2023 Starts With A Bang in Seattle Theaters

 

William Eames and Bretteney Beverly,
A Woman of No Importance, Taproot Theatre (Photo by Robert Wade)

2023 is starting off with several bangs with productions of classic plays, world premieres, new to us stories, and intriguing plays referencing classic writing. There is something for everyone, this month. Get outcher calendars! Happy New Year!

The World’s a Stage: Becoming Othello, A Black Girl’s Journey, Seattle Shakespeare Company, 1/3-29/23
This autobiographical solo show from Debra Ann Byrd, the Founding Artistic Director of the Harlem Shakespeare Festival and Artistic Director of Southwest Shakespeare Company, is a living memoir of her life’s trials and triumphs. Through verses from Othello and dynamic multimedia elements, she chronicles her youth growing up in Harlem, her tumultuous teen years, and navigating race in classics as a gender-flipped Othello.
www.seattleshakespeare.org
 
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Seattle Rep, 1/13/23-2/5/23
As she grieves the death of her older sister, Julia Reyes faces pressure to put her own dreams of becoming a writer on hold. She finds herself caught between her family’s expectations and the less-than-perfect life she grapples with every day as a 15-year-old growing up in Chicago. A rich and poignant exploration of how to transcend your circumstances while remaining true to who you are.
www.seattlerep.org

Theater Openings in November and December!

 

Adam Standley rehearsing for Mr. Dickens and His Carol - Seattle Rep (Sayed Alamy)

As we nestle into our couches with cups of coffee, tea, or mulled wine, there is plenty to get out and see on our stages, as well. Plenty to warm hearts and entertain for the holidays.
 
Not / Our Town, Pony World Theatre, 11/4/22-12/3/22 (at 12^th Avenue Arts)
With Not / Our Town, Pony World Theatre tackles the most iconic American classic: Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Both the 1938 original and this new play examine family, community, and those journeys in life common to us all. But how much this production feels like Our Town or not is up to audience members who will take a survey with options for several different scenes, staging styles, and even story elements. The winning votes determine that night's performance. This is not improvised theatre, but instead numerous possible variations of the script.
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5587205
 
Jesus Christ Superstar, Reboot Theatre, 11/4-19/22 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
This now-classic musical focuses on the personal relationships between Jesus, Mary, and Judas, and examines the highs and lows of stardom, fanaticism, and mob justice. So, how will applying Reboot’s “style” highlight this musical in a new way?
www.reboot.booktix.com
 
Paddington Saves Christmas, Seattle Children’s Theater, 11/15/22-12/31/22
It’s holiday time in the Brown household and Paddington is here to save the day! When he runs out of sugar for the seasonal marmalade jam, Paddington heads next door to borrow some from Mr. Curry. But Mr. Curry is short-tempered as he prepares for a visit from his great aunt. Paddington volunteers to help with Mr. Curry's chores, but good intentions lead to chaos! Will Paddington be able to fix everything in time? Find out in this fun-filled holiday comedy!
Approx. 70 minutes, no intermission. Recommended for ages 3+
www.sct.org
 
Teatro ZinZanni, with Herban Feast, 11/16/22-3/19/23 (at SODO Park)
Teatro Zinzanni has journey far and come home to entertain! They’re putting up the tent in SODO Park and partnering with Herban Feast for a special holiday season meal. Many of your favorite performers are back to win your hearts and there are new ones to pique your interest.
www.zinzanni.com/seattle

Time to Learn About Our Constitution!

 

Heidi Schreck and Cassie Beck - What the Constitution Means To Me (Joan Marcus)

What the Constitution Means to Me
Seattle Rep
Through October 23, 2022
 
Our Constitution is not a very long document for such an important piece of writing. There is a preamble and seven articles. What has become so consequential over the hundreds of years is the lengthy list of amendments that augment the basic rules that were written in a fairly bare-bones document.
 
The history of some of those amendments and what they created or changed for us can be fascinating. After the Civil War, there was a clear need to amend the Constitution so that freed Black people could never again be enslaved and could take their rightful place in society with the same rights as everyone else.
 
If you think that Heidi Schreck’s play What the Constitution Means to Me might be staid or boring or might be too much like a high school history lesson, your assumptions are incorrect. It is none of those things. Instead, it’s really a deeply personal story about a young high school Heidi and one of the unique ways she earned money to go to college, but also a reflection about what this journey of presentations about our Constitution meant to her then and over time.

October Theater Openings and some November, too

Bianca Raso in La Tofana's Poison Emporium (Joe Iano)

I start this month’s compilation with regrets that it’s not posting until closer to the middle of the month. Life has changed a great deal for many, and that includes me, and my ability to prioritize theater and supporting it has taken a hit from changing focuses during “covid” when there was no theater to cover. To help make sure that November openings are reported more promptly, I’ve included a few of the early November productions here, as well. Get out yer calendars!
 
My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy!, Kirkland Performance Center, 10/1-23/22
You don’t have to be Jewish or Italian to appreciate this show. All you need to know is what it feels like to leave a family dinner with heartburn and a headache! You’ll meet Uncle Willie, Stuttering Cousin Bob, Demented Cousin Kenny, Steve's new therapist Cousin Sal (and Sal's parole officer) and a myriad of astounding characters we know, love and tolerate from our own families; each one brought to life by Peter J. Fogel. Written by Steve Solomon, this solo comedy is based on Solomon’s life growing up in a wacky family noted for its bi–ethnic diversity. Solomon’s mother is from Palermo, and his father is from Russia. His extended family had an aptitude for dysfunctional behavior and their sole purpose seemed to be to drive him into therapy…and they succeeded!
www.kpcenter.org
 
Misanthropy: A New Dark Werewolf Comedy, Wayward Works, 10/5-15/22 (at Theatre4, Seattle Center) (world premiere)
A new work by playwright Hannah A. Nielsen tells the story of Lyla, a young woman adrift in life until an animal bite spurs a change in her. She lands the job of her dreams, replaces her depression naps with power naps, and improves her diet... Well, perhaps “improves” isn’t precisely the right word. As Lyla scrambles to adapt, her friends and family flounder as they find their own ways of coping with this bloody new reality.
https://www.facebook.com/waywardworksllc
 
The Foreigner, As If Theatre Company, 10/6-23/22
Englishman Charlie Baker wants to escape his boring life and marital strife by disappearing to a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. Painfully shy, he begrudgingly adopts the persona of a foreigner who doesn't understand English. Convinced he’s unable to understand them, the guests begin to speak freely around him. Charlie not only becomes privy to dangerous secrets, he also discovers an adventurous extrovert within himself.
www.asiftheatre.com
 
A White Haunting, MAP Theatre, 10/7-22/22 (at 18^th & Union) (world premiere)
Local playwright Brian Dang introduces Darren, who has invited Tchai over to his home for the first time. They’re flirting, dancing, and discussing the morality of pineapple pizza when things start to go sour: the pizza person acts really weird; the power goes out; Tchai lets his nerves get to him; and last but not least, a masked intruder wielding an axe accidentally gets invited in.
https://www.map-theatre.com/home

September Theater Feels More Like It Used To!

What The Constitution Means To Me with Cassie Beck (Joan Marcus)

As we go back to school somewhat normally, and fall weather starts to get a bit more cloudy and damp, Seattle theater companies are bringing back more and more productions! This month, we get some major plays people have been hoping to see (Choir Boy, in a co-pro of ACT Theatre and 5^th Ave, my favorite tour play by ex-local Heidi Schreck – What the Constitution Means to Me) and world premieres! And we get a gift from stalwart company, Theatre22, as they bid us adieu (maybe just for now).
 
Where We Belong, Seattle Rep, 9/8/22-10/9/22 (tour from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co)
An indigenous theater-maker, Madeline Sayet, journeys to England in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare. She finds a country unable to acknowledge its ongoing role in colonialism.  Madeline echoes a journey to England braved by Native ancestors in the 1700s following treatise betrayals – and forces us to consider what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world.
www.seattlerep.org
 
The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 9/9/22-10/1/22 (world premiere) (opens 9/22)
They’ve been to Wally World, they’ve been to Vegas, and now the Griswolds are going to… Broadway! Yes, the characters you know and love from the hit Warner Bros. Vacation movies are back—and they’re taking their biggest vacation yet. So, get in your family truckster and join Clark, Ellen, Audrey, and Rusty on their big New York City adventure—where of course, everything goes exactly according to plan!
www.5thavenue.org
 
Nonsense and Beauty, Theatre22, 9/9/22-10/2/22, at The Bathhouse (T22’s last show)
The play follows the eminent British novelist E.M. Forster as his romance with Bob Buckingham, a policeman 23 years his junior, falls prey to his fear of discovery. After Bob marries May, a compassionate young woman, Forster remains ensnared in a turbulent and unique love triangle until his death nearly 40 years later. Based on a true story, Nonsense and Beauty captures the wit and wisdom of one of the last century’s great writers.
www.theatre22.org

Sleepy August Theater still has new surprises

 

Talking buildings in People in the Square (photo by Jane Richlovsky)

Theater in the parks is winding down and August is a bit on the quiet side, but there are three shows opening that you can consider. People In The Square is a sweet music-and-narrative new show in a new/old space. There used to be a Skid Road Theatre, and now the folks at Beneath the Streets have opened their location to include stage events, again! So it’s the NEW Skid Road Theatre. At 65 minutes, it is an homage to Pioneer Square and all the various sorts of people who populate it, visit it, and swing through it.
 
Pork-Filled Productions has a swashbuckle show to check out, She Devil of the China Seas, with a female pirate who truly was the most formidable bad-ass ever known, I think. Centerstage is focused on the Pacific Northwest with The Oregon Trail.
 
People In The Square: The Pioneer Square Musical, Creative Hiatus Prods., 8/4-27/22 (at The New Skid Road Theatre, 102 Cherry St.)
People in the Square is a cabaret-style musical revue which invites the audience a glimpse into the many different inhabitants, past and present, of Pioneer Square. A four-member cast and three-piece band bring to life this musical history lesson through time. Based on historical people and events, the show is a collection of songs and short scenes, celebrating the diversity and fascinating stories of Seattle’s first neighborhood. This musical ranges in time from the original inhabitants of the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribes, early pioneers and gold miners, fast-forwarding to those who frequent Pioneer Square today. Converging on the Square are the wealthy, the poor, occupants, visitors, sports fans and art dealers, most never being truly aware of the other, despite occupying the same three acres together. Join us to experience this incredible journey through time of the ever-evolving melting pot in the heart of Seattle!
https://www.beneath-the-streets.com
 
She Devil of the China Seas, Pork-Filled Prods., 8/11-27/22 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
Pirate queen clashes with immortal sorceress in a mashup of true history, sword/sorcery and Marvel Comics! She Devil is based on the real-life figure, Zhang Tse, history’s most successful pirate. She defeated both Imperial Chinese and European fleets in her spectacular career in the 19th Century and ruled over a fleet of hundreds of thousands of pirates!
 
Tse knew one thing: survival. She clawed her way up, using any means possible to aid her injured sister, Hei. But when China’s pirate king, Zhang Ngoi, offers her a chance for more, the sorceress Moh and her dark forces gather to destroy her before she can even accept…and fulfill a destiny from the gods!
https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/shedevil/
 
The Oregon Trail, Centerstage Theatre, 8/19/22-9/11/22
Funny, provocative, and intelligent, The Oregon Trail follows 90’s kid Jane from Middle School, where she takes solace in her favorite 8-bit video game, to adulthood, where the game seems to follow her with its all-knowing gaze, helping her navigate her growing pains. As she grapples with what it is she truly wants, Jane meets someone entirely unexpected: her own great-great-grandmother, on the Oregon Trail…in 1848.
www.centerstagetheatre.com
 
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