Zenaida Smith News

When the basis of your play, such as Nick Jones' "Trevor" currently being offered from MAP Theatre, is a real-life story, the gist of which could probably fill up a report on the news and was probably germinated from there, the journey to get to that inevitable conclusion is everything. And while some of the dialog in Jones' journey tended to meander a bit, the journey the MAP Theatre performers took us on with their performances made us really care for these characters and root for their success even as we could see the oncoming train barreling down on them. And it's that caring, that empathy that keeps us with them and watching even though we want to look away from what we know is coming, heartbreak.

The 14/48 Projects is headed back to Seattle parks once again this summer with When You Wish Upon A Pizza. Written by Amy Escobar and directed by Monica Galarneau, this new play will be performed FREE in parks around Seattle starting July 14, 2018.

On the surface Olivia Dufault's "Year of the Rooster" doesn't seem like a fun night out filled with laughs. A play about a failed trainer for cock fights. And to be honest it packs an ending that will not send you whistling into the street filled with hope for tomorrow. But this is MAP Theatre, and as their mission statement says, "We favor local work and comedy that hurts a bit" and this one does hurt. But at the same time, it's filled with stunning performances and more than a few laughs in this absurd yet all too grounded world director Peggy Gannon and the cast and crew have created over at 18th and Union.

Year of the Rooster is a dark and funny play about the underground culture of cock-fighting, and about the consuming drive to be a winner; a comedic attack on rural poverty, animal cruelty and toxic masculinity in America.

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.

First and foremost, this is not a typo. The current show from Washington Ensemble Theatre is titled Teh Internet is Serious Business no matter how many times spell check tries to auto correct it for me. And with a title like that you might assume that this will just be a series of computer jokes like having incarnations of grumpy cat or sarcastic Willy Wonka Memes live trolling during the show and while all of that happens, what also happens is a fascinating look at a key part of internet history as well as a highly inventive show with some innovative staging.

This fall Washington Ensemble Theatre will stage Teh Internet Is Serious Business, the first of three plays in the company's 2017/18 season that will put toxic masculinity under a microscope. Teh Internet Is Serious Business is a captivating and irreverent tale about the hacktivist group Lulzsec, a byproduct of Anonymous, and its rise to global online power. Written by Welsh playwright Tim Price and directed by celebrated Seattle director Wayne Rawley (writer and director of the critically acclaimed Live! From the Last Night of My Life), performances begin on September 15 and run through October 2, 2017 at 12th Avenue Arts (1620 12th Avenue). Tickets range from $15 - $25 and are on sale now at www.washingtonensemble.org.

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.

Quarter-life crisis is the new midlife crisis, and the characters in The Annex Theatre's 'The Lost Girls' are suffering. What's the point of spending so much on a college education in the liberal arts only to work at a summer camp and move back in with your parents? On top of the expectations of the modern woman, the expectations of the modern post-grad woman are grim.

If you're going to put your personal problems up on stage then, please, have a reason for telling them, some kind of journey or growth, and/or make them interesting. Unfortunately the issues put forth in Sheila Callaghan's play "Scab", currently playing as the inaugural Seattle production from Many Hats Theatre, have none of those elements. Instead, the main character rambles on and waxes poetic about how depressed and confused she is for two hours and ultimately learns nothing resulting in one of my biggest pet peeves in theater, someone else's therapy on stage.

Slice of life plays, like "Puny Humans" currently playing at Annex Theatre, are difficult at best especially when focusing on one specific sub-culture such as Comic-Con attendees. You need something new to say about your subjects, you need to make your subjects empathetic and you need an over-arching reason for us to be looking at this particular slice of life. Unfortunately writers Bret Fetzer and Keiko Green fail at all three of those elements making their 2 hour and 45 minute show (yeah, you heard me) drone on.

Bainbridge Performing Arts is partnering with the Bloedel Reserve to present an outdoor summertime performance. The BPA Shakespeare Society will perform Twelfe Night, or What You Will today, July 11 - 26 in the meadow at Bloedel Reserve.

All Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA) events are held at 200 Madison Avenue North, Bainbridge Island. Tickets, information, and registration, unless otherwise noted, are available at the BPA Box Office, by phone at 206.842.8569, or online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org. Box Office hours are Wednesday through Friday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., and one hour prior to each performance. BPA is supported, in part, by Bainbridge Community Foundation and One Call for All.

Bainbridge Performing Arts is partnering with the Bloedel Reserve to present an outdoor summertime performance. The BPA Shakespeare Society will perform Twelfth Night, or What You Will July 11 - 26 in the meadow at Bloedel Reserve.

Bainbridge Performing Arts has announced a partnership with the Bloedel Reserve to present an outdoor summertime performance. The BPA Shakespeare Society will perform Twelfe Night, or What You Will July 11 - 26 in the meadow at Bloedel Reserve.