Robert Bergin News

Most often when you go see a play there is a very plain narrative, a beginning, a middle and an end to convey your story. Some plays out there, however, make you work a little harder either with non-linear structure or an existential bent. And then there are some plays that go so far that you walk out of them thinking "What the hell did I just see?" Well Washington Ensemble Theatre's creepy and surreal "The Things Are Against Us", currently playing at 12th Avenue Arts, is firmly footed in that second camp but often dipped its toe into the third which resulted in a show that was creepy and fun but left my theater companion and me with a car ride home filled with statements like, "Well, I think this is what happened."

In Beth Henley's play "Crimes of the Heart", currently playing at Village Theatre, the character of Meg says, "To talk about our lives. It's an important human need." Well an important theatrical need is for the characters in a play to listen to each other and not just wait for their next bit but there was very little listening going on in the show I saw last night and that was just one of the issues that sapped the heart right out the show making this Pulitzer Prize winning play feel more a sitcom.

Broadway-bound new musical, Come From Away, presented by Seattle Repertory Theatre, wins four Gypsys, tying with another new musical, Lizard Boy, also produced by Seattle Repertory Theatreand also with four Gypsys, a company that has been known for years as a powerhouse dramatic straight-play playhouse! 

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

How do you come out with an anti-war novel without it becoming preachy or scolding? You let Kurt Vonnegut handle it. His tale of the life of a soldier through his time in war and beyond is so shrouded in other elements that the lessons learned just slide on into your brain along with the rest of the story. And Book-It's presentation of this gripping work is just as seemingly effortless in its message and manages to engage and entertain rather than lecture and scold.

Sound Theatre Company completes its eighth season with '5 By Beckett,' an evening of short plays by Samuel Beckett as part of the Seattle Beckett Festival and presented in conjunction with ACT Theatre's Central Heating Lab.

Bridges Stage Company in collaboration with ACT Central Heating Lab presents the Pacific Northwest Premiere of Edmund White's Terre Haute, directed and produced by Aaron Levin. Terre Haute previews May 15th, opens May 16th to June 15th, 2014 at ACT's Eulalie Scanduzzi Space (the "Lalie").

PHC Construction presents THE KENTUCKY CYCLE - an epic in two parts, running today, March 14 - 30: Todays @ 7:30 p.m. & Saturdays @ 2:00 p.m. (PART I) and Saturdays @ 7:30 p.m. & Sundays @ 2:00 p.m. (PART II) at Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA).

PHC Construction presents THE KENTUCKY CYCLE - an epic in two parts, running March 14 - 30: Fridays @ 7:30 p.m. & Saturdays @ 2:00 p.m. (PART I) and Saturdays @ 7:30 p.m. & Sundays @ 2:00 p.m. (PART II) at Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA).

Nominees for the 5th Annual Indie Series Awards have been revealed in a special episode of We Love Soaps TV. The ISAs celebrate the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Web.

Holiday theatrical traditions are alive and well at ACT but the two shows playing couldn't be more different from each other. First off with their 38th annual production, ACT presents the classic “A Christmas Carol” with all the polish and flash that you've come to expect. And then with their 13th installment, Peggy Platt and Lisa Koch (AKA Dos Fallopia) present their irreverent sketch comedy show “Ham for the Holidays: Close Encounters of the Pork Rind”. I managed to see both in one night (it's possible but it's tight) and I went from sobbing to belly laughs that amounted to a lovely evening of holiday treats.