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.
Here are our critic’s choices:
James O’Barr’s Picks
As regards 2024, Dickens got it right: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Leaving aside the political Circus Maximus that was the chief source of the good, the bad, and the ugly for many of our fellow citizens throughout the year, the performing arts here in the South Sound provided many of us with, not only welcome relief, but much needed comfort and joy.
Sweeney Todd — OK, so maybe I’ve still got holiday carols ringing in my ears, because “comfort and joy” is not how I’d describe the effect of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. How about “shock and awe?” Three of our foremost musical and theatrical art makers, Harlequin Productions, the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, and Masterworks Choral Ensemble, took to the Washington Center main stage, en masse, for an all-too-limited run of Stephen Sondheim’s theatre-of-revenge masterpiece. With the OSO on stage, led by Alexandra Arrieche, the superb leads Eric Jensen and Justine Cameron, and the Masterworks singers providing choral support, this Sweeney Todd was a revelation, doing full justice to Sondheim’s most fully-scored musical and deserving the highest artistic accolades.

Our House — Our House, performed just a few miles across town from the Washington Center’s Sweeney Todd but conceptually in another universe, was John Longenbaugh’s clever homage to one of the great plays of the American theatre. But Longenbaugh ups the ante on Thornton Wilder’s simple staging of Our Town, which was meant to be performed on a stage, in an actual theatre. Our House was directly inspired by, and staged in, his house, a century old “charming little rambler” in southeast Olympia. just over the fence from Forest Memorial Gardens. With four wonderful actors—Mathaeus Andersen, Megan Goodman, Jesse Morrow, and Mark Waldstein—the playwright and his co-director, Bryan Willis, follow the various lives of the house’s imagined inhabitants for over a century. The story, told over three acts, each in a different time period, was sweetly compelling. The staging in and around the house meant that the size of the audience was kept to 14 people, so that there was an unusual level of immersion and intimacy achieved. Longenbaugh says he plans to bring the play back home sometime this year, so watch for it.
The Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia — The Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, and the season will bring five opportunities to see and hear one of the South Sound’s very special treasures. There are three seasonal concerts (Winter, Spring, Fall) at the Washington Center, and two holiday concerts, including the Messiah sing-along in late December. The experience of seeing and hearing these almost 200 elementary through high school musicians, in four different orchestras and a brass choir, playing ambitious, challenging, gorgeous music, all at a very high level, never ceases to amaze and thrill me. Their teachers fully participate, and guest artists and conductors are invited for each program. A few years ago, a renowned classical trumpet player was the guest artist, and he performed with both the most experienced and the least experienced kids, all to great effect. But what has been indelible for me was his soulful playing, with the Brass Choir, of a great old American songbook classic, “Here’s That Rainy Day.” So by all means go to a SOGO concert this year, and expect to be astonished.
John Longenbaugh’s Picks
Film: Hundreds of Beavers — The 2022 comedy film Hundreds of Beavers built its significant reputation due to its screenings on the indie circuit, and its short run at the Capitol Theatre back last June did not disappoint. Filmed on a shoestring budget over two Michigan winters by a tiny cast and crew, Beavers is a black and white slapstick film influenced by Buster Keaton, Looney Tunes cartoons and video games like Legend of Zelda and Mario. We follow young Jean Kayak on his quest for redemption as he seeks to win the hand of the sultry daughter of a grouchy fur trader who demands an increasing number of beaver pelts.
Said beavers, along with bunnies, raccoons and other wildlife, are played by people wearing somewhat cheap mascot costumes, which adds to the surreal mayhem; when our hero Jean tackles his prey, more often than not it involves fist-fights, body slams and lots of kicking.
The full commitment to this absolutely nuts premise is a film made for midnight screenings and a live audience, with the inevitable expansion of each visual gag creating a crescendo of hilarity. (Rewatching it on video reinforced this aspect–without a crowd around you, the 108 minutes running time feels about 20 minutes too long.) For would-be filmmakers, the fact that a film made for less than $200,000 made back its entire budget via its limited theatrical release is inspirational. For everyone else, the opportunity to munch popcorn and laugh your head off was a reminder of just how much fun a night out at the movies can be.
Theatre: The Oculist — Call it Rough Theatre, or Outsider Art, or what you will, but punk band duo Nightmayor have been on a years-long trajectory to create full theatrical spectacles largely with non-theatrical artists. Their most elaborate musical yet, The Oculist, had a limited run at Wild Child Brewery, and the results were a darkly ridiculous ride through the career of one John Taylor, self-styled “oculist to royalty,” whose promises to restore sight (mostly to cataract sufferers) instead blinded a good percentage of his patients. Dean Crabapple as the titular character combined a Henry Hillesque energy with the fervency of a diabolic Messiah, and his performance was matched by a cast whose lack of polished stagecraft didn’t inhibit them in the least. Among a fine company the glam rock performances of Joey Schmitt and Glim Siofra as the composers Handel and Bach certainly stood out, but perhaps the star of the show was the perpetually cheerful pig Mein Swine (Marlo Winter), pet to Taylor’s servant Klaus (Rick Ridgeway) and like just about everyone else in this acidic fable destined for a tragic end.
Afterwards, my date complained—rightly enough—that the set changes, mostly just moving a set of acting blocks, were lengthy and unnecessary, and the whole show was too long. “True, but I wasn’t bored for one moment,” I answered, and after consideration, she reluctantly agreed. From the dumpster-dived finery of the costumes to the driving and eclectic score, this was hand-crafted theatre as rough-hewn as a cord of firewood and all the better for it.

Art Events: Procession of the Species — Olympia’s much-loved Procession of the Species is a two-day event like no other, involving scores of costume designers, choreographers, musicians and participants in an endeavor that features no signs nor spoken word, no motorized vehicles and no live pets or animals. Within these parameters the Procession has for many years mixed artistic creativity with goofy environmentalism, celebrating the planet’s glorious biodiversity at a time when so much of it is threatened by our own often ignorant and blundering species.
Last spring the Procession’s founder Eli Sterling expressed concern that the four-year hiatus since the last Procession (caused by COVID and its aftermath) could mean that 2024 might be a disappointment, despite the organization being granted crafting space in the newly-converted Olympia Armory. As it turned out, it was a smashing success, with hundreds of dancing and marching participants and dozens of people-powered floats and giant chromatic puppets welcomed by thousands of jubilant spectators. This month the 2025 planning committee meets, and we can all look forward to its return in April, giving spring Olympia a boost of color, music, dance and premium arts and crafts.
Lynette Charters Serembe’s Picks
Visual Art: The Art of the Salish Peoples with featured artist Ed NoiseCat — This exhibition at The Evergreen State College showcased a collection of visually intriguing works with a wide variety of materials, textures, and disciplines. NoiseCat, the featured artist exhibited a range of skills manifesting bold, unapologetic, and commanding works. The show was full of powerful and pertinent content including climate change, social justice and resilience.
(By the way, please take the time to watch the movie Sugarcane directed by NoiseCat’s son Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Cassie).
Visual Art: SPSCC’s 16th Annual Native American Art Exhibition — I loved this show because it bridged the span between the wisdom of ancestral/traditional disciplines, with modern First Nations artists. It showed us that First Nations art is a continued narrative of self-awareness and self-determination. Visually it was a vibrant burst of energy with many passionate political, and personal messages.
Paper Trails at Childhood’s End — Paper Trails worked on so many levels. It contained a catalog of skills including print, papercut, sumi, and sculpted paper. It was expertly curated and beautifully presented, serene and stimulating, with moments of small intimacy combined with pieces of great drama showing how versatile paper can be when in the hands of imaginative artists.

Alec Clayton’s Picks
Visual Art: Animals Attract — The annual juried exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College never fails to impress. The 2024 version, Animals Attract, was curated by Susan Christian. “A lot of people told me they were applying because they knew Susan was the curator,” said multimedia artist Lucy Gentry-Meltzer as quoted in OLY ARTS by writer Molly Gilmore. “She has a good critical eye for picking art. A lot of people applied to the show because of who she is.” Among the 39 stellar artworks by 32 participating artists were works by Rene Westbrook. Lynette Charters, Michele Burton, Irene Osborne, Teri Bevelacqua, Gabi Clayton, and of course Gentry-Meltzer. It was a show worthy of the best of big-city galleries.

Theater: What the Constitution Means to Me — written by Heidi Schreck and directed by Lauren Love at Harlequin Productions/ State Theater, What the Constitution Means to Me, was an emotional power punch for many in the audience.
Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful and achingly human new play, Heidi, now a grown woman, played by Jenny Vaugh Hall, resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. Harlequin’s production also featured local high school students Simone Meade and Izumi Huff, who alternated performances in the role of a debater.
Bryan Willis’s Picks
Music and Film: Two Stunningly Good Performances — Did you know Saint Martin’s Abbey hosts world-class musicians in their beautiful and acoustically brilliant sanctuary four times each year? It’s free (donation suggested) and never disappoints. Our favorite concert of 2024 featured the Aznavoorian Sisters (Ani on cello & Marta on piano).
We also enjoy the Washington Center’s Silent Film Series with the wildly knowledgeable and entertaining Dennis James playing WCPA’s historic 1924 Wurlitzer Organ. Three silent films are featured in the 2024-25 season. Our favorite so far—the Soviet science-fiction thriller, Aelita, Queen of Mars.
Adam McKinney’s Picks
Film: Rainier: A Beer Odyssey — Arguably, the purest, most potent blast of Washingtonian energy of 2024 came in the form of Rainier: A Beer Odyssey. The documentary, by Tacoma’s own Isaac Olsen (Strictly Sacred: The Story of Girl Trouble), tracks the unlikely cultural phenomenon that was the Rainier Beer ad campaign that ran from 1974 to 1987, blazing a trail for the form and ethos of the modern TV commercial.
Yes, the sheer wealth of footage serves as an unadulterated shot of nostalgia for any Washington residents of a certain age, but the joy of the film is in watching a group of outsiders come together to boldly make art in the face of grim commercialism. Many of the people behind Rainier’s ad campaign sharpened their satirical teeth at the countercultural Seattle magazine in the late ‘60s, and utilized that left-field creativity when creating images of, say, beer bottle-shaped beasts galloping through the Seattle wilderness.
Director Olsen has the soul of an archivist and the directorial spirit of a lunatic conductor, making Rainier: A Beer Odyssey a manic and wildly stylish dash through Washington history (beyond just the title, a mid-film descent into audio-visual madness also serves as a tip of the cap to Stanley Kubrick’s work). By the time Mickey Rooney makes his strange-but-true entrance into the story, the sheer absurdity of it hits a delightful fever pitch.
While the film has yet to hit home video, it is still running its victory lap through movie theaters all over the Pacific Northwest. Follow along and find a screening at rainierbeermovie.com, or on Instagram @rainierbeermovie.