Kirsten Potter News

When looking back on the history of the human race it always shocks me on how backwards a people we really can be. For example, why would a people restrict half of their fully functioning and intelligent members from trying to create advancements in their chosen fields? Yes, that's what we did and that's some of the central plotline of Anna Ziegler's "Photograph 51", currently playing at the Seattle Rep, focuses on. This engaging play shines a spotlight on an interesting moment in history where a brilliant scientist's work was hampered simply based on her gender.

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle is pleased to present the winners' slate of the second annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters.

Seattle Theater Writers, a critics' circle of local theater writers and reviewers, today announces the 2012 slate of nominees of the second annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters.

It's been a helluva year for theater in the Seattle area. From the triumphant return of the Intiman with their summer festival to the hugely popular run of "Spring Awakening" from Balagan Theatre Seattle audiences were treated with some amazing shows and performances this past year. And so, allow me to shine the spotlight on some of my favorite outstanding moments from the past year with my 2012 BWW Seattle Critic's Choice Awards.

Lewis Black, best known for his hilarious stand up comedy and in your face editorials on "The Daily Show" has brought his new wedding day farce for it's west coast premiere to ACT. And while there were a few good laughs including the opening moment of the show which nearly brought the house down, the show just loses it's way and goes downhill from there as it gets stuck in a morass of cliche, predictability, underdeveloped characters and stiff performances.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright. The play began previews June 8 and opens tonight, June 14, running until July 8.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's Mainstage switches from the farcical marriage comedy of Lewis Black's One Slight Hitch to the dark and haunting humor of Harold Pinter. The Hansberry Project also brings to the stage Seattle's second Multicultural Playwrights Festival. The Seagull Project presents their first in a series of Russian readings with The Great Soul of Russia, and in The Construction Zone, ACT will feature Steven Dietz and his new play, A Year Without Summer.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright. The play begins previews June 8 and opens June 14, running until July 8.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright.

Right from the moment we first meet Aphra (Kirsten Potter) at the top of the Seattle Rep's current production of "Or," by Liz Duffy Adams, we know we are in for one hell of a ride. And what a ride it is! This deliciously naughty look into one of the first female playwrights will keep you rolling with laughter while still managing an undercurrent of sweetness.

Brothers will play brothers when Adam and Matthew Arkin take on the roles of Joey and Kevin Colletti in the reading of Steven Drukman's The Prince of Atlantis-just one of five exciting new works scheduled to be read at this year's 14th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) April 29 - May 1.

Brothers will play brothers when Adam and Matthew Arkin take on the roles of Joey and Kevin Colletti in the reading of Steven Drukman's The Prince of Atlantis-just one of five exciting new works scheduled to be read at this year's 14th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) April 29 - May 1.

Brothers will play brothers when Adam and Matthew Arkin take on the roles of Joey and Kevin Colletti in the reading of Steven Drukman's The Prince of Atlantis-just one of five exciting new works scheduled to be read at this year's 14th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) April 29 - May 1.

Brothers will play brothers when Adam and Matthew Arkin take on the roles of Joey and Kevin Colletti in the reading of Steven Drukman's The Prince of Atlantis-just one of five exciting new works scheduled to be read at this year's 14th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival (PPF) April 29 - May 1.

What is a weir? It usually serves as a liquid fence between the calm, but deeper areas of a river and the more tumultuous surfaces it overflows to below. Without it, rivers will crest with unpredictability and the danger of flooding threatens the villages that line them. Thus dictates the symbolic title of THE WEIR, Irish playwright Conor McPherson's moody, chills-inducing stage drama filled with somber, spooky and alternately bittersweet stories, now enjoying a thought-provoking revival production at South Coast Repertory through April 3.

Casting is complete for L.A. Theatre Works' upcoming recording of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Eric Simonson. Stacy Keach heads the cast as Willy Loman, with Jane Kaczmarek as Linda Loman; Steven Culp as Biff Loman; and John Sloan as Happy Loman.

Meet hard-working salesman Willy Loman as he chases the American Dream in Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize winning tragedy, Death of a Salesman. Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek head the cast when Academy Award-winning filmmaker Eric Simonson directs one of the most important dramas of all time for L.A. Theatre Works. Five performances will be recorded March 16-20 at the Skirball Cultural Center for future radio broadcast; L.A. Theatre Works' nationally syndicated radio theater series airs locally in Southern California on KPCC 89.3 every Saturday from 10 pm -midnight and can be streamed on demand at www.latw.org. Employing stark realism, expressionism and archetypal characters with compassionate simplicity, Death of a Salesman remains one of American drama's most riveting and timeless works. Miller's devastating social commentary explores the pursuit of success and failure in the ever-shifting ideals of the American landscape. Willy Loman loses his tenuous grasp on reality as he struggles to achieve the noble dream of owning his home, suffering the terrible consequences of chasing after an illusion at the expense of his family and ultimately, himself.

Irish playwright Conor McPherson's The Weir-an atmospheric drama that finds four hard-drinking Irishmen telling ghost stories in a pub one stormy night-hits SCR's Julianne Argyros Stage March 13 - April 3.