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Legacy & Stories That Shaped Us — Celebrating 50 Years of Playback Theatre

Heartsparkle Players began doing Playback Theatre in 1991 as a way to support
elementary school children in developing empathy and reducing bullying. Students told stories about when they received and gave acts of kindness. In the beginning, they performed primarily in schools and later began commissioned performances for organizations, faith groups, and finally they added public performances. They have held their public performances at Traditions for 28 years, often collaborating with other community groups. Founding member Debi Edden said, “We want to bring hope, stories and community to our gatherings.”

Dead Man’s Cell Phone at OLT

Theater, from the beginning, has been a space for confronting death and life’s existential questions. Shakespeare, in Julius Caesar, has much to say about both. Fast forward to the current zeitgeist, and the evil that men, mostly men, are doing, from one side of the earth to the other—climate derangement, a new ICE age, nuclear proliferation, war crimes and lawlessness from sea to shining sea—looks very much like it will have enduring if not undying consequences. Olympia Little Theatre’s September 2025 production of Sarah Ruhl’s quintessentially quirky comedy, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, was directed by Kendra Malm and Toni Holm. It contained pertinent messages for today.

Ballet Northwest’s 55th Season

Ballet Northwest boldly enters its 55th season with highly innovative, inspirational and diverse programming in store. Time flies by quickly, so mark your calendars now. After a performance of Crescendo on October 11, comes The Nutcracker, Olympia’s favorite December tradition that invites the whole family into a land of sweets and all others we create in our imagination. We are excited to give you an inside glimpse into everything that is in store.

Copper Wolf 10th Anniversary Exhibit and Celebration

Copper Wolf Studios and Gallery, nestled off 2ND Avenue in Tumwater, is in a craftsman house with much of the old-world charm of the original house made into a beautiful gallery with great lighting and welcoming communal space, alongside the tattoo artists’ personal studio spaces. Danny Gordo says, “Copper Wolf creates a space showcasing art, bringing people together to further conversations and bridge gaps.” Aimee Schreiber rightly points out, “Art needs walls and space.” Gordo and Schreiber are board members of Olympia Artspace Alliance.

The Musical Chemistry of Garrett & Gunn

On Saturday, October 24, the acoustic duo of Reggie Garrett & Christine Gunn will perform for the fourth time at New Traditions, this time celebrating the release of The Road Taken, their first collaborative CD.
“We’re always so moved and engaged by both of them,” said New Traditions co-owner Jody Mackey, who expects the event to sell out.
The two share a similar musical sensibility, according to Garrett. “Christine is one of those musicians for whom the thing that’s important is the song,” he said. “There’s not a lot of ego involved. She listens, plays what the song calls for.”

Patton Oswalt Presents Pig and McCabe & Mrs. Miller

These two films depict the Pacific Northwest in two radically different times. In Robert Altman’s classic revisionist Western, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Warren Beatty moves into a mining town in 1900s Washington, trying his best to become a big shot in the middle of a boom period. Michael Sarnoski’s new classic, Pig, explores the fringes of modern-day Portland, with Nicolas Cage starring as a reclusive former chef whose truffle pig gets stolen. The films – showing at Capitol Theater November 15 & 16 – showcase the Pacific Northwest’s natural wonders as an overwhelming force that has to be bent to, not conquered; and both films have an elegiac atmosphere that hangs over them.

The Olympia Armory Creative Campus Looks to Reconnect With Its History As a Community Hub

Since the Olympia Armory’s construction in the late 1930s, the building has cemented an illustrious legacy, from serving as a facility for the Washington National Guard to hosting regular sporting events and community dances. The Armory, nestled off of the tree-lined Legion Way just outside Olympia’s downtown corridor, will house eight nonprofit anchor partners who are set to hold long-term leases and programming inside the Armory Creative Campus. They will carry out their regular programming in addition to special events and workshops, with community access in mind.  

The South Sound Story Guild‘s Monthly Story Swaps and Annual “Tellabration!” Fundraiser

On the second Wednesday of the month, the South Sound Story Guild gathers at Olympia’s Harbor House, where attendees preserve and celebrate the art of oral storytelling. Whether a funny yarn passed down through the generations, a spooky legend or the tale of a great mythological hero, the South Sound Story Guild holds space for members of the guild and the greater community to be entertained, learn something new, and share their own stories.

Murder Most Moral

It’s autumn, and time for a classic whodunnit — and you don’t get more classic than Agatha Christie. What most people enjoy about her mysteries are the ingenious plots, the wickedly complicated alibis and ruses, and of course the eccentric detectives — brittle but brilliant Mrs. Marple, delightfully dippy Tommy and Tuppence, and the “little grey cells’ of that Belgian prodigy, Monsieur Hercule Poirot.
Starring John Serembe as Hercule Poirot, and Russ Holm as Monsieur Bouc, and directed by Scott Nolte, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express plays Oct. 3-Nov. 2 at Harlequin Productions.

Oly Arts Fall Winter 2025 Print Edition

The Fall/Winter print edition of OLY ARTS N0. 34 is published! Here is a list of the articles and where in the Olympia area you can pick up your FREE copy. Enjoy!

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