What is ACME?
ACME is a company that makes everything. In the future, one corporation controls the market, a witty and hyperbolic cross between Ikea and Apple, with its own batty and brilliant CEO and employees suffering Stockholm syndrome. ACME is a play that gives special attention to Seattleites, releasing and exploring frustrations with corporate takeover and tech industry culture.
Written Andrew Shanks (2017 Winner, Ghost Light Theatricals Battle of the Bards) is a staple of Puget Sound area theater and arts, you might have encountered his work at Bumbershoot, Spin the Bottle, Pocket Theater, or more recently at Panel Jumper Live: Chapter IV. He’s stated that ACME was inspired by a stint working in the tech industry, and is his most ambitious work to date.
Directed by Mary Hubert, who recently directed Girl for Annex, ACME pushes the boundaries of belief and creates a world that caricatures and acts out what seems to have become the existential crisis of modern life. Magic and science are blurred, reality is unknown, everything seems both reasonable and unreasonable. One girl, Jules (Nabilah Ahmed), is determined to pin it all down and find her father within the ever-shifting walls of Acme.
ACME contains a lot of coarse (though well used and hilarious) language, and may not be the best for the kids. To anyone who wants to see their fantasy of the corporate tech world fall apart acted out on stage, you don’t want to miss it.
April 28 through May 20, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm.
Preview on Thursday, April 27, and Industry night on Monday, May 8 at 7:30pm.
$20 general/$12 TPS, senior, military/$5 students. All Thursdays Pay-What-You-Can
Reviewed by Jessica McQuarrie