An American Dream triumphantly returns to Seattle
In Seattle Opera’s reimagining of An American Dream, they have found the perfect marriage of material and venue.
September 2017
Dragon Lady: A powerhouse of a play written by and starring Sara Porkalob
Ideas and stereotypes about Asian American women fall into two categories: the deceitful and domineering Dragon Lady or the submissive
Ayad Akhtar’s “The Who and the What” at ArtsWest
At ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, ArtsWest and Pratidhwani present The Who and the What, Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar’s play about a Muslim Pakistani-American writer whose controversial manuscript forces she and her family to confront issues of faith and identity. This well-written and well-produced play is funny, touching, and sure to prompt discussion about some contentious subjects.
The Who and the What kicks off ArtsWest’s 2017-2018 season, which is called “I Am,” and features plays that focus on struggles for identity. Ayad Akhtar’s follow-up to his 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning Disgraced has no shortage of this type of conflict. The Who and the What is the story of Zarina, a writer struggling to complete her first novel, the daughter of immigrants from Pakistan, and a practicing Muslim. Zarina is finally inspired to finish her novel when she finds love with Eli, a white Muslim convert, ending months of writer’s block. However, the book’s depiction of the Prophet Mohammed and controversial take on women and gender politics in Islam causes conflict with Zarina’s family, especially her more conservative father and sister. They confront issues of religion, identity, and gender relations, as well as the conflicts within their own family.
Grief Dialogues: The Play Debut
Elizabeth Coplan, Artistic Director of the Grief Dialogues project, has curated this set of six well-crafted 10 minute plays for this evenings play reading. All plays were directed by Wesley Fruge. Interspersed among the plays were poems by Jennifer Coates, Kristin Bryant, and Terry Severhill. A post show song, “Move On,” performed by Carla Rose Fisher accompanied on guitar by her husband Thomas Fisher, followed by Q & A with the audience rounded out the evening.
The value of workshop productions to writers. A new play grows into its final status
A swashbuckling good time with the Core Ensemble
When you think of the inaugural production from a brand new theater company started by a team of enthusiastic recent