September in Seattle doesn’t just mean plenty of rain—it also means plenty of art events, performances, and festivals. Many of these events will sell out, so you’re strongly encouraged to buy tickets now for the events below, including Fremont Oktoberfest, a Neil deGrasse Tyson lecture, the 70mm Film Festival, and Seattle Musical Theatre’s new show (featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda). If you want even more options this month, make sure to check out our list of 74 September concerts to buy tickets for, or our complete Things To Do calendar.
THROUGH SEPT 10
Hooded or Being Black for Dummies
Does voting for members of a political party who want to rid universities and workplaces of affirmative action, who pay lip service to white nationalist groups, who push for voter ID laws, and who generally advocate for economic/policing systems that disadvantage black people make a black person less black? That’s one of the many questions Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm asks in his West Coast premiere of Hooded or Being Black for Dummies. These young theater artists want to participate in a conversation about blackness in Kent. Join them. RICH SMITH
SEPT 7
Norm Stamper with Deborah Jacobs
Author and former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper will speak about his new book, To Protect and Serve, and speak about his ideas for structural reorganization that will make law enforcement more equitable. He will be joined by Deborah Jacobs, the director of the King County Office of Law Enforcement Oversight.
SEPT 7-OCT 2
Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White
Stranger Genius Valerie Curtis-Newton told me over the phone that she would “crawl across glass” to produce Alice Childress’s Wedding Band: A Love Hate Story In Black and White, a play about an interracial relationship in the Jim Crow South. Back in 2013, she directed Childress’s Trouble In Mind, which former Stranger Theater Editor Brendan Kiley raved about in his review for the show, and directing this one will mean that, over the course of her career, Curtis-Newton will have directed all of Childress’s plays. How are you not going to be there to witness that? Wedding Band serves as the bookend drama for Intiman Theatre Festival, which has focused on plays written by black women. RICH SMITH
The Winter’s Tale
Seattle Shakespeare Company presents William Shakespeare’s absorbing “problem play” The Winter’s Tale, so called because of its mishmash of comedy and brutal drama.
SEPT 8
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s emergence as one of the smartest, soberest, and most nuanced voices in the non-stop “cultural conversation” should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his heroic life and career. The fact that he is also one of the greatest athletes who ever lived (for my admittedly small money the very greatest) only deepens the pleasure of his third act as a writer. At this event, Abdul-Jabbar will discuss his new book, Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White. (Not to be confused with his other recent book, the novel Mycroft Holmes, about Sherlock’s smarter brother!) SEAN NELSON
SEPT 8-OCT 8
Rhinoceros
You’re probably going to spend a lot of time while watching Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s production of Eugène Ionesco’s classic absurdist play thinking, “Okay but do the rhinoceroses stampeding all over this French town represent Trump supporters, or do they represent Bernie Bros, or do they represent Hillbots perfectly enacting the Democratic nominee’s vagenda of manocide?” And then once you figure that out you’re going to be thinking, “Alright well, is this funny and pointed parable about the rise of the 20th century’s worst -isms a critique of the idea of the state of political discourse or a critique of incrementalism, or…” By the end of the show you’ll either think that Rhinoceros is EXACTLY the play we need to be seeing right now or EXACTLY the play we don’t need to be seeing right now. RICH SMITH
SEPT 9-10
Cider Summit Seattle
Do you want to drink a bunch of the Northwest’s most esoteric and delicious cider and raise money for good causes while doing it? Of course you do. Cider Summit Seattle, at the South Lake Union Discovery Center, brings you cider from the likes of Reverend Nat’s and Sea Cider, as well as vittles from Capitol Cider. While these types of things can be a little Portlandia-y, if you can stomach the toe shoes and doggy moms (that’s right, there’s onsite doggy daycare), you’ll get the chance to swill such delicacies as Sea Cider’s Prohibition Rum Barrel cider, a personal favorite. Nick Jarvis, bar manager at the Carlile Room, included it on the drink pairings for his inaugural and excellent Rough Draft pop-up, and it was a revelation. My opinion of cider went instantly from, “That watery shit with a poorly drawn Ent on the bottle that I never drink,” to, “Every bit as complex and rich as your favorite craft beer.” TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
SEPT 9-19
70mm Film Festival
Put down your phone, close your laptop, and surrender to the splendor of 70mm cinema in the retrofuturist movie cathedral that is the Cinerama. Not much unites the films in this 10-day festival (coupla Kubricks, a pair of PT Andersons) other than their commitment to MAGNITUDE, but several are essential viewing. I know it’s an old saw, but I will say it again: seeing a film in a darkened theater with strangers is a secular sacrament. The fact that you can’t pause, talk, text, or tweet until it’s over is a measure of its value. Please enjoy it while it’s still available. (And if you must pick one, the answer is always Lawrence of Arabia.) SEAN NELSON
SEPT 9-OCT 2
Working
Studs Terkel’s book Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, is a brilliant, best-selling depiction of the American workforce and how they as individuals relate to both their daily lives and the nebulous concept of “work.” The 1977 musical, based on the book, combines Terkel’s social commentary with music from geniuses including Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor—and this production, from the 2012 version of the show, will feature new songs by the hottest composer of the moment, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
SEPT 12-20
2016 Rooftop Dinner Series
Enjoy the warm summer weather (and clear views of mountains and the sound) during the last few iterations of Bastille’s twice-weekly rooftop dinner series. The groups are small—under 10 guests—and the food is super local, often harvested directly from the rooftop garden.
SEPT 17
Drunk vs High
Decide once and for all which is a better comedic performance enhancer (or destroyer) at this competition that pits booze and weed in the ultimate showdown of the vices. Each team will be limited to a substance; just watch where the rest of the night goes.
Maria Bamford
The incredibly popular and talented comedian Maria Bamford—whose new show Lady Dynamite is now out on Netflix, and who Stephen Colbert called his “favorite comedian on planet Earth”—will make you laugh.
SEPT 18
Paul McCarthy and Mike Kelley: Heidi
Watch a collaborative film by artists Paul McCarthy and Mike Kelley based on the children’s novel Heidi. The film promises to tackle big issues: it “questions sexually repressive social hierarchies, challenges the conventions of horror films, and examines mass media portrayals of family life.”
Word Works: E. Lockhart
Bestselling author and National Book Award finalist E. Lockhart (who wrote the Ruby Oliver series for young adults, beginning with The Boyfriend List) will speak about the use of experimental techniques and stylized language in writing for young adults.
SEPT 19
Ann Patchett
In addition to writing seven novels and a brilliant collection of essays (This is the Story of a Happy Marriage), for which she’s won numerous awards (PEN/Faulkner, Guggenheim Fellowship, a spot on TIME’s list of 100 Most Influential People in the World 2012), Ann Patchett founded Parnassus Books, which saved Nashville from living in a town without an independent bookstore. Her latest book is Commonwealth, which is a close-to-home novel about a dysfunctional family told from multiple points of view. Dysfunctional how? The first sentence reads: “The christening party took a turn when Albert Cousins arrived with gin.” So, catholically. She’ll read as part of the 2016-17 Seattle Arts & Lectures Literary Arts season. She has a bright and engaging stage presence, and she’s not afraid to tell a humorous side-story (or five) over the course of a reading. RICH SMITH
Mary Beard: A Revisionist History of Rome
Famous Cambridge University classics professor Mary Beard—known for making history scholarship accessible, as well as the “controversies” that include her positive remarks about immigrant workers—will speak about her newest book, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome.
SEPT 21
Mara Wilson: Where Am I Now?
Mara Wilson (who you will probably recognize as the child actress from Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire) will read from her debut book Where Am I Now?, a series of autobiographical essays.
SEPT 21-22
Neil deGrasse Tyson
The world’s most popular scientist/astronomer and the Director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City will deliver his wisdom at the Paramount.
SEPT 22
The Trump Card
This one-man show, created and performed by Mike Daisey and directed by Isaac Butler, will take on the man that is currently our nation’s most high-profile and deeply worrying celebrity: Donald Trump. The performance promises to “[break] down what makes Trump tick—and in doing so [illuminate] the state of our American Dream and how we’ve sold it out.”
SEPT 22-25
Bridge Over Mud
Bridge Over Mud is an unsettling and immersive performance/installation, with strange sounds, abstracted projections, and movable sculpture made up of 195 feet of elevated train tracks, 11 motorized vehicles, 60 speakers, and 30 micro-controlled motors.
SEPT 22-OCT 23
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.
SEPT 23
Akhil Reed Amar: Understanding ‘The Constitution Today’
Legal scholar and professor Akhil Reed Amar will read from his new book, The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era, which addresses “the most important constitutional controversies of the past two decades,” including the Second Amendment and same-sex marriage.
SEPT 23-25
Fremont Oktoberfest
At Fremont Oktoberfest, you’ll have the chance to try more than 80 different microbrews in their sports bar and “Buxom Beer Garden,” and enjoy a festival-style celebration of beer and Lederhosen. In keeping with tradition, kids are absolutely invited on Sunday, when they’ll have children’s activities, games, music, and more.
Steamposium
It’s a three-day celebration of all things steampunk, so bust out your finest clockwork corsets and reserve some zeppelin parking down at the waterfront. The weekend’s schedule includes tea tastings, costume balls, burlesque shows, panels on everything from absinthe to penny dreadfuls, celebrity meet and greets, dance lessons, and a steampunk parade.
SEPT 23-OCT 1
BenDeLaCreme’s Inferno-A-Go-Go
Have a blast while traveling through Dante’s Inferno with BenDeLaCreme’s new solo show, Inferno-A-Go-Go, featuring song, puppetry, and comedy.
SEPT 23-OCT 2
Tricolore
Choreographer Benjamin Millepied (known for his work with the Paris Opera Ballet) will return to PNB with two works, Appassionata and Three Movements, followed by Balanchine’s Symphony in C.
SEPT 23-OCT 10
Revolt. She said. Revolt again.
This Washington Ensemble Theatre production will be the West Coast premiere of the play, which is supposed to be a powerful, absurd-funny, polyvocal, multimedia-y, 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 role language plays in shaping our perceptions and expectations of women. RICH SMITH
SEPT 24
2016 Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival
Try a wide variety of artisanal and farmstead cheeses from Washington at this festival (with beer and wine, of course) offering seminars in addition to food and cheese samples.
14th Annual Stranger Genius Awards
For the 14th year in a row, The Stranger will recognize local talent and accomplishment in art, performance, literature, film, and music, awarding a total of $25,000 to some of our region’s most dedicated and exciting artists. This party is spectacular, whatever happens. I don’t know of anywhere else you can go to watch film, music, art, performance, and literature artists in your own city hang out together. See you there. JEN GRAVES
SEPT 25
Razia Jan: Educating Girls in Afghanistan
Humanitarian Razia Jan—known for her work establishing connections between Afghans and Americans, and for founding Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation and the Zabuli Education Center—will speak about “her award-winning humanitarian work, from having to convince fathers to allow their daughters to learn and protecting her school against threats of terrorism while helping her students imagine a new way of life.”
SEPT 26
Jonathan Safran Foer: Here I Am
I’ve been hearing mixed reviews about Here I Am, the first novel in over a decade from award-winning author and Natlie Portman confidante Jonathan Safran Foer. Christian Lorentzen from Vulture calls it “a Philip Roth novel in the style of a Hallmark card.” But Publisher’s Weekly gave it a star and calls it an intensely “imagined and richly rewarding novel.” Where you fall along that spectrum will likely depend on whether you thought Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close were masterful, genre-bending works of postmodern beauty or twee as fuck. There’s only one way to find out. RICH SMITH
SEPT 27
2016 Election: How Did We Get Here?
The roller coaster of this election cycle has baffled statisticians, pundits, and the American public. Learn about party shifts, polarization, and more at this panel featuring Christopher Sebastian Parker, Ph.D. (UW professor of political science), Mark A. Smith, Ph.D. (UW professor of political science), Margaret O’Mara, Ph.D. (UW associate professor of history) and author Rick Shenkman.
Brett Finlay: Let Them Eat Dirt
People are starting to cotton on to the idea that our collective fear of germs and obsession with anti-bacterial products might not be super effective in making our society healthy. Microbiologist Brett Finlay will speak at Town Hall and back up those inklings with solid science, and discuss his book—co-written with Marie-Claire Arrieta—Let Them Eat Dirt. (What a great title.)
SEPT 28
Bianca Del Rio
The most vicious RuPaul’s Drag Race winner of all time, Bianca Del Rio, will come to Seattle on her global comedy tour.
SEPT 29
Omnivorous 2016
Try bites and drinks from more than two dozen Capitol Hill chefs, restaurateurs, bartenders, distillers and roasters at this event hosted by Capitol Hill Housing.
SEPT 29-OCT 9
The Holler Sessions
This “live radio show” is a celebration of jazz music (also a “jazz primer for the uninitiated”) hosted by an eccentric Kansas City DJ.
SEPT 30
David Quammen: America’s Wild Heart
Learn about the first (and arguably most impressive) national park, Yellowstone, from bestselling science writer David Quammen, who will speak about the park in the context of his new book, Yellowstone: A Journey Through America’s Wild Heart.
New Orleans Food & Funk Festival
Celebrate the food and music of New Orleans at this festival featuring “Big Easy” bites from a variety of local restaurants (like Restaurant Roux and Toulouse Petit) as well as musical performances by local and NOLA-based artists, including Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Polyrhythmics, and Ural Thomas & the Pain.
SEPT 30-OCT 2
Macefield Music Festival
The legacy of Edith Macefield lives on for the fourth year of Macefield Music Festival, a typically rowdy weekend of live music and going buck in Ballard. The line-up features locally and internationally renowned heavy-hitters like Zola Jesus, Psychic TV, Industrial Revelation, Fly Moon Royalty, and many more, at several supportive venues across the neighborhood.
SEPT 30-OCT 30
A Raisin in the Sun
This 1959 play about family and segregation, written by Lorraine Hansberry and directed by Timothy McCuen Piggee, is set in Chicago’s South Side, and is said to have “changed American theater forever” (New York Times).
