Annex Theatre Presents THE GREAT HAPPINESS MACHINE, 5/2-18

Annex Theatre collaborates with Puppet This and presents THE GREAT HAPPINESS MACHINE, May 2nd through May 18th, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8pm. Tickets are $10 on Brown Paper Tickets - Tickets in Advance or at the door. TPS/Military/Seniors/Student tickets are $5.

For puppets, being ecstatically happy is the status quo, so what will a group of puppets do when they discover that one of their own is suddenly and shockingly sad? Therapy? Philosophy? Songs about kittens?

Luckily for them, a mad scientist, Professor Humbart Mysterio, has created a machine that will keep everyone happy for the rest of time... or else.

In this improvised show, the twisted minds behind popular Spin the Bottle act Puppet TV will ask you for your fears, bad days and tragedies and transform them into happiness any way they can - even if that means singing about kittens.

For more information about this show, visit Annex Theatre (www.annextheatre.org) or Puppet This (www.puppetthis.com).

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 show Spin the Bottle, now in its 14th year. All productions are chosen by the Annex company as a whole, through a process of proposals, interviews, readings, frenzied argument, and final consensus.

Annex incorporated on Bainbridge Island in 1986, and took residence in 1988 in a former dance studio on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle. Since then the theater has produced hundreds of world and Northwest premieres, including new plays by Stranger Genius Award winners Chris Jeffries and Paul Mullin; dozens of other local playwrights, including Elizabeth Heffron, Jeff Resta, Kelleen Conway Blanchard, Scotto Moore, Keri Healey, Scot Augustson, John Kaufmann, and Heidi Heimarck; and nationally recognized playwrights such as Erik Ehn, Naomi Iizuka, Glen Berger, Anne Washburn, Jeffrey Jones, and Nicky Silver.

Former Annex company members ("alumni") can be found throughout the Seattle arts scene (including former Artistic Director of the Empty Space Allison Narver, Executive Director of Town Hall Weir Harman, Development Director for A Contemporary Theatre Josef Krebs, and Education Director of Seattle Repertory Theatre Andrea Allen) and in local and national film (directors SJ Chiro, Garrett Bennett, and Mike Shapiro; actors Jillian Armenante and Paul Giamatti).

Former Annex company members can be found throughout the Seattle arts community, including Allison Narver, former Artistic Director of the Empty Space; Weir Harman, Executive Director of Town Hall; Josef Krebs, Development Director for ACT Theatre; Andrea Allen, Education Director of Seattle Repertory Theatre; and Gillian Jorgensen, Seattle Children's Theatre Teaching Artist-as well as in the local and national film industry, such as directors SJ Chiro, Garrett Bennett, and Mike Shapiro, and actors Jillian Armenante and Paul Giamatti. 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 Pamala Mijatov, who rose to power in September of 2010.