“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf,” now being staged at Lakewood Playhouse, is a show that mainly consists of poetic monologues delivered by seven emphatically engaged performers, interspersed with wildly physical musical numbers. It’s a show that demands that you be as present as possible — a show of giddy highs and devastating lows.
Theater Artists Olympia’s “The HEAD That Wouldn’t DIE!” at Lakewood Playhouse is a takeoff on one of the worst B movies ever, “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die,” with additional dialogue and lyrics by the TAO collective. It is two hours of camp and insanity, not recommended for children younger than 13 according to a warning posted in the theater and not recommended for people who don’t get satire according to this reviewer.
In Lorca in a Green Dress at Tacoma Little Theatre, the “Lorca Room” is neither heaven nor hell, but rather a space for the poet Lorca to spend 40 days coming to terms with his death, and the Lorcas around him represent different sides of his personality. …the conversations and events that take place feel very much like a dream. It’s as if the mind of Lorca has shattered into pieces, creating the hall of mirrors that is the Lorca Room; everyone’s dialogue shares a musicality, as they trip through lush language and finish one another’s sentences.
The overwhelming sensation in The Laramie Project, playing at Lakewood Playhouse through March 9, is not one of anger or of sorrow, but of a kind of cautious hope. Because of our society’s “one step forward, two steps back” approach to LGBT rights, any one of The Laramie Project’s performances since its opening in 2000 could be said to be unfortunately timely, and now is no different. This terrific ensemble cast comes together to paint a picture of a town trying to process a tragedy.
In this rendition of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Lakewood Playhouse there’s an added meta structure where the actors we see on stage are playing actors in the ‘40s, who are then playing the characters we know from It’s a Wonderful Life. “You’re an audience within an audience in the play within a play, which I think some people will be surprised by,” says director Brittany D. Henderson.
Lakewood Playhouse’s production of Godspell brings the original conception into contemporary times and flows with lively good humor punctuated by moments pregnant with pathos. Throughout the performance, the audience comes to delight in and become cozy with the members of the cast.
This is on page 16-17 of OLY ARTS Summer 2024 print edition. ANIMAL FIRE THEATRE COMPANY WHAT: Shakespeare’s Henry IVWHERE: Wonderwood Park, 5304 32nd Ave SE, LaceyWHEN: Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from July 5-28HOW MUCH: FreeLEARN MORE: animalfiretheatre.com BALLET NORTHWEST WHAT: Young Choreographers ShowcaseWHERE: Capital High School Performing Arts Center2707 Conger Ave NW, OlympiaWHEN: …
The Seafarer at Lakewood Playhouse is a Christmas fable that mightily hoists up the light and the dark on either of its shoulders, resulting in a dark comedy and family drama that still, somehow, defies characterization.
With so much quality work set to take to the stage in Tacoma and Lakewood over the next few months, the choices can be a little daunting. In the interest of narrowing things down, here are a few productions we’ve got our eyes on.
By Lucy Volker Children’s classic The Velveteen Rabbit is a spotlight of the season at Lakewood Playhouse. Offering themes of love and imagination, this production is a partnership with Lakewood Playhouse Youth Theater Group and features a combination of adult and young actors. “The Lakewood Institute of Theatre spotlight show,” says managing artistic director John …