No time to waste! I took most of August off, theater-wise, but now it’s September and there’s EIGHT major shows opening in the next 10 days! YIKES! I’m tired just thinking about it…but most of these shows look like they’re going to be AMAZING so I’m pretty excited…don’t crush my expectations Seattle Theater Companies!
ArtsWest has the Seattle premiere of Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty, (yes, it’s supposed to be all lowercase…) the third play in a trilogy that examines society’s obsession with appearance; the other two are “The Shape of Things” and “Fat Pig”. I expect it to be dark, sardonic and bitter as hell, ie, a lot like my love life. It stars Shawn Law (last seen in “The Laramie Project”), David S. Hogan, Allison Standley and Angela DiMarco and it opened Wednesday and plays through October 2 at ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave SW in West Seattle. Go here for tickets. Mr LaBute also writes and directs films. “In the Company of Men” and “Nurse Betty” were quite good; he also (and, inexplicably) directed dumb remakes of “The Wicker Man” and “Death at a Funeral”. Hopefully, this play and production is lives up to the former, and not the latter…
Strawberry Theatre Workshop blew me out of the water with their LAST production, “The Laramie Project”. I’m guessing we can expect more of the same with their newest show, Hugh Whitemore’s “Breaking the Code” which continues the Strawshop’s theme of exploring contemporary “martyrs”. “Breaking the Code” is the powerful story of:
British mathematician and cryptologer Alan Turing, (pictured, to your right; very handsome!) who–at 27 years old–led the team at Bletchley Park to break the Nazi Enigma code during World War II ad gain control of the U-boat menace in the North Atlantic Ocean. A visionary in matching
the logic of mathematics with the potential of electricity, Turing is credited by many for inventing the digital computer.
Turing’s heroism in the war was a national security secret. Likewise, his ambitions of love, family, and home as a gay man were forced underground by Britain’s archaic “gross indecency” acts. Prosecuted by police in 1952 for having a homosexual affair, Turing’s sentence included injections of female hormones with humiliating consequences. He took his own life just two years later.
Starring as Turing is Bradford Farwell and it was directed by powerhouse director Sheila Daniels, (Intiman’s Crime & Punishment, Abe Lincoln in Illinois). The rest of the cast is equally impressive including Charle R. Leggett, (last seen to brilliant effect in ACT’s just closed “Yankee Tavern”), Amy Fleetwood, Galen Joseph Osier and Alycia Delmore with original music from “Awesome’s” Robertson Witmer. “Code” opened last night and runs through October 9 at the Erickson Theatre on Capitol Hill. I saw this show last night and my review will be up shortly…HINT: I encourage you to get tickets NOW, because the rave reviews will be coming out in force in the next few days and you wouldn’t want to miss out on one of the best performances of the year by Bradford Farwell, would you?
The Balagan has a monster hit with their sold-out production of “Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” which is still running late nights for a couple more weeks; let’s see if they can do the same with the final show in their current space, the world premiere of local playwright/performer Eric Lane Barnes (known for his work with Seattle Men’s Chorus and appearances at Martin’s Off-Madison, may it rest in piece…) and his autobiographical “play with music” titled, “Rapture of the Deep”. It’s the story of:
Loosely based on the playwright’s own experiences growing up in his own Uncle Jimmy’s shadow, Rapture of the Deep is a new semi-autobiographical play filled with ghosts and demon possession…Though not a musical, this play-with-music is peppered with original songs written in the style of early American hymns and folk songs from the hills. Local playwright Eric Lane Barnesputs love, loss and the nature faith under the microscope; he examines the true meaning of family and asks the question, “Is perception really everything?”
“Rapture of the Deep” runs September 9 through the 25th at the Balagan’s current space on Capitol Hill under Boom Noodle. We’re seeing it TONIGHT; if you want to see it, get tickets HERE. Mr Barnes is a popular local performer and the Balagan Theatre is SMALL…if you want to go, get your tickets ASAP!
Opening tonight, (Friday, September 10), John Longenbaugh’s “Arcana” is “inspired by the images from the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot deck” and it’s a “piece constructed of short plays and monologues ranging across a series of experiments in the theatrical form…” Mr Longenbaugh is a multi-hyphenate playwright, critic and employee of the 5th Avenue theater so we have high hopes for this. It’s playing at Open Circle Theatre Fridays and Saturdays now through October 2 and advance tickets are available here. Sounds like spooky, sexy fun…have you ever SEEN the Major Arcana tarot cards? They tend to feature a lot of nudity, mysticism and violence…a lot like my love life. HA!
I need to get this piece up and I have MORE shows that need mentioning so I’m breaking this up into more than one column! More to come, including looks at ACT’s Ann Landers play, “Lady with the Answers” and Intiman’s big, starry “A Doctor in Spite of Himself” (pictured, below) coming SOON! (like, tomorrow!)
-Michael Strangeways
