12th Ave Arts is showing Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds through 11th of May. The play depicts a group of people at a silent meditation retreat in a forest and regardless of how less of a dialogue it has, the audience perfectly understands what is shown on the stage. Actors of Thalia’s Umbrella skillfully deliver […]

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 game. Unfortunately, the second reason is that I’m not sure how well it works as anything else. Christopher Chen wrote the piece and Desdemona Chiang directed. Chen’s script is interesting, creating distinct movements that explore […]

Chinese Folktale-

The White Snake, React Theatre’s superb production of Mary Zimmerman’s play of the same name, now playing at 12th Ave Arts, was 95 minutes of sheer aesthetic beauty involving exquisite original music, incredibly creative visual effects, excellent acting and a truly amazing script. It was delightful in its simplicity and simply delightful.

One of the four great Chinese folktales, the tale of The White Snake has evolved over the years from a horror story to a romance. It has been performed as an opera in China, musical theatre in Hong Kong, and a dance piece in Taiwan. Zimmerman’s English version premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2012. React’s production is the first all Asian Cast in the U.S. And what a cast it was!!!

This month, ReACT Theatre is bringing Annie Baker’s Obie award-winning The Aliens to Capitol Hill under stage manager Rachel Rene Araucto and Director David Hsieh, with original music by Michael Cherrmus. 12th Avenue Arts’ intimate Studio Theatre is an appropriate venue for the small, three-man performance, consisting of realistic, bare-bones conversation and no shortage of […]

Even as adults, some people struggle to define their identities and find their place in the world. But it’s no better as an adolescent, according to talented playwright Allison Gregory, whose breathtaking coming-of-age story Wild Horses debuted to rapturous applause last night at 12th Ave Arts on Capitol Hill.  This one-woman show stars the incomparable […]

Visual Onomatopoeia

The opening of the Bilingual ASL-spoken English production of A Midummer Night’s Dream made theatrical history last Saturday at 12th Ave Arts. In my humble opinion, this co-production of Sound Theater Company and Deaf Spotlight will be seen by future theater historians as the beginning of a major theatrical innovation.

Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds.

Thalia’s Umbrella’s world première The Impossibility of Now, by Y York, exquisitely illustrates the concept expressed in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 whose first three lines are:

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediment; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,”

Utilizing a highly original plot, outstandingly witty dialogue, a fabulous musical score, interesting recognizable stereotypes who go through profound character development, great acting, and a set to die for, all put together by an expert director, this romantic comedy for the middle aged, delivers the goods. And how!

Last night, Peter Morgan’s award-winning Frost/Nixon opened to a standing ovation at 12th Ave Arts on Capitol Hill.   Focused around David Frost’s famous televised interview with disgraced American president Richard Nixon, this engaging docudrama is helmed by recognized Seattle director Greg Carter and features a superb all-female cast, with knockout performances delivered by veteran leading-actresses […]

The Smell Alone Makes it Hard to Hang on to Your Compassion.

Azerotrop’s Building the Wall, by Robert Schenkkan, which opened this weekend at 12th Ave Arts, was a profound statement not just about Trump’s immigration rhetoric but about how our institutions and greedy powerful individuals corrupt the powerless, who with very few choices at their disposal, unwillingly perpetual evil.

Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Coriolanus takes place during a time of political transition for Rome. As with any political transition, much tension within the government and between the government and its people ensues. 12th Avenue Arts’ reworking of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus into “Coriolanus: Fight Like a Bitch” plays upon the commonalities of political transition, allowing for […]