What can be funny about an Alzheimer’s patient.
A funny play about Alzheimer’s behavior seems counterintuitive, but then again the basis of humor is tragedy. In Taking Leave, by Nagel Jackson, which opened at Dukesbay Productions in Tacoma, the astute playwright and the shrewd director, Melanie Gladstone, showed how a good dose of humor can alleviate a tragic situation.
Get ready, Shakespeare fans, for a play about the legacy of the legendary playwright in The Book of Will created by Lauren Gunderson, the author of Silent Sky and the Christmas at Pemberley series. Originally commissioned and produced at the Denver Centre Theatre Company, this production was directed by Karen Lund and produced by the Taproot Theatre Company.
Seattle Shakespeare Company’s latest adaption of Comedy of Errors began last weekend and has put a new twist on the classic concept, with its small ensemble cast of five actors playing eighteen different characters at once.
Freehold’s Measure for Measure was a great adaptation of Shakespeare’s original. There is a beautiful set and choreography (Jessica Jabaris as Movement director) and an emotional performance by Ayo Tushinde, who plays Isabella as she tries to save her brother from dying under the hypocrisy of a new authority figure in Vienna.
“They say best men are molded out of faults
And for the most become much more the better
For being a little bad.”
-Mariana, Measure for Measure
Engaged Theatre, an offshoot of Freehold acting studio is mounting a production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Robin Lynn Smith, at West of Lenin in October for only five performances. All performances will be free.
The Tempest is being shown this summer by the Seattle Shakespeare Company. It is being shown for free in various parks around the Puget Sound as part of Free Shakespeare in the Parks, and is directed by Lee Adcock-Starr.
Throwing the dice to determine who played each role was the least off-beat thing about this enchantingly funny production.
I have to confess, unlike many people I know, that I love updated productions of the classics, but only if the social dynamics and plot fit with the concept. Dacha Theatre’s production of Dice Keeper-12th Night, more than managed to do this, while presenting one of the most creative, spontaneous and enjoyable shows I have EVER seen. It was truly beguiling and by chance had a certain historical authenticity to the casting. i.e. There really was a male actor playing a female character, who has to pretend to be a man in the script. 
The Standby Lear, directed by Terry Edward Moore, is a beautiful story of a husband and wife in the acting world, providing opportunity for intense reflection on what living life on standby entails. While starting out as a lighthearted comedy based upon the Shakespearean tragedy, the show quickly transforms into an emotional examination of love and fear in an actor’s life.
Henry IV, A Historical Play
Seattle Shakespeare’s all-BIPOC project, Drum and Colours, shows amazing visual storytelling in a Shakespeare classic, brewing a mix of Star Wars aesthetics, epic fight choreography and Shakespeare’s lengthy yet time-tested dialogue. It’s 15th century England and King Henry IV has usurped the throne from Richard II and subsequently turned his back on some powerful allies. The Percy family (which includes the Lord of Northumberland and his son Hotspur, known that way for his fierceness and impulsivity), Mortimer, and Owen Glendower (a Welsh Prince), feeling betrayed, start a rebellion against Henry VI and chaos ensues.
Exit Hamlet, Enter the Unseen Artist
Prince Hamlet, son of King Hamlet and nephew to Usurper Claudius, is the popular protagonist of Shakespeare’s longest tragedy, Hamlet. This is the role that Let Me Hamlet’s main character has been after for the last twelve years. Yet despite his consistency and work ethic, he gets stuck with Horatio, who everyone only knows as Hamlet’s friend. Horatio is there for all the most important moments in the play, from the opening to the ever-famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, and all the way to the tragic ending. Yet he remains unseen both by his fellow characters and by audience members who can barely recall his name, even though his story is also worth telling. This is the point that Koo Park attempts to make in his solo show, Let Me Hamlet, except the story is bigger than Horatio (once again) and reflects the unseen artist’s struggle.
