Author name: R.E. Parker

R.E. Parker has been a regular contributor to Drama in the Hood since October 2016. She is an active member of the Western Washington theater community.

Past

Dukesbay Theater “Calligraphy” Review

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  Any fan of grassroots, independent theater would root for Dukesbay Theater’s production of Calligraphy by Velina Hasu Houston. The play’s premise is interesting and fits Dukesbay’s mission “to give a voice to artists of all ethnicities.” Plus, this is a production of a work by a little-known playwright being put on in downtown Tacoma. Unfortunately, Dukesbay Theater’s production of Calligraphy has just enough enjoyable moments to leave one wondering what exactly went wrong in this endeavor to tell a worthy story.
Calligraphy tells the story of a divided Japanese family. Younger sister Noriko married an Afro-Cuban American G.I. and emigrated to the United States…

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“The Government Inspector” at Seattle Shakespeare Company Review

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When town officials learn that an incognito government inspector has arrived in their town, they scramble to cover up evidence of their corruption. A broke, free-loading traveler mistaken fr the inspector takes full advantage of their greed and panic with hilarious results. Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of The Government Inspector is a laugh-out-loud funny comedy of errors.

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3-2-1 BATTLE!’s Weirder Steel Powerbombed My Heart (In a Good Way)

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Nerds, gimps, and cheating Canadians could all be found kicking ass for an enthusiastic audience at Evolv Fitness on Friday. 3-2-1 BATTLE!’s Weirder Steel was funny, thrilling, and bizarre, and set up one of their biggest shows of the year.
Professional wrestling as a whole taps into an element of the Western theatre tradition that is rarely found elsewhere the dramatic arts: the Dionysian. Anyone who has looked into the history of theatre has probably heard of the Dionysia, a festival in ancient Athens that honored the god Dionysus and featured three days of dramatic performances. Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, is the god of wine, theatre, fertility, and ritual madness and ecstasy. When one sees a play these days, wine is likely to be available, but the madness and ecstasy tend to be in short supply…

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Seattle Shakespeare Company’s “Julius Caesar”

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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…

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Ayad Akhtar’s “The Who and the What” at ArtsWest

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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.

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Enroll in “Nite Skool” with The Libertinis at Annex Theatre

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The Libertinis’ “Nite Skool,” performed at the Annex Theatre, is a hilarious, raunchy comedy show with a social conscience. It takes on the aesthetic of the after-school-special era of teen sitcoms, but the subjects it tackles are anything but dated. “Nite Skool” aims to both make you laugh and challenge widely-held beliefs perpetuated by schools, and it usually succeeds.

“Nite Skool,” written by Max Kirchner and the ensemble, opens with a woman realizing she is unprepared for the realities of adult life. She decides to go to Nite Skool [sic] to “fill her knowledge holes.” The show takes us through a school day (night?), using each “class” to tackle a social issue and/or tell jokes that would have definitely gotten you sent out in the hallway…

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by The Fern Shakespeare Company

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) expertly parodies the Bard’s work with puppets, rap, Freudian analysis, and more. In this encore production at the Slate Theatre, the Fern Shakespeare Company caricatures some classics with mixed results.

The Complete Works was first performed by its writers, Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987. Since then, this three-actor play has been performed by theater troupes all over the world. The show presents all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in abridged, parodied, and/or combined form. With room for improvisation, audience participation, and other deviations from the script, it’s easy to see the appeal for both actors and audiences.

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Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s “Lydia” at 12th Avenue Arts

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Strawberry Theatre Workshop brings Octavio Solis’s award-winning Mexican-American family drama to 12th Avenue Arts.
Lydia, first performed in 2008, tells a twisted story of family, sex, sexuality, and immigration, set in 1970s Texas. In the aftermath of a debilitating car accident that leaves the youngest child in a semi-vegetative state, the Flores family hires Lydia, a recent immigrant from Mexico, as a maid. Sexual, socio-political, and supernatural tensions soon hurtle the family towards the play’s dark conclusion.

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…And Starring Claire From Hollywood: New Play Review

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As the summer blockbusters start to roll out, Macha Monkey Productions presents a small-scale story that’ll get big laughs at 18th & Union. …And Starring Claire From Hollywood, a new comedy by Jim Moran, is full of humanity, heart, and humor, all in a small town Pacific Northwest setting.
… And Starring Claire From Hollywoo” tells the story of a D-list Hollywood actress, the titular Claire, who returns to her hometown on the Oregon coast…

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4twenty: WARP theatre’s weed-inspired spring showcase

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Social justice, Care Bear Stare, and Billie Holiday’s ghost. WARP Theatre’s 2017 spring showcase, 4twenty, is a fun, uneven, and undeniably Seattle-grown night of cannabis-inspired theater.

4twenty’s mission is to tell “stories that examine, celebrate, demystify, and normalize cannabis culture.” The pieces may share a common theme, but the range of genres and tones couldn’t be wider.The program of short plays, film, and spoken word draws from weed’s demonized past to its legalized present. 4twenty includes Seattle-specific sketch comedy, politically-charged historical fiction, a romantic-comedy musical, and more…

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