This Week in Arts: Wednesday Roundup (11/6)
This week is a relatively calm one, but with good options — from new dance works, to a playwrights-versus-poets throwdown, to a recommended double-feature of modern plays (closing this weekend).
Short Runs & One-Offs
This week brings some fun-sounding shows that won’t last long. Tomorrow through Sunday, Penguin Productions performs an adaptation of Chaim Potok’s classic novel, My Name Is Asher Lev. All tickets are pay-what-you-can, here. (Note: no show on Saturday.)
Friday and Saturday is the return of Medicine Ball: Playwrights v. Poets, a very democratic (and fun) show that pits a playwright and a poet against each other in each round, and the audience decides the ultimate winner based on its votes in each. Friday’s show at North Seattle College is free (no tickets needed); Saturday’s show at 18th & Union is pay-what-you-can. Info and Saturday tickets here.
Also Friday and Saturday, Keith Hennessy’s Sink performs at Velocity Dance Center. The show is billed as “an embodied response to our current political dumpster fire.” Info and tickets here.
Saturday afternoon are opening festivities for Burien Actors Lending Library, hosted by Burien Actors Theatre (yes, that’s BAT’s BALL) at Phoenix Tea Shop. It’s a new location for the thriving collection of scripts and theatre-related books. Info here.
And on Sunday night, the opera-singing chef returns with Bon Appétit!: A Julia Child Operetta. (Read NWT’s review here.) It’s a sweet treat to end your weekend on a high note.
Openings
Opening this week at Pacific Northwest Ballet is Locally Sourced, a triple-header from local artists, featuring new dances from Donald Byrd (Love and Loss) and Eva Stone (F O I L), and a new multi-media/dance work from choreographer Miles Pertl and visual artist Sydney M. Pertl (Wash of Gray). Performances run through November 17; tickets and info here.
On the Eastside, the musical Guys and Dolls opens Thursday at Village Theatre in Issaquah. It runs through December 29, then moves to Everett through February 2. And in Redmond, SecondStory Rep opens Frost/Nixon on Friday, through November 24.
Last Call
Closing on Saturday is an ambitious festival from Theatre22 at 12th Avenue Arts, featuring two shows: White by James Ijames and The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson. NWT saw White this week, and it’s terrific (read review here). We won’t catch The Revolutionists until closing, but we’ve heard good things and Julie Beckman’s direction is always a good bet.
Also closing on Saturday is The Pavillion from Strawberry Theatre Workshop (also at 12th Avenue Arts); and on Sunday, The Tempest from Seattle Shakespeare Company, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream from UW Drama.
Wednesday Roundup is a weekly (ish) feature, with NWT’s picks for the upcoming week and recaps around town.
Want to plan your show schedule further out? See what’s happening on NWT’s Calendar page, which aims to list just about every theatre show in town. And for news on all the openings each month see Miryam Gordon’s openings coverage (November’s can be found here).