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MONDAY
READINGS & TALKSKaren Thompson Walker: The Dreamers
Sci-fi writer Karen Thompson Walker, whose 2012 debut novel, The Age of Miracles, received much acclaim, has returned with a second novel, The Dreamers, in which a strange virus invades a small university community, sending its victims into deep, seemingly endless sleep filled with powerful dreams. Writer Robin Black called it "a thing of beauty." Hear the author read live.Â
Seattle MLK, Jr. Day March and Celebration
Garfield High School's annual day of events, which will take place in partnership with the Womxn's March, celebrates the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. with an opportunity fair, workshops, and pre- and post-march rallies. This year's event is in support of I-1000, which would "redefine affirmative action as providing equal opportunities through recruitment, hiring, outreach, training, goal-setting and other methods designed to increase diversity."
MONDAY & THURSDAY-SUNDAY
PERFORMANCEB
The letter "B" stands for "bomb" in this 90-minute thriller by Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón. Two young, nonviolent female anarchists consort with a veteran anarchist named Jose about the best way to disrupt a capitalist system that has led to rampant economic inequality, giving us a look into the personal motivations that drive violent political action. Jay O'Leary (who previously staged Welcome to Arroyo's) directs this production from Washington Ensemble Theatre. RICH SMITH
MONDAY-SUNDAY
FOOD & DRINK99 Reasons to Stay Downtown
At the various restaurants that comprise his empire, Tom Douglas presents just shy of a hundred compelling reasons (read: happy hour deals, drink specials, and menu items) to choose happy hour in lieu of rush hour, from the "Tear Down This Tiramisu" at Cuoco to the "Traffic Is Not-So-Awful Falafel Waffle" at Assembly Hall.
TUESDAY
FILMWild & Scenic Film Festival
See environmental, nature, and adventure films on tour from Nevada City's Wild & Scenic Film Festival while eating and carousing.Â
Matia Dinner Series at Barjot
This dinner showcasing the bounty of the San Juan Island archipelago will feature dishes like lardo with quince and dandelion root crisp and lamb doughnuts with celeriac and rosehips, as well as optional wine pairings and wine by the glass.
Six Pack Series: Burn It Down
Take it away, Rich Smith: "Six Pack is my favorite reading series in town. First and foremost, I love the crowd: They're typically pretty sauced and rowdy, but also fully prepared to have a good public sad. Second but also very important: Every time I go, I discover at least one incredible local writer/performer who I've never seen before, or at least one writer/performer who I love but who is trying out something new and exciting due to the demands of the series." This year's event will feature The Stranger's own digital editor Chase Burns, comedian Brett Hamil, art historian Emily Pothast, playwright Meme Garcia, hiphop artist MartĂn Sepulveda, and poet Maisha Manson. All will be inspired by the theme of "Burn It Down." Snag yourself a free ticket by posting a picture on the Facebook event page of yourself "at a time when you wanted, needed or did BURN IT DOWN."
Salon of Shame
Writing that makes you cringe ("middle school diaries, high school poetry, unsent letters") is read aloud with unapologetic hilarity at the Salon of Shame.
TUESDAY-SATURDAY
PERFORMANCEBohemia
This "macabre and mystical" cabaret-style musical from Mark Siano and Opal Peachey, set in 1890s Prague, features the music of DvoĹĂĄk and Chopin and art nouveau by Alphonse Muchaâplus "beautiful green fairies, aerial numbers, dance, burlesque, classical piano battles, comedy, and original songs." If that's not enough, there will also be "absinthe service" (complete with spoons, sugar, and ice fountains) at intermission in the front-row VIP sections.
Andrew Wapinski
Anyone with a period who has at some point woken up to find an accidental blood stain on their bedsheets might recognize the forms in Philadelphia artist Andrew Wapinskiâs work. But instead of uterine lining and embarrassment, Wapinski melts blocks of pigmented ice onto canvas, allowing this natural process to shape the final outcome of the piece. Though completely still, thereâs a sense of movement, of liquification, of ooze. These organic (read: yonic) and abstract forms against Wapinskiâs stark and contained backgrounds are strangely satisfying for your eyes to slide all over, likeâwhat if youâd just left your sheets stained? What could you have created? JASMYNE KEIMIG
Closing Saturday
Danny Giles: The Practice and Science of Drawing a Sharp White Background
Chicago-based artist Danny Giles is interested in a lot of thingsânamely, how to address âthe dilemmas of representing and performing identity and interrogate histories of oppression and creative resistance.â Using sculpture, video, and live performance, Gilesâs work doesnât necessarily give answers but pushes us to ask questions about police surveillance, understandings of race and identity, and the relationship between state power and anti-black violence. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Opening Tuesday
Laura Castellanos: Bodega (Love Materials)
Thereâs a sort of spiritual and spooky element to Laura Castellanosâs workâitâs as if her paintbrush is divining some message from a god(dess) who is at once benevolent and strange, gaudy and all-seeing, lover of both bright green and blood sacrifice. Castellanos is turning ArtXchange into a giant interactive âbodega,â partially re-creating her truly legendary studio space inside the gallery. The exhibition will include everything from paintings to hand puppets, fine art to toenail clippings (just kidding on that last one). Iâve heard there will be some budget-friendly pieces, so save up and bring a sturdy bag! JASMYNE KEIMIG
Closing Saturday
WEDNESDAY
COMEDYCamel Toe Comedy
A new comedy night in the back space of Mama's Cantina hosted by Clara Pluron of Hot Takes with Hot Dykes. The kick-off will feature delightful local favorites like Dan Hurwitz, Abraham Tadesse, Aisha Farhoud, and Erin Ingle.Â
Challenging Gender: The 2019 History Lecture Series
In this series of four lectures, UW history faculty delve into issues of power, gender, and love in settings from medieval France to Mughal India to 1960s America. Tonight, Purnima Dhavan will give a talk titled "Switching Gender: Love, Desire, and Ethical Debates in Mughal India."
Tessa Hadley: Late in the Day
When 50-something Zachary dies, grief tears not only at his wife Lydia but also at their friends Alex and Christine. The widow moves in with Alex and Christine in what turns out to be a fateful decision, waking old quarrels and emotional snarls. Tessa Hadley is one of Wales's best-known and most-laureled novelists and short-story writers.
WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY
PERFORMANCEIl Trovatore
Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore is famous for one of the silliest plots in all of operaâno mean featâbut also for its rousing choruses, gorgeous coloratura arias, and heroic numbers. The production involves a love triangle, a long-simmering revenge arc, and an old witch who's accidentally thrown her own baby on a pyre. Christopher Frizzelle called it "Extremely satisfying," but be warned that there might be a few long scene changes. He writes: "Mind-bogglingly, this pause in the dark lasted even longer than the first pause in the dark. And then something completely unexpected, something hilarious, something I'd never heard in all my years of going to Seattle Opera, happened. A voice cried out into the dark of McCaw Hall. Someoneâit sounded like a male voiceâsaid into the silence, directed at whatever was going on behind the scrim, 'Do you need some help?'"
No performance on Thursday
WEDNESDAY & SUNDAY
PERFORMANCEChop Shop Experience Dance Program
The Chop Shop: Bodies of Work dance festival offers free dance workshops for all abilities every year as a prelude to its main event in February. This year, there are two programs: "Reading Dance," in which choreographers give insight into the artistic creation process in contemporary dance; and "Introduction to Modern Dance," which focuses on movement.
WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY
PERFORMANCEBonbon
The slinky dancers of Pike Place's kitschy cabaret return with another tasty show. Ever wanted to ogle athletic dancers twirling from chandeliers inches from your face? Go. There's also a family-friendly brunch version that you can guiltlessly take your out-of-town relatives to.
Dear Evan Hansen
All I know about this show is that I very badly want to see it, it won a bunch of Tony Awards, and itâs about how social media can really screw up peopleâs lives. Iâm so there. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE
Hollywood & Vine
Enjoy a vintage and magic-filled tribute to Tinseltown with the 20-year-old circus troupe Teatro ZinZanni as they perform in their new Woodinville space.
I Do! I Do!
Get ready to weep nostalgic tears at the Village Theatre's production of a multiple Tony Award-winning musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, which portrays 50 years of a loving marriage.
THURSDAY
COMEDYOphira Eisenberg
The host of NPR's Ask Me Another and Housingworks' The Moth is also the author of the comedic memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy. Hear her crack jokes live.
The Woggles / Bingo & G / Farty Platter
The Woggles will come all the way from New Zealand to bring you their ex-Wiggles (the kids' show) improvised humor, followed by sets by kooky couple Bingo & G and disillusioned party-goers Farty Platter.Â
The Magic Lantern of Ingmar Bergman
Swedish visionary film director Ingmar Bergman would have been 100 this year. His deeply introspective, unabashedly emotional, despairing yet strangely life-affirming oeuvre will once again be onscreen at Seattle Art Museum (in association with the Nordic Museum). Oh, hey, and theyâre showing one of the most traumatizing movies about relationships ever made, Cries and Whispers, on Valentineâs Day. Happy coincidence? On tap tonight: the hallucinatory horror film Hour of the Wolf. JOULE ZELMAN
Wining Around with Elsom Cellars
Have you ever wanted a closer look at the workings of a winery? At this event hosted by Foundation (a community organization dedicated to creating experiences based around âlocal creatives, producers, and scholarsâ) and Intentionalist (a Seattle start-up that provides an online directory to help consumers choose small businesses owned by diverse communities), youâll learn about the operations of award-winning urban winery Elsom Cellars via an interactive class, tour, and tasting led by a winemaker. JULIANNE BELL
Tush
Glamorous/campy drag mavens Betty Wetter, Miss Texas 1988, Angel Baby Kill Kill Kill, Beau Degas, Cookie Couture, and Babyguuurl will enliven the South End with some saucy fun.
Ha Jin: 'The Banished Immortal' and 'A Distant Center'
The great, National Book Award-winning author's biography of the eighth-century Daoist poet Li Bai (aka Li Po) is a tale of wandering, beauty, and gorgeous writing. Jin will also read from his book of poetry, A Distant Center.
Short Story Form and Function: Five Seattle Short Fiction Writers in Conversation
Short stories may get less of the glory and press than novels, but they're nonetheless vital. Hear from five prominent local writers for a talk on the craft of penning the short 'n' sweet.
Z-Sides
Jekeva Phillips has been all over the place. Earlier in the fall, she helped run Lit Crawl Seattle, which was well attended again this year. A few months before that, she ran Bibliophilia, a summer festival that pairs Seattle writers with improv performers to create a series of readings you actually want to attend. And now she's launched a new TV series, produced by Word Lit Zine (which she also runs) and Seattle Colleges Cable Television (which is maybe the only thing she doesn't run). At Northwest Film Forum, she'll be hosting a screening of the show. RICH SMITH
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
COMEDYYes Anderson
Run out of Wes Anderson movies to watch? Scratch that quirky itch with a brand-new "film" acted out by improv performers.
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
PERFORMANCEEverybody
This show looks like a fun mess. At the beginning of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Pulitzer-shortlisted revival of a 15th-century morality play, none of the actors know which role they're going to play. Actors playing the characters God and Death randomly select the roles for the other actors, and the show gets underway. Ben Brantley at the New York Times called the first run "self-consciously whimsical and repetitive," but he didn't seem to say it in a mean way. Strawberry Theatre Workshop's production features some actors who are good on their feetâJustin Huertas, Lamar Legend, MJ Sieberâand so I have every confidence that they'll be able to turn this "work in progress," to use Brantley's terms, into an exuberant romp about the inevitability of death. RICH SMITH
Brian Sanchez: Idle Urge
Which is longer: a century or 100 years? Abstract (or nonrepresentational) artists began to disrupt the art world a little over a century ago. But wait. That was only 100 years ago, which sounds like yesterday. Like then, we find ourselves in a similar place politically and culturally, motivating artists to break with representing reality. (Although we may never be able to claim to be in a âpostwar eraâ again.) In his first solo show at Treason, Brian Sanchezâs abstract, color-saturated paintings step into a century-old tradition with a 21st-century vocabulary. KATIE KURTZ
Closing Saturday
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
FILMChildren's Film Festival Seattle
The Children's Film Festival is founded on two premises: 1) Children are not stupid and 2) they deserve beautiful world cinema just like us grown-ups with underused film degrees. The organizers at Northwest Film Forum believe that art can do heavy lifting for "racial equity and diversity, inclusivity, social justice, [and] global awareness" through brilliant storytelling and lovely sound and imagery. Special events this year include a sing-along with The Muppet Movie (1979), a live score by Miles and Karina for The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Lotte Reiniger's 1926 animated film, and a silhouette-animation installation for kids in the lobby.
Barleywine Bacchanal
Barley wines are a particularly potent style of beer, boasting a whopping 6 to 11 percent or 8 to 12 percent alcohol by volume. Tap into your hedonistic side with the 16th edition of this annual festival highlighting the âbiggest, boldest brews born between Bellingham and Belgium (and elsewhere),â which will feature more than 70 hefty barley wines over the course of four days, with 30 dedicated taps and a new selection each day. Proceed at your own risk. JULIANNE BELL
We Are Here: Intiman Emerging Artists
Discover fresh work by new theater-makers from Intiman's Emerging Artist program, including Alexandra Kronz and Cassandra Leon in "Fat Chance! & Regresando," Steven Tran and Aaron Jin in "asian|american," Sara Geiger and Laurie Lynch in "Do You, A Journey Home," Chris Quilici and Alfonso "Ponch" Campos in "Never Did It," and Kenju Waweru and Greg Kleciak in "The Color of Our Hearts." They promise contemporary themes as well as such diverse images and elements as "beards, stand-up comedy, Grandmas, child dance competitions, Duolingo, queer motherhood, pastors, La Croix, race as a construct, classical piano, first date blues, AND SO MUCH MORE."
FRIDAY
COMEDYCaptain / Memory Lane by Yesterdayâs Cake
The five improv players of Captain will make you laugh with their unrehearsed set before Memory Lane by Yesterday's Cake sets the following scene: "You open your fridge after a long day, just to find serendipitous cake! It brings you back to a memoryâsomething sweet and fluffy. Tell us about memories from your past that you haven't revisited in far too long, and we will spin it into a fully improvised story, full of laughs and songs and wiggles and shenanigans."
One-Handed Clap / Just Richard / Baby Henry and Friends
Enjoy some unscripted comedy based on audience suggestions from One-Handed Clap and bursts of delightful and horrifying "fatherly energy" from Baby Henry and Friends.
Friday Night Po'Boy Pop-Up
Estelitaâs Library on Beacon Hill is an exciting community hub, library, and bookstore owned by community organizer and activist Edwin Lindo, and it's packed with titles related to social justice. At this Friday night pop-up, you can scarf poâboysâthe legendary Louisiana sandwich served on fluffy, crunchy-crusted New Orleansâstyle French breadâstuffed with your choice of catfish, shrimp, or oysters. Round it out with a side of homemade crinkle-cut garlic fries and sangria while you take in some live music. JULIANNE BELL
An Evening with Sue Monk Kidd
Sue Monk Kidd, the author of the popular novel The Secret Life of Bees (since adapted into a movie and currently being developed as a play), will speak about her literary and personal life.
Robert Burns Night with Traquair House
"Here's a bottle and an honest friend! / What wad ye wish for mair, man?" Celebrate the Bard of Ayrshire, the 18th century Scots bard, with a Robbie Burns lookalike performing poetry and songs and two brews from Scotland Traquair House Brewery. One of them is the coriander-spiced Traquair Jacobite Ale, which was "first brewed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Scotland's 1745 Jacobite rebellion."
Exhibitions Opening Reception
Buy a drink and celebrate three exciting new exhibitions at the FryeâTschabalala Self, The Rain Doesnât Know Friends from Foes: Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian, and Cherdonna Shinatra's DITCHâat a public reception.
Winter in the Park: Free Art Encounters
Peek into Pacific Northwest Native artists' creative processes at free "Art Encounters" led by artists-in-residence Christine Babic and Alex Britt, who will explore the gap between contemporary and traditional Indigenous works through a combination of performance and installation.Â
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
PERFORMANCESeattle International Dance Festival: Winter Mini-Fest
Shura Baryshnikov (Rhode Island), Gabriel Forestieri (NYC), and Danny Tan (Singapore) will join Seattle's Khambatta Dance Company for two weekends of "internationally inspired" dance performances.
Whim WâHim: 3 x 3
Choreographer Zoe Scofield was the co-recipient of the 2013 Stranger Genius Award in performance for her inventive, angular, rebellious style. (She also won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2015.) She'll join the dance company Whim WâHim as choreographer for this triptych, alongside Yin Yue, founder of New York's YY Dance Company, and WW director Olivier Wevers.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
VISUAL ARTTschabalala Self
In the first solo museum presentation of her work on the West Coast, New Haven-based Tschabalala Selfâs art resists the norms of traditional portraiture. Dealing with the âiconographic significance of the Black female body in contemporary culture,â the figures in Selfâs work both accept and reject the stereotypes and fantasies surrounding the Black female body. They are not there to instruct or reprimand, but to simply be. At once garish, cheeky, and thought-provoking, Selfâs use of collage gives the paintings a textured look that makes you want to reach out and touch them (donât, though). JASMYNE KEIMIG
Opening Friday
SATURDAY
PERFORMANCESeattle Stories: A Public Radio Showcase & Listening Party
KUOW and the Seattle Collective will present 10 stories told by 10 emerging audio producers, all produced in seven days. The program features a Korean immigrant teacher-turned-violin-virtuoso, a live-aboard in Seattle's houseboat community, a local barber for the LGBTQ+ community, an after-school writing program, and more. An audience Q&A will follow.
West End Girls
West Seattle's reliably weird pageant, hosted by Cookie Couture, will bring queer cheer. See the finest looks from Betty Wetter, Fraya Love, Londyn Bradshaw, Old Witch, Titi Baby, Vincent Milay, and Cranberry.Â
Sam Lipsyte: Hark
Foul-mouthed New Yorker and brilliant literary satirist Sam Lipsyte cracked everyone up in 2010 with his novel The Ask, which detailed the rapid decline of a university administrator. Now he's back with Hark, a story about a cult leader by the same name who attracts adorably dopey, deeply flawed, and alarmingly bleak disciplesâsimilar to the protagonists you may have met in his earlier novels. The joy of reading Lipsyte lies in his roller-coaster sentences. Within a single paragraph, he toggles between extremesâhigh and low diction, abstract cultural critique and gritty realist imagery, humorous and brooding tonesâbut his command of the language is such that you never feel like you're getting jerked around. Also, he seems to hate the rich. What's not to like? RICH SMITH
Tuan Nguyen: Open when you forget
The objects Seattle-based artist Tuan Nguyen makes are often a bit hard to wrap your mind around because of the way he mixes his mediums, creating things that are borderline scary. Graphite pencil on gesso and wood morphs into a humanlike figure curled up beneath a black membrane. Acrylic, oil paint, and sawdust transform into a creature that looks like it washed up from the sea. Taking the title from a private note his eight-year-old daughter wrote to herself, Nguyenâs most recent show, Open when you forget, explores how the fleeting and inconsequential inform our subconscious and actions. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Closing Saturday
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
VISUAL ARTCherdonna Shinatra: DITCH
Cherdonna Shinatra is a drag performer, dancer, choreographer, and generally fun lunatic. Her drag shtick is that sheâs a woman playing a man playing a woman, which used to be a radical idea but has now become pretty run-of-the-mill. Which is great! That said, Cherdonna is more than a woman playing a man playing a woman, sheâs a performance artist dedicated to interrogating how the female body is consumed by the male gaze/gays. Her new work at the Frye, DITCH, will create immersive DAILY performances that are COMMITTED to making the world happy in a time of Trump. If anyone can do that impossible task, Shinatra and company can. CHASE BURNS
Opening Saturday
The Rain Doesnât Know Friends from Foes: Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian
The Dubai-based Iranian artistsâthe Haerizadeh brothers and their friend Hesam Rahmanianâtransform internet news images through painting and animation in an interrogation of mass media consumption, violence, and voyeurism. For this exhibition, they show two animations combining photographs of migrants striving to reach Europe with "painterly patterns, fablelike animal imagery, and surreal mirroring effects."
Opening Saturday
SUNDAY
COMEDYMiddleditch & Schwartz
Improv unfolds on the big stage when Emmy-nominated Thomas Middleditch (Richard Hendricks on Silicon Valley) and Emmy-winning Ben Schwartz (most famous for playing Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on Parks and Recreation, but also in House of Lies and co-author of Things You Should Already Know about Dating, You Fucking Idiot) put on a two-person longform show.
Pop-Up Mimosa Bar
Spend your Sunday mornings sipping mimosas with Chateau bubbles and your choice of juice.Â
Themed Sunday Brunch: Vegas Buffet
If what happens at this Vegas-style brunch stays at this Vegas-style brunch, we guess you'll have to refrain from telling your friends how much you enjoyed Chef Eric Rivera's late-morning buffet spread.Â
