Evan Whitfield

Pony World Theatre presents the Obie Award-winning The Christians by Lucas Hnath in actual churches throughout the Seattle area this October!

Ah, the family drama. I've seen too many to count. Parent and child don't see eye to eye even though they're more similar than they realize. Rift comes from neglect/abuse/death of other parent/etc. Catalyst opens wounds further to let secrets out and begin healing. Some work and some are merely someone else's therapy on stage (a thing, Dear Readers, you know I despise). Onward Ho! Productions is currently presenting one such family drama at West of Lenin with the World Premiere of local playwright Sonya Schneider's 'Big Rock'. And I'm thrilled to report that I did not catch Ms. Schneider's therapist anywhere near the stage but then how could I with such a well-crafted, engaging play told by three of Seattle's finest actors.

With great excitement, Onward Ho! Productions today announces the World Premiere production of local playwright Sonya Schneider's new play Big Rockas well as its full ensemble casting. Big Rock will run at West of Lenin in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood March 16-31, and tickets are now on sale online at http://bit.ly/BIGROCKplay.

Dear Readers, it's been quite a year and, hopefully, we've come through it unscathed. God knows we've needed some shows to help us escape and others to make us think. But through it all we've had several shows that have proven to shine as some of the best of the year. Out of all the shows I was fortunate enough to see this year, I've selected a few that stood out. Here are those stand outs, a few honorable mentions and a few special mentions about which I just couldn't help myself but to mention in their own special way.

After 10 years of producing bold, honest, groundbreaking theater, Seattle's award-winning New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) is closing its doors at the end of 2017.

After 10 years of producing award-winning productions and helping to change the face of mid-level professional theatre in Seattle, New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) is excited to share several new developments in its future.

Give me a good old fashioned play with a good old fashioned structure; a beginning, a middle and an end. Or if not, if you insist on a slice of life play, at least have something interesting to say about said life. Instead, what Will Eno's play, "The Realistic Jones", the current offering from New Century Theatre Company, gives us is an hour and 40 minutes of somewhat clever dialog from some stuck, sad people that I wouldn't want to spend 5 minutes with let alone an entire play.

New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) ends its 2017 10th Anniversary Season with Will Eno's The Realistic Joneses.

I was fortunate enough to see Tyne Daly in Terrence McNally's "Mothers and Sons" when it was on Broadway. So when I heard that ArtsWest was putting up a production of the show from one of my favorite playwrights, starring Suzy Hunt and Evan Whitfield, already some of my favorite actors in town, and Jason Sanford, who's quickly becoming another one of my favorites, and directed by Makaela Pollock, who's quickly becoming one of my favorite directors in town, I was hopeful to say the least. But even with all that promise in one show it can all still go horribly wrong especially after you've seen it done by an icon. Well, fortunately for me, and for you Dear Readers who need to get out to see this one, every single ounce of hopeful promise and potential I had in my heart before seeing this production was lived up to and then some in a show that succeeds on so many levels brilliantly.

ArtsWest is pleased to announce MOTHERS AND SONS, the Tony Award-nominated play about a mother's reckoning with the life and legacy of her late son, opening at the ArtWest Playhouse and Gallery on January 19. Performances will runToday through Sunday until February 11.

ArtsWest is pleased to announce MOTHERS AND SONS, the Tony Award-nominated play about a mother's reckoning with the life and legacy of her late son, opening at the ArtWest Playhouse and Gallery on January 19. Performances will runThursday through Sunday until February 11.

I would say that I loved every second of Book-It Repertory Theatre's current adaptation of David James Duncan's 'The Brothers K, Part One: Strike Zones' if it weren't for all the damned onions someone was cutting in the theater. What? There were no onions? So then I was just repeatedly tearing up over the story? Oh, well then, I guess I can say it. Yup, with its beautiful adaptation and stunningly honest performances, I loved every second of Book-It Repertory Theatre's current adaptation of David James Duncan's 'The Brothers K, Part One: Strike Zones'.

New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) opens its 2016 season at 12th Avenue Arts with NY NAME IS ASHER LEV today, April 20. The production runs through May 21, Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays-Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 4pm.

New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) will open its 2016 season at 12th Avenue Arts with NY NAME IS ASHER LEV, running April 20-May 21.

Broadway-bound new musical, Come From Away, presented by Seattle Repertory Theatre, wins four Gypsys, tying with another new musical, Lizard Boy, also produced by Seattle Repertory Theatreand also with four Gypsys, a company that has been known for years as a powerhouse dramatic straight-play playhouse! 

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle is pleased to present the nomination slate of the fifth annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters in the prior calendar year.

New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) closes out its first season at 12th Avenue Arts with a powerhouse family drama adapted by David Eldridge from the Danish film The Celebration. The Company has wanted to produce Festen for many years and it will be NCTC's biggest production yet. Festen will be directed by Tony Award nominee Wilson Milam and the cast will feature the work of ten Company Members.

The message of a cultural divide, sometimes hilarious and sometimes tragic, is there in ArtsWest's current production of David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish" but it just needs to settle into a more concise telling of the story. I'm sure it will settle in over time but there was just a lack of pacing as if the actors weren't quite sure of their next line. But that's fairly understandable as about half of the play is in Chinese.

ArtsWest has announced the Seattle Premiere of Chinglish, penned by renowned playwright, librettist and screenwriter, David Henry Hwang. Described in the New Yorker as 'the most successful Chinese-American playwright this country has produced', David Henry Hwang may be best known for his Tony-winning play M. Butterfly (1988), but is also noted for writing insightful satire, often laced with his own quick wit.