Annex Theatre Launches 30th Season

Annex Theatre, the longest-running fringe theatre in Seattle, launches its 30th Anniversary Season in 2017. As a democratic collective of theatre artists dedicated to producing bold new work, Annex is proud to present new and familiar Seattle artists in eight exciting projects. Annex will also continue to host its long-running, cult-hit, monthly cabarets Spin the Bottle and Weird & Awesome with Emmett Montgomery.

Artistic Director Catherine Blake Smith, who took the reins from outgoing AD Pamala Mijatov (2010-2016) in September, is pleased with the incredibly strong and eclectic slate of projects lined up for her first full season. "Annex is however you define it. This season, the company has defined it by choosing a slate of productions created by new and old artists who have defined Annex over the years; emerging artists discovering their voice and creators who earned their stripes on our stage. For 30 years, Annex has connected audiences with bold, new work and I am proud to be continuing this legacy," says Smith.

Annex Theatre's 2017 Season:

Scary Mary & the Nightmares Nine
Written by Amy Escobar | Directed by Eddie DeHais
February 10 - March 4, 2017 | Thurs-Fri-Sat at 7:30pm

When a drop of Mary's blood falls down down down to the center of the Earth, something Evil and Ancient wakes up in The Shadows, and now the Hellish Horrors of the Dark have a taste for her. Mary must go on an epic quest through nine different nightmares to make a potion to put The Slither back to sleep and save her soul from its nasty gnashing teeth. A hilarious and hallucinatory fairy tale that creeps, crawls, and catapults its way through the bizarre landscape of the imagination as Mary fights for her very life amidst the ever-encroaching darkness.

Hi-res photos for Scary Mary and the Nightmares Nine will be available in early January 2017.

Waning
Written by Kamaria Hallums-Harris | Directed by Sadiqua Iman
February 14 - March 1, 2017 | Tues-Weds at 7:30pm

At 17, Luna is coming to terms with the harsh reality of what it means to be a young, black, queer woman in America. It's hard to find the words to claim her identity and to claim her right to love and be loved. Dance, discovery, and dark truths show that the words on the pages of history books are nothing compared to weight of reality.

Hi-res photos for Waning will be available in early January 2017.

ACME
Written by Andrew Shanks | Directed by Mary Hubert
April 28 - May 20, 2017 | Thurs-Fri-Sat at 7:30pm

Jules, an MIT dropout with a chip on her shoulder, arrives for her first day of a lucrative internship at ACME (world-famous manufacturer of all-things necessary) and falls deep into the machinations of ACME and its mysterious past. Will she survive long enough to see Day Two? Chaos reigns in this ensemble satire about the trappings of technology, brand-allegiance, and science-gone-amok!

Research & Development Wing
Curated by James Weidman & Catherine Blake Smith
May 2 - May 17, 2017 | Tues-Weds at 7:30pm

As producers of improbable and risky bold, new work, Annex Theatre houses one of the most explosive research & development laboratories of Seattle theatre scene. What happens when process is product? Curators Catherine Blake Smith and James Weidman consult the Company to create a season within the Annex season.

NITE SKOOL
Created by The Libertinis
July 28 - August 19, 2017 | Thurs-Fri-Sat at 7:30pm

Come back to skool with Annex Theatre and The Libertinis! Get ready to re-learn everything you forgot and forget everything you thought you knew about love, war, and hot lunch. This generative production will shake theatre, neoburlesque, and clown into one deliciously weird cocktail. Get your ass to class for some adult education!

Over & Under
Written by Bret Fetzer & Juliet Waller Pruzan | Directed by Rachel Katz Carey
August 1 - August 16, 2017 | Tues-Weds at 7:30pm

Soar through the skies and ride through the earth in two intricate one-act plays. Cumulus begins on an airplane, where conversations between strangers reveal the passengers' complex lives; Turnstile begins on a subway car where a young girl, riding alone for the first time, finds her imagination sparked by overheard conversations. Both plays spin off into alternative lives, some mundane, some dramatic, some completely fantastical.

Last Stop on Lilac
Written by Kelleen Conway Blanchard | Directed by Keira McDonald
October 20 - November 11, 2017 | Thurs-Fri-Sat at 7:30pm

1960s Hollywood is a technicolor land of fever dreams. Sweet-faced Bunny Le Blanc brought her bright lights to the big city and now she's dead. Last seen on luxurious Lilac Lane, home to glamorous stars and faded legends. Someone on this street murdered Bunny, but who? The sexy starlet? The swinging bachelors in the pink bungalow? Something deadly happened on Lilac Lane -- something secret, likely involving sacrifices, blood cults and The Devil herself.

DEERS
Written by Marcus Gorman | Directed by Tootsie Spangles
October 24 - November 8, 2017 | Tues-Weds at 7:30pm

Antic animals drink away their troubles with friends and foes at a mountain tavern in the Cascades, where every bunny knows your name. Share a pint as these creatures encounter love, career woes, mortality, and their own primal natures. Beginning with the pilot and ending with a very special series finale, follow animals of all shapes and sizes over four episodes of this strange and unusual fake sitcom.

About Annex Theatre:

Annex Theatre is a democratic collective of theatre artists dedicated to creating bold new work in an environment of improbability, resourcefulness, and risk.

In addition to new plays by living playwrights, Annex produces radical reinterpretations of classic scripts, ensemble-generated non-linear spectacles, and dynamic solo performances, as well as our monthly late-night variety shows Spin the Bottle and Weird & Awesome with Emmett Montgomery. Annex has produced upwards of 300 individual performances during its 30 year history. A complete listing of performances from 1982 through 2010 ? created by Annex Historian Ed Hawkins ? is available as a PDF document: Annex Production History; Annex's web site catalogs our seasons from 2008 through the present in more detail.

Former Annex company members can be found throughout Seattle and across the nation, as working artists in theatre, film, television, and other disciplines. We believe that Annex?s distinctive collective working model (which cultivates a combination of initiative, diligence, and the ability to play well with others) is responsible for this remarkable track record of producing leaders in the arts.

Annex?s new Artistic Director is Catherine Blake Smith, who rose to power in September of 2016.

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