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| Vertical Hour at ArtsWest, Dimitriou at BAASat SAM | |
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by Milton W. Hamlin -
SGN A&E Writer ARTSWEST EXPLORES POLITICS WITH SEATTLE PREMIERE OF HARE'S VERTICAL HOUR ArtsWest, the ambitious and very dedicated theater in West Seattle, is committed to producing "artistic events so fiercely compelling they ... improve the imagination and promote cultural vibrancy." Thus reads part of the group's mission statement. The current production, David Hare's "electrifying new play," The Vertical Hour certainly meets ArtsWest's goal. Described as "a provocative tug of war" between a Yale journalism professor, a woman who once worked with George W. Bush to advocate the Iraq war in 2002, and her future father-in-law, a "growling Brit" who is opposed to the war, to Bush, to the United States and, more and more it seems, to his son's choice of wife. The play was a hit in London where the British playwright is extremely popular. On Broadway, "star casting" made the questionable box office choice a hit with serious theater supporters - and with fans of an incandescent Julianne Moore making her Broadway debut. Provocative subject matter (politics, Bush, Iraq) combined with Hollywood glamour (GLBT theater fans flocked to see Moore, a GLBT icon from her work as the wife of a closeted Gay man in Far From Heaven) and a highly publicized limited run (the "see it now" philosophy) miraculously combined to turn The Vertical Hour into a modest hit - critically and financially. ArtsWest has an uphill battle with the award-winning play. It continues at the handsome West Seattle theater for one more week, through October 4. The casting is strong - Annie Lareau and Kevin McKeon turn in solid performances, Carol Roscoe's direction is totally on target and the ArtsWest production crews do fine work. The play arrives in Seattle for its Emerald City debut as an unknown element - even friends who "loved" the Broadway production had no recall about the plot; they simply loved seeing Julianne Moore in person. Roscoe directed last year's The Retreat From Moscow at ArtsWest, and Hour shares much in common with that earlier, unlikely Broadway hit. Much has been made of the fact that the play never discusses it main topic - the war in Iraq - in a direct manner. That can be a subtle plus for many. It can also be a confusing muddle for many - including season subscribers who "buy the whole package" (as one woman near us noted) and "just trust ArtsWest to do good shows." Seattle critics have been kind to the show. One paper noted, "the verbal thrusts and parries are sexier than most graphic love scenes." Another championed, "given the proximity of the election, the theme of the drama struck a piercing chord with the audience." Another praised the cast for making "the most of Hare's flair for agile, dialectical discourse between intellectual equals." Hare's "dialectical discourse" is best illustrated by one line of dialog - the future daughter-in-law explains that "politics is about the reconciliation of the irreconcilable." Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre had a hit last season with Hare's Stuff Happens and fans of that work should make Hour a must-see. Ticket information and performance times are available at the ArtsWest box office - (206) 938-0339. CARLA DIMITRIOU EXHIBITS SHAPE SHIFTED WORKS AT BAAS ART GALLERY Carla Dimitriou's new art exhibit, Shape Shifted, continues at the Baas Art Gallery on East Madison through October 31. The group of new works, many of them "encaustic paintings," is well worth a visit to the intimate gallery and frame shop at 2703 East Madison. The encaustic paintings in the exhibit use a centuries-old technique of mixing the paint pigment with hot wax and painting the canvas while the wax is still molten. It's an incredibly hard technique to master but gives the finished work a remarkable depth. A similar technique coats a finished work with translucent wax, but that is a totally different approach. Dimitriou, "a local favorite," is a graduate of Cornish College of the Arts and has a recent MFA from the Vermont College of Norwich University. She has exhibited at the Baas gallery many times. Her current works "incorporate spiritual and iconographic imagery" with unusual materials - textual fragments, book pages, photographs, and even fortune cookie fortunes. There is a tongue-in-cheek quality to many of the works - a long narrow panel shows sheep number in a sequence with the last few out of numerical order. The fortune cookie work - a visual delight - is titled You Have A Keen Sense Of Humor And Enjoy A Good Time. It was one of the first works to sell in the show's opening week - for $1800. A favorite of this scribe, The Last Sermon Of The Mount, shows Christ in multicolored, diamond patterned Harlequin robes with sheep tumbling off the mountain precipice. Check with the Baas Gallery for hours and details - (206) 324-4742. Dimitriou and her husband, John, are owners of Seattle's Jazz Alley. It's a fun - and rewarding - exhibit. Check it out. THE LAST FIVE YEARS ENCORES AT REACT, RUNS THROUGH OCTOBER 5 Jason Robert Brown's two-character chamber musical, The Last Five Years, is enjoying an encore run at ReAct Theatre. It plays through next weekend at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre in the University District. The show was a hit for ReAct several years ago and the encore production replaces Defiance, a highly anticipated drama from the author of Doubt. ReAct hopes to stage Defiance in the future. Look for a detailed review of The Last Five Years in next week's SGN. With such a short run of a replacement show, ReAct asked Bits&Bytes to "help get the word out." Ticket info at (206) 364-3283. |
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