Khanh Doan

Memories, secrets, and what is believed to be true are held in a delicate balance in the hands of The Bonesetter’s Daughter at Book-It Repertory Theatre. There are the stories we tell and the stories we hide. Can you really know who you are if you don’t know the past? The bonds of mothers and daughters will be tested when all is revealed. Book-It Repertory Theatre takes you on a journey through three generations to discover the truth of a family’s roots.

Book-It Repertory Theatre will present the world-premiere of Amy Tan’s haunting familial epic, The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Adapted by playwright Desdemona Chiang (she/her) and directed by Rosa Joshi (she/her), audiences will be treated to a production filled with emotion, tension and gripping adventure.

Written by one of Tibet's most prolific activists and authors, Jamyang Norbu (he/him), this Holmesian pastiche marks artistic director Gus Menary's (he/him) Audio Book-It directorial debut.

The Granddaddy of horror icons has descended upon Seattle and he's just as romantically malevolent as you might want him to be. ACT has brought us Steven Dietz's retooled adaptation of Bram Stoker's a?oeDraculaa?? and this classic tale of the original bloodlust is just what you need for your Spooky Halloween season.

ACT a?" A Contemporary Theatre Dracula marks the return of award-winning playwright Steven Dietz to ACT. Dietz's bold adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic tale of terror and seduction will mark his twelfth production at ACT. An all-star cast of Seattle actors will join director John Langs, including five of ACT's Core Company Members with Brandon O' Neil in the title role.

A few years back I was fortunate enough to see Lucas Hnath's wonderful play, "A Doll's House, Part 2" on Broadway and was blown away. So, when the Seattle Rep announced it as part of their season I was absolutely thrilled. Then when they announced the powerhouse cast of some of Seattle's finest actors, Pamela Reed, Michael Winters, Khanh Doan, and Laura Kenny in the play, I was over the moon. This should be a slam dunk! Which then begs the question from me, "What happened?" as the performance I saw last night felt stiff and disjointed at times as if the actors were simply reading from the script. It picked up a bit by the end, but this is certainly not what I've come to expect from the Rep.

The 2017 Tony Award nominee for Best Play, A Doll's House, Part 2, makes its Seattle debut at Seattle Rep this spring, helmed by the extraordinary talents of Michael Winters (The Cider House Rules) and Pamela Reed (The Humans, 2017). Written by Tony Award nominee Lucas Hnath and directed by Seattle Rep Artistic Director Braden Abraham, A Doll's House, Part 2 runs March 15 - April 28, 2019 (opening night is March 20, 2019) on the Leo K. stage. Single tickets are on sale now (starting at $17) and are available through the Seattle Rep Box Office at 206.443.2222 or online at SeattleRep.org.

Talented cast knows how to some some laughs.

Baltimore Center Stage has announced the cast and artistic team for its second play of the 2018/19 season, King of the Yees. Written by award-winning playwright Lauren Yee, King of the Yees is the hilarious and heartfelt generational story of a Chinese-American family.

Arthur Miller's classic The Crucible remains a kind of mainstay of theater across the country from professional productions down to the myriad high school productions. But for it to ring true it must resonate with society's repeated history with mob mentality whether that be the literal Salem witch trials of the story or McCarthyism or even more recent moments in our history where truth is over shadowed by fear. And while ACT's current production of the classic nails those themes it also manages to make the production all about the stellar performances and the brilliant script than about any set or costumes or flashy presentation.

It's a world we may not know much about, that of old school Chinatown, with their family associations and insider customs. Hell, Lauren Yee grew up in this world and even she seems to be cut off from it and her Father Larry Yee runs the Yee Family Association. But that's the point of her play King of the Yees currently playing at ACT. Bur before you think this is another one of those dreadful family therapy on stage shows (and you know how I loathe those, Dear Readers) the show, with its quick witty dialog goes to a delightful meta and eventually metaphysical place making it an absolute joy.

THE TALENTED ONES explores the struggles immigrants face in their quest for some version of the American Dream.

Artists Repertory Theatre presents the World Premiere of The Talented Ones by Yussef El Guindi, directed by Jane Unger. Preview performances run April 25 through April 28, the play opens April 29 and runs through May 21 on the Morrison Stage. The Talented Ones is Artists Rep's first new play development commission for Table|Room|Stage (T|R|S) as part of the Oregon Community Foundation's "Creative Heights Initiative."

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

The 'large theater' productions of ACT Theatre's The Royale and The 5th Avenue Theatre's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying take top honors and the 'small theater' productions of ArtsWest's Death of a Salesman and Washington Ensemble Theatre's The Things Are Against Us take top honors - for most category wins!?

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

Dear Readers, Can you imagine reading your diary from when you were 16-years-old out loud, in front of an audience? Now, can you imagine doing it not for laughs, but to recreate those precious, documented moments with emotional integrity? Superimposing emotion over words such as 'My mom just does not understand me,' in a way that feels both authentic and serious is close to impossible, even when the content of the writing is much graver. This was Book-It's noble challenge in its latest production of 'A Tale for the Time Being' as 16-year-old Nao recites the words of her found diary.

Book-It Repertory Theatre opens its 27th season with A Tale for the Time Being this September. In Tokyo, 16-year-old Nao's only solace is her diary. Across the Pacific, Ruth is a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox-possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As a mystery unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

In Mia Chung's YOU FOR ME FOR YOU, now in production at Portland Playhouse, trees have ears (literally), rice is a musical instrument, and bears can talk. And somehow it all makes as much sense as the modern world we live in. Or, perhaps, it's our modern world that makes no sense.

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle just announced the nomination slate of the fourth annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards,theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters in the prior calendar year.