Results tagged “nextstage”

Buried under the avalanche of over-writing that is Island of Misfits (Thurs-Sun through December 21, tickets $10) is a very funny parody of the stop-motion holiday classic Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. In this case, puppeteer Freddie Douglas Black (Geoffery Simmons, with a Poitier-esque suit and throaty rasp) has been called up for the Vietnam draft, so he heads for the snowy north (Canada) with his cynical, lovelorn photographer Snowflake Jones (Kaitie Warren) and stick-in-the-mud production supervisor Herbie Pickle (Patrick Allcorn)--they've got nothing better to do, since they've all been laid off. Stop-motion is cheaper to do in Japan.

Seattlest Jeremy already reviewed Next Stage's Nexus Project--"A dozen original plays by some of our most talented writers is definitely worth your time, and your money"--but we caught a 3-play sampler down at Bumbershoot and had to chime in. Theater at the festival can be hit-or-miss but this year Next Stage and the Unicycle Collective nailed it (both featuring the terrific Marya Sea Kaminski) with 10-minute bits that fit the setting perfectly. The Nexus Project wraps up September 4-7, so make tracks. Or buy tickets.

It's gonna be hot as hell this weekend—ninety on Saturday—but fortunately you have an escape: the dark recesses of the theatre, which is going strong all summer long.

The setting is the executive suites at a baby formula manufacturer, though that's just gilding the satirical lily--it could be any executive suite. Deranged by the entrance of the breast-feeding temp Gina (a home run performance by Maggie Brothers), Joe De Martini is the executive in question. He's played by Alex Samuels, who looks like Jeff Goldblum's cousin and creates awkward, humiliating situations as effortlessly as Ricky Gervais, with the added bonus of blurting out terrible, soul-bearing "jokes" at high volume. He deals with a breast-feeding employee as if she's a terrorist.