Sunam Ellis News

AS YOU LIKE IT by Seattle Shakespeare Company is a grab bag of experiences. It has moments of delight mixed with quite a few confusing bits. The show takes a while to get going, but then the comedy pulls it along with fresh energy. At times it seemed as if some of the characters were in a different show altogether, projecting a very different tone and vibe. The visuals were both appealing in sets and confusing in costumes. The acting carried the day, but in the end the show left your scratching your head.

Rosalind and Orlando engage in a glorious game of love, lust, and mistaken identities in a magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It. Kelly Kitchens directs the production which begins previews on April 23, opens April 26, and runs through May 19 at the Center Theatre at Seattle Center.

OK, so putting up a dark and moody production of Anton Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' may sound redundant but remember, this is The Seagull Project. They've spent the last eight years killing it with all things Chekhov and now with the completion of the main plays, the dark and moody tone isn't so much the story but the way it's presented that thrilled.

The votes are in and the nominees have been announced! And now, the worthy recipients of the 2018 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards are finally able to get the recognition they richly deserve.

Seattle's critics' circle announces Nominees of Excellence in Seattle theatrical productions. Spanning dozens of theater companies and productions, from large and prominent to small and humble, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor the excellence found in the myriad of professional theater productions that we reviewers attend in a year.

Macha Theatre Works presents the world premiere of Sheathed by local playwright Maggie Lee, directed by Amy Poisson. This original new play was a semi-finalist in the 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and will be a produced in association with Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave. S.), with performances from March 8 - 23, 2019.

Director Robin Lynn Smith and a seasoned company including Seattle theatre veterans Christine Marie Brown (Hermione), Avery Clark (Polixines), Sunam Ellis (Paulina) Sylvester Kamara (Leontes) and Kerry Skalsky (Antigonus) bring THE WINTER'S TALE to stirring life with live music composed by Kultur Shock member Srdjan "Gino" Yevdjevich and movement by Butoh dancer Vanessa Skantze.

Freehold's Engaged Theatre, unique in our region, brings its professional production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, directed by Robin Lynn Smith, to prisons, hospitals and parks as well as a brief run at Raisbeck Performance Hall this summer, co-produced with the Cornish Theatre Department.

Dear Readers, a few years back on one of my trips to the Mothership, I managed to catch Robert Askins' hilarious play "Hand to God" on Broadway and as soon as I finished wetting myself from laughter I thought, "Someone in Seattle needs to do this so my Dear Readers can wet themselves as well." Well last night I watched the entire house at Seattle Public Theater collectively wetting themselves over this hysterical show and so my wish has come true. My wish for all of you.

After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and-most especially-his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason's puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. A devilishly dark, hysterical romp to hell and back, HAND TO GOD explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.

The winners of the 2017 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards are announced by the Seattle critics circle, Seattle Theater Writers!

Seattle's critics announce the Nominees of Excellence in Seattle theatrical productions. Spanning dozens of theater companies and productions, from large and prominent to small and humble, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor the excellence found in as much professional theater as we reviewers can attend in a year. Named in honor of the famed theater entrepreneur and Seattle native, Gypsy Rose Lee, and in a nod to the vast numbers or theater practitioners forced to travel the country to earn their living, the Gypsys seek to acknowledge the excellence of the Seattle theater community.

After 10 years of producing bold, honest, groundbreaking theater, Seattle's award-winning New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) is closing its doors at the end of 2017.

This rendition of Julius Caesar by the Seattle Shakespeare Company will offer a few surprises. It is a streamlined production with a race and gender-diverse cast. With no clear-cut villains and heroes, this epic tale of political savagery has an engaging narrative. But when said savagery feels tepid, hiccups are more conspicuous, leaving audience members recalling the bad, rather than the good. Now performing at the Cornish Playhouse, Julius Caesar gets the job done, but it's problematic.

It's a 400-year-old play, yet it can feel as contemporary as today's headlines. In Julius Caesar Bloody and brutal decisions are weighed against honor and ambition. Seattle Shakespeare Company's Artistic Director George Mount directs Shakespeare's political thriller which runs now through Oct. 1, 2107 at the Cornish Playhouse. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The genius of Shakespeare's plays is their ability to resonate in every age. The timelessness of HAMLET combined with Freehold's Engaged Theatre productions' intentionally dynamic and diverse staging means that any human can see a reflection of some part of themselves in the story, the characters, the music or movement.

Director Robin Lynn Smith and a seasoned company including Seattle theatre veterans Reginald Andre Jacskon (Hamlet), Mary Ewald (Gertrude), Sunam Ellis (Horatio), Shawn Belyea (Claudius) and Peter Dylan O'Connor (Laertes) brings HAMLET to stirring life with live music composted by Kultur Shock member Srdjan "Gino" Yevdjevich and movement by Butoh dancer Vanessa Skantze.

After 10 years of producing award-winning productions and helping to change the face of mid-level professional theatre in Seattle, New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) is excited to share several new developments in its future.

The genius of Shakespeare's plays is their ability to resonate in every age. The timelessness of HAMLET combined with Freehold's Engaged Theatre productions' intentionally dynamic and diverse staging means that any human can see a reflection of some part of themselves in the story, the characters, the music or movement.

Give me a good old fashioned play with a good old fashioned structure; a beginning, a middle and an end. Or if not, if you insist on a slice of life play, at least have something interesting to say about said life. Instead, what Will Eno's play, "The Realistic Jones", the current offering from New Century Theatre Company, gives us is an hour and 40 minutes of somewhat clever dialog from some stuck, sad people that I wouldn't want to spend 5 minutes with let alone an entire play.