On the Boards is wrapping up their 09/10 season this weekend with a production by Rimini Protokoll, a theater company based in Munich, Germany. Rimini Protokoll’s Best Before, premiering in January at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver, BC, makes this single stop in the U.S. before continuing on its nation-wide tour. more ›

According to On the Boards, it was purely coincidental that on Easter weekend the venue’s programming included the West Coast premiere of a show called Heaven - a series of arrangements meant to “evoke an emotional and physical ecstasy more commonly associated with religious practice.” Heaven, a collaboration between Minnesota-based choreographer Morgan Thorson and members of the indie rock band Low (notably of Mormon faith), is a lengthy, layered piece that uses a variety of sound and visual elements to present themes rooted in religious implication. more ›

Here's a glimpse of last weekend's mainstage works below; the festival closes this weekend at On the Boards with another round of entirely new works. Tickets and info here. more ›

You don't get a lot of Jacques Derrida in dance performance these days, let alone his disquisition on how we're prevented from fully enjoying orgasm delivered by a guy on an exercise machine, but that's why the Superamas are worth that intercontinental airfare. Also, they strip. more ›

FROSH LIT: Desperately hip? Unsuccessful Seattle literary type desperate to bask in the glow of the real thing? Wanna kvetch about how much you hate the stuck-up Ivy League boys over at . It's a book about a bunch of Manhattan office workers, delving deep into the rich inner lives of cubicle dwellers. Or something. Just remember to print a new copy of your manuscript before you try to foist it on him over the book signing table...you want your brilliant new work to stand out! more ›

With two years' experience at the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards under our belts as of this weekend, we're seeing a pattern emerge: The really exciting work happens down in the studio, and the mainstage performances are more or less skippable unless you're really into that sort of thing. more ›

Besides being in the running for Owner of the World's Most Glamorous Name, Katjana Vadeboncoeur plays the maternal hen Aunt Julia in blahblahblahBANG at On the Boards. To make a point of it, she sips then spits up her tea into a cup, complete with birdlike neck spasms, and hands it to her beloved, coddled nephew Yorgen Tesman -- who drinks it, onstage, to an audience of wrinkled noses. If you're an Ibsen fan (blahblahblahBANG is WET's precocious interpretation of Hedda Gabler) this subtextual underlining may just elicit a desire to see the original. The difference here is that it's not a matter of moral fiber or willfulness. WET's cast reacts to their socially caged life with the stereotyped behavior of unhappy parrots, literally climbing the walls. Again and again, WET reminds you that they are real people doing real things, disgusting, sexy, risky things. If it's not "perfect," it's compelling as a high-wire act. more ›