February’s theater selection includes a company-devised work on a classic, a couple of world premieres, and comic material. There should be something sweet to see for just about everyone.
Buzzer, ACT Theatre co-production with AJ Epstein Presents, 2/2-21/16
Jackson went to all the right schools, has the perfect job, an amazing girlfriend, and they’ve just moved into a high-end, newly remodeled apartment building in his old neighborhood. Except Jackson’s old hood is being completely overhauled into a place that’s barely recognizable and going home again has its drawbacks.
Do It for Umma, Annex Theatre, 2/2-17/16 (Tue/Wed)
A surreal comic detective story. The ghost of Hannah’s recently deceased mother returns to haunt the Korean convenience store she once ran with an iron fist, shaming, cajoling, and needling her daughter into avenging her extremely suspicious death. New play by (local) Seayoung Yim.
Ecce Faustus, Akropolis Performance Lab, 2/5-27/16
This is a company-devised event revolving around the Faust legend and its reverberations in the world today. Imagine Faust selling his soul to the devil and reaping both the pinnacle of his success, and simultaneously the moment he must fulfill his promise and surrender his life.
Weird Romance, STAGEright, 2/5/16-2/20/16 (at Hugo House)
An Alan Menken musical based on two tales of speculative fiction right out of the Twilight Zone. A science fiction double feature exploring love stories outside of time and space, and even the physical body.
In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Burien Actors Theatre, 2/12/16-3/6/16
Dr. Givings isn’t sure exactly how the vibrators help the women he treats, but they keep coming back for more. The only woman he won’t treat is his own wife, who longs to connect with him, but not electrically. One of Sarah Ruhl’s best plays.
Julia, On The Boards, 2/12-14/16
Brazilian theater artist Christiane Jatahy will be visiting Seattle with an updated version of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie. The story of class, love, sex, and death is updated to contemporary Rio de Janeiro. The piece is in Portuguese with English surtitles.
Can’t Talk Right Now, Theatre22, 2/23,24/16, 3/1,2,7,9/16, at 12th Ave Arts
Written by local playwright Scotto Moore, the play is about Amanda, the host of a late night radio show, who finds a 20-year-old answering machine in a thrift shop, and is captivated by the cryptic and anxious messages on the device. She sets out to unravel the mystery of the voicemails, searching for the woman who left them and the woman who never heard them – and discovering the unlikely impact they had on each other’s lives.
