BWW Review: ACT Negotiates a Stunningly Solid Piece with OSLO
In 1993 a few Norwegian politicians managed the impossible, to get the Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a peace. What sounds even more impossible is that they all kept it secret. Now this may not sound like the riveting topic for a three-hour play but what J.T. Rogers' 'Oslo', currently playing at ACT, does it to go beyond the facts of the accords and examines the humanity that made the accords possible and that kind of conflict makes for a tense and often times funny piece presented with a stunning ensemble from ACT.
THE WINTER'S TALE Gets A Diverse, Dynamic Staging This Summer By Freehold's Engaged Theatre
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 Engaged Theatre To Tour Prisons, Parks And Hospitals
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.
BWW Review: A Powerful GOAL! From ACT's THE WOLVES
Slice of life plays can be difficult, at least I've always found them so. They tend toward story, upon story, upon story, with little through line or resolution as life goes on. Such could be the case with Sarah DeLappe's "The Wolves" currently at ACT were it not for the fact that it's chock full of crackling dialog and high-intensity performances. And so, any perceived drawbacks I may have from this slice of life play don't seem to matter.
Seattle Opera Joins City-Wide Shakespeare Festival
Seattle Opera teams up with both ACT Theatre and Seattle Symphony for the first time to celebrate Shakespeare in a brand-new production of Berlioz's Beatrice and Benedict. The story, based on Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, delights in the "skirmish of wits" between fiery Beatrice and bombastic Benedict and their failed resolution to avoid falling in love with each other. Their merry-war-turned-love-story has proven catnip to Hollywood-there are two film versions, one directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer Joss Whedon, and the other directed by Kenneth Branagh and also starring Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton. Now the story is ready for the Seattle Opera treatment.
ACT Theatre Announces 2018 Core Company
ACT- A Contemporary Theatre is pleased to announce its 2018 Season Core Company. This year's Core actors are Christine Marie Brown, Avery Clark, Rachel Guyer- Mafune, Brandon O'Neill, and Chip Sherman. Each Core actor will be featured in at least two Mainstage shows, and will serve as artistic ambassadors throughout the season. In addition to the actors, ACT has added a playwright to the Core Company and is elated to announce that Yussef El Guindi will fill that role. El Guindi was the winner of the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, which premiered at ACT in 2012. The Core actors will work closely with the playwright and his development of new work over the year.
Announcing The Nominees For The 2017 GYPSY ROSE LEE AWARDS By The 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.
BWW 2017 Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (Jay's Picks)
Dear Readers, it's been quite a year and, hopefully, we've come through it unscathed. God knows we've needed some shows to help us escape and others to make us think. But through it all we've had several shows that have proven to shine as some of the best of the year. Out of all the shows I was fortunate enough to see this year, I've selected a few that stood out. Here are those stand outs, a few honorable mentions and a few special mentions about which I just couldn't help myself but to mention in their own special way.
BWW Review: Village's INTO THE WOODS Has Moments in the Woods but No Connections
I'll admit, Dear Readers, that when I saw the cast list for Village Theatre's current production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's classic Into the Woods I was quite excited. It was (and is) quite a list of powerhouse talent and not the usual suspects for a Village show. But Sondheim's show, as much as it's done by every professional house, community theater, or school is by no means a bulletproof show and something egregious must have happened (or didn't happen) between then and now as the production I saw last night, while technically good with well sung songs lacked any kind of emotional resonance, heart, stakes, or even connection between the characters. And for a show like this, pretty singing is not enough.
Venture INTO THE WOODS With Village Theatre
Kicking off Village Theatre's 2017-2018 Season is the Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning musical, Into the Woods. "Happily ever after" will be just the beginning in this musical collision of the original Grimm fairytales. When Cinderella, Jack, Rapunzel, Little Red, and more venture into the woods after their heart's desire, they get a lot more than they bargained for. As princes seduce and giants roam the land, stories get intertwined and the plot thickens. With a jaw-dropping design team and a stellar cast of Village Theatre favorites, Into the Woods is sure to take you "into the woods, to get the thing, that makes it worth the journeying."
BWW Review: Intensity and Anger Abounds in Theatre22's DOWNSTAIRS
Some plays are light bits of fluff, perfect for an evening's entertainment filled with laughs and warm fuzzy feelings. Others, however, take you to a dark and intense place filled with foreboding and anger and, if you're lucky, some gripping performances. Theatre22 and ACTLab's west coast premiere of Theresa Rebeck's "Downstairs", currently playing ACT, is definitely the latter and definitely has those gripping performances. In fact, I'll even go as far as to say it has some of the best performances I've seen all year.
Thalia's Umbrella to Present WHEN LOVE SPEAKS
Thalia's Umbrella announces their fourth production: When Love Speaks, by David Wright. When Love Speaks will be performed February 9-25, 2017, in the Isaac Studio Theater at Taproot Theater in Greenwood.
Thalia's Umbrella to Present WHEN LOVE SPEAKS
Thalia's Umbrella announces their fourth production: When Love Speaks, by David Wright. When Love Speaks will be performed February 9-25, 2017, in the Isaac Studio Theater at Taproot Theater in Greenwood.
BWW Review: Rep's SHERLOCK HOLMES Lacks Some Grace But It's Still Holmes
Back in 2013 the Seattle Rep gave us a lovely Christmas Present with R. Hamilton Wright and David Pichette's wonderful adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles". So when they announced that they would be ending this season with more Holmes from Wright with "Sherlock Holmes and the American Problem", naturally there was a lot of excitement and anticipation for more from this team. And while the team is still on point and while it's still more Sherlock goodness, this original Holmes mystery from Wright doesn't quite have the elegance and grace of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle piece.
BWW Review: Static but Still Fun EMMA at Book-It Repertory
It's been 200 years since Jane Austen's incorrigible matchmaker "Emma" first came on the scene in print and since has spawned film versions, adaptations and has never been out of print since its release. And while the current adaptation from Book-It Repertory Theatre keeps the mischievousness and attitudes alive, at times if feels a little too static making this romp drone on a bit.
Book-It Repertory Theatre to Present EMMA This December
Book-It Repertory Theatre presents Jane Austen's Emma this December. Adapted by Rachel Atkins and directed by Carol Roscoe, Emma will help Book-it celebrate the holiday season and the 200th anniversary of the novel's publication. Emma will play at the Center Theatre from December 2, 2015 - January 3, 2016. Tickets range from $25-$50.
BWW Review: ACT's MR. BURNS - Funny but Doesn't Payoff Completely
Anne Washburn's hit play "Mr. Burns, a post-electric play", currently playing at ACT, does a fine job at exploring the genesis of mythology and still keeps itself very funny. But that exploration tends to draw itself out a little too long with too little payoff for the time spent.