Limited Perspective

The Stupidest Scariest Time calls itself, “a new work of interactive theater parodying the joyless productivity of modern life.” It is that. And it’s more than that. I found a heart in it. The show is both beyond immersive and somehow also prior to it. If you have ever been to an office retreat, a Landmark Forum session, an Amway meeting, or seen a Tony Robbins talk – or done all of those things, as I have, you will know exactly what is going on from the very start, when you are directed to your seat. I found myself at a table with a neat, professional-looking folder in front of me. A branded pen was next to it. A bowl of branded stress balls was in the center of the table. I looked at the table-mate across from me and said, “I feel like I’m at a staff retreat.” “I just came from a conference this morning,” they said. We smiled. I won’t say too much about the content but there are timed exercises where you write your life goals and prioritize them. There is “you can do it!” -style che

Key plot elements, if you don’t know the show: Antonio, a Venetian merchant, borrows money from Shylock, who is Jewish. The money is to help Antonio’s friend, Bassanio, to woo Portia, a sort of wealthy heiress. Meanwhile, Shylock’s daughter, Jessica, yearns to escape her father and her Jewish identity by marrying Lorenzo, a Christian. When Antonio is unable to pay back the money, Shylock believes he finally has the chance to have the power of the law on his side. It’s an illusion. Shylock loses everything.  My first thought, halfway through Act One was, I want to go out to the lobby at intermission and buy the soundtrack. The music grabbed me from the very first number and never let me go.  This is not Phantom or Rent, though, where you can just do that. It’s a brand new show, and I saw its first public performance. But it had that quality. I wanted to be able to shove the CD into my car’s player and listen on the way home. It's a staged reading. At the same time there are props, c

I found this on my Facebook from ten years ago today. Liked it. Thought I should post it. So, I did (with a little bit of editing.) Music! If you know anything about music, get ready to laugh because I am about to review tonight's performance by the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. I can't read music, I can't play an instrument. But I am as big a fan of the Brandenburg Concertos and the Four Seasons (no, not those Four Seasons) as the next guy. So it is with all modesty (and only about 10 to 15 percent of it false) that I begin my review. I loved it! On the way in to the hall tonight, I told my companion that I never know what I am supposed to do at a live music performance. Do I hum along? Do I sit or stand in respectful silence? Do I dance? What? The answer for tonight was: just take it all in. We sat in the front row, off toward stage left. I could see the faces of several violin players and also sometimes the conductor, depending on where he was directing his attent

  I’m in a show right now at Annex Theatre at 11th and Pike on Capitol Hill called Leave Only Footprints. It’s an immersive show, blending elements of haunted house and escape room with an overarching vibe about a fictional state park in Washington. I play “The Camper,” who tells scary, spooky stories around a fire.  The audience is free to explore the space however they please and interact with the various characters. One recent night, when the very first pair of audience members came into the campground and sat down, I asked one of them what they are afraid of, as I am supposed to do. “Death,” they said. OK. Fair. Many of my scary stories include references to death. But then they went deep into it, talking about someone they knew, who had died recently. Maybe it was a family member. I don’t know because it really threw me. Like, this is too heavy! I’m not your therapist! I’m not your pastor.  It was so earnest and heartfelt. I didn’t think they were making it up. And it was a gift r

  Urban legends  The current show I’m in, Leave Only Footprints, at Annex Theatre , I play a character who tells stories. The other day, when I went to rehearsal, I thought I might be there a while and decided to park at the garage on Harvard Ave behind Seattle Central College. I turned off Harvard into the drive and noticed a stop sign that I couldn’t recall having seen before, and a speed bump, too. I stopped next to the booth and saw that someone was in there. It had been years since that booth had been staffed. The last several times I parked there, you had to hassle with some kind of online payment with an app or a code, and stand there fiddling with your phone, being pretty certain your credit card number was being stolen. But this time, it was a person asking for $15. I looked at the guy like, what are you doing here? I gave voice to the thoughts I just wrote in the previous paragraph. Oh no, he said, I’ve been here for years. I argued, No no, last couple times I paid by phone

HEART Repertory Theatre   delivered this this show, the point of which is: we are, all of us, alone in the dark, broken and unfixable. What they added was an interpretation of the Tom Wingfield character that I would not have expected, bringing humor and lightness, but not enough to lift everyone up and out. You can't really sit with a happy ending for a while, like you can with the ending of a show like this. It's affecting. Runs through September 13 in Kenmore. 

Strength is a unifying theme of Vietgone, a co-production of Pork Filled Players and SIS Productions now playing at Theatre Off Jackson. The setting is 1970s Vietnam, Arkansas and roads, deserts and oceans in between. The story follows the lives of four people forced to flee or evacuate to Fort Chaffee from Saigon after the military collapse there. Everyone seems caught in circumstances calling for impossible choices. Quang, a helicopter pilot in the South Vietnamese army, along with his fellow soldier Nhan has flown many, many evacuees – among them mother and daughter Huong and Tong – to the safety of a US aircraft carrier. Quang plans to refuel and immediately fly back to save his wife and two young children. He’s informed, though, that the chopper has been pushed over the side to make room for planes to take off and land. Instead of going home, he’s relocated to the refugee camp at Fort Chaffee. But Quang is determined to return to Vietnam to rescue his wife and children Tong and he