Keith Dahlgren

I HATE HAMLET is a delightful romp for Shakespeare aficionados and newbies alike. The witty repartee just keeps coming as playwright Paul Rudnick dishes out great dialogue and some killer one liners. Nothing is funnier than actors making fun of actors, and I HATE HAMLET does it well. Despite its focus on one of the greatest dramas ever written, the show puts comedy front and center.

With all the focus dedicated to the language and story, Seattle Shakespeare breaths new life into this old classic while maintaining all its traditions. While current trends rely on new interpretations, new locations, different time periods, this production stays true to the Bard and delivers the goods. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL is a bittersweet tale of love, war, and relationships. The show questions why we love who we love and who is deserving of love, romantic and familial.

During the curtain speech Seattle Shakespeare Company Artistic Director (and director of the night's show) George Mount and Managing Director John Bradshaw joked on how they don't often get to present a Washington premiere since they usually deal in 400-year-old plays. What they also don't usually contend with is the trend of turning every successful movie into a theatrical endeavor but here we are with the Seattle Shakespeare Company presenting the stage version of 'Shakespeare in Love' based on the 1998 film. Now don't get me wrong, not all stage adaptations are awful and this one seems to be almost directly lifted from the wonderful Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard screenplay by the adapter Lee Hall so the script isn't entirely the problem here. No, the problems I have are threefold and amount to two very egregious things for a show entitled 'Shakespeare in Love'. There's not enough 'Shakespeare' and not enough 'Love'. But let's start from the top.

Seattle Shakespeare Company closes its 2017-2018 season with Shakespeare in Love, the delightful new stage adaptation of Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard's Academy Award-winning film. This warm and witty romantic comedy will be helmed by Seattle Shakespeare Company's Artistic Director George Mount. Originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions and adapted for the stage by Lee Hall with music by Paddy Cuneen, Shakespeare in Love previews May 2 and 3, opens May 4 and runs through June 3 at the Cornish Playhouse at the Seattle Center.

On Christmas Eve Juie Dowling has an unexpected visitor who intends on escorting her to the afterlife. However, she persuades Death to give her one last day to enjoy Christmas and invites him to her festive party.

It's tough when you see a play that has some really amazing moments but also sits there and screams, "My God I need an editor!" Such is the case with Stephen Adly Gurgis' "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" currently performing at the Center Theatre from Sound Theatre Company. Not only could Gurgis do with trimming down this piece that tends to ramble but the folks at SCT could do with tightening their performances as well. But we'll get to that in a minute.

Sound Theatre Company continues its tenth anniversary season with Stephen Adly Guirgis' expressionistic courtroom fantasy The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.  The Last Days of Judas Iscariot dramatizes a court case to decide the ultimate fate of Judas Iscariot which utilizes flashbacks, testimonials, and interrogations of such witnesses as Mother Teresa, Caiaphas, Saint Monica, Sigmund Freud, and Satan, among others.  The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking work by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Contains mature language.

The July Project: Brendan Behan's The Hostage!

Jet City Improv has announced the hiring of Keith Dahlgren to serve as the company's new managing director.

Seattle Shakespeare Company's free Wooden O productions of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Julius Caesar start performances tonight, July 10.

Casting is announced for Seattle Shakespeare Company's free Wooden O productions of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Julius Caesar which start performances on Thursday, July 10. Both productions will perform in park venues throughout King County (please see attached schedule) and then transfer to Walla Walla, WA as part of Shakespeare Walla Walla.

Seattle Shakespeare Company's Much Ado About Nothing takes on the flavor of the Riviera in 1953 in Artistic Director George Mount's season opening. Highlights in the production include original music by Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra's Michael Brockman, and a lagoon with water in the Center Theatre. Check out a first look below!

Seattle Public Theater has begun the search for a new Managing Director, after Keith Dahlgren announced his plans to step down after seven years. Dahglren's time at the theater has been marked by both artistic and organizational successes: subscriptions, ticket sales, contributed income and registration for the theater's outstanding youth programs have all increased steadily. The organization is financially stable, with a growing board and staff. The theater's mainstage productions, under the leadership of Artistic and Education Director Shana Bestock, have achieved consistent critical acclaim.

I've always been leery of transplanting locales and time periods of classic plays just because we can. Naked 'Macbeth', 'Romeo and Juliet' in a high school, cartoon lions in Africa doing 'Hamlet'. Often times it's just to shake things up and lends nothing to the story. But the current production of 'The Taming of the Shrew' from Seattle Shakespeare Company setting those battling lovers in a Trailer Park not only works but is also completely inspired. In an era of reality TV showing rednecks right and left, a story of feuding siblings, ball busting women and swaggering men is a perfect fit. And while I usually hate reality TV for it's mocking of people it feels are inferior, this production shows no hate or contempt for the trailer park set but revels in their joy and boisterousness and invites you to laugh right along WITH them. And laugh you do!

A rowdy, rural romance takes the stage when Seattle Shakespeare Company presents a revival of its popular trailer park version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shew. Originally produced in 2009 as part of the company's outdoor Wooden O shows, The Taming of the Shrew will be brought indoors to the Playhouse at Seattle Center April 25 through May 12. Director Aimee Bruneau along with many of the original cast members return for the revival.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW by William Shakespeare, directed by Aimee Bruneau will open April 26 at the Playhouse at Seattle Center (formerly Intiman), 201 Mercer Street, Seattle, Washington. The production closes Sunday, May 12, 2013. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

After a thorough search SPT has announced the hiring of new Development Manager, Heather Beasley.

A rowdy, rural romance takes the stage when Seattle Shakespeare Company presents a revival of its popular trailer park version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shew. Originally produced in 2009 as part of the company's outdoor Wooden O shows, The Taming of the Shrew will be brought indoors to the Playhouse at Seattle Center April 25 through May 12. Director Aimee Bruneau along with many of the original cast members return for the revival.

Seattle Shakespeare Company will present a revival of its popular trailer park The Taming of the Shrew at the Playhouse at Seattle Center, April 25 through May 12, 2013. Many of the cast members from the original production will reprise their roles including Kelly Kitchens as Kate and David Quicksall as Petruchio. Directed by Aimée Bruneau, the production will also serve as a launch to the 20th Anniversary celebration of Wooden O in the summer of 2013.