Tag Archives: play

Seattle Public Theater finds meaning in Stoppard’s Beckett-like play

29 Jan

Remember Rosencrantz? From Hamlet? How about Guildenstern? In Shakespeare’s play,

Games of chance sustain Rosencrantz (Alyssa Keene, left) and Guildenstern (Angela Di Marco, right) in Seattle Public Theater's gender-bending production of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead."

Games of chance sustain Rosencrantz (Alyssa Keene, left) and Guildenstern (Angela Di Marco, right) in Seattle Public Theater's gender-bending production of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." Photo by Paul Bestock.

these childhood friends of the titular character are commissioned to spy on the Prince of Denmark in order to find out what’s ailing him, then escort him by sea to England where he is scheduled to be killed. But then the pirates attack …

- Read review at Crosscut.com.

 

A drama of aging offers insight, pain

1 Dec

After 15 years of making his Master of Social Work degree earn its keep at various

Mark Cherniack's one-man show, "Jalopies," is at Annex Theatre through Dec 10. Photo courtesy of Mark Cherniack.

Mark Cherniack's one-man show, "Jalopies," is at Annex Theatre through Dec 10. Photo courtesy of Mark Cherniack.

retirement facilities, Mark Cherniack appears to have learned a hard lesson: Getting old is painful. His one-man play, Jalopies, presents inspired-by-true-stories from inside a Seattle assisted-living facility. While not altogether devoid of hope, these stories are none too cheery.

- Read review at Crosscut.com.

Mile-high dining and double agents

4 Nov

Cafe Nordo’s latest dinner theatre production blends 1960s air travel, Northwest food, and communist spies. Welcome aboard.

Cafe Nordo International spies Saul Needle (Ray Tagavilla), Svetlana Romanova (Aimee Bruneau) and Lin Biao (Max Davis) are on a mission to Seattle in Cafe Nordo: To Savor Tomorrow.

International spies Saul Needle (Ray Tagavilla), Svetlana Romanova (Aimee Bruneau) and Lin Biao (Max Davis) are on a mission to Seattle in "Cafe Nordo: To Savor Tomorrow." Photo courtesy of Cafe Nordo.

You’re seated aboard Pan Am Flight 892, about to take off from Honolulu bound for Seattle. You’ve just listened to President Kennedy announce the opening of the World’s Fair. It’s 1962. Creating an intimate fantasy world, filled with stunning stewardesses, communist spies, CIA plots, and some of the best cocktail fare in town, Café Nordo launched its fourth dinner theater extravaganza in Fremont’s West of Lenin theater on Oct. 28.

- Read full review at Crosscut.com.

New Mormon play bewilders, but with genuine angst

1 Nov

The Mormon Bird Play is a challenging piece of theater. Six male actors play young

The Mormon Bird Play by Roger Benington makes its world premiere at Washington Ensemble Theatre in Capitol Hill. Photo courtesy of Washington Ensemble Theatre.

The Mormon Bird Play by Roger Benington makes its world premiere at Washington Ensemble Theatre in Capitol Hill. Photo courtesy of Washington Ensemble Theatre.

girls. And birds. And Mormon pioneer women, who might also be birds. Making its world premiere on Oct. 28 at Washington Ensemble Theatre, this play by triple threat Roger Benington (playwright/director/set designer) envisions the environs of Salt Lake Temple as a nest of superstition, secrets, miracles, and black magic.

- Read full review at crosscut.com.

Robin Hood provokes cheers at Seattle Children’s Theatre

27 Oct

With an emphasis on action and adventure, which never go out of style, Seattle Children’s Theatre recently unveiled their new production of the medieval tale of Robin Hood. The mythic English folk hero, who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, has been given new life in a high-energy production that pits good versus evil while evoking laughter and cheers from the audience.

(L-R) Hans Altwies and Basil Harris in "Robin Hood." Photo by Chris Bennion.

(L-R) Hans Altwies and Basil Harris in "Robin Hood." Photo by Chris Bennion.

Under the direction of Allison Narver, the play moves at a lightning-fast clip, buffeting the audience from sword fight to archery tournament to tender love scene with speedy grace. As Robin Hood, Hans Altwies does more than just shoot a few arrows. He climbs trees, swings from ropes and tumbles around the stage with astonishing agility.

Altwies and co-star David Quicksall — who plays several key characters, including Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlett and Prince John — are both veterans of the death-defying, rope-climbing free-for-all that was Seattle Children’s Theatre’s 2010 production of In The Northern Lands. Joining Altwies and Quicksall are Hana Lass (Maid Marian and Much the Miller’s Son) and Basil Harris (the hilarious Sheriff of Nottingham and the humorless King Richard).

The actors seamlessly don and doff roles, constantly changing costumes (cleverly designed for rapid removal by Catherine Hunt) and personas — even accents. Set Designer Jennifer Lupton’s take on Sherwood Forest is dark and brooding, with plenty of branches to swing from and shady corners to leap out of.

The production is hurt by Greg Banks’ bizarrely structured script, however. The text jumps erratically (and needlessly) from stage action to first person narration to third person narration — all carried out by the same actor in the space of a single paragraph of dialogue. Banks can’t seem to decide if his play is a straight-up adventure piece, a morality play about poverty and injustice, or a British pantomime complete with action-killing exhortations from the actors, urging the audience to shout things at the villains as they commit their villainy. Given the agility and high-caliber acting of the cast, Seattle Children’s Theatre would have been well advised to go with a simpler Robin Hood script.

Though the play is recommended for kids age 8 and up, the younger members of the audience were able to appreciate most of the swordplay and silliness.

Robin Hood runs through Nov. 27. For more information, visit www.sct.org.

Northwest premiere of Year Zero at Hugo House

25 Sep

SIS Productions, a Seattle group that supports works that involve Asian American

SIS Productions presents the Northwest premiere of "Year Zero" by Michael Golamco, author of "Cowboy Versus Samurai." Photo courtesy of SIS Productions.

women, themes and issues, will present the Northwest premiere of Year Zero by Michael Golamco on Sept. 30.

Directed by Miko Premo, Year Zero tells the story of Vuthy, a quirky 16-year-old who’s “too Cambodian for the black and Latin kids, and not Cambodian enough for the Cambodian kids,” and his older sister, Ra, who is working towards the American dream of a higher education.

Year Zero by Michael Golamco runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 22. at Richard Hugo House, located at 1634 11th Ave. in Seattle. Tickets are $12-$15. For more information, visit www.sis-productions.org.

MilkMilk Lemonade makes its Seattle premiere

19 Sep

In Cornish College of the Arts grad Joshua Conkel’s dark comedy, MilkMilk Lemonade, which launched Washington Ensemble Theatre’s eighth season on Sept. 16, Emory’s

Washington Ensemble Theatre: MilkMilk Lemonade

Washington Ensemble Theatre presents "MilkMilk Lemonade" at The Little Theatre in Capitol Hill through Oct. 10. Photo courtesy of Washington Ensemble Theatre.

(Timothy Smith-Stewart) grandma (Troy Mink) doesn’t approve of his choreographed ribbon stick dance numbers or his talking chicken. She wonders why he can’t be more like Elliot (Noah Benezra), the boy down the road who likes to burn things. Grandma would be shocked to learn of the boys’ secret relationship.

Tackling homophobia, bullying, death and the human body, MilkMilk Lemonade runs through Oct. 10 at The Little Theatre in Capitol Hill, located at 608 19th Ave. E, Seattle. Tickets are $10-$25. For more information, visit www.washingtonensemble.org.

A little something for the ladies …

7 May

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and Hedgebrook will present the “Women Playwrights Festival” on Sunday, May 16, at 4 p.m.

Playwrights Danai Gurira, Sherry Kramer, Lenelle Moïse, and Sarah Treem will present scenes from their new plays during the 2010 Hedgebrook’s Women Playwrights Festival.

The festival will come to ACT in Seattle on Monday, May 17, at 7 p.m. Local actors will read scenes from four plays-in-process by Danai Gurira, Sherry Kramer, Lenelle Moïse, and Sarah Treem.

Hedgebrook, a writers’ retreat situated on 48 acres of forest and meadow on the Puget Sound, hosts women writers from all over the world for residencies of two weeks to two months at no cost to the participants. The writers-in-residence represent a wide range of genres, ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and levels of writing experience.

Now in its 13th year, Hedgebrook’s Women Playwrights Festival has assisted in the development of plays by some of the most compelling female voices of the American stage, including Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and Pulitzer finalists Theresa Rebeck and Sarah Ruhl. Playwrights are nominated by a national committee, then use their residency at Hedgebrook to work on a new play.

Tickets to the WICA event are $5, available at www.WICAonline.com. Tickets to the ACT event are free and can be reserved at www.acttheatre.org.

Katherine Luck

Seattle Children’s Theatre vs. Oregon Children’s Theatre

1 May

The 2010-2011 seasons of two major theatres face off …

In this corner, Seattle Children’s Theatre, which will celebrate its 36th season in 2010-2011. The company has presented more than 200 plays to over 4 million children since its founding.

Sarah S. Mixson and Connor Toms in Seattle Children’s Theatre’s "The Green Sheep." Photo by Chris Bennion, courtesy of SCT.

In the opposite corner, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Oregon’s largest nonprofit professional children’s theater company. Founded in 1989, OCT serves more than 111,000 children of all ages each year.

First, the trash talk from the Artistic Directors.

“I’m really proud of the season we have put together. It promises to be an exceptional year featuring international work from Scotland and Holland, our first-ever ecologically-themed production and the opportunity to again work with some of our favorite playwrights in Steven Dietz and Kevin Kling. Every age, children and adults, will find something to see, experience and enjoy,” says Seattle Children’s Theatre’s Linda Hartzell.

“This is going to be our most exciting season ever!” counters Oregon Children’s Theatre’s Stan Foote. “It’s got something for everyone and will really spark the imagination and creativity of children of all ages.”

Now, the 2010-2011 seasons go head to head.

Seattle Children’s Theatre’s 2010-2011 season kicks off in August with The Green Sheep, a play featuring music, puppets and surprises for the youngest audience members. Next up is The Borrowers, based on Mary Norton’s 1952 classic. In late October, Morgan’s Journey will let kids follow a clown on a journey of self-discovery. Lyle the Crocodile takes SCT into the New Year, when P.D. Eastman’s classic children’s book comes alive in Go, Dog. Go! In February, HELP details the early career of The Beatles, before the advent of Ringo. In time for spring, Puppet State Theatre Company of Scotland’s The Man Who Planted Trees will tell the tale of a French shepherd who sets out with his dog to plant a forest. In the season-ending Jackie and Me, young Joey Stoshack’s given an assignment to write a paper on Jackie Robinson, so he heads back to 1947 to meet the famous baseball player.

Leif Norby as Long John Silver and Ryan Stathos as Jim Hawkins in Oregon Children’s Theatre’s 2007-2008 production, "The Ghosts of Treasure Island." Photo by Owen Carey, courtesy of OCT.

Oregon Children’s Theatre will feature five plays for children and families, starting in October with the 1970s cult classic Alice & Wonderland, a rock opera. In January, OCT will present a world premiere musical, Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly, based on the New York Times best selling books by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss. Next up is the West Coast premiere of On the Eve of Friday Morning, the story of an Iranian girl who learns to cope with the struggles of her modern life through the ancient art of storytelling. Late April brings How I Became a Pirate, with hints that dance in the form of “peg-tapping” may be in store. The season will conclude with a new adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.

Which delights will fit your playbill? Peg-tapping pirates or a tap-dancing crocodile? Rock opera or Beatles hits? A Wrinkle in Time or a time traveling baseball fan?

Katherine Luck

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