This Week in Arts: Weekly Roundup (3/10)
A big variety in openings this week, including the timely Pipeline, a new works series, and new takes on Shakespeare; plus, loads of continuing runs to catch before they close, including the new opera Blue.
Ticketing links for most shows can be found on the Performance Calendar page here.
And don’t forget to celebrate pi(e) day on 3/14!
Openings & Short Runs
Seattle Public Theater: Pipeline
A lyrical take on systems of oppression and opportunity
In previews. Opens 3/11, closing 4/3. In Seattle (Green Lake).
Acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau’s 2017 work, examining a stacked-deck of an educational system and the school-to-prison pipeline, has been timely for decades. In Morisseau’s rendering, when a Black public school teacher and single mother sends her son off to private school to provide him with more opportunities, she must decide the best course when the system still ensnares him.
SPT’s staging, directed by Faith Bennett Russell, features Dedra D. Woods, Tre Scott, Corey Spruill, Hazel Rose Gibson, Andrew Lee Creech, and Nikki Visel.
Tickets are $5-$50 (sliding scale available for all), here.
Pork Filled Productions @ Cafe Nordo: Slow Cooker Unleashed
A staged reading series of inventive new works
Runs Mondays only, 3/14-28. In Seattle (Pioneer Square).
Pork Filled Productions has long put on staged readings of inventive new works in its Unleashed series. Cafe Nordo has long provided a simmering stage for new works in its Slow Cooker series. When they team up? It’s Slow Cooker Unleashed.
This three-day series, spread out over three weeks, presents brand new works by three different playwrights: Dylan Elwood’s Wolves on the Fold (3/14); Maggie Lee’s The Rainshadow Dispatch (3/21); and Aimee Chou’s Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead (3/28). The 3/28 show is ASL interpreted, and projected text available for all shows; and the series will be held in Nordo’s main-level venue, which is wheelchair accessible.
Tickets are $5-$50 per show (sliding scale available for all), here.
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Seattle Rep: Teenage Dick (opened 3/9, closing 4/3). At the Seattle Center (Mercer St. side).
Harlequin Productions: Murder for Two (preview 3/10, opens 3/11, closing 4/2). In Olympia.
Radial Theatre Project: 1984 @ 18th & Union (opens 3/10, closing 3/26). In Seattle (Central District).
Thalia’s Umbrella: Europe @ 12th Avenue Arts (preview 3/10, opens 3/11, closing 3/27). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
The Changing Scene Theatre Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] @ Enoch City Arts Studio (opens 3/11, closing 3/26). In Bremerton.
Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts: As You Like It (opens 3/11, closing 3/27). In Marysville.
Tacoma Little Theatre: A Chorus Line (opens 3/11, closing 4/3). In Tacoma.
eXit SPACE: BOOSTmeUp @ NOD Theatre (runs 3/11-12). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
UW Drama: Father Comes Home From the Wars Parts 1, 2 & 3 @ Jones Playhouse (previews 3/12-14, opens 3/15, closing 3/20). In Seattle (U-District).
Wa Na Wari: Return – A dance program curated by Nia-Amina Minor (3/13 only). In Seattle (Central District).
Closing Soon
Seattle Opera: Blue
West Coast premiere. “Seattle Opera’s staging gives Blue‘s story exactly the presentation it demands: engrossing, challenging, and beautiful.”
See NWT’s full review of ‘Blue’ here.
Closing on 3/12. In McCaw Hall, at the Seattle Center (Mercer St. side). Tickets ($42-$206) here.
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600 HIGHWAYMEN @ On the Boards: A Thousand Ways (Part Three): An Assembly (closing 3/12). In Seattle (Lower Queen Anne).
Seattle International Dance Festival @ Erickson Theatre: Winter Mini Fest (closing 3/12). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
Seattle Shakespeare Company: Drum and Colors – As You Like It (closing 3/12). At the Seattle Center.
Paramount Theatre: The Band’s Visit (touring) (closing 3/13). In Downtown Seattle.
Seattle Shakespeare Company: Drum and Colors – Hamlet (closing 3/13). At the Seattle Center.
Seattle Rep: Freestyle Love Supreme (closing 3/13). At Seattle Center (Mercer St. side). See NWT’s review here.
Twelfth Night Productions: A Year with Frog and Toad @ Youngstown Cultural Art Center (closing 3/13). In West Seattle (Delridge).
Village Theatre: Songs for a New World (closing 3/13). In Everett. See NWT’s review here.
Peter Antoniou: ‘Psychic’ Comedian – presented by ReAct Theatre @ Theatre Off Jackson (closing 3/15). In Seattle (International District).
Continuing Runs
As If Theatre Company: The Cake (closing 3/20). In Kenmore. See NWT’s review here.
SecondStory Repertory Theatre: First Date (closing 3/20). In Redmond.
Edmonds Driftwood Players: Holmes and Watson (closing 3/27). In Edmonds.
Lakewood Playhouse: Head Over Heels (closing 3/27). In Lakewood.
Village Theatre: The Book Club Play (closing 4/3 in Issaquah; runs 4/8-5/1 in Everett). In Issaquah & Everett. See NWT’s review here.
Can Can Culinary Cabaret: Ooh La La (closing 5/1). In Seattle (Pike Place).
The Roundup is a weekly (ish) feature. Want to plan your show schedule further out? See NWT’s 2022 Shows list, which aims to list just about every theatre show in town. For shows by day and ticketing info, see the Performance Calendar.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.