Stage Openings & Events •  Russell Brand SEE AGENDA, PAGE 38.

By By Gavin Borchert • August 27, 2013 2:31 pm
Two of Lysistrata’s sex boycotters: Kamaria Hallums-Harris and Shontina Vernon.
Two of Lysistrata’s sex boycotters: Kamaria Hallums-Harris and Shontina Vernon.

Stage

Openings & Events

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Russell Brand SEE AGENDA, PAGE 38.

Falling Upward SANCA’s ‘30s-themed staff show promises “acrobatics, trick-roping, tight-wire, juggling, Chinese pole, hand balancing, aerial acts, and more.” School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA), 674 S. Orcas St., 800-838-3006, brownpaper
tickets.com. $13–$20. Opens Aug. 31. 7 p.m. Fri.–Mon. Ends Sept. 8.

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Middletown SEE AGENDA, PAGE 37.

The Realm of Whispering Ghosts Subtitled “If Truman Met Einstein,” Arne Zaslove’s Noh-inspired new play explores the legacy of the Hiroshima bombing. Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, 7312 W. Green Lake Ave. N., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com. $15–$27. Preview Aug. 29, opens Aug. 30. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Sept. 15.

Current Runs

Break-Up Songs Unexpected Productions takes your tales of romantic trauma and turns them into theater. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, 800-838-3006, unexpectedproductions.org. $12–$15. 8:30 p.m. Fri.–Sat. Ends Sept. 21.

The Burl-X-Files: The Truth Is Down There The Shanghai Pearl and Jake Groshong star in this “nerdlesque” spoof of the paranormal. (Wish I’d thought of that subtitle.) Theater Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., 800-838-3006, jojostiletto.com. $20–$35. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Aug. 31.

The Half Brothers Brand Old-Time Variety Show Annex’s “late-night pairing of neo-bluegrass and corporate sponsorship” sends up both folky entertainment and consumer culture, with Troy Mink leading a cooking segment as Grandma Half. Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., 728- 0933, annextheatre.org. $5–$10. 
11 p.m. Fri.–Sat. Ends Aug. 30.

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Lysistrata The mixing of moods in theater was a no-no in classical times, but luckily director Sheila Daniels’ take on Aristophanes’ antiwar comedy flouts such prude genre segregation. Setting the salacious tale—about a coalition of Athenian and Spartan women who unite in a sex strike against their warrior husbands to end the Peloponnesian War—as a play within a play, performed by soldiers for fellow soldiers at a U.S. camp in Afghanistan, makes more urgent the heroines’ crusade to kill the war. Throughout most of the 85-minute one-act, we’re immersed in the wacky (and raunchy!) world of Harmony Arnold’s glam-gross costumes and Jennifer Zeyl’s orificial set, fully invested in the gender wars. Seldom does combat intercede, but this topical Lysistrata is a forcible reminder of bloody wars still being fought on the other side of the globe.The conclave of women convoked by Lysistrata (intelligently played by Shontina Vernon) suggests how sensuality and personal expression are prized in the barracks: Mohawks, bare thighs and midriffs, push-ups, goosing, and butt-wagging accompany copious sex talk and innuendo. It’s no easy task to convince these lusty ladies to forego sex, as evidenced by their demonstration of beloved positions including the “she-lion and the cheese grater” (it’s in the original text). But their sexual privation pales next to that of the bellicose men, evoked by hilarious priapic contraptions ranging from tiny kettle spouts to flashlights to lengthy plastic proboscises operated like trombones. Ensconced deep like a cervix in the vulval tent hanging over the stage, a machine-like glory box flashes to songs by Pink and Destiny’s Child. In response to this teasing barrage, the horny guys pound out their frustration on electric guitars. When warfare breaks the suspension of disbelief (conveyed by Andrew D. Smith’s flashing lights and Matt Starritt’s unnerving audio design, guided by military consultants), it really breaks it. The pure comedy is quickly forgotten, and the tenor shifts to the macabre. (Destiny’s Child’s prior refrain, “I’ve bought it” from “Independent Woman,” takes on much darker meaning.) A political chorus, rendered zombie-style at the end, seems a bit heavy-handed—is Daniels suggesting that soldiers, including those “drafted by poverty,” are zombies? Would an antiwar play like Lysistrata even be allowed on an Army base? Maybe it’s better not to approach this powerful, provocative piece too literally; just let it hit you. MARGARET FRIEDMAN Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, 726-5190. $20–$50. See intiman.org for exact schedule. Ends Sept. 12.

Precious Little Madeleine George’s “carefully drawn story of one woman’s experiences: her work, her passions, her desire to be a parent, and her coming to terms with life’s inadequacies.” Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., 728-0933, annextheatre.org. $5–$20 (Thurs. pay what you can). 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Aug. 31.

Stu for Silverton This new musical, part of Intiman’s summer season, tells the absolutely true story of a small Oregon town and its transgender mayor. Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, 726-5190. $20–$50. See intiman.org for schedule. Ends Sept. 15.

Teatro ZinZanni: Lucky in Love The spiegeltent becomes Casino ZinZanni in their new Vegas-themed show. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., 802-0015. $106 and up. Runs Thurs.–Sun.; see dreams.zinzanni.org for exact schedule. Ends Sept. 8.

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Trouble in Mind Alice Childress (1916–1994), the author of A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich, was also a playwright who won an Obie for her 1955 Trouble in Mind. Plans for a transfer to Broadway didn’t work out, perhaps because white producers didn’t like her depiction of their world. Now director Valerie Curtis-Newton is determined to redress Childress’ relative obscurity. Skillfully, movingly, entertainingly, shatteringly, Trouble catalogs the charades and compromises (i.e., sellings-out) demanded of “negro” stage professionals trying to make it on Broadway. Intiman’s splendid rendering marries beautiful acting to the powerful architecture of a masterly, laser-sharp script that ricochets between hope and heartache. Wiletta Mayer (Tracy Michelle Hughes) arrives for her first day of Broadway rehearsal, where she and other black cast members are confounded by the destructively narrow vision of producer/director Al Manners (Tim Gouran). In a play about a lynching, he wants Southern dialect and old stereotypes; his performers are uncomfortable, but they also want the job. Wiletta’s desire to change one tiny element of the script becomes a do-or-die compulsion (professionally, at least), forcing a well-earned dramatic standoff with Manners. Mainly what is felt here is Childress’ indignation over the waste of black talent. An actress with the American Negro Theater during the ‘40s, Childress later became a best-selling novelist. Intiman successfully argues that she left an important stage legacy, too. MARGARET FRIEDMAN Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, 726-5190. $20–$50. See intiman.org for schedule. Ends Sept. 15.

Waiting for Godot Arts on the Waterfront takes on Beckett in the shadow of the Great Wheel. Waterfront Park, 1300 Alaskan Way, artsonthewaterfront@gmail.com. Donation. 7:30 p.m. Fri.–Sun. Ends Sept. 1.

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We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! Pruned and repositioned after its own financial crisis, Intiman opens its second summer festival with We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!, Dario Fo’s farce about life in an exploitive, inflationary economy. His intelligently ridiculous 1974 examination of whether looting is justified under a corrupt regime feels timely in our era of unprecedented income inequality. Two housewives stagger in the door dripping with groceries that one of them, Antonia (the delightful Tracy Michelle Hughes) “donated” to herself during a customer-declared free-for-all at the supermarket. Antonia drags her B-52-haired friend Margherita (Kylee Rouselot) into the coverup plot, which involves concealing the loot in a fake pregnancy. Soon their law-abiding but equally loony husbands Giovanni (Burton Curtis) and Luiggi (G. Valmont Thomas) smell trouble about the suspicious impending birth. Director Jane Nichols deftly articulates the quick beats that can be so easily muddled in farce. It’s exciting to see the cost-cutting festival launch with such a high degree of professionalism and coherence. MARGARET FRIEDMAN Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, 726-5190. $20–$50. See intiman.org for schedule. Ends Sept. 14.

Words, Sounds, Silence Unexpected Productions’ new improv show: “This edgy show illuminates three things present in a single moment. We often only hear the words, but it is the sounds that accompany the words that give us a chance at understanding the meaning behind what was said. It is in the silence that we truly see the impact of the message conveyed between the lines of verbal language.” Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, 800-838-3006, unexpectedproductions.org. $7. 8:30 p.m. Thurs. Ends Sept. 26.

Classical, Etc.

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Olympic Music Festival Chamber music in a rustic repurposed barn, each Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Sept. 1. For the final weekend, music of the “Three Bs.” Olympic Music Festival, Center Road, Quilcene, 360-732-4800, olympicmusicfestival.org. $18–$33.