This Week In Theater: Limited Engagements

Thought the onslaught of new productions would lessen the closer we got to New Year's Eve? Au contraire, mon ami! Instead, what you can expect is for an intensification of productions, an increase in short production runs, until you think there's no way the whole thing can't topple under the weight of its excess and then *POOF* nothing the moment we get within five days of Christmas -- except for shows that are closing on the 31st.

This week we get just one production meant to run longer than a weekend; the rest will be closed by Monday.

Let's begin with Wallingford's Stone Soup Theater and their offering of Dylan Thomas' favored holiday poem, A Child's Christmas in Wales. Originally written as a radio drama for the BBC in 1952, the stage adaptation features Thomas' penchant for poetic passages intermingled with a romanticized and nostalgic, if also humorous, take on childhood during the festive time of year. It's enough to make one step back and marvel at the many different ways we honor this time of year.

Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30p.m., Sundays at 2:00p.m. (other matinees on selected dates, see website for further information); December 9 through December 24 // Stone Soup Theater (Down Stage), 4029 Stone Way North // $16 - $18

This weekend is also host to the next 12 Minutes Max, On the Boards' recurring two day mini-festival that showcases local talent and bite-sized portions of their new works. December's entry is being curated in part by award winning puppeteer Kyle Loven and features new work from Josephine’s Echopraxia Cut Your Losses, Danielle Villegas, 3rd Shift Dance as well as a preview from Erin Jorgensen's Redemption which will be seen at OtB this coming January.

Sunday and Monday at 7:00p.m. // On the Boards' Studio Theater, 100 West Roy Street // $8

The dance world is also making its presence known this weekend, as the Velocity Dance Center, in conjunction with the Northwest Film Forum, brings Next Fest NW: Theft + Devotion to its stages. Another mini-festival, this time centered around dance performance and film, the performance portion of the bills features new works from Kate Wallich, Laara Garcia, Mike Pham among others. Meanwhile the video installation will highlight a bevy of local dance mavens including KT Niehoff, Shawn Telford, Katy DeRosier. As Seattle's dance community still remains largely unsung, this festival gives the viewer a good chance to get familiar with its various factions and discover yet another rich layer in the Emerald City's Arts scene.

The festival runs Thursday through Monday, but the performance slate runs Friday through Sunday at 8:00p.m. // Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Avenue // $15 - $18

Finally, no weekend would be complete without a little something from the Improv community. This weekend, this offering comes in the form of EXITheater's 7 Minutes in Heaven, which combines the chaos of improv, with the awkward desperation of speed dating and the voyeuristic thrills of reality TV. The audience arrives, is introduced to the evening's players, and from there, the shape and form of the evenings is up to the individual audience member, as they could follow the path of one particular character or that of several throughout the course of the night. This recurring favorite is holiday themed for extra loneliness-fueled yearning.

Saturday at 8:00p.m. // Starbucks on Olive, 1600 East Olive Way // FREE