Weekend Theatre: July 31-Aug. 2
The always adorable Jamie Roberts at 14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival, back in January. Photo by John Ullman.
RECOMMENDED 14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival @ On the Boards. 14/48 has become a twice-yearly staple of Seattle theatre: dozens of actors, directors, and writers get together to throw together the best 10-minute plays they can pull off in 24 hours. The first weekend opens tonight with two showings of the first seven plays, based on themes divvied out to playwrights last night; tomorrow, there's a whole new set of plays--in total, 14 original plays in 48 hours. The festival runs for two weekends at OtB, with a new set of directors, writers, actors, and musicians next weekend. (100 W. Roy St. Fri. & Sat., 8 & 10:30 p.m. Tix $18-$35.)
OPENING Das Barbecu @ ACT Theatre. Wagner's Ring Cycle as a Country Western musical. 'Nuff said. (800 Union St. Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m., Sun. 7:30 p.m. Tix $37.50.)
ALSO PLAYING
Criminal Hearts @ Artattack. Jane Martin's play about an agoraphobic who makes friends with her burglar and takes revenge on her mean-spirited husband. (Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. 1205 E. Pike St. #BA. Tix $10-$14.)
The Elephant Man @ Strawberry Theatre Workshop. "Not knowing much about the play, we went because we saw the cast included David Pichette, MJ Sieber, and Alexandra Tavares, who consistently bring a snap, crackle, and pop (respectively) to whatever they're in. The show is an hour and forty minutes with no intermission--the audience last night was glued to the stage the whole time." [Read our review.] (Fri. & Sat., 8:30 p.m. 1524 Harvard Ave. $10-$54.36.)
Othello @ Intiman. "We blame the New York Times for some of the letdown; they told us to expect one of the "most sensitively directed, eloquently designed and impeccably acted productions of a Shakespeare tragedy that the city has seen in years." Wow, we thought, even better than Transformers 2! And in fairness, Arin Arbus' direction has more wins than losses--though in one too many scenes, people just stood there until their line." [Read our review.] (Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Tix $10/$42-$54.)
