This Week In Theater: Buckled Swashes, Impish Delights and Halloween Ascendant

As we had discussed last week, this week sees an increase in horror and Halloween themed shows, but not to the exclusion of other productions. In the interest of fairness, let’s now focus on these non-themed shows, because they extend what has been 2011’s theme of Flexing Our Muscular Ambition. This week, we see a Fringe Theater stalwart bring the self-generative to the forefront, a classic tale presented for kids, a condensed operetta and the big Shakespeare company making with the shakey shake.

Let’s begin with the Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the perennial and oft-produced comedy about star-crossed lovers, the wood sprites and fairies that play havoc with their love lives, and a troupe of actors who are used as so many living pawns. Except of course, much better written than that lazy summary. One of the Bard’s most sparkling romantic comedies, this production is being helmed by 2011 Gregory Award Winner Sheila Daniels (with a couple of other Gregory Award winners in the design team), which should make for a refreshing take on a familiar work.

Thursday through Saturday at 7:30p.m., Saturday - Sunday at 2:00p.m.; October 20 through November 13 // Intiman Theater, 201 Mercer Street // $15 - $38

Meanwhile, the folks at Annex Theatre have been busy creating c.1993 (you never step in the same river twice), a new work curated by Seattle playwright (and former Annex Artistic Director) Bret Fetzer. Using the death of teen heartthrob River Phoenix, the piece has morphed into a rumination of the various events and personalities that dominated that year - a tumultuous one, especially in Seattle, and includes some thoughtful exploration on the nature of male and female celebrity. A glance at the synopsis and character list, which is linked above, indicates that this will be a sprawling evening of music and thematic struggle; two great tastes that taste great together.

Thursday through Saturday at 8:00p.m.; October 21 through November 19 // Annex Theatre, 1100 East Pike Street // $5 - $15

Next, we come to Seattle Children’s Theater presentation of Robin Hood. While we’re sure everyone will be swept away with this classic tale of swashbuckling derringdo, camaraderie, loyalty and romance, not many will complain that with its hero’s boldly stated “steal from the rich and give to the poor” agenda, what SCT is really doing is indoctrinating today’s youth to become future Occupy Wall Street protesters and communist sympathizers. We encourage all right thinking Americans to send their letters of complaint to the appropriate authorities.

Various dates and showtimes, refer to link for more information (times geared to accommodate young ones); October 20 through November 27 // SCT’s Eve Alford Theater, 201 Thomas Street // $25 - $36

Our last non-Halloween themed production for the week is a fun exercise in condensation: STAGEright Theater's take on Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance. The story concerns a “pirate apprentice,” and if that doesn’t inform you of the kind of silly shenanigans and contrivances found within this script, then you should head to YouTube and search for clips of “Modern Major General.” The rest should be experienced first hand. What STAGEright brings to the table is a considerably smaller cast than normal to tackle the manic pace the script demands; which could either work really really well, or fall apart rather quickly. Either way, our curiosity is piqued.

Friday through Saturday at 8:00p.m.; October 21 through November 19 // Freehold Theater, 2222 2nd Avenue // $15

We now switch our attention over to the Halloween themed productions; normally, we’d trot out our “it’s about the spirit of the holiday” warning along about here - and there will surely be some events in the next few months where such a caveat will be necessary, but this weekend is not it. These are three productions with worthy pedigrees, and if you’re looking for a gleefully ghoulish time, you could do FAR worse than this.

First up, the latest iteration of Ian Bell’s Brown Derby series, the quarterly drunken staged readings of Hollywood’s shlockiest drek, which this year has been featuring the films of Stephen King. Last time through, Bell and his crew of miscreants hilariously destroyed Pet Sematary; truly side-splitting treatment of the original source material. For Halloween, they are remounting their popular version of Carrie - those who saw the original production oh-so-many-booze-killed-brain-cells ago will recall that it provides an unseemly amount of hilarity and this iteration will be no different. Featured performers include Nick Garrison, Dusty Warren, Kim Nyhous, Andrew Tasakos, DJ Freddy Kingofpants, Scott Shoemaker, Josh Hartvigson and Spencer Thorson. No reservations, so to insure your seat, GET THERE WAY EARLY.

Thursday through Sunday at 8:00p.m. (doors open at 7:00p.m.) // Re-bar, 1114 Howell Street // $18

Next, another guaranteed good time over in West Seattle, as ArtsWest brings back Evil Dead: The Musical. Yes, they’ve made a musical of that movie; yes, it’s supposed to be awesomesauce; yes , it has been approved by Sam Raimi and company; yes, there is a built-in splatter zone in the house. Honestly, we can’t think of anything else to say about this: Either you’re really into the idea of watching a musical that’s built around one of cinemas most popular bits of slapstick gore, or you’re too much of a coward to enjoy life. With a costume party and a special showing on Halloween night, there will be plenty of opportunity to go check this production out, which enjoyed a sell-out run last year around this time.(Recommended for ages 16+.)

Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 11:00p.m. (see calendar for additional dates and showtimes); October 19 through November 12 // ArtsWest, 4711 California Avenue SouthWest // $10 - $34.50

Finally, we finish out the week with the return of Greenstage's Hard Bard series of productions. Greenstage, the other theater company dedicated to producing the works form the Billy Shakes, seemed to have come upon a successful recipe for their Halloween shows, centered around the fact that for all of their pomp surrounding Shakespeare library of plays, the man has written some particularly grotesque entertainments, which were likely played for laughs when they were originally produced. And so, every year, they’ve come up with Hard Bard, which allows them to produce these plays, load them up with buckets of fake blood and treat the material with a good mix of irreverence. While last year’s Macbeth was a touch uneven, 2009’s Titus Andronicus was a bloody hilarious marvel. This year, they step outside of the canon and bring us the classic Jacobean revenge story The Revenger's Tragedy, a tale of greed, amibition, betrayal, murder and general cynicism. Amped up with Hard Bard’s preference for exaggerated viscosity, this should be a fun exercise in gallows humor.

Thursday through Sunday at 7:30p.m.; October 21 through November 12 // Seattle Center House, 305 Harrison Street // Suggested Donation