The Devil is in the Details
The correlation between religious mysticism and mental illness is a fascinating subject but not always a welcome one in certain religious communities. Creature, by Heidi Schreck, which opened at Theater Schmeater this weekend, provided a platform to discuss these issues, as it recounted the “post-partum depression/mystical religious experiences” of Magery Kempe , a late medieval English Christian mystic.
Cartoonish parody of Surfer, Hitchcock, Mommie Dearest and Slasher movies
An artist run LGBTQ company, Fantastic Z opened a production of Psycho Beach Party by Charles Busch at Eclectic Theatre this weekend. As a left thinking person who believes in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights, I would like to have liked this production; however, there is more to entertaining an audience for one hour and forty minutes, without an intermission, than just playing to clichéd, once shocking stereotypes, repetitive, superficial humor and loud screechy voices.
Before being asked to do this review, I, like many of you, didn’t even know there was an Addams Family
Book-It is offering a unique experience by presenting their theatrical adaptation of David James Duncan’s The Brothers K in two separate evenings. The novel contains a big story covering nearly two decades of the Chance family growing up in southern Washington State during the crazy years surrounding the Viet Nam War. Spending six acts with Hugh and Laurie and their six children as they navigate their lives, together or apart, proves to be wonderfully rewarding. Yes, committing to two nights of theater is daunting, but the two shows seen consecutively constantly gather momentum and deliver a solid home run by the end of their productions.
Camus does Caligula: Where Philosophy Meets Chaos
If you’ve ever heard of the Roman emperor Caligula, you probably know him as the famous madman who raped his sisters, dissected his mother, and made his horse Consul of Rome. At least, that’s how I knew the figure going in to Arouet’s new production of Caligula by Albert Camus, and I expected to see a theatrical exploration of what happens when you give a madman absolute power (Trump, anyone?). Instead, this dark and verbose play by the famous nihilist philosopher offered up a much more interesting premise: what happens when you give absolute power to a man who understands the concept of absolute freedom? Chaos ensues. This intellectual portrayal of the Roman emperor’s reign of terror takes us inside the twisted logic of a man who is beholden to no rules, whether of religion, law, or custom—a man who simply does exactly what he wants when he wants to.
Hilarious Satire of Sincerity in the Corporate World
Unlike film, it isn’t often that Foreign language THEATER comes to Seattle and when it does, people often shy away from it because they feel that only native speakers will be able to understand it. Au contraire mes amis,!!! Now we have Building, by Leonore de Confino a satire produced by D-Boussole a San Francisco based company French-language company, which was so well acted in the French tradition of physical comedy, and so well-directed, by Frédéric Patto, that even had I not known a word of French, I would have understood what was going on and laughed just as much.
Before I write another word, let me say that Village Theatre’s production of Billy Elliot is a technical masterpiece, from
Book-It is going for a homerun with their closing production of the season. Using the world of minor league baseball as a background, The Brothers K is a sprawling novel that spans the middle decades of the 20th century. A scoreboard that hangs over the stage indicates the passing dates as the story progresses. Part One begins in the late fifties and takes us up to the turbulent late 60’s. Myra Platt took on the monumental task of putting this work on stage; she has adapted the novel for Book-It and directs the show. The production requires the troupe to divide the undertaking into two separate evenings and uses 26 actors playing 83 roles.
Mixed Reaction Reunion with ex-Lover
Shooting the Stars, an In the Moment Theatre production, opened this past weekend at Eclectic Theatre. It was full of nostalgia, for those of us who went to college in the 1970’s in quintessential activitist college towns like Madison, Wisconsin, where it took place. However, the script played on stereotypes and clichés so much that even two very fine actors and a competent director could not rescue it from sit-com and soap-opera predictability.
Heavy Teen Consequences for Thinking with your Glands
In 1988-89, when I lived in London, I received weekly Monday night tickets to the RSC; however I never saw as delightful or entertaining a version of any Shakespeare play as the Seattle Shakespeare production of Romeo and Juliet, currently running at the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center.
