A year ago, when Seattlest's Amy Mikel and Allecia Vermillion pulled me back into writing about theater after a decade's absence, I was uncertain what I could possibly do to help things. I am now no longer uncertain. more ›

Most people currently living in Seattle are not from Seattle. One of the ways this plays itself out is in Seattle's landscape, where it seems that developers can write policy directly without the need for actual legislation. The city is their playground, to graft, raze and recreate as they see fit, largely because no one cares. So it is somewhat heartening to see Mayor Mike McGinn sign the new resolution creating a Downtown Historic Theatre District. more ›

Seattle Children’s Theatre and the entire Seattle arts community lost a treasure when Edie Whitsett passed away Thursday night after a long fight with cancer. Whitsett was SCT’s longtime Prop Shop Manager and had worked as a scenic artist with just about every theater in town, as well as Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet, and was shortlisted for the Stranger’s Genius Award last year. more ›

A Crack in Everything is a mysterious piece in many ways. It is far from a simple programmatic approach to Greek mythology. Ms. Scofield and Mr. Shuey use a constant dynamic of stasis and flux, present and past, depth and breadth, sound and silence to create beautifully sensitive yet witty evocations of relationships through blood. more ›

During the artisan bread craze of the last milennium, several bakeries sprung up around town to cater to Seattle's hip discovery that bread could actually have a texture. As with all such fads, the tide eventually receded, leaving various bakeries stranded in its wake. One of these was the renowned La Panzanella on 14th Avenue and East Union Street. The building that formerly housed the bakery has lain in a state of benign neglect, a curiosity one drives by while heading past Seattle University toward Madison Park. more ›

Rather than engage Marguerite Young's book on any level of real probity, director Jeffrey Fracé has chosen to let the cast skim its surface. And yet this cast is so charismatic, it is impossible not to like the production. more ›

Seventy-five years after Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here was published, the fictional America of the novel strongly resembles the fictional America of today: populated with demagogues, yes-men and a cynical yet oddly demure public willing to be led in whatever direction the loudest speaker will lead them. more ›

For the past two Octobers the Seattle Playwrights' Collective have been doing their part to fix this with their Page to Stage Showcase. But not this October. For various reasons, the Collective have fallen beneath the threshold of arts grants that have allowed the past two showcases to make it over the footlights. more ›

Te haré invencible con mi derrota is a brutal yet beautiful exposition on the struggle of matter against spirit, of artistic ideals against terrestrial reality. It is a contemporary expression of the idea of Antonin Artaud that theater needs to be cruel, dangerous and above all purifying beyond the bourgeois idea of catharsis that makes so much of Seattle theater insufferable. more ›

Te haré invencible con mi derrota opens a gateway into the life of Jacqueline du Pré, a woman who was alternately gentle genius, passionate dynamo and destructive tornado. It is much more intimate and personal than Ms. Liddell's other pieces and a fine introduction to her body of work. more ›

Seattle Children’s Theatre kicks off their 2011-2012 season with an original, musical rendition of the classic children’s book, Harold and the Purple Crayon. The original story, written by Crockett Johnson in 1955, has lead to a successful series of books, enjoyed several adaptations (to film, stage, television), and has been enjoyed by children and for over half a century. more ›

For most of us Seattlites Bumbershoot is one more indication of summer being in full swing and fall looming just around the corner. To some it may also be another annoying festival taking over downtown during the scant amount of beautiful days we have in this city. Then there are those who excitedly look forward to the musical event of the season, buy their tickets early and start acting weirdly giddy in the few days leading up to Labor Day weekend. Most likely you fit on the fringes of several of these categories, as do we. more ›

Josh Groban delighted fans at the Key Arena on Saturday with his theatrical show and operatic voice. We captured a few moments from the evening and if you are hungry for more head over to the flickr set as well. more ›

Theater season ramps up this fall. While Intiman forges ahead and looks to next year, other theaters are getting ready to hit the boards with their season openers this year. In a sure sign that the fall has arrived, two Seattle theater houses open their 2011 season within days of each other. more ›

In the current Sight by Sound production of The Connection, director Gavin Reub has chosen to transfer the play to a reality television context. Presumably this would form a basis for a critique of reality television. Unfortunately Mr. Reub has made some crucial mistakes that undermine the production completely and weaken any possible critique. more ›

In January of 2011 the up-and-coming Handwritten Productions staged a reading of the new play Vitriol, by their own Jake Sherman, at Odd Duck. Six months later (to the day, incidentally) the work returned to the same stage in full form, fleshed out and in fighting condition, and is now enjoying a heck of a run. more ›

Playwright Sarah Ruhl is pretty white hot these days, in the world of theater. The MacArthur Fellowship (or so-called 'genius grant') recipient was last year nominated for three Tony Awards, including best play, and was a finalist for the the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The recent praise has been over In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), which premiered in February 2009, and is set to run at ACT July 29th through August 28th. Mrs. Ruhl is more immediately accessible, however, at Freehold, where STAGEright Theatre is running the playwright's early (2001) Melancholy Play, through July 31st. more ›

Every time Gretchen Krich came on stage playing the widow Mrs. Saunders in Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine, I had the feeling something was wrong. Then it dawned on me: her acting is a symptom, not a problem. more ›

How do you fill the shoes of a local legend like Matt Krashan? Apparently you don't, but you do the next best thing: cast a nationwide search for a replacement. The UW have found that replacement in Michelle Witt. more ›

The saga continues. Word comes today, via the Seattle Times, of discussions taking place behind the usual veil of secrecy the Intiman Board of Directors operates under, regarding the long-term fate of the organization. more ›

Most people under the age of 60 avoid anything with the word "opera" in it the way a three year-old avoids green vegetables. In search of newer, broader audiences the Fisher Ensemble have been experimenting with the idea of "web opera," designed specifically for the internet. more ›

Whim W'Him's show at the Intiman Theatre last week, reSet, offered an interesting summary of the group's career so far. It was fascinating to see the evolution of Olivier Wevers' choreography with the group in a triptych of pieces: the newly revisited 3Seasons, the powerful Monster and the debut of INAT$ (It's Not About The Money). more ›

The final weekend of the NW New Works Festival at On the Boards was all about sound. Where the first weekend was dominated by movement-based work, music and the spoken word came to the fore in the second weekend. more ›

While it is certainly true that the modern artist has been expelled from the comfort of social life that he had while working as a contract laborer for popes and princes, this does not make the purpose of art any less than it ever was: making meaningful work. more ›

In a show of extraordinary length with an extraordinary amount of energy to expend, after a certain time improvisers use up all their cliches. Here they hit a wall. Once a performer has done everything she knows how, then what happens? more ›

It's only fitting that as we reach 2011's midway point, there wouldn't be any new shows opening this week. Instead we point you to shows about to close, and remind you about OtB's NW New Works Festival among other items. more ›

Movement-based work dominates this year's festival and this weekend's Mainstage shows On the Boards confirm the primacy of dance in Seattle. more ›

Beyond the notion that there actually need to be over a hundred "genres" to describe warring factions of music, theater, dance, contemporary artists are rediscovering the vitality inherent in a holistic idea. In its 28th season, the NW New Works Festival continues to mine this eclectic approach. more ›

Through June 18th, Capitol Hill's Odd Duck Studio will run the world premier of The Familiar--a Ghost Story, by Houston-based playwright Rosemary Poole-Carter. As the title suggests, it's a dark, haunting affair in which things go bump in the night, and sinister specters linger just beneath the bed. more ›

A true sense of humor needs to balance all the elements of life, including the serious bits, with all their degrees of gradation. The UW's production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile succeeds at the lighter end of the scale. more ›