Emergence: Practice and Process

Emergence: Practice and Process

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS The entire art gallery at The Evergreen State College is filled with artwork in many media in such a way that ceiling, floor and walls become a single, colorful, walk-through installation. It’s the work of an “interdisciplinary research and creative inquiry” from an academic program called CultureLab. That program …

Read more

Fishnapped! cast

REVIEW: Fishnapped! at OFT

THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS What a wonderful play! Fishnapped! at Olympia Family Theater is a wildly rocking, sweet, touching musical, ostensibly for kids but a treat for all ages. It’s a world premiere, too, locally written by Amy Shephard and Andrew Gordon with music and lyrics by Daven Tillinghast and directed …

Read more

REVIEW: Harlequin’s Present Laughter

THEATER REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Nöel Coward’s 1940s-period romance Present Laughter is as funny today as it was when Coward himself played the lead character, a character he admitted was a spoof on himself. It’s now playing at Harlequin Productions in Olympia, with Aaron Lamb in the role Coward originated, directed by …

Read more

"Phoebe 1," oil on wood panel by Peter Scherrer

REVIEW: Jean Nagai and Peter Scherrer

VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Salon Refu ends its brief but amazing history as the only gallery in South Puget Sound to rival major galleries in major cities by offering a two-person show of works by Jean Nagai and Peter Scherrer. The gallery closes its doors at the end of this …

Read more

Susan Christian

Susan Christian: Painter and Gallerist

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS One might think, if one pored through painter and gallery owner Susan Christian’s biography, that she’s the kind of creative being one might expect to have seen hanging out with Picasso and Hemingway at Gertrude Stein’s salons at the beginning of the 20th century, or later at gatherings of …

Read more

Charging, archival digital print by Joe Hedges

REVIEW: Joe Hedges at SPSCC

VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS If Joe Hedges is trying to convey a message, I don’t get it. But as purely aesthetic objects and images, they’re fascinating; and perhaps that’s the point, that they make the viewer wonder what’s going on, what kind of future world we’ve entered. The largest and …

Read more

Amy Shephard, photo by Heather Schofner Photography

Center Salon at The Washington Center

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Billed as being “much like Parisian salons of old,” Center Salon at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts will fill the intimate space of the Black Box with art, literature, music and theater. Amy Shephard, actor, singer and co-founder of StoryOly at Rhythm & Rye, will emcee the …

Read more

River Ridge High School Drama Club

Thurston County Scores Big at the State Thespian Festival

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Student actors, playwrights and stage crews scored big in the latest statewide Thespian Festival, held at Central Washington University March 16-17. Students and their teachers are rightfully proud and look forward to nationals this summer, though it isn’t clear all will be able to attend. Here’s what a few …

Read more

Shakespeare in Hollywood

Shakespeare in Hollywood (and at OLT)

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Imagine you’re on the set of a Hollywood movie made in 1934, with big-name stars filming A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and magically the real Oberon and Puck from the Shakespeare play show up on the set. If such a thing could happen, it would be a recipe for comedy…or …

Read more

Heather and Michael Christopher

Heather and Michael Christopher: Together in Theater

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Heather and Michael Christopher are a power couple in the Olympia theater scene. Heather is a teacher and director with Olympia Family Theater’s children’s programs and a near-ubiquitous actor. Michael is an actor, director and set and lighting designer. Michael most recently directed Theater Artist Olympia’s Playhouse Creatures and …

Read more

Skip to content