by Kelli Samson for OLY ARTS Forget everything you know from Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland. Olympia Family Theater is about to bring forth the world premiere of local thespian Kate Ayers’s original adaptation, and there will be nary a Tweedledee or -dum in sight. Things are about to get “curiouser and curiouser.” Ayers’s …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Playhouse Creatures by April de Angelis is a little-known play written in 1993 and set in Restoration England of the late 17th century. Prior to Charles II ascending the throne of England, women were not allowed to act on stage, but Charles II rescinded that law—much to …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS No spoilers! Yelm’s Standing Room Only theater production company is bringing Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery The Mousetrap to the Triad Theater this March, directed by Olympia actor Chris Cantrell. Starting in 2016, SRO has aimed to expand its creative muscles by bringing in new talent and artistry from …
VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Now showing in The Washington Center for the Performing Arts are paintings by Lois Beck, Becky Knold and Mia Schulte, three women whose paintings have a lot in common—so much so, in fact, that unless you’ve studied their paintings in detail over time you’d be hard …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS Most theater fans are aware women were banned from the stage during the Elizabethan period, which meant all female Shakespearean roles were played by men in drag. Even lifelong Olympia theater artist Michael Christopher, however, knew little about the end of that male-only era. When the troupe for which …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS The world of theater production is as diverse as its international cast and crew, but certain commonalities do exist. The stage manager, for example, is the most undervalued, overworked member of almost any crew. Actors tend to date actors, so it doesn’t take long before a town’s theater community …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Olympia Little Theatre’s latest production, entitled Or, (including the comma), involves sexual freedom, lime-green fabric printed with butterflies and an invitation to tune in and turn on. “It’s a bedroom farce with a more serious message of love and tolerance,” said director Toni Holm. Yes, it is set in …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS To read Sarah Vowell’s bestselling nonfiction works or hear her frequent appearances on public radio is to experience our history through the eyes of, in her own words, a “partly cloudy patriot.” Her most recent book, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, is a quirky biography of a French …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS At long last Rachel Corrie has come home to Olympia in the theatrical form of My Name is Rachel Corrie at Harlequin Productions. This is Olympia’s first-ever locally produced performance of the play, which is based on the life and writings of the Olympia native. Written completely …
by Jonah Barrett for OLY ARTS Heliocentrism isn’t a radical idea anymore, but that wasn’t the case 400 years ago. Olympia Family Theater will premiere its production of Kari Margolis’s Starry Messenger, with Brian Tyrrell directing. Starry Messenger is a historically based play about imagination and discovery. It follows the life of Galileo Galilei as …