Critic’s Corner: Best Visual and Performing Arts of 2024

Many of the South Sound’s best theater and visual arts critics write for OLY ARTS. We asked six of them to highlight some of their favorite visual and performance art shows from 2024, and we congratulate and celebrate the Olympia and Tacoma-area artists selected. Due to the limitation we put on the critics of no more than two or three shows, we are aware of and acknowledge that many great shows and artists were not picked. We are lucky to live in such a vibrant creative community.

Shakespearian Treasure in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park

“I’ve wanted to stage this play for over 15 years because of the vibrant characters. …So, when you talk about them and create their journeys, you have all these different events to pull from.” Animal Fire co-founder, Austen Anderson, returns to the outdoor stage to direct a stellar cast in this new adaptation in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park he hopes will appeal to audiences unfamiliar with the Bard as well as Shakespearian aficionados.

Arts Walk 2023 Film and Dance

Indicative of the vast art and entertainment to be found at Arts Walk, check out the OlyFilm and OlyAct film demo where You’re the Star!

Review: The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus

Olympia Family Theater’s excellent production of “The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus” is exquisitely designed with consistently engaging work by the ensemble of 12 adult and kid actors. This is the story of a group of kids who discover an all-important connection and value to the natural world is a compelling tale for all ages.

Bryan Willis

Bryan serves as playwright-in-residence for the Northwest Playwrights Alliance at Seattle Repertory Theatre.  His plays have appeared throughout the U.K., China, Israel, Japan, Canada and U.S., including New York Theater Workshop, Milwaukee Rep, Unseam’d Shakespeare Co., Riverside Studios in London and Seattle’s ACT. Bryan’s work has also been featured on NPR and BBC Radio.  He has …

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Some Stars Landing at the Washington Center

Four Native American comedy storytellers carrying on the Native American trickster tradition share their comedic take on life at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts.

Halloween at Harlequin

You are about to spend an evening with Edgar Allan Poe in a play by Olympia playwright Bryan Willis, plus a reading of a new short story by Olympia’s own Jim Lynch in a one-night-only Halloween celebration at Harlequin.

Christina Vega and Jonah Barrett

The Return of the Celebratory Center Salon

“I’ve been doing salons for about 20 years through the Northwest Playwrights Alliance,” playwright Bryan Willis explains. “I really love the format.” Happily for Willis, executive director Jill Barnes was eager to host a salon in The Washington Center’s black box theater, a utilitarian space adjacent to its main auditorium. It returns this May after a three-year hiatus.

The Brotherhood Takes Flight’s Season Finale

By BRYAN WILLIS for OLY ARTS Olympia audiences have one more chance to catch free, aerial performances as The Brotherhood Takes Flight celebrates the end of its ninth season. Longtime fan Marcia Burnett offers excellent advice to anyone going for the first time: “Come early, especially if you’re going with friends.” Aerial performances are presented …

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Jeff Barehand

Jeff Barehand at the Seattle International Film Festival

by Bryan Willis for OLY ARTS How does a stay-at-home dad get bitten by the video bug and wind up with an invitation to the famous Sundance Native Lab? “It was my kids,” explains local filmmaker Jeff Barehand. “I made videos of my kids to send back to my parents. Without family I wouldn’t have …

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