Unexpected Productions Ready for Some Spooky Fun
Unexpected Productions is setting up for some ghoulish weekend fun preparing a full slate of pre-Halloween events. “Poe Unexpected” as […]
October 2022
The Beasts Stir at West of Lenin
Dirty Beasts: rough plays in early development
In a moving, unconventional festival, Parley presents seven short plays, seven renditions of life’s most momentous and most mundane moments. Written by Katherine Jett, Dustin Hageland, drew david combs, n8 Heneghan, Carolynne Wilcox, Asha Dore and Carol Y. Lee, each of these new works tackles an unsurmountable beast, from mental health illnesses and identity crises to generational trauma and childhood memories. A good combination of complex themes and humor, I was at points captivated by the raw monologue of a character with schizophrenia and at others brought to laughter by a religious chicken’s musical performance.
To Bean or Not to Bean, Is that the Question?
To Bean or Not to Bean, the current and last episode of the long-running staged sit-com, Java Tacoma, is at the Merlino Arts Center, in Tacoma. Produced by Dukesbay Productions, and written by Aya Hashiguchi Clark, it is loosely, as in very loosely, based on Hamlet, and in my opinion, more closely resembles a send-up of a melodramatic soap-opera. Also, in my opinion, it is rib-ticklingly funny and kept me and the audience laughing for a full 90 minutes!!!.
Singing Out in “A Night With the Russells”
Covid may have briefly interrupted the Russell family’s run at the Taproot, but proving as indefatigable as their onstage personas, the mother and daughters have dug their heels in and extended the run of their entertaining musical production through October 29. Director Jimmy Shields keeps the 90-minute show running briskly as “A Night With the Russells” has all three women exploring a song catalogue that ranges from their homeland Jamaican gospel to modern Broadway hits. The show is a heartfelt ode to the persistence and strength these three black women have displayed as they continue to make their way through a life of onstage performing.
Ghost Writer at Woodinville Rep, A Production of Subtleties
The Woodinville Repertory Theatre is (finally, gladly) back in person after two years, with a production of Michael Hollinger’s Ghost Writer. Inspired by real-life Theodora Bosanquet, a secretary and typist who was said to be able to hear her employer after his death, Hollinger wrote this play back in 2010 and won the Barrymore Award in 2011.
A three-person play – four, if you count the typewriter –, Ghost Writer centers around Myra Babbage’s (Mary Leedy) relationship with acclaimed writer Franklin Woolsey (Curt Simmons), first as his typist and later as his romantic interest.
Dirty Beasts. 7 Short Plays
Dirty Beasts, a short play festival of fierce, vulnerable new works by Parley playwrights, is coming to West of Lenin’s upstairs studio. Observe these beasts in their natural habitat for 2 performances only! Perhaps the works of Katherine Jett, Dustin Hageland, drew david combs, n8 Heneghan, Carolynne Wilcox, Asha Dore, and Carol Y. Lee will venture out of hiding, if you’re quiet. Better blend into the landscape, though – they’re feral.
Dirty Beasts. 7 Short Plays. at West of Lenin upstairs studio space. 203-26th Ave, Fremont, Seattle, WA 98103. Two nights only. Fri. Sat Oct 21, 22. 8:30 PM. No elevator, long flight of Stairs. Pay what you can. Parking is extremely difficult, as is crossing 36th Ave. https://www.parleyproductions.com/ 
Preview-The One Act Play that goes Wrong! Heart Rep
Staged Reading at Fund-raiser
“Good evening, I’m Inspector Carter. Take my case. This must be Charles Haversham! I’m sorry, this must’ve given you all a damn shock…”
HEART Repertory Theatre will be performing a staged reading of their September 2023 production of The One Act Play That Goes Wrong at their fundraiser event on November 19th, 2022 at the Kenmore Community Club. This event will feature a silent auction and encourage sponsors for their upcoming 2023 season of Silent Sky, The Glass Menagerie and The One Act Play That Goes Wrong.
Ghost-Writer or Collaborator-Woodinville Repertory Theatre
Ghost Writer or Collaborator?
It is wonderful that Woodinville Repertory Theatre has recuperated from the pandemic and produced its first post-Covid play, Ghost-Writer, by Michael Hollinger, in a new space. Opening in 1919, the set was historically accurate with a gramophone, an old-fashioned telephone, and one of the show’s stars, a vintage 1911 Oliver Model #5 “Typing Machine.”
Still Haunted: MAP’s 2022 production lingers for the wrong reasons
MAP theatre, which produces one show a year, chose to take on Brian Dang’s 90-minute comic horror, a white haunting.
Preview My Body No Choice- Monologues by Women Playwrights
My Body No Choice-A free reading
Radial Theater Project presents a free reading of My Body No Choice, a collection of eight new monologues by eight great American playwrights.
In June 2022, reproductive rights took a giant leap backwards when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In the United States, we can drive when we turn 16, and vote when we turn 18. But we no longer have the bodily autonomy to make the choices that will impact us the most.