theater

Lorca in a Green Dress — a Surreal Eulogy for a Poetic Mind

In Lorca in a Green Dress at Tacoma Little Theatre, the “Lorca Room” is neither heaven nor hell, but rather a space for the poet Lorca to spend 40 days coming to terms with his death, and the Lorcas around him represent different sides of his personality. …the conversations and events that take place feel very much like a dream. It’s as if the mind of Lorca has shattered into pieces, creating the hall of mirrors that is the Lorca Room; everyone’s dialogue shares a musicality, as they trip through lush language and finish one another’s sentences.

Review: Is This a Room

Aaron Lamb, director of Harlequin Production’s Is This a Room, has created a piece of moving, powerful theatre with a light and confident artistic hand. Jeannie Beirne’s set design, Savannah Van Leuvan’s lighting design and Keith Jewell’s sound design with its weird cover of the redacted dialogue rendering it unspeakably inaudible, accomplishes a trifecta. The strange stage set enables us to take in the equally strange encounter that occurred on June 3, 2017, when 11 FBI agents arrived unannounced at the home of Reality Winner (portrayed most affectingly by Olivia Finkelstein, in her Harlequin debut).

Speaking for Laramie at Lakewood Playhouse

The overwhelming sensation in The Laramie Project, playing at Lakewood Playhouse through March 9, is not one of anger or of sorrow, but of a kind of cautious hope. Because of our society’s “one step forward, two steps back” approach to LGBT rights, any one of The Laramie Project’s performances since its opening in 2000 could be said to be unfortunately timely, and now is no different. This terrific ensemble cast comes together to paint a picture of a town trying to process a tragedy.

A Valentine’s Oratorio: How Much the Heart Can Hold

“How Much the Heart Can Hold” by Bryan Willis and Linda Kalkwarf will be performed one night only at Harlequin’s State Theatre. Inspired by the words of writer and artist Zelda Fitzgerald: “Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” Directed by Kathryn Dorgan, the play is a series of illustrative scenes tied together with readings of what Willis calls “snippets of wisdom, culled from a variety of writers and thinkers, that guarantee inspiration for lovers of all ages.”

No Exit at Olympia Little Theater

‘No Exit’s’ famous aphorism “L’enfer, c’est les autres” generally translated as “Hell is other people,” has become common parlance for the tiresome behavior of human beings, but it’s worth remembering this was written in occupied France, where the native Parisians referred to the invaders in their midst as “les autres,” or “the others.” When you’re surrounded by Nazis and potential collaborators, it’s no surprise you’d get jaded about humankind — and the alternate version “Hell is the Nazis occupying your beloved city” might have gotten Sartre in big trouble. ‘No Exit’ plays at Olympia Little Theatre Jan. 31 to Feb. 16.

Tacoma Little Theatre presents ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opens January 24 at Tacoma Little Theatre. It’s the story of Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old who is on the autism spectrum. The action begins with Christopher’s discovery of his neighbor’s dog who’s been killed with a garden fork. Because he’s a kid who is different, Christopher finds himself under suspicion. For this reason and others, he sets out to find the killer, even though his father, with whom he lives, is strongly opposed to his search.

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.

Olympia Family Theater Responds to Financial Challenges 

Olympia Family Theatre, which has closed its adjacent all-ages space and reduced staff hours, is hard at work on raising the money it needs to keep the theater on solid footing going forward. Dean Shellman, chair of the non-profit theater’s board, said, “We’re carefully looking for savings opportunities that don’t change the experience for our audiences and students. OFT provides magical moments for families, and that won’t change.”

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Lakewood Playhouse

In this rendition of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Lakewood Playhouse there’s an added meta structure where the actors we see on stage are playing actors in the ‘40s, who are then playing the characters we know from It’s a Wonderful Life. “You’re an audience within an audience in the play within a play, which I think some people will be surprised by,” says director Brittany D. Henderson.

A Christmas Carol from Harlequin Productions Takes Center Stage This Holiday Season

“A Christmas Carol,” playing at Harlequin Productions Nov. 29 to Dec. 24, “is the greatest redemption story ever told, wrapped up in the trappings of a ghost story,” said Artistic Director Aaron Lamb. “A story of redemption is fundamentally a story about hope and forgiveness. If audiences leave a little more hopeful and a little more open to forgiveness after they see this production, we have succeeded.”

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