This Week in Arts: Destination Theatre & Weekly Roundup (9/1)
This weekend, round out the summer theatre season with a few shows just a scenic day-trip away. Plus, in-town openings and continuing runs offer a small but mighty selection.
Ticketing links for most shows can be found on the Performance Calendar page here.
Destination Theatre: Hop a Ferry
If you’ve checked out NWTheatre’s summer bingo game, you probably already noticed one of the least convenient squares (for many) also boasts the prettiest commute: square #2, Took a ferry to get there.
(The summer bingo deadline, by the way, was extended from yesterday to 9/15 — so you still have a chance to pick up this square and some others. The fall game was also just unveiled, along with a big list of show suggestions for it.)
Not only does this category take you on a scenic journey across the Sound, it also whisks you away to see some theatre you might not otherwise get to without a nudge.
Closing out the summer theatre season, this holiday weekend offers some particularly nice options for destination theatre-going, all within a reasonably short and scenic day-trip from Seattle.
Just be sure to plan ahead and leave early to beat out the longer boarding lines. The schedule and dock info online is a big help.
Dacha Theatre: Romeo & Juliet Dice in Port Townsend
Playful theatre in the park
Presented with Key City Public Theatre
Runs 9/2-4 only. At Chetzemoka Park.
Dacha, the Seattle-based company known for its playful approach to theatre, brings its popular “dice” series up the peninsula this weekend. In this dice style, casting for the roles in Romeo and Juliet are decided at showtime, with a roll of the dice.
This is an outdoor show, and picnics, camp chairs, and blankets are encouraged. And dressing in layers isn’t a bad idea, since even summer nights can get chilly right by the water.
Advance tickets are available ($5-$57, sliding scale for all), or pay-what-you-choose admission at the park. Tickets and show info here.
Drama Dock: Winghaven Park on Vashon
A locally set WWII musical
Closing 9/3. On Vashon Island.
Written and composed by Lisa Peretti, and directed by Kelly Kitchens, this new musical explores life during World War II through the eyes of a well-to-do star returning home to Vashon Island. Told through a variety of musical styles.
Tickets ($27-$32.50) and show info here.
Island Shakespeare Festival in Langley
New takes on familiar stories
Runs thru 9/11. On Whidbey Island.
This long-running summer festival presents three productions in repertory: Cyrano de Bergerac: A Queeroic Comedy with Many Acts (based on the play by Edmond Rostand, adapted and directed by Erin Murray), Love’s Labors Lost (by William Shakespeare, directed by Jecamiah Ybañez), and Titus Andronicus (by Shakespeare, directed by Scott Kaiser).
Area theatre fans might spot some familiar names among the cast and production team — including actors Jesse Calixto and Helen Roundhill, who together performed the two-hander Irma Vep with Intiman Theatre; director Erin Murray, who helmed Harlequin Productions’ The Women; movement director Parmida Ziaei (also an accomplished production/scenic designer); prolific costume designer Jocelyne Fowler; and props master (and frequent stage manager) Jessamyn Bateman-Iino.
Reservations available for $20 (info here), or attend on a pay-what-you-choose basis without reservations. See show info and schedule here.
Openings & Short Runs
Parley: Cowboys With Questions @ 12th Avenue Arts (opened 8/31, closing 9/3). Playwright/director Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth combines Euripides’ The Bacchae, cults, and the Doomsday Clock as inspirations for this new work, which begins with devised movement/rites (audience participation optional). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
Can Can Culinary Cabaret: The Hitchcock Hotel (opens tonight, closing 11/27). The spooky season officially kicks off with the Can Can’s fall show, served up with dinner and drinks in the cabaret’s new location. In Seattle (Pike Place Market).
Bremerton Community Theatre: Sylvia (opens 9/2, closing 9/25). A found poodle-mix drives a wedge between a long-married Manhattan couple. In Bremerton.
Continuing Runs
Centerstage Theatre: The Oregon Trail (closing 9/11). An anxious and depressed teenager plays the ’90s hit computer game, while her 1800s analogue braves the actual journey. By Bekah Brunstetter; directed by Jeanette Sanchez. In Federal Way (Dash Point).
HEART Repertory Theatre: Almost, Maine @ Kenmore Community Club (closing 9/11). Idioms become reality in these bits of life in a small, far-northern town, as its characters fall in and out of love. By John Cariani; directed by Steve Cooper. In Kenmore.
Seattle Theatre Group – Broadway at The Paramount: Hamilton @ The Paramount Theatre (closing 9/11). See $10 lottery ticket (40 per show) info here. See NWT’s review here. In Downtown Seattle.
Harlequin Productions: This Flat Earth (closing 9/17). Two middle schoolers try to make sense of a confounding world amid escalating gun violence. By Lindsey Ferrentino; directed by Aaron Lamb. In Olympia.
The Roundup is a weekly (ish) feature. For this month’s shows by day, with ticketing info and links, see the Performance Calendar.
Want to plan your show schedule further out? See NWT’s seasonal show lists — Fall (September & October) and Holiday Season (November & December) — which aim to list just about every theatre show in town.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.