Weekend Theatre: March 12-15
William Kentridge and the Handspring Puppet Co.'s production of "The Return of Ulysses." Photo by Johan Jacobs.
We have to start here by jumping in and saying that this is easily one of the most exciting weekends of theatre we've seen in town in months--two festivals running, genre-breaking opera, ballet crossing over into Broadway show tune territory, two shows that have had their runs extended (Betrayal and The History Boys), and a host of shows closing, including the awesome The Theory of Everything. If you're not heading to a theatre this weekend for something, you've lost your bloody mind. It doesn't get better than this!
RECOMMENDED:
The Seafarer @ Seattle Rep. "And all this caps the biggest contradiction of all: We read the script to this show mere hours before heading to the Rep last week, and concluded that we didn't like it, that this was going to be another sloppy Rep production, and yet we left the theatre prepared to recommend the play to just about anyone!" [Read our review.] (Thurs-Sun., 7:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun., 2 p.m. Tix $15-$59.)
LAST CHANCE WEEKEND 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 tohttp://authors.gothamistllc.com/mt/mt.fcgi 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.)
OPENINGS:
The Return of Ulysses @ the Moore. Pacific Operaworks, a new Seattle chamber opera group, is staging South African artist William Kentridge's stunning puppet opera performance of Monteverdi's classic. We saw Kentridge Monday, and the stunning visuals of this piece are such that's almost guaranteed to be a can't miss show. (1932 Second Ave. Fri. & Sat., 7:30 p.m. Tix $10-$85.)
Moisture Festival @ ACT. So big, bad-ass, and cool, we can't even begin to express our excitement: the Moisture Festival returns with performance of the Grand Variete show (family friendly, with aerialists and clowns) and the burlesque show (not for the kiddies). (700 Union St. Thurs.-Sun., various scheduling. Tix $10-$25.)
Hello Dolly @ 5th Avenue. The Broadway classic hits Seattle, starring Jennifer Lewis and featuring local celeb Pat Cashman! (1308 Fifth Ave. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m., Sun., 1:30 & 7:30. Tix $22-$81.)
Broadway Festival @ PNB. Pacific Northwest Ballet presents a night of ballet based on classical Broadway musicals, from the like West Side Story and Carousel. There's an attendant screening of the films at SIFF. (Thurs. & Fri., 7:30, Sat., 2 & 7:30. Tix $25-$155.)
Merchant of Venice @ Seattle Shakespeare. It may be notoriously anti-Semitic, but it's also one of Shakespeare's most stunning plays, the prototype for twisted tragicomedy in which our heroes seem worse than the villains, and features some of the most memorable monologues Shakespeare ever put to paper. (Seattle Center House, Fri. & Sat., 7:30, Sun. 2 $22-$36.)
MORE...
Long Day's Journey Into Night @ Stone Soup. New Amerikan Theatre presents one of Eugene O'Neill's most brutal masterpieces--an aching, heartwrenching, three-hour trip through a hell of love and obligation, courtesy of America's greatest playwright ever. (4035 Stone Way N. Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. Tix $15.$10.)
my new friends (are so much better than you) @ Theatre off Jackson. This week at Solo Performance Fest, S.P. Miskowksi and Morgan Rowe present a show about two women (played by one actor, of course) with entirely different personalities. Also, late night at SPF this week is the People's Republic of Komedy. (409 Seventh Ave. S. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m. Tix $15.)
ALSO PLAYING...
The History Boys @ ARTS West. "The premise of the story is familiar--eccentric academic attempts to teach young minds the intrinsic value of knowledge. The unconventional method of teaching employed by their English teacher, Hector (John Wray), raises brows amongst the faculty. Locking classroom doors during his lessons while his students to engage in witty repartee, reciting poems, and occasionally breaking into song, we can almost see a method to his madness." (4711 California. Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. Tix ~$32.)
Betrayal @ Seattle Rep. "The beginning of the play--the chronological end of the story--is full of playwright Harold Pinter's trademark massive silences and nothing seems to matter much. Oh, you cheated? No shit. Let's stare off into the distance and forgive each other over some brandy. Only later will the deafening 'meh' of it all hit home, but at the beginning you're left wondering what the big deal is. Sure, it's the '70s, but can everyone be as blasé about this as it appears?" Run extended! [Read our review.] (Seattle Rep, Second Ave. & Mercer St. Thurs.-Sun., 7:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun., 2 p.m. Tix $29-$55.)
LAST CHANCE
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. [Read our review.] (1634 11th Ave. Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. Tix $14/10.)
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 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.)
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. Tix $19.50-$75.)
