"Inadvertently topical" is perhaps the best way to describe The Year of Magical Thinking, at Intiman Theatre through Sept. 20 (tix $40-$55). Joan Didion's own adaptation of her award-winning 2005 memoir of the same title, the one-woman show follows Didion's struggles with grief following the death of her novelist husband John Gregory Dunne in 2003, which coincided with the beginning of the long, catastrophic series of illnesses that eventually claimed her daughter's life the next year. But playing against the backdrop of the ongoing national debate over health care reform, during the show we kept coming back to the--again no doubt inadvertent--lie that is the throughline of the play, and one of the first things Judith Roberts, the marvelous actress who plays Didion, says at the opening: "This will happen to you." more ›

A PLAY OF MAGICAL THINKING: Intiman Theatre presents The Year of Magical Thinking, a play by well-known and much-loved author Joan Didion, based on her bestselling memoir of the same name. Directed by Sama Lapine and starring Judith Roberts, this beautiful show relives the heartbreaking aftermath of Didion losing her husband of 40 years while her daughter lay in intensive care, and how she coped with her grief. more ›

Intiman Theatre runs on a different schedule than other playhouses, which is why they're announcing next season's plays right now. The two that jump out at us are Crime and Punishment (an adaptation by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus) and Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (based on the only Didion book we didn't love). Sheila Daniels will restage the Dostoevsky--she did it in 2007 at CHAC, where it was a sold-out smash-hit...in an admittedly tiny space. Magical Thinking, as Slate points out, had a difficult time getting to its feet onstage. A lot will ride on the Intiman's choice of performer--luckily Seattle is rich in that regard. more ›

>>>UW Forum for Science and Ethics Policy, 5:30pm. Dr. Dennis Schatz, VP for Education at the Pacific Science Center, cheerleads for “Making Science as Pervasive as Sports in Society.” His ulterior motive? It can only be to pack the Sonics off to Oklahoma and build our very own Exploratorium right here in Seattle, to which we say “Be Aggressive, Be Be Aggressive!” Free. UW Health Sciences Building, T-478. more ›

No comments, just schedules. (Because we're lazy, that's why.) more ›