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.

Great Idea to Plan Your Funeral with Brendan Healy

Brendan Healy in Eulogy (Brett Love) 

Eulogy Or How To Plan Your Own Funeral (And Have Fun Doing It!)
Seattle Rep with Pony World Productions
www.seattlerep.org and www.ponyworld.org
Through October 11, 2026
 
In case you’d like to make sure your death is met with exactly what you’d like to have in life, Brendan Healy has come with instructions. Due to his growing up with a challenging health condition, he’s thought about it a lot!
 
The list he provides seems to cover just about everything you’d need to remember, including the ceremony, music, flowers, and exactly what you’d like done with your remains. I can’t think of anything he’s missing for us, except possibly how to house relatives who come in from out of town.
 
In the meantime, he’ll tell you the story of his life in an engaging and compelling way. He’s pretty adorable and has a couple of also adorable undertakers (Emily Huntingford and Deja M. Culver) to demonstrate or illustrate or amplify that story.

"Blood/Sucker" at WET

Peggy Gannon in Blood/Sucker (Brett Love)

Blood/Sucker
World Premiere by Anamaria Guerzon
Washington Ensemble Theatre, www.washingtonensemble.org
12^th Avenue Arts
Through September 21, 2026
 
High school horror! There are strange noises somewhere overhead. People begin changing. A careful, reasoned principal (Peggy Gannon) becomes extra-decisive – not in a good way. And then…. there is screaming.
 
Local playwright Anamaria Guerzon’s world premiere play, Blood/Sucker, is given a smart, savvy production by Washington Ensemble Theatre, cordially referred to a WET. They’ve wrapped a lot of complex ideas into a 90-ish minute show, and maybe it could use a tad simplifying, but more ideas are definitely better than fewer.
 
Three disaffected and emotionally damaged high schoolers unite in appreciation for one teacher’s Asian American History class. Rachel Guyer-Mifune, Monty Rozema, and William Eames conjure their inner youth, and then double as three adult school employees. We learn about their shitty home lives and why they are loyal to Mr. Galay and pay attention to his history class as meaningful, when most other classes turn them off.