Book-It Repertory Theatre

Past

American Junkie Comes to Book-It

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Preshow Nirvana music is piped into the theater as the audience takes in Catherine Cornell’s effective set, deftly capturing much of what Seattle was in the late 1980’s: scuffed up, graffitited and more than a little bit seedy. The effects of the current dotcom boom and Amazon’s overpowering influence in nearly every aspect of the city is tangible here. The local scene was a very different place for a young Tom Hansen, scurrying to Seattle from Edmonds or Lynwood. Hansen’s 2010 memoir, American Junkie, has recently begun to be printed again. It is an engrossing and frightening tale of a young man battling a monstrous addiction to drugs who is somehow able to come out alive to tell his story. Jane Jones and Kevin McKeon have adapted the memoir for the unique Book-It Theatre style and Jones directs the production. Ian Bond takes on Hansen’s role and is flat-out mesmerizing as he brings this charming yet tortured character to life.

Past

The Brothers K (Part Two) at Book-It

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Book-It is offering a unique experience by presenting their theatrical adaptation of David James Duncan’s The Brothers K in two separate evenings. The novel contains a big story covering nearly two decades of the Chance family growing up in southern Washington State during the crazy years surrounding the Viet Nam War. Spending six acts with Hugh and Laurie and their six children as they navigate their lives, together or apart, proves to be wonderfully rewarding. Yes, committing to two nights of theater is daunting, but the two shows seen consecutively constantly gather momentum and deliver a solid home run by the end of their productions.

Past

The Brothers K (Part One) at Book-It

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Book-It is going for a homerun with their closing production of the season. Using the world of minor league baseball as a background, The Brothers K is a sprawling novel that spans the middle decades of the 20th century. A scoreboard that hangs over the stage indicates the passing dates as the story progresses. Part One begins in the late fifties and takes us up to the turbulent late 60’s. Myra Platt took on the monumental task of putting this work on stage; she has adapted the novel for Book-It and directs the show. The production requires the troupe to divide the undertaking into two separate evenings and uses 26 actors playing 83 roles.

Past

Emma by Jane Austen

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“I am going to make a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.”

Said Jane Austen about Emma, the heroine and namesake, of her last novel to be published in her life-time. Opening this weekend, Book-It Repertory Theatre, produced a narrative theatre version of Emma, whose audience expressed their amusement so vociferously Jane Austen might have thought it vulgar.

Past

Book-It Presents 4 Stories by Raymond Carver

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Book-It’s Repertory Theatre’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” is a collection of stories that Raymond Carver wrote in different periods of his life encompassing the years 1964 to 1986. Adapter and director Jane Jones knows this material well, for she has worked with Carver’s stories before for this troupe. Book-It’s unique style of emphasizing the text’s language enables it to deliver a great deal of dramatic life into these dark tales.

Past

Slaughterhouse Five at Book-It Repertory Theatre

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Kurt Vonnegut’s classic Slaughterhouse-Five has to be one of the more unwieldy narratives ever to be brought to the stage. The tale involves multiple points of view, time and space travel and a long piece covering the devastating and controversial bombing of Dresden. It became a forgettable motion picture back in 1972, but now has reemerged as a compelling theater piece adapted and directed by Josh Aaseng for Book-It Repertory. This production’s success largely rests on the astounding effectiveness of Vonnegut’s language. For through all the story’s explosions, horrors and confusion, it is Vonnegut’s unique voice that drives the play to some breath-taking heights.

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