In Theater News: Theater Returns to Fremont & Migrating Variety Shows
Seattle theater-goers will become quite familiar with this Fremont landmark.
The establishment of the new West Of Lenin (one guess at where it's located), an 88-seat black box performance space, comes at a very opportune time for Seattle theater. The number of available spaces for producing companies to rent in Seattle has dwindled over the years, while demand has only increased. This circumstance has led to a strengthening of the offerings that local theater companies have put forth, as they have to be more selective about what they produce, and that leads to further preparation of their material.
However, there is nothing wrong with having more strategically located spaces throughout Seattle, that serves not only as a destination for the people who live around it, but also can help draw in random foot traffic through its doors. AJ Epstein recognized the opportunity to help fill a void when he started the renovation of Fremont's Warden Fluidynamics building. The space will now host new office and retail spaces, as well as serve as the headquarters for his The Ethereal Mutt Limited production company as well as host the West of Lenin performance space.
As Epstein notes in the press release announcing the space, "[...]I realized that I had a resource and a unique opportunity to get more deeply involved with the arts
community simply by thinking a little bigger and making this a public venue. I'm not starting a theatre company; I'm putting together an attractive comfortable space and encouraging artists whose work I respect to be featured during our first year."
This sounds a lot like the model being used at Theater Off Jackson. Epstein is no stranger to either Seattle nor to the world of theater production. His EMutt (as the theater company is casually referred to) has been the producing entity behind John Kaufmann's Starball, Tania Katan's Saving Tania's Privates, he's produced Mike Daisey at New York's Barrow Street Theater; he even designed the lights for the inaugural Re-bar run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (during which Nick Garrison essentially put Seattle on notice). With luck, he will be able to use that expertise in designing a space people will want to work in and come to.
The first challenge lays in creating the space, the next is in raising awareness and training the people of Fremont to come and visit regularly. Toward that end, the first production in the new space will be Sandbox Radio Live, a collection of radio plays written by members of the Sandbox Artists Collective, including Scot Auguston, Paul Mullin, Vincent Delaney, Elizabeth Heffron among others; their run begins on June 20th.
Expect to hear more about West of Lenin, as Seattlest will be getting a peek at it in the days ahead...
Coming this June: After having established themselves in Portland as a quality variety showcase for offbeat comedy, alt-lit readings, and independent music, the people behind Entertainment For People will be making their way up the I5 corridor in order to have their Seattle debut at Theater Off Jackson on Friday, June 24th.
They boast a pretty persuasive lineup in order to leave an indelible impression their first time out: Along with Seattle's alt-comedy king Emmett Montgomery (Annex's Weird and Awesome with...), and the art-rock stylings of Jose Bold, you can expect the latest short film from Portland's B. Frayn Masters & Jason Rouse. Headlining and hosting the event will be Dan Kennedy, from The MOTH podcasts, McSweeney's and various other outlets for intelligent, unusual and literate comedy.
As if that weren't enough, there's also a pretty impressive Secret Guest performing that night (yes we know who it is, no we won't tell)...All for $14 in advance ($16 at the door), and did we mention it was happening at Theater Off Jackson? Yes, we did.
If E4P's reputation is anything to go by, this will be well worth the time.
