SEATTLE THEATER REVIEWS

It's fine to be in the audience's face and have a scene's energy turned up to 11 but when you do it for the entire play, it gets tiring. That's the issue with Ghost Light Theatricals' current production of "Macbett". Sure it's an absurdist comedy piece but they can have levels too and without them...

I want to start off, Dear Readers, by stating that I really did enjoy ACT's current production of "Tribes". There are some great performances and it's a funny, engaging play with rich dialog. But even with my level of enjoyment in the moments of the play I can't help but also see some glaring shor...

A play like "Milk Like Sugar" about three teenage girls making a pact to all get pregnant while still in school would be a ridiculous premise if it weren't for the fact that it's based in reality. And while the current production at ArtsWest may boast some gripping performances, opening night also ...

Shows like the musical version of "Little Women" require a powerhouse cast in order to survive. The songs are soaring and powerful and without the vocals to back it up, it's just not worth it. Fortunately Seattle Musical Theatre has some outstanding performers in their current offering but unfortu...

Welcome to the world of Ernest Hemingway's Paris in the 1920's. Just like with any of the Cafe Nordo shows, the instant you walk into Nordo's Culinarium you're transported to another time and place but they seem to have outdone themselves with their current collaboration with Book-It Theatre with "...

'Rent' is certainly one of those shows where you either love it or you hate it. I'm firmly in the first camp. I was right there in the fervor when it first came out in 1996 and was the 'it' show the same way a current show about a founding father is today. And when that first tour came around I m...

The theater is filled with some of the greatest love stories, "Romeo and Juliet", "Mary's Wedding", and "Falsettos" just to name a few of my favorites. But in order to engage an audience in a love story you need to give them a reason to invest in the relationship whether that's through a specific c...

There's this little subsection of musical theater from the 50's and 60's that are big crowd pleasers due to the fact they were just plain fun. Sure, sometimes they dealt with issues as well but for the most part they were toe tapping good times. One of those that falls into this category is defini...

Author Lisa Kron is known for her one-woman shows. I am known for having issues with one-person shows, as they tend to be someone else's therapy on stage. Luckily Kron also understands that issue as she very self referentially mocks those kinds of shows in her play "Well", currently at the Seattle...

It's difficult to see where creator, writer and director of "Storyville Rising", currently playing at Seattle Immersive Theatre, David Crellin was trying to go with his show. I mean, it's certainly a fascinating look, supported by some wonderful performances, into the world of the red light distric...

The most common subject in comedy is sex. But Woody Shticks (brainchild of Noah Duffy and star of 18th and Union's 'Shlong Song') is not just a comedian, he's a dynamic storyteller. It's a man talking about his sexual journey. At times, it's heartbreaking. At other times, it's fantastic. Either way,...

More and more we see controversies arise in the entertainment industry as people of color are overlooked for some roles or pigeonholed in other roles based on their race. Well now a group of Cornish students and alum have assembled at 18th and Union for a remounting of their show illuminating those...

Here in Seattle we are blessed to have an abundance of bad ass female theater professionals some you might even go so far as to call local theater royalty. Well now Seattle Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Upstart Crow Collective have taken those bad ass women and dropped them in a traditi...

Mounting something as complex as a Chekov play is not an easy undertaking and should only be handled by professionals. Luckily, in Seattle, we have the Seagull Project who has been tackling these works the last few years including the absolutely incredible "Three Sisters" they put up a few years ba...

Modern adaptations of traditional texts are common, but mod adaptations of traditional texts are quite rare. Seattle Public Theater's 'The Liar' puts a 60s twist on a 17th-century farce, and it works....

Is it possible to put a really good horror story on stage? It has been done to some limited success with things like "Sweeney Todd" or "The Woman in Black" and now we have the truly creepy offering from National Theatre of Scotland with their adaptation of "Let the Right One In"....

Something's wrong when a tertiary character with no name upstages your main character. Sometimes it can make a production more memorable, but in Theatre Schmeater's current production of 'My Man Godfrey', the nameless mediator embraced the melodrama of the production and went over the top deliciousl...

I do love it, Dear Readers, when a show manages to thrill without the aid of elaborate sets or gimmicks. Where you can just immerse yourself in the words and performances. Such is the case with "Guards at the Taj" currently playing at ACT. That's not to say that the minimal set design from Brando...

There's something to be said for a bunch of actors, putting in the work and leaving it all out on the stage unencumbered by elaborate sets. That's why I love Theater 9/12's shows as it's all about the performances. Plus the shows are always so intimate in their little parish hall space that you re...

Who am I to judge how anyone processes the political climate? Well, when it's theatre, technically, it's my job. Nonetheless, I understand why Keira McDonald and Erin Stewart put on their two-woman sketch comedy, 'Happy Hour', now performing at 18th and Union as a part of their 'Oddballs and Misfits...

Conceptual productions are tricky because you have to find that balance of being cerebral and being entertaining, especially when you market yourself as a comedy. As apart of 18th and Union's 'Oddballs and Misfits' series, Human spark plug K. Brian Neel's 'Oroboro' is a one-man acid nightmare that...

I've never been a huge fan of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre. It's kind of dated, the songs, while many are classics, don't really move the story along, and plot points often come out of nowhere, plus it's one of those staples from the Golden ...

Behold, a rare gem, a piece of art that combines two vastly different disciplines: theater, and math. Ironically, what makes David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize winning play, 'Proof' so entertaining isn't so much the math, but the chemistry between the characters. Get out your pens and pencils, student...

I was fortunate enough to see Tyne Daly in Terrence McNally's "Mothers and Sons" when it was on Broadway. So when I heard that ArtsWest was putting up a production of the show from one of my favorite playwrights, starring Suzy Hunt and Evan Whitfield, already some of my favorite actors in town, and...

If you've ever seen Patrick Barlow's brilliant stage adaptation of the Hitchcock film "The 39 Steps" you know what a fast paced thrill ride it is. When I saw the Broadway touring production I thought I was going to pass out from laughter. Which is why I was a little let down by the current product...