OPENING AND CURRENT RUNS
ALINA AND THE DISPOSABLE ARMY
Final week. “The problem with Alina and the Disposable Army is, remarkably, not its content (young girl journeys through post-apocalyptic maze searching for lost love) but its intent (pale, naked, shivering allegory). Thanks to some shrewd production design, the story, set in a not-too-distant future where the “Suits” (read: Republicans) live in a “shining city on a hill” (RIP, subtlety) and everyone else is either dead, brainwashed, or a scared hippie, translates to the tiny stage without a hitch. But maybe that’s just because we’ve heard it all before. For a brand-new play, Alina and the Disposable Army feels painfully old-fashioned. Our heroine is a helpless wimp, her man a steadfast hunk, and the teeming masses (all named Joe) might as well be washing down their soma with some tasty Victory Gin. Playwright Mallery Mackay-Brook does some lovely things with language (Alina describes “before” as a time of “airplanes and continents,” “swimming pools and art,”) but her heavy-handed admonishments of modern-day evils like organized religion and—gasp!—materialism are just annoying. The play’s unforgivable closing monologue, which wraps up devastating global conflict in a few sentences, is basically just a big stinky pile of propaganda. It’s like Left Behind for liberals, except without the flying, fire-breathing scorpions. Bummer.” (Lindy West) Strike Anywhere Productions at Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 579-7313. $10. Thurs–Sat at 8 pm. Through June 25.
THE AWAKENING
Final week. “Contrary to the press release, goofy musical numbers do not ‘enhance’ Kate Chopin’s ‘feminist classic.’ I don’t know what to say about the school-dance-squad choreography (the ensemble flaps their arms, the ensemble cradles invisible babies), except to note that no movement director allowed her name to be listed in the program. The script uses all the flat pronouncements in the novel, letting everything strange or blurry fall by the wayside. The polymorphous sensuality is gone. There’s hardly any racism. The only thing that kept me in the theater was to see how badly they’d botch the end, when Edna walks into the sea. It was just as awful as I’d feared.” (Annie Wagner) Book-It Repertory Theatre at Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St, 216-0833. $15–$30. Thurs–Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. Through June 26.
BORN YESTERDAY
Opening. This satirical comedy about politics, written by Garson Kanin in 1946, is about a floozy named Billie Dawn (Jennifer Lyon) who hires a D.C. journalist to improve her untutored mind. Warner Shook (The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?) directs. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St, 292-7676. $10–$54. Opening Thurs June 23 at 7:30 pm. Fri at 8 pm, Sat at 2 and 8 pm, Sun at 2 and 7:30 pm, Tues–Wed at 7:30 pm. Through July 17.
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
See review this issue. Exchange Theatre at Seattle Public Theater, 7312 W Green Lake Dr N, 425-254-0090. $18–$20. Thurs–Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. Through July 10.
CLUBFOOT, OR, TALES FROM THE BACK OF AN AMBULANCE
“Clubfoot is less a play than a series of stories about working in a Seattle ambulance. Three actors reading from music stands perform vignettes about frail, wounded, or frivolous people who are funnier (and more pathetic) than you’d expect. A successful collaboration between Bret Fetzer (playwright) and Stephen McCandless (EMT), Clubfoot grabs our attention with lurid details about body mold and bloody injuries, but its reflections on evolution, sociology, and the ontology of pain give it satisfying ballast.” (Brendan Kiley) Capitol Hill Arts Center, 1621 12th Ave. Tickets available at the door only, $10. Thurs–Sat at 8 pm. Through July 2.
DEFENDING THE CAVEMAN
This mid-’90s relic by comedian Rob Becker is about the supposed prehistoric propensities of the two sexes, and is performed by former Portlander Isaac Lamb. There was no excuse for this show then; there’s none now. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St, 292-7676. $35–$39.50. Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat at 5 and 8 pm, Sun at 3 pm. Through July 10.
DINNER & DREAMS
Ongoing. The summer edition of the rabidly successful dinner-theater/circus hybrid launches this week, with tap dancer Roxanne Butterfly and chanteuse Debbie de Coudreaux. Teatro ZinZanni, 2301 Sixth Ave, 802-0015. $89–$109. Thurs–Sat at 6:30 pm, Sun at 5:30 pm.
DREAMS, OH DREAMS
An original play written and directed by Caleb Penn, about a man who wakes up in the morning to discover he’s lost his faith in reality. Produced by the Backwards Company, a theater group composed of current Cornish students. Open Circle Theater, 429 Boren Ave N, 360-990-0320. $6. Thurs-Sat at 8 pm. Through July 9.
FEELING ELECTRIC
Final week. Village Theatre’s new musicals program mounts Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s dark comedy about depression. Village Theatre, 303 Front St N, Issaquah, 425-392-2202. $8–$10. Thurs June 23 at 8 pm.
INVINCIBLE SUMMER: A NEW MONOLOGUE BY MIKE DAISEY
One night only. Mike Daisey premieres a new monologue about New Yorkers, their Metrocards, and the history of the subway system. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St, 292-7676. $10. Tues June 28 at 8 pm.
JUNGLE: A HOBO PLAY
Final week. “One gets the sense that playwright and co-director Tim Barr has brushed up against the hobo universe, but he has failed to translate the experience for the stage. Jungle follows four star-crossed bums as they ride the rails and reunite in a hobo camp (or jungle). H lost a fortune in the stock market (and has some unexplained issues with his wife), Billy is a thug, Handbag Betty has secret family money and an inexplicably large sexual appetite, and Knuckles (the only believable hobo onstage) is an old railroad sage. The conceit is interesting, but the play is overwrought and takes itself too seriously. The writing is awkward, there’s too much chatter that doesn’t help us understand anything, and the characters and action are confusing. Why is a poor little rich girl riding the rails? Why is she so horny? What was Knuckles doing with that buried bundle of money? Why does everyone look so clean?” (Brendan Kiley) Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave, www.brownpapertickets.com. $12–$15. Thurs–Sat at 7:30 pm. Through June 25.
LATE-NIGHT CATECHISM
Ongoing. Long-running interactive Catholic-school comedy, in which a nun tells you everything you need to know about your everlasting soul. Cloud 9 Productions at ACT Theatre, 700 Union St, 292-7676. $24.50–$29.50. Thurs–Sat at 8 pm, Sun at 2 pm.
THE MUSIC MAN
Meredith Willson’s musical about a scam man and a very clever librarian. Village Theatre, 303 Front St N, Issaquah. 425-392-2202. $26–$42. Thurs–Fri at 8 pm, Sat at 2 and 8 pm, Sun at 2. Through July 3 at this location.
MY BOAT TO BAINBRIDGE
“This one-man show by Matt Smith is an extremely low-key tribute to a middle-aged crisis of heterosexual masculinity. Mainly this tired theme takes the form of a creepy obsession about his pet dog’s severed testicles, but there’s also a good deal of lame nostalgia for the Seattle of yore, and frequent mimicking of birdcalls.” (Annie Wagner) Market Theatre, 1428 Post Alley, 781-9273. $15. Fri at 8 pm. Through August 19.
QUICKIES, VOLUME 6
Final week. “Quickies is an uneven collection of six short plays. Two were quite good (The Same Thing, about a man meeting his female doppelganger in a supermarket, and Sacajawea, profiling the hilariously hard-assed guide in Lewis and Clark’s flotilla of pansies), one was okay, and the rest were forgettable. Quickies shone brightest in its interludes between plays—a ridiculous dance break, a satire of improv games, and a segment for the actors to show off disturbing talents (I’ve never seen lips stretch like that before). Sometimes fewer plays and more play equal better theater.” (Brendan Kiley) Live Girls! Theater, 2220 NW Market St, www.brownpapertickets.com. $15. Fri–Sat at 8 pm, Sun at 2 pm. Through June 26.
THE RITZ
Final week. “June is gay season, and here, to celebrate, is a very shitty gay play set in the gayest of settings—a bathhouse. The central gag (I mean, premise) in this tedious production of Terrence McNally’s tedious sex farce, The Ritz, is that a gangster checks into a bathhouse to hide from his hot-headed, gun-wielding brother, although the gangster has no idea what actually goes on inside such places. He thinks it’s a place for bathing! Hilarity ensues! At least, hilarity is supposed to ensue. What actually ensues is a convoluted mess of bad dialogue delivered by a cast of floundering actors, none of whom are listening to each other and some of whom shouldn’t be wearing as little as they’re made to wear. I hate to be mean, but come on.” (Christopher Frizzelle) Open Circle Theater at Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 382-4250. $10–$14. Thurs–Sat at 8 pm. Through June 25.
SEX IN SEATTLE, EPISODE 11: THE ULTIMATE DATING CHALLENGE
Final week. “In this installment of Sex in Seattle (a soap opera detailing the relationship woes of four Asian-American women), it’s the men who carry the weight of the show. Ray Tagavilla, as the hissable sudser villain Harold Chinn, is notably engaging. The female characters seem rather static this go-round, except for the charming, punky-dorky Tess (Audrey R. Fan). The entanglements are tricky for newcomers to intuit at first, but we’re eventually spoon-fed exposition as the characters go to the Muckleshoot Casino (see, because dating is like gambling, cough-cough…). There are genuine laughs of the dating-farce variety, well paced and affably shameless. This sort of thing is critic-proof: SIS begins with the characters in turmoil and ends with them in different types of turmoil, and the ride is a lot more spirited than two hours of television. It’s not thee-yay-ter, but it’s sugared-up fun.” (Paul Constant) SIS Productions at Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 325-6500. $8–$12. Fri–Sat 8 and 10:30 pm. Through June 25.
STUPID KIDS
Final week. “A lovingly crafted ode to 1980s teen-dom, Stupid Kids brings that world of awkwardness and self-conscious bravado to triumphant life. There’s not much of a story (just a pair of flimsy, interlocking love triangles), but it serves its purpose: creating a framework for an extensive catalogue of nostalgic ’80s minutiae. The kids—two are popular and straight, two are not—write poetry (“I am a lone, loner, lonely, alone. Inside myself.”), spout SAT words like they’re going out of style, and break it down to totally awesome live jams. Overhead projectors and bad poetry aside, though, what really makes Stupid Kids worth watching is its sincerity. Sure, the characters are basically cardboard cutouts; they are silly, but they are not absurd.” (Lindy West) Empty Space Theatre, 3509 Fremont Ave N, 547-7500. $10–$40. Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri at 8 pm, Sat at 2 and 8 pm, Sun at 2 and 7:30 pm. Through June 26.
THREE SISTERS
See review this issue. Intiman Theatre, 201 Mercer St, 269-1900. $10–$46. Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri at 8 pm, Sat 2 and 8 pm, Sun at 2 and 7:30 pm, Tues–Wed at 7:30. Through July 9.
THREE PLAYS BY THORNTON WILDER
One week only. The Rehearsal and Performance class at Freehold Theatre performs three short plays by Thornton Wilder: Infancy, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden and Pullman Car Hiawatha. Freehold’s East Hall Theatre, 1525 10th Ave, 323-7499. Donation. Thurs–Sat at 8 pm, Sun at 2 pm. Through June 26.
THE UGLY AMERICAN
Final week. “Mike Daisey’s newest monologue is a mostly lighthearted scrapbook narrative—the classic story of an American abroad, with a soft parody of college theater on the side. By the end of the evening, though, the bumbling thespian routine has split open, revealing a much darker, more interesting core of violence and jealousy.” (Annie Wagner) ACT Theatre, 700 Union St, 292-7676. $30. Thurs–Sat at 8 pm, Sun at 3 pm. Through June 26.
DANCE
CARMONA FLAMENCO
One night only. Flamenco at Porta Greek Taverna, 2245 Eastlake Ave E, 860-0284. $10. Sat June 25 at 8 and 9:30 pm.
LINEAGE DANCE
One night only. A California dance company specializing in benefit performances for charitable organizations. This week they’re raising money for the very worthy Northwest Harvest. Freehold’s East Hall Theatre, 1525 10th Ave, 625-0755. $15. Wed June 29 at 7 pm.
SLICE
Final week. An evening of modern dance with choreography by Aiko Kinoshita (an excerpt from the forthcoming Remnants) and Cheronne Wong (the premiere of the dance-theater piece The Waiting Room). Velocity Mainspace, 915 E Pine St, 325-6500. $10–$14. Sat–Sun at 8 pm. Through June 26.
LATE NIGHT
AN EVENING WITH WENDY PEFFERCORN
Final week. A sketch comedy show promising “high-brow and low-bow [sic] humor.” Does that mean they can kiss their knees? Garage Band Theatre at Northwest Actors Studio, 1100 E Pike St. Tickets available at the door only, $8. Sat June 25 at 10:30 pm.
SWING-IT MIDNIGHT REVUE
A late-night comedy and music show, from the folks at Jet City Improv. Historic University Theater, 5510 University Way NE. $5 at the door (18+ w/ID required). Sat at midnight. No closing date set.
IMPROV & COMEDY
MIKE URYGA, HARROLD GOMEZ at Comedy Underground, 222 Main St, 628-0303. $12. Thurs at 8:30 pm, Fri–Sat at 8:30 and 10:30 pm. JET CITY IMPROV at Historic University Theater, 5510 University Way NE, 325-6500. $8–$10. Fri at 10:30 pm, Sat at 8 and 10:30 pm. THEATRESPORTS at Market Theatre, 1428 Post Alley, 781-9273. $8–$12. Fri at 10:30 pm, Sun at 7 pm.
SPECIAL EVENTS
ACCOUNTABILITY & THE ARTS: TO (C)3 OR NOT TO (C)3?
One night only. Shunpike presents a discussion about nonprofit incorporation, led by Putnam Barber. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St. Free. Mon June 27 at 7 pm.
FURNITURE PLAYS
One night only. A reading of a new work by Keri Healey. Kitchen Stories is a series of short, linked plays set in kitchens and living rooms, and is site-specific, though the eventual site (a “Puget Sound suburban location”) has yet to be identified. Seattle Dramatists at Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave. Tickets available at the door only, $2. Mon June 27 at 7 pm.
GREEN NIGHT
Two nights only. A staged reading of a new script by John Kaufmann, about honor, sacrifice, and weather balloons. Kristina Sutherland directs. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center, 201 Thomas St, 860-2870. $8. Thurs–Fri at 8 pm. Through June 24.