Summer Arts Calendar

Hello, summer; goodbye, brain cells. Something about sunshine on the skin (and pollen in your nose) makes thinking more trouble than it's worth. Our esteemed theaters recognize as much and offer up mainly light and fluffy fare (with a few notable exceptions) for the next few months. If even the thought of spending one of our rare summer evenings indoors makes you antsy, check out some outdoor performances in our parks, courtesy of Greenstage, Theater Schmeater, or Wooden O.—J.L.

A Contemporary Theater—Currently playing on the main stage is Lanford Wilson's gentle romance Talley's Folly, about a love found later in life, starring former Seattle actors Michael Winters and Julia Fletcher (ends 6/11). Then it's solo performer Lisa Kron's 2.5 Minute Ride, in which a road-tripping family takes in unusual sights, from midnight grocery shopping to dress fittings in an airport (6/30-7/30). Finally, it's a black comedy with a Gallic flair: In hot young playwright Martin McDonagh's A Skull in Connemara, a man charged with clearing space in a country cemetery turns out to be suspected of putting a certain body in the grave several years earlier (7/21-8/20). Those in search of heavier fare would do well to check out a strong solo season in the theater's Bullitt space, including John Proccacino appearing in Wallace Shawn's elegantly vitriolic The Fever (6/8-6/25); Via Dolorosa, David Hare's impassioned exploration of the state of modern Israel, featuring David Pichette (7/13-7/30); and Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas, featuring actor Laurence Ballard, which is not about a jolly fat man at all, but an embittered theater critic and his interview with a coven of vampires (8/17-9/3). 700 Union, 292-7676.

Annex Theater—Seattle's flagship fringe theater presents two world premieres in their not-foreclosed-yet downtown space this summer. First up is Intelligence, a brand new play by local playwright Scot Auguston, in which the Cold War heats up on the personal level when an American spy is asked to sneak secrets out of a Russian nuclear physicist by taking him to bed (6/16-7/15). Then it's Dirty Little Secrets by famed avant garde playwright Jeffrey M. Jones, which points a highly theatrical microphone at some of the greatest celebrity scandals of the last hundred years, from Pam and Tommy to Old Blue Eyes himself. Directed by Ed Hawkins (8/11-9/9). 1916 Fourth, 728-0933.

ArtsWest—West Seattle's new theater space celebrates summer with John Fisher's Medea, the Musical, a revamp of Euripides' horrifying tragedy about a mother driven by vengeance to murder her children with more emphasis on gay musical theater, less on horrific death. 4711 California SW, 938-0339. 6/14-6/24.

Empty Space Theater—The Space concludes their landmark 30th season with a tongue-in-cheek remount of Under the Gaslight, an hoary melodrama from 1867, which was originally written by Augustin Daly but we suspect may not strictly adhere to his intent. Directed by Eddie Levi Lee. 3509 Fremont N, 547-7500. 5/31-7/9.

Greenstage—The venerable theater-in-the-park folks present two Shakespeare plays in repertory, Henry IV, Part One (Falstaff leads a young Prince Hal astray while young Hotspur plans rebellion) and Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice and Benedick have a war of words until caught in a friendly conspiracy by their friends). Various area parks, 748-1551. 7/15-9/3.

House of Dames—Long-anticipated and ridiculously grand in scale, Rain City Rollers is director Nikki Appino's original project that mixes up the world of 1940s female roller derbies with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. With music. And lots of skating. What more could you possibly want? Sand Point Naval Base, Hanger 2 South, 720-1729. 6/2-7/2.

Intiman Theater—Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage has a weighty theme; it's about two African-American sisters who move north with their widowed father in the 1950s in search of something better, but such promotional phrases as "warmly nostalgic" and "recalls Neil Simon's autobiographical memory plays" promise a light touch. (6/9-7/1). Then it's a dark comedy with a pleasingly chilled theme, Michele Lowe's The Smell of the Kill, about a trio of women who find themselves in a surprisingly powerful position when their husbands manage to lock themselves into a meat locker. (7/7-8/5). In August, Ionesco's The Chairs brings a different kind of chill with a dark, absurdist fable of an elderly couple who serve up a meal for a group of imaginary guests (8/11-9/9). Seattle Center, Intiman Playhouse, 443-2222.

Northwest Actor's Studio—Fringe Festival favorite Burnt Studio has an extended run planned for I.S.O. . .(in search of), their sexy dance-theater piece about repression, hypocrisy, and the complicated relationship between emotion and sex. The Studio's close confines virtually guarantee that a hot and sweaty production will be even hotter and sweatier. 1100 E Pike, 324-6328. 7/7-7/29.

Printer's Devil Theater—The Devils are back after a long hiatus with a new adaptation of Chekhov's play about young love and artistic ambition, The Seagull, staged aboard the historic Kalakala ferry. 860-7163. 6/21-7/21.