For their first public performance, the French language theatre company ‘Rue du Hazard’ will stage Art, a three person dramatic comedy by Yasmina Reza, directed by Trinity Daudenthun. The play Art is the most frequently performed play in the French language.
One of the most challenging tasks each of us may face on this earth is deciding when to finally say “no” to perceived evil. When we see the world going wrong around us, who will be strong enough to resist and say “Stop!”, no matter what the personal danger and risk? David Meyers explores these challenges in recounting the true story of Sophie Scholl and The White Rose rebellion in his moving new play, We Will Not be Silent. The compelling one-act is having its Seattle premier at the Taproot Theatre this spring.
“The Drowsy Chaperone” is a clever slice of theater that was first developed in 1998 by Bob Martin and Don McKellar with music and
Once again, Seattle Shakespeare Company has creatively updated a classic play and produced a masterpiece. She Stoops to Conquer, one of the 18th Century’s perennial favorites, written by Oliver Goldsmith, was superbly directed by Mikaela Pollock. Emphasizing the essence of the play, comedy and not, because of its age, the museum quality, (needing to be treated with solemn reverence) Ms. Pollock added many brilliant touches: the set, the music, the costumes and especially the topical asides, which both honored the text and animated it.
Let’s play a game. I will say one word and you tell me what comes to mind. Ready? Blockhead! I’ll
Playwright Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House Part 2 came to Broadway in 2017 and garnered eight Tony Award nominations. Pamela Reed, playing Nora Helmer, heads up an outstanding cast for the show’s Seattle premiere at the Seattle Rep. The play’s action is set fifteen years after Nora walked out on her family in Ibsen’s groundbreaking Victorian era masterpiece, A Doll’s House. While enjoyment of the Rep’s current offering wouldn’t be curtailed if you haven’t seen or read Ibsen’s play, some familiarity with the work can only add to your appreciation of this thought provoking new show. However you approach the evening, you will be confronted with tough questions on the role of husbands, wives and marriages that really have not been definitively answered in the last 140 years.
Something quite different is going on at the ArtsWest Playhouse this spring. The award-winning playwright Annie Baker’s play John is having its Seattle premiere here and it’s a very strange trip indeed. The Playhouse’s welcoming staff reminds incoming audiences that the show runs three hours with two intermissions. When so many new works seem intent on compacting their production into one fast paced act, Baker wants the time to provide the needed space for her four fascinating characters and us to explore the otherworldly bed and breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the eerie and unsettling setting for her play. Baker’s plot that unfolds like a troubling dream performed by a cast that director Erin Murray describes as “out of this world talented” make for a very memorable night of theater.
I don’t want to give up Caught‘s trick for two reasons. First, as a piece of medium-melding theater, Caught engages as a guessing
Tragic Tale dished up with large Helpings of Comedy
Based on the real story of a chimpanzee named Travis, who was raised as a human, and had worked in Hollywood as an “actor,” the play Trevor, by Nick Jones, is a semi-fictionalized recounting of the last days of his life. Although Trevor is billed as a comedy, ultimately it is a tragedy, revealing profound truths about the selfish nature of narcissistic pet owners, as well as their parental counterparts. In spite of the tragic ending, the play is uproariously funny due to the witty script, ludicrous situation and the incredible comedic genius of Brandon Ryan, the star, who plays the adolescening champ, with all the frenetic energy of Robin Williams at his looniest.
From William Shakespeare’s era to today, theatre was meant to be an expression of the out-of-the-ordinary. Creative people, with unique
