Photos: First Look at HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Harlequin Productions

Harlequin Productions is presenting Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, through August 6 at the State Theater. Artistic Director Aaron Lamb directs. Honoring Olympia's status as a punk rock center, every weekend will feature a different local band opening the show with a 45-minute set.

Get a first look at photos below!

The place: The State Theater. The time: The early-mid 90s. The opening act: local bands including Sugar and the Spitfires, Keven James Hoffman, Golden Ruins and Smelly Cat. The Berlin Wall is down. Gender is a construct. Just try and tear her down. This is Hedwig in punk rock Olympia, WA.

Brilliantly innovative, heartbreaking, and wickedly funny, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the landmark musical by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask that is "groundbreaking and undoubtedly ahead of its time" (Entertainment Weekly). This genre-bending, fourth wall-smashing musical sensation, with a pulsing score and electrifying performances, tells the story of one of the most unique characters to ever hit the stage. Winner of four 2014 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival, Hedwig will take you by storm!

With the passage of 30 years of relative global stability, the edge and danger of the period just after the fall of the Berlin Wall seems far away. Or does it? The war in Ukraine and rising violence in our own country are bringing back glimpses of that darker, more dangerous time when punk rock served as an outlet for global tensions and fear.

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