posts by Alec Clayton
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Next up at Olympia Little Theatre is the comedy with a message, Butterflies are Free, by Leonard Gershe, winner of two Tony Awards. Unusual for any play, this one has two directors: Barb Matthews and Allison Gerst. Gerst says. “Many times we casually said, ‘We work well together, maybe …
ART REVIEW: by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS There are two major, world-class photography exhibitions in the main art gallery at The Evergreen State College and the smaller but vital Galerie Fotoland in the first-floor lobby of the library building. The Surface: On and Beneath, is an exhibition of nearly 100 rarely-seen photographs by Andy …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Tennessee Williams’ classic drama “The Glass Menagerie” is coming to South Puget Sound Community College in March, to be presented by student actors and directed by Lauren Love. It is the tragic story of Amanda Wingfield — who lives in poverty in a dingy St. Louis apartment with her …
VISUAL ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton FOR OLY ARTS Years ago, CJ Swanson and her husband, the painter David Noah Giles, opened the now defunct Art on Center Gallery in Tacoma. Back then, her paintings were reminiscent of Sonia Delaunay’s work — a kind of soft and decorative cubism with circles and interlocking, almost kaleidoscopic or …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS “3 Impossible Questions” at Olympia Family Theater is a world premiere play based on beloved Islamic folk tales and stories that have been passed down generation to generation about the wise Mullah (teacher or master) Nasreddin. Olympia writer, actor and director Christian Carvajal* says he was inspired …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Olympia Family Theater premieres a new play by local actor, director and playwright Christian Carvajal based on ancient Muslim legends of the Mullah, or master, Nasreddin. This entertaining play for all ages tells the tale of when three wise men challenge Nasreddin to answer three impossible questions. While …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Banjo player and singer Riley Baugus will perform with Sabra Guzman at the Oly Old Time Festival main concert Feb. 2. Baugus plays and sings in the Round Peak style from Surry County, North Carolina. “Riley is a charismatic performer and excellent storyteller,” said Emily Teachout, festival co-founder and …
Visual Art Review: the annual postcard show at South Puget Sound Community College ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS You’ll find the good, the bad and the you-gotta-be-kidding-me at the annual postcard exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College. There are professional artists in the show, including many of Olympia’s best, and there …
Visual Art Review by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Jennifer Lauer’s Color and Light at All Sorts Gallery is a little gem of a show of still life and landscape painting in a classical modernist tradition. Lauer lays on lush layers of paint reminiscent of Wayne Thiebaud, with colors such as seen in Wolf Kahn’s …
THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS I carried delicious anticipation and a measure of trepidation to the opening of American Idiot at Lakewood Playhouse – anticipation because it is such a highly praised musical, and trepidation because what little I had heard of Green Day’s music seemed ear splitting with garbled lyrics. I …