Seattle Spotlight: June 2007

The personal and the political can be found this month on Seattle’s stages. ACT Theatre gets us thinking with David Hare’s Stuff Happens (June 22-July 22), his “quasi-documentary” play which reveals the details of the Bush administration’s backroom wheeling and dealing that led to the war in Iraq.

The New Space Theater offers up a revival of Pvt. Wars by James McLure (June 15-30), which showcases Vietnam vets recuperating in an army hospital telling jokes and fighting their own private wars. Meanwhile, Book-It Repertory Theatre stages a world premiere adaptation of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, the story of the Trueba family woven together with Chilean history from the early 1900s through the 1970s (June 5-24).

At the Intiman, director Bartlett Sher and playwright Craig Lucas continue their investigation into Anton Chekhov’s masterpieces with a new adaptation of Uncle Vanya (June 12-July 18). Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment (June 1-July 15) is explored by Theater Under Ground (at CHAC) with three actors in multiple roles, and Seattle Shakespeare Company takes on the classic comedy, The School for Scandal (June 7-July 1).

To Be Continued Productions stabs at teenage slasher films in the killer conclusion to Seattle’s serial comedy Capitol Hill High, Seeing Red: The Final Period (June 15-30). To further feed your funny bone, consider a visit to the beloved Stephen Sondheim-Burt Shevelove musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (June 1-30) at SecondStory Repertory or Breathing Space, A Sketch Comedy Play (June 8-17) from KPRO Productions.

Other productions of note include Work It Productions’ outdoor performance, Shakespeare on the Troll – As You Like It (June 16-July 15). Daughters of Catastrophe (June 7-30, Mae West Fest) features the difficulty of adult transition in American culture. Backwards Ensemble Theatre Company debuts Children of Divinity about Tyreak Asher and his prophecy to save the world for an evil power (June 22-July 8).

Renton Civic Theatre offers Something’s Afoot by James McDonald (June 1-17), a delightful musical parody of Agatha Christie’s novel Ten Little Indians. Edmonds’ Driftwood Players offers an eclectic array of plays with a pair of one-acts, The Dearest Friends and Spring Dance (June 24-July 2), and Woody Allen’s Don’t Drink the Water (June 15-July 1), which takes place inside an American embassy behind the Iron Curtain where an American family frantically plots their escape.

Finally, young folks might like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (June 15-24), a Stone Soup Theatre youth production of C.S. Lewis’ classic adventures. Tacoma Musical Playhouse presents The Emperor’s New Clothes (June 9-17), Hans Christian Andersen’s delightful musical tale, and Storybook Theater/Studio East serves up its take on the classic novel Tom Sawyer (June 1-10).