September 2017

Past

Albert Einstein Visits Greenwood in Taproot’s Relativity

/

Taproot Theatre lays out a tough question with its local premiere of Relativity. Can a great man also be a good man? Do history’s heroes fail at being good human beings? Playwright Mark St. Germain attacks the conundrum with gusto in his three person period drama. He allows us to drop in on Albert Einstein in Princeton, New Jersey on December 9, 1949 at a time the genius had already earned a great name. Early in the play, characters reference the biographies of Charles Dickens and Sigmund Freud, noting how their domestic success as husbands and fathers falls far short of their meteoric career achievements. Does Einstein also belong in this category of severely flawed men? While the play does not provide a definitive answer, it does offer ample food for thought for its audiences.

Past

Curie Me Away did just that

/

Well-behaved Women Rarely Win Nobel Prizes

Although many people know that Marie Curie and her husband Pierre won the Nobel Prize for discovering radioactivity and some new elements, many people don’t know how many serious obstacles she had to overcome to win her first Nobel Prize in 1903. For example, by law as a woman Marie, (née Sklodowska) was forbidden to enroll in the university in Warsaw. All these obstacles as well as a few French ones, were illuminated in Curie Me Away, Matheater’s musical biography of this incredibly intelligent and tenacious woman.

Past

Calculus a Musical? Really!

/

Dreaming of Differentials

A wet-dream encountering the inventor of Calculus (who incidentally probably died a virgin) is not exactly the high point of the week for any teen-age girl, especially when she previously considered Calculus a cure for insomnia. However, the full house at 18th and Union found Calculus the Musical, hysterically amusing as well as educational

Past

Caged Bird Soars at Book-It

/

Book-it Theater adapting I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings makes for the perfect marriage of form and content. The anecdotal nature of Maya Angelou’s memoir helps it become a perfect source for this troupe’s unique presentation of literary classics. Each separate scene of the autobiography builds upon the next until we have a complete dramatic portrait of a brave, rebellious and resilient black woman enduring and finally coming into her own.

Past

Seattle Shakespeare Company’s “Julius Caesar”

/

William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has captivated readers, audiences, and theater makers over four hundred years since its premier. Unfortunately, Seattle Shakespeare Company’s current production of the classic can barely hold its audience past intermission….
Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Julius Caesar is at its strongest when it leans into the present-day parallels. Craig B. Wollam’s set effectively brings to mind both the white-columned buildings of Rome and our nation’s capital. Doris Black’s costumes firmly anchor the production in present day Washington, D.C., from the power suits to an orange toupee. The physical world of the play helps the classic feel vital and relevant in 2017…

Scroll to Top