Liberology
Written by the critically-acclaimed playwright and Tony award winning librettist, Richard Nelson, Sorry the third part of the Apple Family Triology, produced by Thalia’s Umbrella, opened at 12th Ave Arts, this past weekend. With a stellar cast, composed of some of my favorite Seattle actors, as well as a highly capable director and technical staff, the play was definitely not the thing.
Killing people bothers SOME people
It is difficult to find the words to express how great 9 Circles was!!!!!. Playing at 12th Ave Arts, produced by Strawberry Theatre Workshop, directed by Grey Carter, from a divinely inspired script by Father Bill Cain, S.J., with an exceptionally stellar cast, it was far more than just a good show. It was a spiritually uplifting EXPERIENCE which one rarely has in theatre or indeed in life.
In Sound Theatre Company’s latest musical, Parade, we’re transported back in time to post Civil War Georgia where the terrible
Theatre 22 mounts a sensitive and touching production of the one-act play Annapurna featuring two local talents: John Q. Smith and Teri Lazzara. Sharr White’s work debuted in LA in 2014 and has already had a Broadway run starring Ned Offerman and Megan Mullally. White writes of a long separated couple coming to terms with their individual pasts and each other. Hard truths are faced, old disputes are replayed, new fears arise and yet a grudging love and respect somehow emerge by the final blackout. The two-person piece is skillfully performed and deftly directed by Julie Beckman.
When you intentionally produce “dangerous works” as Washington Ensemble Theatre describes their mission, with dangerous titles, one is well advised to do them well. And the short verdict is: yes, This show is very well done. The credit goes to everyone involved with the three producing companies (Washington Ensemble Theatre, The Hansberry Project, and eSe Teatro) working together for the first time.
It helps that they have an airtight script by Stephen Adly Guirgis.
Copious Anger not Love
Like the other Copious Love production I reviewed CODENAME: KANSAS, Witch Hunter, reminded me of the Flanders and Swan’s song “P** P* B**** B** D******” or “Pee Po Belly Bum Drawers” whose refrain is “Let’s talk Rude.” Flanders and Swan satirized the use of gratuitous profanity among the British intelligentsia ( in the early 60’s) and compares it to children swearing for attention.
On a typical day at the office, Managing Director Josef Gross (played with appropriate increasing bafflement by Galen Joseph Osier), arrives at his desk, opens his Apple MacBook and begins to sift through his inbox. He comes across a memo in a new language, prints it, reads it out loud, has a WTF reaction, and proceeds to search around his offices to find out what it is written in and to get it translated. The language is Ptydepe. …
What’s a Tall Girl to do During the Depression?
Produced by Washington Ensemble Theatre and directed by Kelly Kitchens, Meg Miroshnik’s play about teenage aspirations amidst hopelessness during the Dust Bowl, Tall Girls opened at 12th Ave Arts. Unfortunately, the play and this production reflected the themes presented in the play-high aspirations but a fairly hopeless outcome.
To Be or Not to Be-that literally was the question.
LIVE! From the Last Night of My Life by Wayne Rawley, was not only the most amusing show I have seen in a long time but also the most profoundly tragic as it dealt with the very basic question of existence: should I keep living or should I put an end to everything. Both the Theatre 22’s production and the script itself were masterpieces which simultaneously served to enlighten the audience and provide the best psycho-therapy there is: laughter.
