Brilliant “Dance Like a Man” gives us a real taste of India

Dance Like a Man (Agastya Kohli)

Dance Like a Man

Pratidhwani

(at ACT Theatre)

Through August 9, 2015

Pratidhwani is giving us a unique opportunity to experience an Indian play by an Indian playwright, Mahesh Dattani, based in India. And it’s a brilliant one, exceptionally well produced and directed by Agastya Kohli. Dance Like a Man, presented at ACT Theatre in their ACTLab partnership, is a family comedy-drama set in one room, a rather conventional set-up for an unfolding theme of much larger scope.

The play appears to be a familiar older generation versus younger generation piece about traditions and the always-changing pressures of modernity. But it’s not two generations, it’s three. We meet a young woman, Lata (Tanvee Kale) who brings home her intended Viswas (Jay Athalye) to meet her parents (Abhijeet Rane and Meenakshi Rishi).

Poetry saves and sinks "...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi" but production might be worth the visit

...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi (Ken Holmes)

…And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi

Sound Theatre Company/Brownbox Theatre

(at the Armory)

Through August 2, 2015

Thick Louisiana poetry covers the course of the Civil War with a story of one family and its slaves. Marcus Gardley’s play …And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, performed by a terrific cast in a co-production of Sound Theatre Company and Brownbox Theatre, takes a long way ‘round to tell a simple tale.

This 2 3/4 hour piece has a lot of beautiful imagery and words. Some of the multiple ensemble characters speak in verse, as well. The production is well-presented with gorgeous settings by Burton Yuen, costumes of patchwork by Candace Frank, mood lighting by Richard Schaefer, and haunting sounds by Dana Amromin. Original music and well-known spirituals are included by composer/music director Jesse Smith.

With hints of Greek mythology, a character, Demeter (Santiago) comes looking for her lost daughter, Po-em. Po-em was the slave of Cadence and Jean Verse (Danielle Daggerty and Nick Rempel), but she’s now missing. When Demeter comes to their house, she meets two children, a white child, Blanche Verse (Sunam Ellis) and a black child who powders her face white, Free (Lindsay Zae Summers). They think they are twins.

Seattle Playwrights Circle’s “Short Shorts” and other playwriting groups

There are a number of playwriting groups around town that toil together in support of new work. Some of them are kind of class-based, like Freehold Studios and a spin-off of a group called Parley (led by Freehold instructor Rebecca Tourino Collingsworth). Some of them are newer iterations where one applies to be part of a small group supported by a theater (SeattleRepertory’s Writers Group, and a musical writing group at 5th AvenueTheatre).

There are three main large-group play writing entities in town. Seattle Playwrights Studio meets a couple of Mondays per month at BurienActors Theatre. They are presenting some shorts in a weekend there, from July 24-26. Information about joining them is sketchy after a bit of a reorg, but Scot Bastian reports that there is no longer a monthly contribution (it had been about $5) and the group is open to new members.

WARP (Writers and Actors Reading and Performing) claims the title of longest running playwright support group in town. They create three shorts festivals a year and meet almost every Tuesday night at Stone Soup Theatre. They ask for donations for space rental.

They also invite anyone who is at all interested and do not require any prior experience, either to come and be a reader for plays presented that evening, or for being established in any way as a playwright. So, they are clearly the most inclusive, and a great place to start, if you’re looking for a welcoming place to get your feet wet. More information at: http://warptheatre.org/about-warp.html

Seattle Playwrights Circle, which I am a member of, is open to people who have a certain (fairly minimal) amount of play writing experience and have had a play or two presented on stage somewhere. We generally have two “table reads” a month at a local library on Sunday afternoons during the “school year” and also in fall/winter, monthly public readings at Elliott Bay Bookstore.

Two plays by Tennessee Williams: "The Two-Character Play" and "Orpheus Descending"

The Two-Character Play

Civic Rep

(at New City Theater)

Through August 1, 2015

Orpheus Descending

The Williams Project/Intiman Theatre

(at 12th Avenue Arts)

Through August 2, 2015

Tennessee Williams’ most successful and well-known plays were written earlier in his life in an about fifteen year period from 1943 to 1958. The Glass Menagerie was the first hit, but others included A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending and Sweet Bird of Youth.

Always plays of despair and anguish, Williams’ plays and other writings were said to reflect aspects of his own experiences with an alcoholic father, a mentally unstable sister who spent years in asylums, and his own struggle with homosexuality that was dangerous to acknowledge for most of his life.

What’s Hot for July Stage Openings?

Eric Mulholland in rehearsal for Wizzer Pizzer at Theatre22 (Devin Bannon)

July means the start of the Outdoor Theater productions in various parks (see information below). Some big musicals amp the summer fun as Taproot does Godspell and the 5^th Avenue does Grease! Also, there are several ethnicities heard from with ACT Theatre and Pratidhwani presenting work, and more diversity as Sound Theatre Company partners with Brownbox Theatre.

Godspell, Taproot, 7/8/15-8/15/15

The popular Stephen Schwartz musical that uses a playground and a troupe of loving hippy types to recreate the story of Jesus. Whether you are a Christian or not, the songs in this musical will move you and fill your spirit. Taproot sets this in Seattle’s Public Market.

http://taproottheatre.org/godspell/

Grease, 5th Ave Theatre, 7/9/15-8/2/15

This iconic musical will send audiences cruisin’ through the days of ‘50s sock hops and drive-ins with an exuberant cast of Seattle’s favorite performers at The 5th Avenue Theatre this summer. Hand-jive through unforgettable songs like “Beauty School Dropout,” “Hopelessly Devoted,” “Greased Lightnin',” and “You’re the One That I Want.”

https://www.5thavenue.org/show/grease

Peanutty Goodness, Theater Schmeater (workshop production), 7/9-27/15

Scott Warrender presents his new musical, as he develops it further, and plays the piano for the performances. A collection of seven unlikely characters, including a photocopy boy with a peanut allergy, a loveable CEO douchebag, and a failed actress beleaguered by seagulls face their existential crises by ______  and  _________. Come help fill in their blanks as you mad-lib with them to make a musical.

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1733136

Local playwright gets an Emerald City production with Theatre22

Amy Wheeler (Tom Marks)

A locally written play will open next weekend, produced by Theatre22, a newer company that has already created a track record of solidly mounted and well-chosen stage plays. This outing, they’ve chose Amy Wheeler’s play Wizzer Pizzer: Getting Over the Rainbow.

Amy lives on Whidbey Island where she is the executive director of the famous writing retreat Hedgebrook. She wants everyone to know that, “Whidbey Island now has its own fabulous Queer Pride Parade that's happening on Sunday, August 2nd at 2:00 PM in Langley. More information is at queerparade.com and we'd love for Seattleites to come out and celebrate with us.”

Amy has written a solid handful of plays that have been done in prestigious locations such as Portland Center Stage, Bay Area Playwrights Festival and Greenwich Street Theatre in New York. Her first play, Intersection, was turned into a short film! In addition, she’s taught at local schools like Cornish and Freehold.

Pride Profile: Jennifer Jasper, a triple P, playwright, producer, performer

Kathie Whitehall and Jennifer Jasper (Beth Matthiessen)

This year’s Pride theater celebrity is Jennifer Jasper. She does so many presentations and is so busy around town that just a simple list is complex. Aside from performing a triplet of solo shows based on aspects of her unusual life, she also hosts monthly Family Affair cabarets at the Jewelbox Theatre (inside the Rendevous on 3^rd Ave. in Belltown), each of which raises funds for a deserving theater community member who is having a crisis!

In 2014, she was one of six winning playwrights at the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival for her play “et•y•mol•o•gy” which was published in “Off Off Broadway Festival Plays, 39th Series” in 2015. A producer saw her play presented in New York City and decided to feature her in a whole evening of her plays. The showcase, entitled “Pressing Matters,” will run Off Broadway in New York during the 2016 season!

"Threesome" is challenging, different -- not a strikeout, nor gets to fourth base

Alia Attallah and Quinn Franzen in Threesome (Patrick Weishampel)

Threesome

ACT Theatre

Through June 28, 2015

Body politics are complicated to write about. Especially when one tries to incorporate the vast differences internationally, not just the billion dollar “beauty” industry in the United States or the way commercials have co-opted the female form to sell everything from soap to cars to … well, everything.

Yussef El Guindi’s new play, Threesome, tries to incorporate a lot of body politics into one script and then include some comedy and an underlying drama in with some exposition. It’s a laudable stretch. It’s also “new” in that few playwrights have yet delved deeply into Arab complexities where women are compelled, often, to cover up completely, and thought to be the root of sexual temptations that men are incapable of self-managing.

I enjoyed a lot of the play, a lot. There are many subtleties to contemplate when the play is over, and for those who like a play to linger in their thoughts, perhaps challenging them, this play has a lot to recommend it. There are also polarizing aspects that may have you liking it and your companion complaining.

Yep, "Are You There God? It's Me Karen Carpenter" is just about as fun as it sounds!

Abbey Roads (and EmilyRose Frasca and Shermona Mitchelll) in Are You There God? It's Me Karen Carpenter (Leanna Karg and Bob Snell)

Are You There God? It’s Me, Karen Carpenter

STAGEright (at Richard Hugo House)

Through June 27, 2015

The mash-up of the Judy Blume book, Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret, and Carpenter songs is an irresistible draw! And ticket sales show that and are going fast! Just the title lets you know you’re likely to have a lot of laughs.

Certainly, Are You There God? It's Me Karen Carpenter could also be a train wreck, but thankfully it’s not. It really is just about as much fun as it sounds like it should be. The kick ass cast, headed by talented EmilyRose Frasca as Margaret, she of many musical performances on stages around town, sings Carpenter songs and dresses in silly costumes and sillier wigs, and performs a story in front of a screen where Barbie dolls mimic all the action in front of you.

Triumphant staging of “Slaughterhouse-Five” will return “So it goes” to your vocabulary!

Poster for Slaughterhouse-Five at Book-It Repertory Theatre

Slaughterhouse-Five

Book-It Repertory Theatre

Through July 3, 2015

Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war opus, Slaughterhouse-Five, is a wildly inventive, irreverent (mostly) and fantastical story of a hapless fellow named Billy Pilgrim. The last name hints at the character’s search for a fulfilling life, like the Pilgrims coming to America.

It’s a complicated and far-flung text that has been taken on by Book-It Repertory Theatre in a massive and fully-realized adaptation. The intrepid adaptor (and director), Josh Aaseng, took on this project and decided on a practical, yet ingenious, way to portray the character. He broke the character into a young man, a middle aged man, and an older man.

The key to the success of that decision is: Billy Pilgrim is unstuck from time. In fact, he is essentially in several different “times” at once. How can you portray that on stage without having an actor dash chaotically from one scene to another (not to mention change costuming dozens of times)? Make him into three parts.

The odd story of Centerstage and Federal Way - what would You do?

From For All That at Centerstage (Michelle Smith-Lewis)

Suddenly, at the end of May, people began hearing a plea to save Centerstage Theatre in Federal Way because their renegotiation to manage their Federal Way-owned facility had abruptly been halted by the City-side. The message was to let the City of Federal Way know how important Centerstage was to the community and to encourage the City to start negotiations again, OR Centerstage, if unsuccessful, would have to immediately close.

Many hundreds of people, including me, and numerous Seattle folks, used a simple email link to tell the City of Federal Way just that. Centerstage is a unique company in a very un-arts-filled area of the county with a high level of sophisticated theatrical endeavors.

But many sophisticated theater companies in the Seattle area survive un-homed and tweak their budgets accordingly. So, was there more to the story? 

"Never the Sinner" - a tepid history play in a hot theater (bring a fan)

The cast of Never the Sinner (Shannon Miller)

Never the Sinner

LungFish Productions

At TPS4

Through June 20, 2015

The trial of Leopold and Loeb, in Chicago in 1924, was referred to as the Trial of the Century, at that time. The famed lawyer, Clarence Darrow was their defense attorney. So, Chicago was breathless at that time to hear every tiny detail from the trial. It had scandal, murder, and rich people!

Nathan Leopold, Jr. (with an anomalous name – Jews were expressly forbidden the habit of naming “juniors”), age 19, and Richard Loeb, age 18, were wealthy young men. Loeb was the charismatic, mercurial one, who was bored with life and obsessed with crime – one might say he would have been diagnosed in later years as a sociopath.

Leopold was the constrained and clearly homosexual of the two, an obsessively intelligent young man with a voracious appetite for detail. He knew at least some of 15 languages and was already, at his young age, a noted ornithologist!

"4 Dogs and a Bone": Movie Industry docu-drama fun to laugh at

Cast of Four Dogs and a Bone (Dave Hastings)

Four Dogs and a Bone

Theater Schmeater

Through June 27, 2015

Fame and money in the movies are the bones fought over in John Patrick Shanley’s play, Four Dogs and a Bone. Theater Schmeater is presenting a solidly acted and funny production of this scathing, behind-the-scenes slugfest.

It’s not Shanley’s finest play, and he is said to have written it “in a white hot fury in six days,” which doesn’t bode that well for great writing. But he is a master of fun dialogue and character development. This play is for watching four people with competing interests tear each other up to see who is standing less scathed at the end!

On a bare, flexible set (thankfully, most scene changes are short) by Kasia Rozanska, the play introduces producer Bradley (Paul Custodio), first-time movie actress Brenda (Brenda Joyner), 6-time movie actress Collette (Elinor Gunn) and first-time screenplay writer Victor (Ray Tagavilla). Bradley doesn’t know anything about movies or art, but says he knows money. Brenda doesn’t know anything about acting (!) but knows how to act like she’s acting. Collette knows enough to be wary of Brenda, and they both know enough to try to get each other’s role reduced screen time. Victor doesn’t know about screenplay development, but he knows to watch out for scheming, sex-using actresses.

What's opening in June?

Robert Bergin, Erik Gratton and Todd Jefferson Moore in Slaughterhouse-Five at Book-It Repertory Theatre
(John Ulman)

As we begin June, theatrical offerings that open this month have little in common. That’s great, since no two experiences will be alike! A couple of events are shorts fests, which proliferate as the weather gets warmer, making our attention spans that much shorter. Remember, if you don’t like one short, wait a few minutes and there will be another!

Sandbox One-Act Play Festival or SOAPfest, June 3-7, 2015, at West of Lenin.

Three interesting plays by three veteran local theater artists: Las Cruces, by Vincent Delaney, transports us to the New Mexico desert, not far from casinos and the spaceport, where Sheridan is camped out, hiding in a gutted trailer. Chosen Less, by Phillip Lienau, reveals a chance meeting on the street where two men learn the hard way that leaving is not the same as escaping. Why Do We Keep Broken Things, by Carl Sander, where five inhabitants of Seattle collide in a kinetic collage of civics, sex, and estranged friendship amidst Occupy Seattle.

http://soapfest.org

"Cabaret": Solid production (not much sex appeal)

Brian Earp and Billie Wildrick in Cabaret (Mark Kitaoka)

Cabaret

Village Theatre

Issaquah: Through  July 3, 2015

Everett: July 10-August 2, 2015

Village Theatre is mounting a classic musical, Cabaret, by Joe Masteroff, and music writing team of Kander and Ebb. You probably know a good many of the songs, though perhaps not the context, unless you’ve seen the movie from 1972 starring Liza Minelli. Songs include: Willkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, and Cabaret.

The story focuses on a pre-war Berlin, where the Nazi Party is beginning to gain power, yet clubs with gay performers and employees were still flourishing openly, and Jews were being harassed, yet their businesses not completely destroyed. Cliff Bradshaw (Brian Earp), an American writer, visits Berlin and gets drawn in to one such club, the Kit Kat, where he meets British performer Sally Bowles (Billie Wildrick).

Exquisite theatrical (and almost secret) performance by Akropolis Performance Lab

Joseph Lavy as Dr. Glas in The Glas Nocturne (credit Joe Patrick Kane)

The Glas Nocturne
Akropolis Performance Lab
through May 31, 2015 or quite possibly beyond

I can't tell you where the performance is. I can tell you how to arrange to see it, though.

And you really should do everything you can to see Akropolis Performance Lab's production of The Glas Nocturne. If you appreciate a true theatrical experience, that is.

They are allowing up to 10 (TEN) people per performance. That's tiny. It's in a tiny performance space, and they even will provide a bit of food to help you feel comfortable. The show times are a bit random, as well, and the performance runs about 90 minutes, but you might want to stay after and chat with them for a bit.

Joseph Lavy performs essentially a solo show with a "Greek chorus" (that actually sings), along with Zhenya Lavy as piano player of several nocturnes that accompany moments of the play.

Sally "Talley's Folly" is our delight

Rebecca Olson and Mike Dooly in Tally's Folly (Paul Bestock)

Tally’s Folly

Seattle PublicTheater

Through May 31

Is Lanford Wilson’s 1980 play, Talley’s Folly still relevant? The answer, as demonstrated by Seattle Public Theater’s current production, is a resounding “Yes!”

While this is a love story and they hardly become irrelevant, the tension here is that a New York Jew is wooing a southern belle with a rampantly anti-North, anti-Semitic and anti-liberal family. These days, politics is certainly enough to break up couples and families!

Even as Wilson has his main character, Matt Friedman (Mike Dooly) start the entire production by breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience (“Once upon a time…”), the play maintains a realistic enough content that you forget that he was once audience-aware. And Dooly, as the force-of-nature Friedman, tirelessly pursues his object of affection.

Seattle Shake's "Othello" is an imperfect but solid production

Cast of Othello (John Ulman)

Othello
Seattle Shakespeare Company
Through May 17, 2015

The current production of Othello by Seattle Shakespeare Company is a combination of aspects that work excellently and some that don't quite. Director John Langs adds some beautiful atmospherics, like starting the whole production with an imagined wedding ceremony between the fair Desdemona (Hillary Clemens) and the Moor Othello (Sean Phillips). 

The presentation is 20th Century garb, but not quite up-to-date and not quite a specific time period. So, it's modern enough to include guns, of which there are none, but too modern to include swords, of which there are plenty. It might have made more sense to use short, decorative swords for dress uniforms, instead. 

"Little Bee" stings with real life drama

Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako as Little Bee (John Ulman)

Little Bee

Book-It Repertory Theatre

Through May 17

If you’re like me, you probably don’t know all that much about Nigeria and the relationship with international oil conglomerates. The attempt to control the valuable oil resources of Nigeria has created undeniable danger for residents of areas on top of oil. Book-It Repertory Theatre’s latest production is based on the fictionalized plight of one young teenager, but there is no mistaking the desire for the novel writer, Chris Cleave, to help us realize the truth of the Nigerian situation.

Little Bee is the name of the play and the name of the main character, played with heartbreaking simplicity and sagacity by Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako. She begins a narration of her circumstances by first asking us to agree with her that scars are beautiful. Scars prove you’ve survived. Many of the stories Little Bee and other women have survived begin with the phrase, “And then the men came…” This is both a wonderful moment and one that portends great pain to come.

Edgy "Tilt Angel" is something different

Carter Rodriquez and Llysa Holland in Tilt Angel (Chris Bennion)

Hey, You! The one who's always complaining that Seattle theater is boring! Well, have I got a show for you: Tilt Angel by theater simple (at West of Lenin). Edgy, moody, weirdly funny, definitely not like most of the theater you see around here.

It's not easy to describe the story, but that's why you want to see it, right? It starts with a mimed plane crash that kills the mother, Lois (Llysa Holland), and we then meet the agoraphobic son left behind, Ollie (Spike Huntington-Klein) and his dad, Red (Carter Rodriquez). They don't have the best relationship.

What can I see on stage in May?

The Tall Girls is being presented by Washington Ensemble Theatre (Cassandra Bell)

It’s May, it’s May, the lovely month of May, and nary a Camelot production do we see. Here’s what is coming in May:

If unique experiences are what you want in theater, then productions from Seattle Immersive Theatre might fit the bill. Their latest offering is DUMP SITE (5/1/15-6/7/15), an interactive murder investigation set in a decrepit warehouse in SoDo that incorporates live performance, film, audience participation and a sprawling art installation spread over almost seven thousand square feet of space. Dress in layers; they'll provide the flashlights.

http://www.seattleimmersivetheatre.org/

Tilt Angel  is theater simple’s next offering (at West of Lenin 5/1-17/15). Family secrets pitch the world off-axis and a ghost transubstantiates into the garden. How else can you describe a play with music about a ghost-mom, an agoraphobic son, and a heavenly messenger with unfinished business? It opens with a plane crash.

http://theatersimple.org/

Minimal-set "Into the Woods" satisfies simply

Cast of Into the Woods (Dan Davidson)

Into the Woods

STAGEright Theatre

(at Richard Hugo House)

Through April 25, 2015

STAGEright scheduled their production of Into the Woods at an opportune time for a small theater that has difficult limitations on reaching potential audience members. Having a new movie just out might make it easier to get people interested in an original staging. And this staging, helmed by Matt Giles, is a stripped down, essentialized (is that a word?) production: magic is imaginary anyway, isn’t it?

So everything about suspending your disbelief is just stretched a bit farther than usual, but we know how to do that, don’t we? This production is worth your stretching yourself. There are several outstanding young performers in it, quite a few making their Seattle area debut! Mallory King is not new to Seattle, having performed at the 5^th Avenue and Village Theatres, but she is entrancing as Cinderella, with a terrific soprano.

April theater comin' atcha

Bunnies at Annex Theatre (Joe Iano, photo, Evelyn DeHais, design)

April theater is punctuated with the opening of Café Nordo’s permanent location in Pioneer Square (the former location of Elliott Bay Book Company) and their newest show: Don Nordo Del Midwest with tapas, and a remount of Angry Housewives after umpteen million years at ArtsWest. (Don’t know what Angry Housewives was? You obviously haven’t been here that long.)

UMO Ensemble reprises Fail Better; Beckett Moves (April 8-26) from the Beckett Festival last year. Using a giant teeter totter , ropes and pulleys, five archetypal Beckett characters tackle love, life, death and going-on in typical Beckett fashion.

http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStage/FailBetterBeckettMovesUMO#Tickets

Café Nordo opens in the new, permanent location with Don Nordo Del Midwest, April 9-May 31. Chef Nordo Lefesczki tells his personal journey from soup to nuts and beyond. Through the eyes of the food writer who first discovered him, we meet his trusty sous-chef, Sancho, and witness the duels and dreams that helped shape Nordo into the brilliant megalomaniac he is today. Features a nine-course Midwestern Tapas menu, live original music, and a five glass wine flight of Spanish varietals specially selected by Nordo’s sommelier.

http://www.cafenordo.com/current-show_story.html

"Slowgirl" at SPT is slow to leave your thoughts (in a good way)

Kevin McKeon and Hannah Mootz in Slowgirl (Steven Sterne)

Slowgirl

Seattle Public Theater

Through April 12, 2015

Some plays stay with you a long time. Such is the effect of Seattle Public Theater’s presentation of Slowgirl by Greg Pierce. The story unfolds without urgency, as 17 year-old Becky arrives in Costa Rica to visit her uncle where he lives in a remote jungle hideaway.

Becky (Hannah Mootz) has diarrhea of the mouth, motormouthing through her uncle Sterling’s reactions (Kevin McKeon) and disturbing his peace. We can tell this because everything she moves he moves back. She is very much a city girl, and when she finds out the cabin has no doors and any animal is free to enter, she’s aghast.

Over the course of the 90 minute play, we find out more about the family and the circumstances that Becky finds herself in. Becky is in trouble. A house party full of schoolmates included the "slow" girl classmate that they all make fun of. They call her, “Slowgirl,” as if it is her name.

"Best of Enemies" is a Best of Season! Must. See.

Jeff Berryman and Faith Russell in Best of Enemies (Erik Stuhaug)

Best of Enemies
Taproot Theatre
through April 25, 2015

The dramaturg's notes in the program for Taproot's show, Best of Enemies, says, "The first scene of Best of Enemies opens in Durham, North Carolina in 1968, amidst a Ku Klux Klan celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. As a Seattle audience in 2015, we react with horror at the violent threats and unabashed racism. That's a good response. It's healthy. But it's also easy (italics theirs)." 

That challenge is why, in the time of Ferguson protests, in the wake of Eric Garner's death due to untaxed cigarettes, this play is so important. Besides the stunningly effective craftsmanship of tiny, blink-of-an-eye scenes sketching in a full picture of the situation in Durham, it turns out that the story of a Klan leader (C.P. Ellis) and a black activist mother (Ann Atwater) becoming friends and changing Durham forever is a true one!

"Tartuffe" at Seattle Shakes - a delightful production

Christine Marie Brown and R. Hamilton Wright (John Ulman)

Tartuffe

Seattle Shakespeare Company

Through April 12, 2015

Seattle Shakespeare Company has mounted a production of the classic Moliere comedy, Tartuffe. It’s classic because it’s old (1664), but also because it has timeless themes of hypocrisy, faith, and taking down authority – themes Moliere loved to use in his plays.

Director Makaela Pollock relocates the play from 1600s to 1947, specifically. And then weaves in conscious and unconscious references to Golden Hollywood and early television farce. However, true to many productions that relocate the timing of a classic play, they keep the rhyming couplets of Richard Wilbur’s translation from French.

“No Way to Treat a Lady” is a great way to treat an audience

Nick DeSantis as Kit (Tracy Martin)

No Way to Treat a Lady

Village Theatre

Issaquah: through April 26, 2015

Everett: May 1-24, 2015

The history of the musical currently showing at Village Theatre is long, even for the normally-long development process for musicals! Starting as a book by William Goldman (author of The Princess Bride), No Way To Treat a Lady was made into a movie. Douglas J. Cohen saw the 1968 movie and was inspired to make it his first musical.

He was able to get it produced Off-Broadway in 1987! Here’s a link to a review. It was revived Off-Broadway in 1996, and Alix Korey was nominated for an Outer Critics’ Circle award for playing the showiest role in the musical (referenced below).

In the years since, he’s written over a dozen musicals, as listed on his web site, but has gone back several times to tinker with and improve (at least for him) this musical. He brought the musical to Village in 1999 to work on it. (Now, Village has a 14 year old Festival of New Musicals, which they formally began in 2000.) In 1999, Cohen and Village Artistic Director Steve Tomkins collaborated on a newer version, which is unusual for a show that has had two prior Off-Broadway productions. Today, the musical has been published, but Village Theatre is still treating it as a new musical for this production. Publication usually signifies that a work is finished.

"Live! From the Last Night of My Life" is a special show

Ryan Higgins in the 2011 production of Live! From the Last Night of My Life (Dave Hastings)

Live! From the Last Night of My Life
Theatre22 (at 12th Avenue Arts) 
March 27-April 18, 2015

Sometimes a play is special. There is an almost undefinable essence and it’s one of those “you know it when you see it” kinds of experiences, like falling in love or seeing your baby for the first time or having a judge decide something is pornographic. In 2011, there was a play, Live! From the Last Night of My Life, presented at Theater Schmeater that qualified as special, in that way.

Part of it was the smart script by Wayne Rawley. Part of it was the unbelievably accurate set by Michael Mowery. Part of it was the actors embracing of the experience and translating their excitement to the audience. It was the quirky and dark story of a young slacker who felt so useless that he had determined to kill himself after his shift ended at the convenience store where he worked the night shift. It turned out to be very, very funny, as well.

It was a hit, and as theater goes, ephemeral. It was unlikely to ever be done exactly the same again. Except. Except that it is being done again, by the very same actors and the same meticulous (really I want to say anally retentive, but shouldn’t) set designer. It isn’t going to be in the same basement, but that’s probably for the better.  A new theater company, Theatre22, will produce it, headed by Corey McDaniel, one of the actors in the original production. 

The forgotten guy - the playwright

There's been a bunch of controversy swirling around the new play Seven Ways to Get There, now playing at ACT through their ACTLab collaboration in co-production. Brendan Kiley published an article in The Stranger  that didn't review the play so much as comment on "how" this play got made. 

Kiley's article discussed the behind the scenes funding of the production, mainly from a rich CEO who had experienced the positive nature of men's group therapy in his own life and wanted to create a play that would speak to the idea that men can and should be more supportive of each other and therapy is something more men should seek. Kiley's article suggested this was a new way of funding theater.

A great response to that was posted by Melissa Hillman, from San Francisco, in her every-theater-person-if-not-every-person-should-follow-her blog, Bitter Gertrude. 

A lot of the commentary on the web about the show has been about that, often from people who haven't seen the actual play. 

As it turns out, not many people are talking to or including the playwright in their analyses or commentary. I thought I should remedy that a little, because he is someone who has been quietly and diligently supporting Northwest playwrights for years and years and years. 

Meticulous "The Flick" inaugurates New Century Theatre Company at 12AA

Emily Chisholm, Sam Hagen, Tyler Trerise in The Flick (John Ulman)

The Flick

New Century Theatre Company

Through April 4, 2015

New Century Theatre Company’s inaugural production in their new space at 12^th Avenue Arts Center includes all the kinds of elements that they emphasize: there is an emphasis on atmospherics (the play, The Flick, is about a movie theater crew, so there must be popcorn – both in the lobby and on the floor!), and a meticulously produced play.

A tight cast of basically three people (there is a tiny and well done fourth role) slowly unfold their personal quirks and traits as they get to know each other while doing their jobs at a movie theater called The Flick. During clean-up times, when screenings are over, we’re introduced to Rose (Emily Chisholm) – a green-haired, hip hop, streetwise, assertive and self-assured projectionist; Sam (Sam Hagen) – a guy whose life seems destined to stay low-level jobs like cleaning movie theaters; and Avery (Tyler Trerise) – the college student with college professor father whose future can clearly be brighter than either of the other two.

Around the World in 80 Days’ Leading Lady Aneesh Sheth’s Incredible Journey

Aneesh Sheth in Village Theatre's Around the World in 80 Days (Mark Kitaoka)

As posted in STACKEDD Magazine

When I received an email pitch from Aneesh Sheth, she said to me, “I am currently making my debut at Village Theatre in their production Around the World in 80 Days.” Having seen the production, I was aware of her work. The email continued, “Playing the Indian princess has always been a dream of mine, and for a very long time only a pipe dream. What makes my story of being cast as Aouda different from many other actors is that I am an out transgender actress making my way in the industry.” That sentence caught me by surprise. I had no idea that I was seeing a transgendered actress when I saw the show.

She continued, “Getting to play a non-transgender character, not to mention the leading lady as well, is not only a personal success but an important step for transgender individuals who may share the same dream and a huge step in the types of roles we are offered. There has been much controversy over the ‘appropriateness’ of whether transgender actors should play only transgender roles.”

Solo Performance Festival flies again in March

Sara Porkalob with duck heads (Truman Buffett)

The folks at Theatre Off Jackson and Keira McDonald have partnered for years, now, to present solo shows in a festival style presentation. It's feels a bit like a fringe festival offering and indeed, some of the performances have gone on to tour in fringe festivals around the country and even around the world.

McDonald has been offering workshops to perfect solo technique and many of her students have performed in the festival. The same can be said of the festival coming up in the next couple of weeks.

March 20-21, SPF starts out with a shorts night and continues into the evening with a late nite presentation by Sylvia O'Stayformore, a veteran of solo performance.

L. Nicol Cabe presents Infinite Expectation of the Dawn, March 24-April 1 (four performances) which is described: "Human rights are inalienable, unassailable, unquestionable. But sometimes, we sacrifice our rights for a greater good. Set in the dystopian world after the United States suffers Civil War II, (IED) weaves the stories of Joan and Alicia, two perspectives from a country burdened with fear, who both made personal sacrifices to create their ideal reality."

March 26-29 (three performances), Sara Porkalob presents the true story of her mother's birth and her grandmother's dangerous past. I recently reviewed it here. It's a fascinating story.

Comedian Dana Goldberg returns to Seattle for one night, March 28.

Jim Loucks comes to town with The Biscuiteater, April 2-4 (three performances). His is a southern charm.

Visit TOJ for more information.

English/Chinese combo in "Chinglish" a great evening in translation

Evan Whitfield and Kathy Hsieh (Michael Brunk)

Chinglish
ArtsWest (co-production with SiS Productions)
through March 29, 2015

The absorbing new work, Chinglish, by David Henry Hwang, at ArtsWest is a tightly written play with a top-notch cast, directed with panache by Annie Lareau. It's also challenging for the audience, because more than half of it is in Mandarin Chinese!

Daniel (Evan Whitfield) begins the play by showing us signage where Chinese translators have badly translated signs from Chinese into English. (see below) He warns us that if we learn nothing else from his "how to do business in China" talk, we should know this: Bring your own translator!

A screen then tells us that the time is three years earlier. We'll need that screen as almost another character, since we will need the translations that follow hot and heavy as rapid fire Chinese and halting bad translations fill the rest of the evening. 

Only 2 more weeks to see inventive SteamPunk Cirque

The musicians of Kurios (Martin Girard shootstudio.ca)

Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities

Cirque du Soleil

Marymoor Park

Through March 22, 2015

The gorgeous acrobatic, high flying antics of top-flight, international talent combines with a steampunk aesthetic and even some invisible acts in Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities at Marymoor Park.

Kurios is the 35th production in the line of inventions known as Cirque du Soleil. Similar to other shows, there is a very loose story here that ties the evening together. But you don’t really go to Cirque shows for story, you go for atmosphere, beautiful, intricate costuming, easy to assimilate international music without real words, and death-defying acrobatic and fly work.