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MONDAY
COMMUNITYIndigenous People's Day Celebrations
As Ana Sofia Knauf writes, "Today Is Indigenous Peoples' Day: In 2014, Seattle stepped onto the correct side of American history when city council members unanimously voted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day rather than glorifying Christopher Columbus, a European who murdered and enslaved Natives in North America." We have a comprehensive list of places to celebrate Indigenous People's Day on our Things To Do calendar.
Alton Brown: EveryDayCook
Celebrity chef Alton Brown will read from EveryDayCook, which features 101 recipes sorted by time of day.
Charles Burns: Last Look
Cartoonist Charles Burns (Black Hole) will speak about his award-winning trilogyâXâed Out, The Hive, and Sugar Skullâwhich recently was released all together, in one volume.
Nell Zink
German author Nell Zink (The Wallcreeper and Mislaid) will read from her latest novel, Nicotine, about a woman who loses her father, a healing expert and retired shaman, after a painful illness. Kirkus Reviews writes, "Zinkâs depictions of grief andâespeciallyâthe strange state of waiting for someone to die are honest and real and occasionally lovely ⊠The resulting disaster is spellbinding, but even the quiet moments here are delightful because Zink does such an incredible job of depicting weirdos as real, smart, vulnerable, complicated people."
Revolt. She said. Revolt again.
This Washington Ensemble Theatre production will be the West Coast premiere of Revolt. She said. Revolt again., which is supposed to be a powerful, absurd-funny, polyvocal, multimedia, fiercely feminist call for revolt. Revolt draws its title from a Julia Kristeva book about "revolt" as a mode of being (hi, grad school) and also highlights the way language shapes our perceptions and expectations of women. RICH SMITH
MONDAY-THURSDAY, SUNDAY
FOOD & DRINKSeattle Restaurant Week
Itâs time again for our cityâs annual prix fixe extravaganza. Restaurants across town will offer three courses for a mere $32. Some will also do lunch service for $18. The idea of the event is to lure the type of diners who donât normally make space in their budgets for gastronomical excess. Itâs definitely a loss leader, designed to lure diners in with a cheap feast, get them hooked, and convert them into long-term income sources. Viewed through more rose-tinted lenses, itâs also a great way for you to try out some places youâve probably been curious about but loath to set aside $200 for. Lark, Tilth, and Marjorie all come time mind. TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
MONDAY-SUNDAY
FESTIVALSEarshot Jazz Festival
This is the season of Seattle's premier jazz event, the Earshot Jazz Festival, which includes more than 50 distinct concerts and events in venues across town. One of the big names at this year's festival is veteran pianist Freddy Cole, who will present with his trio a performance tied to the legacy of his late brother, Nat King Cole. There will also be a tribute to Charlie Parker, helmed by the award-winning saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. Local ubiquitous talent D'Vonne Lewis will curate a series of concerts with his groups Limited Edition and Industrial Revelation, the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band, and special jazz festival collaborators, as this year's Resident Artist. See the complete Earshot Jazz Festival schedule.
TUESDAY
READINGS & TALKSAsk the Oracle
Since at least the time of the Oracle at Delphi, members of society have sought political guidance, emotional succor, pithy personal advice, and general prognostication from oracles, vessels through which the gods speak their will. Tonight at the Sorrento Hotel, Seattle Civic Poet Claudia Castro Luna, Stranger Genius nominee Robert Lashley, and Seattle-based writer Tara Conklin will step into that role and serve as your soothsayer and/or doomsayer. Big diff between them and most oracles: Their words won't be coming from on high. They'll be coming from the books of poetry and fiction that they've all been desperately writing for several years now. RICH SMITH
Emancipating the Past: Curator Talk and Live Performance
Hear about the history of silhouettes and silhouette animation from Emancipating the Past curator Jessi DiTillio, and learn how it relates to Kara Walker's contemporary practice. The talk will be followed by a film screening of Lotte Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed with a live, original score performed by Miles and Karina.
Luvvie Ajayi and Lindy West
Ajayi (author of I'm Judging You and the Awesomely Luvvie blog) will join former Stranger staffer Lindy West (whose new book, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, is hilarious and poignant) for a discussion about their work, as well as the intersection of comedy and activism.
Mark Bittman: How to Bake Everything
Food writer and cookbook author Mark Bittman (How to Cook Everything) "delivers strong views on a variety of topics including policy, agriculture, health, the environment and, of course, food." Tonight, he will share insights from his new baking-centric book, including recipes for desserts like baked Alaska, gingerbread whoopie pies, and Afghan snowshoe naan.
Tarot Card Tuesdays
All October, you can get your tarot read on Tuesdays (alliteration!) while you drink in the Fireside room. Tarot is wonderful because it's basically someone rephrasing all the problems that exist in your life and making you feel like the things you know you should be doing but can't bring yourself to are really good, objective advice from a trained spiritual advisor. Plus, there's booze, so it'll make the realization that you should have gotten that divorce seven years ago a lot easier to swallow. TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
TUESDAY-SUNDAY
ARTYves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style Opening
The Perfection of Style will feature highlights from legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's 44-year-long career, during which he helped redefine the world of women's fashion by introducing menswear-inspired garments like the trench coat and the pantsuit. The exhibit's US premiere will feature new acquisitions by the collection of the Foundation Pierre BergĂ© â Yves Saint Laurent that have that have never previously been shown publicly, as well as a variety of multimedia elements from the archive that demonstrate the development of the YSL style, from sketches to completed garments.
Man of La Mancha
The 5th Avenue Theatre's fancy new state-of-the-art sound system will be ready and raring to push out lush tones for this season opener: Allison Narver's take on Dale Wasserman's Man of La Mancha. The show stars Tony-nominated actor Norm Lewis as the windmill-slaying Don Quixote, and I'm very much looking forward to his "Dulcinea," but I'm super-mega looking forward to any noise that Nova Payton makes during her portrayal of Aldonza. I heard/felt/was destroyed by Payton's voice during last year's production of Janis Joplinâher soprano is so clean the room sparkles every time she holds a note, and her control is insaneâand I'm so glad she's back in town for this one. RICH SMITH
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is one of the earliest examples of black realism on the American stage. Housing discrimination, race, class, family, the complexities of right action in America, all of it wrapped up in one of the greatest plays ever written. RICH SMITH
WEDNESDAY
READINGS & TALKSArtTalk at Capitol Cider: This (Manipulated) Natural Splendor
Artist (and former software engineer) Claude Zervas has a unique approach to technology and art. He has made digital images in the style of surveillance photography and high-resolution prints of Disneyland's commercial slides from the 1960s. At this artist talk, he'll speak about his approach to artistic technology as well as "the places and things that give him his inspiration." Read what Emily Hall and Peter Gaucys have written about his work here and here.
Race and Violence in American Politics
Learn about the American legacy of "unprosecuted violence against minorities, identity politics and racial tension" in this lecture by UW assistant professor of political science Megan Ming Francis.
Then, Now & Next: A Forum on Seattle Art
This discussion of contemporary art in Seattle is presented in conjunction with the exhibit Neddy Artist Awards: 20 Years.
Puget Soundtrack: Chris Cheveyo and Garrett Moore Present Mr. Blot's Academy
Puget Soundtrack, presented by Northwest Film Forum, invites musicians to create a live score for a film of their own choosing. This time, Chris Cheveyo and Garrett Moore will create a live soundtrack for Akademia Pana Kleksa, a Polish musical from 1984.
THURSDAY
FOOD & DRINKAlice B. Toklas Tour and Dinner
The Sorrento is, apparently, the most haunted place in Seattle. Including by Alice B. Toklas, author of an eponymous cookbook and lover of Gertrude Stein. Apparently Toklas briefly lived in Seattle as a teenager, and at some point lived in the neighboring apartments. "Although she only lived in Seattle a short time," says Sorrento's publicist Jaime White, "it's speculated that she haunts the Sorrento because she was here during a very happy time in her life." This event should be a very happy time in your life too. Guests will be treated to ghost tour (with booze), followed by a prix fixe dinner from The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. Alas, her famous recipe for hashish fudge will not be served, just wine. But if your interest in Toklas revolves primarily around pot brownies, SPOT makes the best modern day versions I've had, and they're cheap and ubiquitous. TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
Guest Chef Night with Will Richey
Are you carrying around some guilt? Been sleeping with your best friend's ex? Considering voting for Trump? Did you run over a dog and just drive away? Whatever the sin, alleviate some of that guilt by going to FareStart for Guest Chef Night with Will Richey of Tallulah's. Tallulah's is known for veggies, so even if you're a total shitbag, you'll get at least a moment of the self-satisfied glow that eating anything involving local, seasonal rainbow chard gives you. And you'll get the more-than-momentary satisfaction of knowing that your $29.95 plus donation goes to a very worthy cause. TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
Capitol Hill Art Walk
Once again, it's time to fill the streets of Capitol Hill with tipsy art lovers. This month's events include Love Circus: An Art Show Experience, an "immersive show experience" with a "carnival vs. ballet-themed atmosphere."
Coast to Coast - WEST Opening Reception
Coast to Coast will feature 100 juried works by the National Association of Women Artists and the Women Painters of Washington.
Frocks & Vestments Opening Reception
See work based on garments, frocks, costumes, and vestments, by artists Larry Calkins, Elizabeth Jameson, Christopher Kroehler, and Liz Tran.
Noir at the Bar
Do you like crime fiction? Do you like drinking? This is both of those things at the same time. Local and international crime writers (Scotti Andrews, Curt Colbert, Pearce Hansen, Skye Moody, Renee Patrick, Brian Thornton, Sam Wiebe and James Ziskin) will give a reading, while you sip classy cocktails in the classy Fireside room. If you've ever bought an overcoat at Goodwill thinking you'll totally wear it sometime, this is that time. TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
SAM Talks: The Perfection of Style
Hear about the new exhibit Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style from its curator, Florence MĂŒller.
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
THEATER & DANCEreSET
Curated by Mark Haim, Babette Pendleton, Ali Mohamed el-Gasseir, and Alice Ghosti, reSET is a sort of arts-share dance series put on by the Washington Ensemble Theatre. Choreographers perform new pieces using the set for whatever play the company happens to be producing at that timeâthis time, Revolt. She said. Revolt again.. RICH SMITH
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
THEATER & DANCEHardy Drew & The Nancy Boys
Hardy Drew & The Nancy Boys is a humorous, campy, and flamboyant riff on the mystery novels you grew up reading.
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
FILMTWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival
The Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival turns 21 this year, and to celebrate, it has changed its name to TWIST, the Seattle Queer Film Festival. The next 10 days will be filled with screenings of features and shorts by the finest of queer film, video, and VR artists of the past, present, and future. Whatever you do, donât miss the gala premiere of hometown treasure (and Stranger Genius nominee) Clyde Petersenâs debut animated feature, Torrey Pines, featuring a live score performed by members of Petersenâs band, Your Heart Breaks, and special guests, including Zach Burba, Jacob Jaffe, Lori Goldston, Kimya Dawson, Corey J. Brewer, Chris Looney, Art Petersen, and the Beaconettes, with live Foley sound effects and soundscape design by Susie Kozowa. SEAN NELSON
Taste of Iceland
This event promises a diverse range of Icelandic offerings, from music to food to immersive installations. Events include an Icelandic menu at the Carlile Room, a free Reykjavik Calling concert at Neumos, a Nordic fashion exhibit at the Nordic Heritage Museum, and a reading from GuĂ°mundur Andri Thorsson on âPaper Vikings: Past and Presentâ at Elliott Bay.
Ghosts
Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts was considered scandalous when it was first performed in 1892, and still shocks some with themes including sexually transmitted disease, euthanasia, and incest. Follow the story of widow Helene Alving in this new adaptation by director Richard Eyre.
FRIDAY
READINGS & TALKSAlexander McCall Smith
Hugely popular author Alexander McCall Smith (best known for penning the No. 1 Ladiesâ Detective Agency books) will read from and speak about the latest installment in the series, Precious and Grace.
Hugo Literary Series: TĂ©a Obreht, Eduardo C. Corral, and Quenton Baker
The Literary Series at Hugo House presents new work from established and emerging writers based around a theme. The theme for this event is "theft," literary or otherwise, and it's gonna be real interesting to see where these writers take it. Seattle poet and writer Quenton Baker was a Made at Hugo House Fellow, and his book This Glittering Republic is due from Willow Books in 2017. The poems I've read of his work to dismantle white supremacy using a variety of styles. Sometimes he'll use a musical three-beat line, sometimes he'll let the line run. And he's just as comfortable with narrative as he is with abstraction. TĂ©a Obreht wrote The Tigerâs Wife, a novel about doctors and death in a fictional Balkan province that won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Poet Eduardo C. Corral has won a ton of prizes for his gorgeous lyrics about sex, immigration, and, of course, poetry. RICH SMITH
Bullygirl
Bullygirl (written and performed by Jennifer Jasper, and directed by Shawn Belyea) features Jasper delving "into the darkness of adolescence to pick at the bones of her self-esteem."
Paul Komada and Melissa Feldman
2016 Neddy finalist Paul Komada will speak with exhibition curator and Neddy director Melissa Feldman about the work recognized by the Neddy Artist Awards, including his own. Presented in conjunction with the exhibit Neddy Artist Awards: 20 Years.
Reece Jones
Reece Jones, author of Border Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India, and Israel will read from Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move. According to Kirkus, "With the building of border walls and the deaths of migrants much in the news, this work is both timely and necessarily provocative.â
Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell
In 1983, Erin Blackwell was a Seattle-area 13-year-old who moved out of her mother's house, governed by her mother's alcohol addiction, and onto the streets. There, she sold sex to make money to eat and buy clothes and drugs. She became an addict. But, having felt completely alone, she also found her people. She belonged, and she dreamt of a future where she would have 10 kids and belong in that big family, too. Blackwellânicknamed "Tiny"âand the other, similar, kids on Pike Street met documentary photographer Mary Ellen Mark that year. Tiny became a strange kind of star, the most compelling subject in the anguishingly compelling documentary film Streetwise, which was made by Mark and her husband Martin Bell. Tiny is an important figure in Seattle, and she has more to say that's worth hearing. In fact, it's more worth hearing her every day that goes by. That's why it's more important to see this new movie, Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell, also by Bell and featuring Mark, than even to fall in love with the 13-year-old again. "Tiny" isn't tiny anymore. She has so much to reflect on, and it's not all pretty, and she doesn't hide. Her ability to open her life is incredibly remarkable in itself. At this library screening of the new movie, Tiny will be there for a Q&A afterward. So will filmmaker Bell, and a housing advocate will be on hand to talk about its relevance in the current climate of Seattle, where homeless encampments are being swept regularly, sending their residents... nowhere more stable. JEN GRAVES
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
FILM24th Seattle Polish Film Festival
Donât miss the 24th Seattle Polish Film Festivalâplaying for two weekends at SIFF Cinema Uptownâfeaturing new releases, independent films, documentaries, and old classics. All films in Polish have English subtitles.
The Seattle Social Justice Film Festival
Celebrate progressive causes and learn more about pressing social issues at the Seattle Social Justice Film Festival.
SSAFF: Seattle South Asian Film Festival
Celebrate South Asian cinema at the 11th annual Seattle South Asian Film Festival, with screenings of 23 feature films (and 22 shorts) at many locations across Seattle. This year, they'll highlight films from Bangladesh and celebrate the theme #LoveWins.
Roz and Ray
Local playwright Karen Hartman's medical thriller is about twin boys born with hemophilia. The disease puts the kids at a high risk for contracting AIDS, which in 1976 is starting to spread more widely in America. The boys' father, Ray, is a single parent who obviously wants to keep his boys alive, and Dr. Roz is the pediatrician with a miracle cure: Factor 8. Something goes wrong during the administration of the drug, forcing Dr. Roz and Ray to deal with an increasingly bleak future. In a recent interview, Hartman said she likes to write plays about the parts of life that are rarely dramatized, and this tangled-up bit of medical history fits that bill. Though the play's certainly going to be a bit of a downer, there's sure to be enough humor to balance it out. This world premiere will be directed by Chay Yew. RICH SMITH
SATURDAY
COMEDYHannibal Buress: The Hannibal Montanabal Experience
Super-popular stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress is hilarious as Lincoln on Broad City, but his solo act is arguably even strongerâif you haven't heard it already, definitely look up his bit on Bill Cosby.
Nathan DiPietro and Margie Livingston
Two Neddy winnersâNathan DiPietro (2016) and Margie Livingston (2010)âwill speak about their work at this event presented in conjunction with the exhibit Neddy Artist Awards: 20 Years.
Playing with Pride
What does sexuality have to do with gaming? What's the point of LGBT game conventions? Do same-sex romance options matter? And can gamers find love on Grindr? Over the last two years, my partner and I interviewed more than 100 queer gamers across the country, capturing their stories on video. Join us for a showcase of the best stories from gamers caught between worlds, building communities, and changing gaming for the better. And stick around after the presentation for drinks, games, and a raffle with great prizes, courtesy of Seattle's lovely local queer geek groups. MATT BAUME
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
MUSICHansel & Gretel
You might consider parting with hard-earned cash on this one, and not just because Engelbert Humperdinckâs adaptation of the Grimm tale hasnât been performed at Seattle Opera in 23 years and who knows when it will come again. No, itâs because of this particular production, reviewed tantalizingly (and glowingly) by The Guardian: âIn Laurent Pelly's witty 2008 production for Glyndebourne⊠the tale becomes a gleefully ghoulish satire on consumerism, in which the forest is a maze of dead trees... HĂ€nsel and Gretel's family are forced to live in a cardboard house following economic collapse; the Witch's gingerbread residence is a free-for-all supermarket; and the children who are freed at the end, after the Witch is thrown into her own ovens, are obese, having gorged themselves on the supermarket's high-sugar, high-fat goodies.â Plus! The Witch is played by a man, in Seattle Peter Marsh. At Glyndebourne it was Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, who âplays her as a murderous matriarch, sharpening her knife, stripping down to her underwear, revealing wisps of mouldy hair under her wig and a ladder of bodyhair rising up her abdomen.â I sincerely hope Seattle receives a ladder of bodyhair. JEN GRAVES
SUNDAY
READINGS & TALKSBryan Cranston
Actor Bryan Cranston is touring around the country with a new memoir, A Life In Parts. In the book, Cranston reflects on all the acting strategies and life experiences he used to embody Breaking Bad's Walter White, an antihero with the emotional depth of Tony Soprano and the fashion sense of your next-door neighbor from back home. Those who watched the show might know that Breaking Bad is in some ways about Walter White learning to become Heisenberg. But of course Heisenberg was inside Walter White the whole time. Does that mean Walter White was secretly inside Bryan Cranston the whole time? Is Bryan Cranston a reverse nesting doll ouroboros actor with a face carved from stone? The only way to find out is to hear him talk about the book and his character, LIVE, with Sherman Alexie, who is the perfect person to untangle Cranston's method mind-fuck. As a poet who had a novelist inside of him who had a children's book author inside of him, Alexie might identify with Cranston's many striations of selves. RICH SMITH
Nerd Grinder
Nerd Grinder is a swap meet/market offering comics, movies, toys, games, and more.
