Recent Stories with tag seattle repertory theatre

Russell Hodgkinson and Charles Leggett. Photo by Chris Bennion.

"First prize is a Cadillac. Second prize is steak knives. Third prize? You're fired." That iconic line from David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross is one of the most easily recalled by those of us who've seen the all-star film version. This line is completely absent from the play, of course, as it belongs to Blake, a character written into the film by Mamet for Alec Baldwin. For those who've only seen the film, it is at first difficult to imagine it without Baldwin's character. Blake is a brusque, dominating figure whose jarring speech to the salesmen at the beginning of the film startles first-time viewers into understanding they're in for something a little different.

Happily, my little worry about no Blake was for naught. Moments after the curtain is drawn, Blake never existed.

For the uninitiated, Glengarry Glen Ross (Seattle Repertory Theatre; runs through the 28th; tickets $15-$59) is the story of four inglorious Chicago real estate agents driven to desperate acts in an attempt to keep their jobs.

As the audience moves about, finding their seats or standing in the aisle chatting, the curtain is wide open, an impressive set visible to all. It's a slightly run-down office mere feet from the El train. File cabinets, cardboard boxes, and four nondescript desks make up the main floor, and metal stairs lead up to a private office where a man in a necktie and suspenders pokes around, sifting through papers and smoking a cigarette. He's a mere curiosity at first, until the house lights begin to slowly come down and people rush to take their seats. Our man walks down the stairs, casually flipping lights off as he moves through the office. The audience finally becomes silent. He dons his jacket and puffs on his cigarette a few more times before opening the front door, hitting the final light switch, and walking out of sight. And with the thud of the door closing behind him, the theatre goes black. ...

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Erin Stewart as Diwata in "Speech & Debate" at Seattle Rep. Photo by Kathryn Barnard.

You don't mean to spark an argument by asking where the Franklin High School main office is, but since you've addressed the question to a couple of high school boys, you recognize the possibility.

"Go up those stairs and take a right," a pudgy kid in a striped shirt tells you.

"No it's left, you idiot," says his skinnier friend. "The main office. You're thinking of something else."

"Oh."

You thank them, feeling bad for the pudgy kid and vaguely annoyed at the skinny one. Kids can be cruel, which, if not the message of the high school comedy Speech & Debate, running through February 21 at the Seattle Rep (tickets $12/$30-$52), is certainly a key principle. You're here to meet Erin Stewart, who plays proud teenage dork Diwata in the play.

Stewart does not need directions to the office, because she—like smooth sax superstar Kenny G, current U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, and reigning NBA 6th Man of the Year Jason Terry—is a graduate of Franklin High. Stewart, Class of 1999, arrives wearing a long black sweater and tells you that she hasn't been back to these halls since she graduated. "Like nine years," she says. "No wait. Ten. No eleven, I guess." A pause. "Wow."

"Where should we go," you ask her. "Is there any part of the school that means something to you?"

Erin suggests The Little Theater, where all the drama kids hung out. Classes have just ended, so she leads you through the mass of students hurtling through the halls, down the main stairs and along a long hallway. Midway you stop near a metal door. It's closed, but with classes out you take the risk and open it. Inside, kids scurry about, while in the center of the room a stylish woman with bright red lipstick barks the occasional order. This is Mary Smith, Stewart's old drama teacher....

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Shag (Anthony Heald) takes notes as his actors flesh out his script (from left, Gregory Linington, John Tufts, Jonathan Haugen). Photo by Jenny Graham.

It's your last weekend to see Equivocation at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (7:30 p.m. Fri-Sun, with a 2 p.m. showing on Sat-Sun; $12-40). The play really comes down to the three Bills: writer Bill Cain, director Bill Rauch, and protagonist Bill Shakespeare. But this isn't the Shakespeare you think of, the erudite playwright who just happens to be the Best Writer EVAR. Nope, Equivocation's Shakespeare is known as "Shagspeare" or just "Shag," a guy who's still struggling with his craft, who has family issues and writer's block and deadlines just like the rest of us. And he's played by Anthony Heald, who you immediately recognize as That Guy, since he's been in everything. (He played the weaselly principal on Boston Public as well as the weaselly doctor from Silence of the Lambs.)

Equivocation premiered last year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and everyone involved remains intact for the Rep run. The nearly three-hour play is ostensibly about Shakespeare writing a new work. He's still workshopping King Lear when King James' chief adviser, the hunchbacked Sir Robert Cecil, approaches him to commission a play about the King defeating the perpetrators of the Gunpowder Plot (that's Guy Fawkes, et al, attempting to blow up Parliament, if you haven't seen V for Vendetta). The Bard tries to dramatize this non-event, but he finds it challenging to write a play that's nothing more than political propaganda. Because even in the 1600s, no one wants to be a sellout.  Equivocation is of course also about "equivocation," the idea of toeing the line between truth and lie.  It's an important and completely relevant idea, but as a theme, it kinda gets old real fast.  I get it; I have watched the Colbert Report and know all about truthiness, thanks....

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