Seattle Playwrights Collective Presents 'IPLAYZ,' Now thru 6/21

To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the launch of the World Wide Web, The Seattle Playwrights Collective's presents iPlayz: Life and Death in the Digital Age today, June 6 through June 21 at Annex Theatre in Seattle and June 27 and 28 at Tacoma Little Theatre in Tacoma. This year's version of SPC's annual Explorations Short Play Festival promises a 360 degree exploration into how the rise of mobile technologies, social networks, and emerging computer applications have impacted the human condition for good and ill.

Supported in part by the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, iPlayz features a variety of short plays by Puget Sound region playwrights selected by a steering committee of diverse local artists. From comedies about the challenges of trying to escape social media to dramas about what to do with a Facebook account after a child has tragically died, the evening as a whole promises to provide audiences with an opportunity to engage in a dialogue about how digital media has impacted every facet of our lives from birth to death.

As part of this festival, the iPlayz production team will also be exploring how various digital technologies can inform the art and marketing of theatrical events. In conjunction with the event, SPC will be inviting patrons to share videos recounting their own stories about surviving the digital age on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, podcasting a chat back with a panel of experts on digital media, and inviting patrons to take selfies with the cast. Patrons can join the conversation at #iPlayz.

The lineup for this evening of digitally themed shorts includes -

Social Etitech by Ellen Donbeck, OMD by RE Pearlman, Mr. Nerp by Peter Cook, Momware by Craig Kenworthy, Memorial byMachelle Allman, Audio Play by John C. Davenport, Reggie Show by Daniel Tarker, Anatomy of a Text Message by Jaryl Draper, andAlways On by Andrew Creech. Direction provided by Roy Arauz, Jen Moon, and Daniel Tarker.

The ensemble features Terry Boyd, Gretchen Douma, Erin Ison, Dustin Jackson, Jordi Montes, Madison Marie Rengli, Melissa Slaughter, and Evan Louis Thomas.

The design team includes Samantha Armitage (Costumes) Theodore Michael Dolas (Lights), Cynthia Kelly (Stage Management), Lilliana Krynska (Props), Kim Rosin (Set), and David Torres (Sound).

iPlayz: Life and Death in the Digital Age plays at Annex Theatre (1100 E Pike St, Seattle) June - 22 and at Tacoma Little Theatre (210 N I St, Tacoma) June 27 & 28 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 general admission and $10 for military, students, and TPS members. Reservations can be made online at annextheatre.org and tacomalittletheatre.org.

More info and the production blog at seattleplaywrightscollective.org.

Special thanks to our iPlayz steering committee for reading a hefty pile of submissions and selecting this engaging line-up of short plays -Glenn Blumstein (Playwright), Cate Foster (Stage Manager), Ellen Graham (Director), Jim Jewell (Playwright/ PR guru) Madison Rengli(Actor), and Daniel Tarker (Playwright/Director).