Ok, these aren’t all “GAY” plays but I’m guessing that one or more people ASSOCIATED with these productions are probably gay and huge segments of the audience will be gay, and gays did, after all, INVENT theatre, then it’s ok to call this “The Big Gay Spring Theatre Calendar”…if you have a problem with that, then go over and check out the Seattle Times website…it might be more your speed.
Playing RIGHT now you have your choices of Balagan’s The Jammer (already reviewed here), Winky by The Satori Group, August Wilson’s Fences at Seattle Rep (Reviews coming soon), The Adventures of Herculina which is wrapping up its run at the Annex, Odets’ Paradise Lost at Intiman (review coming soon), the continuing delights of the Solo Performance Festival at Theatre Off Jackson, Dina Martina at Re-bar (I’m seeing her on Saturday), and Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Seattle Shakespeare Company which I’m seeing tonight (review to come SOON!).
Coming up next month: Sam Shepard’s True West at The Balagan opening April 8th; Also opening on the 8th, RoboPop! at Washington Theatre Ensemble is an ensemble generated piece that promises to create:
An exuberant kaleidoscope of pop that follows one woman’s heroic quest to save the human race in an epic battle of Man vs. Robot where love is her downfall and ultimate savior. Conceived and directed by veteran Ensemble designers Heidi Ganser and Ben Zamora and created by the Ensemble, this performance piece delivers imaginative and heartfelt storytelling like only Washington Ensemble Theatre can.
They are also looking for Teddy Bear donations at their Facebook page…they don’t specifically say they are for this production, but it stands to reason…if you got extra Teddies mouldering away in your closet, then give them a good home at WET!…We’ve already mentioned The 5th Avenue Theatre’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town…they just announced the cast and it’s chockfull of brilliant local talent including Billie Wildrick, Sarah Rudinoff, Greg McCormick Allen, Matt Owen and the ALWAYS wonderful Suzy Hunt. This show opens April 11th…West is “an original music/theater performance about the places where the sun sets and the exploration of the people who followed it there” created by the theater/music team of Awesome and director Matthew Richter it plays at On the Boards the weekend of April 22-25…slightly in the same vein as “RoboPop!” the Annex Theatre’s new production, When I Come To My Senses, I’m Alive, by Scotto Moore, is a “near-future sci-fi story about a technological provocateur who invents a method for capturing emotions as digital information…” It opens April 23 along with the Annex’s next late night diversion, the return of beloved Seattle icon Carlotta in a whole new “Evening with Carlotta” as improvised and performed by the beloved Troy Mink.
May is such an odd month in Seattle; it can either be delightfully warm or drearily damp but theatre-wise all the offerings are far from damp…The New Century Theatre Company gave us a brilliant production of The Adding Machine a couple of years ago; here’s hoping the premiere of Stephanie Timm’s new comedy, On The Nature of Dust, is just as illuminating as that production. It stars Amy Thone so it’s already off to a good start…it opens May 5th at ACT Theatre’s Falls Theatre…Balagan concludes it’s ambitious season by going classical with the Oedipus Cycle opening May 13th…ArtAttack Theater Ensemble scored a HUGE hit with its last production, the extended run of Fat Pig; can it top itself with Iain Heggie’s provocatively titled, Wiping My Mother’s Arse opening on May 20th, a play that not only features elderly characters but gay ones as well in a “wickedly dark comedy full of surprises for the characters as well as the audience…” (I just hope we don’t have to see much “arse” wiping). And, the 5th Avenue wraps up its season of Leonard Bernstein classics with an all new production of Candide, a show that’s sometimes almost an opera but isn’t afraid of silly sex jokes or toilet humor…it opens on May 25th.
I don’t know much about what is in store for June, but I do know that Strawberry Theatre Workshop is working on a production of The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman…I also know that the lovely, ugly people from Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church LOOOOOVE to picket productions of this show, so don’t be surprised to see their fat, rednecked faces as they march up and down the streets of Capitol Hill with their ridiculously hateful signs and quest for eternal publicity…No date set for this show, but we’ll keep you posted. And, we’ll have lots more announcements for June shows as we get more information…
Hopefully, this will keep you satisfied for the time being…I have to go prepare for my trip to the theatuh, tonight. Enjoy.
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
