journeys through the complex social expectations surrounding female sexuality.

It's Not a Wedding -- Yes, It Is // Thalia's Umbrella isn't sure

Actors in A Mirror (Annabel Clark)

A Mirror

Thalia's Umbrella 

through March 14 at 12th Avenue Arts

www.thaliasumbrella.org 

 

 It's not easy to discuss a play full of lies when the reasons those lies are told should be secret. This play, presented by Thalia's Umbrella, is such a play. You're invited to a wedding, but the wedding is a lie. And you, the audience, become complicit in that lie just by attending. 

 

I think you'll think, as I did, that your participation is well worth attending. Author Sam Holcroft has devised a theatrical "event" that is quite different from a straightforward production. 

 

I can say that the reasons for the secrecy enfold current events obliquely but definitively. Much like any secret society meeting, the wedding might be a cover. Or maybe the meeting is a cover. 

 

There is, however, a real story to suss out. The strong cast includes Quinlan Corbett as Čelik, who might or might not be a high government official, Jon Lutyens as Bax, who may or may not be a real playwright, Adam Tapp as Adem, who could be the groom, or an aspiring playwright, and Emily Verla as Mei, the bride or a soldier turned office worker.

 

The playing time was about 2 3/4 hours, but it flew by. That's a great feeling to have when there is so much to pay attention to. Please do dress for a wedding and have fun. 

For more articles and reviews, go to www.facebook.com/SeattleTheaterWriters. Subscribe to your inbox at https://MiryamsTheaterMusings.blogspot.com

 

 

February Theater in Seattle

Ada Twist, Scientist and Friends at SCT (Truman Buffett)

February stages in the Seattle area present quite a few world premieres, which is exciting! The Brown Derby is back again (ifkyk *cough* ReBar) with a brand-new take on Twilight. It's a full slate of entertainment. Get out yer calendars!

Ada Twist, Scientist and Friends
To 2/22/26
Seattle Children’s Theatre, www.sct.org
Ms. Greer’s classroom includes three inquisitive out-of-the-box thinkers. Rosie Revere has big dreams. Iggy Peck has a relentless passion for architecture. And Ada Twist’s curiosity can lead her to solve any problem. (Ages 5+)
 
Monty Python’s SPAMALOT (tour)
2/4-15/26
5^th Avenue Theatre, www.5thavenue.org
The musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, has everything that makes a great knight at the theatre, from flying cows to killer rabbits, British royalty to French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery, and of course, the Lady of the Lake. SPAMALOT features well-known song titles such as “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” “The Song That Goes Like This,” “Find Your Grail” and more that have become beloved classics in the musical theater canon.
 
Twilight (movie adaptation/spoof)
2/4-7/26 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
Ian Bell’s Brown Derby, www.strangertickets.com
The Brown Derby Series has presented "Ridiculously Staged Readings of Your Favorite Screenplays" since 1999, becoming a Seattle comedy institution with a loyal following. Now TBD sinks its teeth into Twilight, the brooding world of sparkly vampires, angst-ridden teens, and one very intense biology class. When a shy newcomer arrives in the gloomy town of Forks, she falls for a mysterious classmate with an even more mysterious thirst for…well, you know.

Anticipate Great Theater in 2026 – Ready, Set, January!

Bohemia (courtesy Marxiano Prods.)

We’ve survived another year! January is certainly bringing world premieres and enticing shows our way. Also a couple of reprises you might want to check out having missed the last time. Get out yer calendars!
 
The Heart Sellers
1/2/26-2/1/26
Seattle Rep, www.seattlerep.org
Young immigrants Luna and Jane meet as strangers over the frozen turkeys at the grocery store on Thanksgiving in 1973, while their husbands work long hours. They decide to celebrate this unfamiliar holiday together. As they bond over their new lives in America and their longing for faraway family in Korea and the Philippines, they discover a kinship that overcomes any language barrier. (Recommended for ages 13+.)
 
Walking on a Paper Moon and Lear (alone)
1/10-19/26 (at ReACT Theatre, 562 1st Avenue South #400)
Baker Theatre Workshop, https://www.bakertheaterworkshop.com/
Walking on a Paper Moon is a one-act play about a father and his daughters coping with grief while watching the first moon landing. Lear (alone), an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy, focuses on the original play’s third act, with Lear alone in the wilderness and slowly descending into madness. (Free with reservation)
 
SHe Said, Stories & Songs by Jen Ayers
1/13/26-2/1/26 (at Erickson Theatre)
Intiman Theatre, www.intiman.org
When Jen’s partner of 25 years came out as transgender, their relationship entered uncharted territory, sparking a journey of self-discovery, growth, and fierce devotion—as partners, as individuals, and as parents of an 8-year-old. Jen then turned to her piano, creating what would become SHe Said—a deeply personal, genre-defying story about navigating transition together as a family.
 
Li (world premiere)
1/16/26-2/8/26
Seattle Public Theater with SiS Productions, www.seattlepublictheater.org and https://celebr8women.wordpress.com 

Li, a mid-career thief from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, suddenly finds herself taking on too much responsibility. She breaks into an apartment and ends up emptying her pockets to feed its old, blind and starving resident. She gets a phone call from her estranged brother, a college professor in New York City, who tells her that he’s dying from cancer and now it’s her job to take care of their mother. With three mouths to feed, Li has to reconsider her career choice. Can her street smarts help her survive? A play with a radio, a hen, and a really good fart joke.

Chelsea LeValley in 'Penelope' - Can't Get Any Better

Chelsea LeValley as Penelope (John McLellan)

Penelope

Artswest

through December 21, 2025

Chelsea LeValley has been gallivanting around national theaters gaining credits (like touring with Come From Away) and valuable experience honing her craft. Thankfully, she's back in town for the run of this solo musical extraordinary effort, Penelope at Artswest. 

The promo blurb says, "Penelope has been waiting…and waiting…and waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return from a decade-long war. Given the rest of the soldiers came home years ago—forgive her, but she’s going to need a drink while she tells you about it." A folk-inflected pop score, backed by a five-piece onstage band, this musical demands a compelling performer with vulnerability and a great belt.

Penelope was the wife of Odysseus - King of Ithaca - who left to battle in the Trojan Wars. True to the story in The Odyssey, she sings about the war being over in ten years, yet Odysseus does not return for ten more. That's a lot of waiting!