This Week in Arts: Weekly Roundup (5/17)
Another busy week brings a couple of don’t-miss shows that close this weekend, a lot of excellent dance options, loads of musicals, and plenty of choices for everyone. Here’s what’s on this week.
Ticketing links for most shows can be found on the Performance Calendar page.
Don’t Miss
It only opened a week ago, but The Wolf Play at ACT is closing already on Sunday, in a bafflingly short run.
Playwright Hansol Jung’s incisive, often laugh-out-loud script, paired with director Rosa Joshi’s keen eye for this microcosm of family and disorder creates a drama unlike anything I’ve seen before. The acting all around is strong (sometimes too strong — you can really loathe some of these characters), but there’s something really special in Morgan Gwilym Tso, who both animates the wrenching tale of a six-year-old pawn in this mess of grown-ups and serves a surprising voice of reason through all the muck. The puppet, which Tso controls in an inanimate but somehow sweet portrayal of the boy, adds surprising depth.
The Wolf Play is something special. Don’t miss it.
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And speaking of puppets appearing in imaginative and unexpected ways — head over to the Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam – Lisa Frank Apocalypse edition, where all manner of puppet forms will get their 10 minutes of fame. It’s like a shorts fest, if puppets (and their operators) swiped the playwrights’ thunder. Which is to say, it’s not like the standard shorts fest at all. Departing co-producer Rachel Jackson picked the theme as a going-away present, and that ’90s nostalgia (and, I hope, a good dose of neon unicorn dazzle) can only add to the showcase’s magic. Wear your finest slap bracelet.
The Wolf Play performs through Sunday (5/21) at ACT in Downtown Seattle. Runs 2 hours with no intermission. Tickets and show info here.
Note: The Wolf Play performs every day now through closing, including matinees on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Pay-what-you-choose advance tickets (limited) and $20 rush tickets offered for all performances; see discount ticket info here.
Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam vol. 23 performs this Friday & Saturday (5/19-20) at Theatre Off Jackson in Seattle (International District). Pay-what-you-choose tickets offered for both performances. Tickets and info here.
Openings & Short Runs
University of Washington: MFA Dance Concert @ Meany Studio (opens tonight, closing 5/21). In Seattle (UW main campus).
Verlaine & McCann: Through the Looking Glass – The Burlesque Alice In Wonderland @ Triple Door (opens tonight, closing 5/21). In Downtown Seattle.
Latitude Theatre: Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment @ Taproot Theatre (studio) (in previews, opens 5/18, closing 6/4). In Seattle (Greenwood).
Taproot Theatre: Jeeves Takes a Bow (previews 5/17-18, opens 5/19, closing 6/17). In Seattle (Greenwood).
Washington Ensemble Theatre: reSET (5/18-19 only). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
On the Boards: Takahiro Yamamoto – NOTHINGBEING (5/18-21 only). In Seattle (Lower Queen Anne).
Northwest Playwrights Alliance: The Center Salon @ Washington Center for the Arts (5/19 only). In Olympia.
Noveltease Theatre: Rhythm & Rhyme – The Romantics (cabaret) @ Oddfellows Hall (5/19 only). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam vol. 23 @ Theatre Off Jackson (5/19-20 only). In Seattle (International District).
Centerstage Theatre: Tartuffe, or The Imposter (opens 5/19, closing 6/11). In Federal Way (Dash Point).
Tacoma Musical Playhouse: Escape to Margaritaville (opens 5/19, closing 6/11). In Tacoma.
Meany Center for the Performing Arts: Daniel Alexander Jones – Altar No. 3: I Choose to Remember Us Whole (community processional) (5/20 only). In Seattle (UW main campus – various locations). Begins at noon; view info and route map here.
Shakesbeerience: MacDrunk @ The Pine Box (5/23 only). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
Closing Soon
Theatre33: A Game (closing tonight). In Bellevue.
Mirror Stage: The Squirrel Plays @ 12th Avenue Arts (closing 5/20). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
Seattle Pacific University Theatre: Everybody (closing 5/20). In Seattle (Queen Anne North).
ACT Theatre: Wolf Play (closing 5/21). In Downtown Seattle.
Kitsap Children’s Musical Theatre: Shrek The Musical (closing 5/21). In Poulsbo.
Seattle Children’s Theatre: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (closing 5/21). At the Seattle Center.
Seattle Opera: La Traviata (closing 5/21). At the Seattle Center.
Seattle Shakespeare Company: Twelfth Night The Musical (closing 5/21). At the Seattle Center.
SecondStory Rep: Sunday in the Park With George (closing 5/21). In Redmond.
Western Washington Center for the Arts: Monty Python’s Spamalot (closing 5/21). In Port Orchard.
Whim W’Him: New Creations by Emilie Leriche, Olivier Wevers & Rauf Yasit @ Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (5/17), Cornish Playhouse (Seattle) (5/19-20), and Vashon Center for the Arts (5/24).
Continuing Runs
Harlequin Productions: Hundred Days (closing 5/27). In Olympia.
ArtsWest: Zach (closing 5/28). In West Seattle.
Lakewood Playhouse: Love, Loss, and What I Wore (closing 5/28). In Lakewood.
Olympia Family Theater: Alice in Wonderland – A New Musical (closing 5/28). In Olympia.
Seattle Public Theater: Hometown Boy (closing 5/28). In Seattle (Green Lake).
Village Theatre: How to Break (closing 5/28). In Everett.
Seattle Rep: Lydia and the Troll (closing 6/11). At the Seattle Center.
Can Can Culinary Cabaret: Noir (closing 7/2). In Seattle (Pike Place Market).
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 list of 2023 shows announced so far, which will be updated frequently as season lineups unfold.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.