Weekend Theatre: Feb. 26-Mar. 1
RECOMMENDED: The Theory of Everything @ Richard Hugo House. SIS Productions, a company dedicated to creating theatrical opportunities for Asian-American women (that's right, producers: Miss Saigon and Chess are not enough) and the people behind the long-running Sex in Seattle series, presents Prince Gomolvilas' award-winning comedy about a group of people who meet weekly atop a Vegas wedding chapel. A cast of seven more or less excellent Asian-American actors and an excellent design make this play one of the best onstage right now. (1634 11th Ave. Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. Tix $14/10.)
ONE WEEKEND ONLY: Straight: A Conversion Comedy @ Annex Theatre. David Schmader plays against type in his newest show. Two nights only. (1122 E. Pike St. Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. Tix $15.)
OPENINGS
Rubble Women @ D. Smith Furniture Warehouse/UMO Ensemble. Seattle's critically lauded performance ensemble UMO are back with a new show that explores how women respond to and survive severe trauma, including but not limited to the titular women, survivors of the destruction of Berlin following the Second World War. (David Smith Furniture Warehouse, 1107 Harrison St. Thurs.-Sun., 7:30 p.m. Tix $20/@12.)
The Altruists @ Seattle Center House. Two Hours Traffic presents Nicky Silver's dark comedy about helping others to feel better about yourself. Silver has a long history of producing twisted plays exploring the dark side of everyday lives, and 2 Hours Traffic has a history of delivering above-average fringe theatre. For two weekends only. (TPS Studio 4, Seattle Center House, fourth floor, 305 Harrison. Fri. & Sat., $15-$30.)
Betrayal @ Seattle Rep. Harold Pinter's scorching script for Betrayal takes a long-time love affair between a woman and her husband's best friend and reverses the time-line, starting with the tragic end and ending with the romantic beginning, turning expectations on their head and forcing the audience to reconsider all the elements to an otherwise well-worn story. (Seattle Rep, Second Ave. & Mercer St. Thurs.-Sun., 7:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun., 2 p.m. Tix $29-$55.)
ALSO PLAYING...
Always...Patsy Cline @ ACT. "We prefer our tribute concerts to be performed by artists re-interpreting the original songs. We prefer our plays to have more storyline. As it were, Always...Patsy Cline was too theatrical to be a tribute concert but with not enough storyline to be a really great play. Ilika's voice was incredibly on-the-mark for the most part and Kate Jaeger's sheer ham factor as Seger was deliciously fun. While we would've liked a more story-focused script that didn't play out like a revue, how can we complain about two hours in a comfy-ish chair, watching a pretty lady sing Patsy Cline songs?" [Read our review.] (700 Union St. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 2 & 8 p.m. Tix $25-$35.)
Woyzeck @ Odd Duck/Eclectic Theatre. "Imagine paying just $20 to be herded into the ramshackle Odd Duck Studio on Pike, with its secondhand seats, to stare at a set consisting of a few scrap boards nailed together, and watch a one-act about a plausibly schizophrenic German soldier laboring under crushing poverty, abused by authority, who discovers his mistress is cheating on him and snaps. Also, the cast wears little white masks and occasionally songs are sung in the vicinity of their key." [Read our review.] (1214 10th Ave. Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 p.m. Tix $20 at the door.)
The Lion King @ the Paramount. "We saw it on Broadway back in the summer of 2001. Before 9/11. Before years of despair, violence, famine, and disaster even seemed plausible....[t]he fantasy element just seemed...lost this time around. Call us jaded, but when young Simba's 'I Just Can't Wait to Be King' unfolded with all the alien-looking animals and trippy, balloonish giraffes, we found ourselves longing for something real, something to sink our teeth into. Something that mirrored our world a little better and helped make sense of what we've just surmounted. We wondered if, eight years from now, we'll be able to return to The Lion King with the same delight and careless imagination that was so accessible in the summer of '01 and now just feels a little out of touch." [Read our review.] (911 Pine St. Thurs., 7:30, Fri. 8, Sat. 2 & 8, Sun. 1 & 6:30. Tix $19.50-$75.)
The Mistakes Madeline Made @ WET. "There isn't an actual character named Madeline in Elizabeth Meriwether's The Mistakes Madeline Made, but one can assume Edna (Elise Hunt), the young protagonist with a penchant for screwing writers and not taking showers, is the one making the mistakes. Michael Place directs this quirky comedy about reconciling one's past and eventually becoming clean." [Read our review.] (608 19th Avenue East, The Little Theatre. Thurs.-Mon., 8 p.m. Tix $10-$18.)
LAST CHANCE
Kid Simple @ Theatre off Jackson. Macha Monkey Productions' newest show, directed by the talented Kristina Sutherland, seems to bear some similarity to the last show we saw her in, interlace [falling star] at Annex. Kid Simple is a sci-fi fable about a girl who invents a hearing machine, falls for its shapeshifting thief, and pursues him into a world of shifting sonicscapes. (409 Seventh Ave. S. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; tix $15.)
Death, Sex @ the Balagan. The Balagan is switching things up with a new one-act play fest. Death, Sex features six 10-minute comedies about the titular topics by the likes of Shel Silverstein and David Mamet. Performances feature such local talent as Hannah Schnabel and the lovely Lachrista Borgers. (1117 E. Pike St. Fri. 8 & 10 p.m., Sat. 8 p.m. Tix $15/$12.)
