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.

“I don’t think you ever get used to it…” On November 1st in the cozy side studio of 12 Ave Arts on Capitol Hill, writer Scotto Moore and director Katie McKellar delivered an emotional powerhouse in “Sings the Hits,” a minimally cast play about an up-and-coming radio host chasing down a story amidst sexual harassment, […]

Written by Lucienne Aggarwal and Robert Horton  While some stories fade into irrelevancy over time, great American playwright Lanford Wilson’s Burn This is sure to remain pertinent long after premiering last night at 12th Ave Arts on Capitol Hill.  Produced by Seattle’s Theatre 22 and helmed by veteran director Corey McDaniel, Burn This continues to […]

For their last Mid-week show of their 30th Season, Annex Theatre, presented Deers by Marcus Gorman, an entertaining spoof of the long running TV Sit-com Cheers. In four episodes spread over 11 years, they “aired” the pilot from Season 1, jumped to Season 5 in the next scene, and showed scenes from Season 8 and 11 after the intermission. However, instead of humans inhabiting a bar, there was a tight-knit group of friends, all of whom were animals, from different species, having various kinds of healthy and unhealthy social bar-like interaction.

A night of up-and-coming drag royalty strutting onto the Seattle drag scene. “Fresh,” a non-competitive drag show hosted and curated by drag queen Arson Nicki, lit up the stage of Seattle’s 18th & Union theater on Friday and Saturday night with stunning displays of costume designs, dance, and proud sexuality. “Fresh” calls itself “a celebration […]

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 […]

Hollywood is full of Dead Dreams Just as we are hearing the worst about Hollywood, Annex Theatre, has produced Last Stop on Lilac, a spoof on Hollywood, Hollywood movies, cult movies, killer movies, the TV show Dragnet, the Sixties and Hollywood legends, which was literally to die for. (Get it!) With a lively crowd to […]

Inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic play, The Tempest, Y York’s Sycorax is a powerful monodrama independent of the influencing work, that premiered at 18th & Union last night on Capitol Hill.  Directed by Mark Lutwak, an experienced freelance director, Y York’s play wrestles with major themes of revenge and forgiveness while noting how race, gender, […]

Even with the help of a thesaurus, it is difficult to find the right words to express how amazing Script Tease was. Amazingissimo? Seriously Annex’s Research and Development’s off night “project” was quite unbelievable. First of all there was the process, which was truly intriguing.

Take a talented playwright, have her write six pages of a play for six actors, then let the actors complete the rest of the play by improvisation. The end product-a 90 minute performance- was as hilariously funny, fast-paced, witty and polished as any play. Laughter erupted on average about every 30 seconds as the actors moved the plot right along, developed their characters, while establishing great rapport with the audience.

On discovering the truth.
We may never even know all the questions.

As part of their Research and Development Wing project, Annex Theatre presented Something Incredible, written and devised by playwright Natalie Copeland and Emily Harvey along with an ensemble of seven highly talented female performers. In an evening of subtle humor, the play focused on the great metaphysical questions of science and religion: Why are we here? What are the scientific explanations for creation as well as the creation myths. How is human spirituality related to nuclear fission? And of course the greatest question of all: will we ever know the truth about these great questions.