Limited Perspective

I left the theater after the UW School of Drama production of Three Sisters with the idea that life is grim and absurd, which made me laugh because it was as if I was thinking like one of the sad characters in the play. That, in turn, made me feel, unlike those characters, at least I can look at the grim and the absurd and laugh – which only made me even more like a Chekhov character. It’s as if you can’t reach an escape velocity. And like the sisters, you go around and around in circles and never get anywhere. The staging captures this well. The Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theater on the UW campus is in the round. The playing space has exits at four corners, allowing actors, as they enter and exit from opposite poles, to display the distance and disconnect of the characters. The lights, sound, and movement in the final moments of the play will stun you. It was my favorite part but to say more about it would be like a spoiler. Photo by me of the stage. 

I’m afraid of the water.  Even when I get into a normal swimming pool, I take forever to lower myself in, one inch at a time, until I am finally submerged.  Parlor House Panic of 1893 , by WhatNot Theatrics at Theatre Off Jackson was like that for me.  I slowly settled into it and when I got all in, the water was fine; more than fine, actually. I am still buzzing about the show. The conceit is, it’s 1893 in Seattle and you have entered into a Parlor House, where “seamstresses” work.   They are quick to point out the lack of sewing machines.   As I walked in, there was musical entertainment and the women walked around the room.   I would make quick eye contact and then look away, slightly embarrassed to be interacting with an actor, or with an actor playing a prostitute, or with a prostitute.   Who knew!   The show was working its magic. Soon I noticed several men around a table conversing loudly.   It seemed important.   T...

I think I heard it right.  Frost/Nixon , now on stage at Second Story Rep, says Richard Nixon engineered his own downfall in his interviews with David Frost.  That’s the way it came across to me, anyway.  And that would make Nixon a tragic figure, which I am sure he would love. Patrick Kevin plays Nixon as uncomfortable and slightly clownish, which is certainly the received idea of Nixon.   He seems to buy in to his lone assistant Jack Brennan’s (Jalyn Green) idea of the interviews with Frost as a way to win. Doug Fahl plays David Frost as plodding and determined, like fate bearing down on Tricky Dick.   His assistants seem more interested in his rehabilitation than he is himself and they think he’s screwing it up. Just before the fourth and final interview session with Nixon, Frost figures out that Nixon wants to take himself down.   Sure enough, Nixon hangs himself in that interview with the by now famous confession, “When the president ...

This blog is about theater but sometimes history presents us with moments that bear comment for their inherent drama.  Imagine the possible stories you could write on this moment!  Digging up Franco By now, you get mocked for bringing up the Faulkner quote about the past. It has become one of those things people say that end the discussion rather than open it up, like, "It is what it is." But if it's overused, it's because it's shown to be true over and over again. It was a running joke on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update in the 70s that, "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead." At the time, news of the dictator's failing health dragged o n. It was on the evening news for what seemed like a long time. The joke was that even after Franco finally died, the networks still wanted to milk the story. They couldn't let it go. Now, the people of Spain are still living out the Franco story. His coffin has been moved from what was...

Assassins was good. I think I got the meaning of the show better than the version I saw at the 5th/ACT in 2016. Maybe it was because I read the director's notes beforehand, which put a spotlight on the theme. Director Alicia Mendez wrote about the motives of the assassins and said, "The most shocking aspect of this musical is the common threads are wants and needs that everyone can identify with ..." That translated perfectly onto stage. The Sam Byck monologue had me saying, yes, I agree -- wait, no, you're crazy! The production elements pushed the emotion also. The number near the end, November 22, 1963 where the assassins all goad Lee Harvey Oswald, and then he follows though was devastating, especially because they had the 1963 footage projected onto a screen behind. After the final number, the cast just walks off the set. No curtain call. Perfect to just leave you thinking.  Photo by me of the set before the show.

Using aerialists to portray two of the characters was the most flashy element of Blood Water Paint .  I can’t imagine any other way to perform their monologues that would be as effective.  The aerialist actors would glide up and down their silks, displaying strength, risk, physicality, vulnerability, and heroism – sometimes alternately, sometimes several of these at once. The aerialists are Meredith Armstrong and Leah Jarvik, who play the Biblical figures Judith and Susanna who counsel and inspire with 17 th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi, played by Bianca Raso.  These interactions take place outside the central timeline of the play and inside Artemisia’s creative soul. In return for their favors, Artemisia paints the two women on canvas, portraying them as only another woman could.  It’s storytelling inside of storytelling.  In one memorably effective sequence, Susanna is speaking about having all eyes, particularly male eyes, on her, a...

I laughed a lot at Washer/Dryer, a rom-com by produced by Pratidhwani and SIS Productions  about an Indo-American woman, Sonya and a first-generation (I think) Chinese-American man, Michael. After the initial exposition scene with the couple is out of the way, it really gets rolling when Michael’s mom, Doctor Lee shows up. By the time the nosy neighbor barges in and the gay best friend is hiding behind the couch sneezing and people are coming in and out of doors and windows and curtains, it' s a full-on farce. It’s not just laughs though. Fairly early in the show, Sonya receives a huge suitcase from grandma in the old country full of items to be used for a proper Indian wedding. A little bit later, Doctor Lee begins preparing Michael’s favorite Chinese dish. These props remain for the rest of the show, ever-present, reminding everybody of the family stakes. It’s a nice touch in a play that’s really nicely done. Photo by me of the set, pre-show.