March 2022

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Leo Tolstoy

Although the title would suggest otherwise, God Said This, now running at Dukesbay Theater in Tacoma, is not a religious play. It is a play about how an alcoholic family reacts when the mother is dying from cancer. Despite the fact that the father is in recovery, it was not of his choosing; his liver and the onset of sclerosis chose it for him.

A Balm Comes to Gilead, in Wisconsin.

In these times of despair on so many fronts, Taproot Theatre opened The Spitfire Grill, this weekend, with a theme of hope for a small town, a failing business and the “sin-sick souls” who lived in the town and frequented the local diner, which resembled a darker version of The Chatterbox Café from Prairie Home Companion fame.

There are many tales that rely on a core story of three sisters. As a girl, I can remember my

ng>Annual Black Film Festival “We See You” now in person.

The 19th annual Seattle Black Film Festival will once again animate the halls of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute in Seattle’s historically Black Central District, April 29-May 1. The three-day weekend of in-person and video on demand screenings, panels and events will host an international selection of over forty feature films, music videos, documentaries and short films; showcasing the range and depth of the Black experience on the big screen.

Seattle Black Film Festival, Fri Apr 29th 7 pm (Happy Hour at 6pm) to Sun. May 1. 104 -17th Ave S. Seattle, 98144 (Central District, corner of Yesler and 17th Ave S) Parking Lot and plenty of off street parking. Buses 14, 27, 60.

Festival trailer: https://vimeo.com/686488853
Festival passes on sale now: https://www.goelevent.com/LANGSTON/Pass/Sale

There are only two emotions
Love & Fear

Equally there are only two reactions to refugees: welcoming or unwelcoming, along with two reactions to living in a dying small town: staying or leaving. The 1995 play, EUOPE by Scottish playwright, David Grieg, at 12th Ave Arts, structured its themes and subplots around the above mentioned dichotomies. Also it demonstrated the results of approaching a hostile word with either love or hostility. EUROPE depicts the tragic circumstances of refugees, as well as the equally tragic circumstances of those who resent refugees: de-industrialization, the psychological consequences of unemployment and de-ruralification. Thalia’s Umbrella’s production, directed by Terry Edward Moore could not be more topical, or more enlightening.

A Two Person Whodunit? Huh?

Imagine a classic Agatha Christie Style whodunit, taking place in an isolated country house, (actually in NEW England, rather than its namesake) with the dead body of a famous writer of detective fiction, 13 suspects among them a resentful wife, a bespectacled niece, a ballerina mistress, a psychiatrist, who keeps or doesn’t keep everybody’s secrets and some poison tea. However, it is performed cabaret style with only two characters. One plays the investigating policeman, and the other plays all 13 suspects. Both play numerous songs on the piano without so much as one piece of sheet music. Well, folks this unique musical comedy, Murder for Two, by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair, opened at Harlequin Productions in Olympia, this past weekend.

Public TV’s WORLD Channel spotlights Seattle.

Stories from the Stage, the acclaimed storytelling series from public television’s WORLD Channel, spotlights Seattle this March with two all-new episodes with Seattle-area storytellers presented in collaboration with KCTS Seattle PBS. Three out of the six performers are connected with Unexpected Productions. Kent Whipple, Storyteller teacher; Melissa Reaves; UP ensemble member; and Jen Bijanki, UP storytelling student.

It was almost as frightening as the book

Said my companion after watching Radial Theater Project’s production of the adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan. Indeed, it was frightening in the traditional sense of a conspiracy driven thriller-there was a lot of tension about whether their illicit external behavior would get them caught, but the really frightening aspect was how totalitarianism can totally control people’s thoughts, emotions and behavior, thereby creating perpetual war, poverty as well as destroying the most intimate relationships. Thrown in there was one of Orwell’s favorite topics; how the debasement of language is used to distort and deny the truth.

A goofy and sped-through version of Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It (AYLI) is on stage at Seattle Shakespeare. Director

An Homage to Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott Heron was a highly influential poet, novelist and musician who influenced hip-hop, rap and neo soul. His self-definition was that of a “blusologist” or a “scientist who is concerned with the original of the blues.”