Impossible Maps Questions Life and Grief Through Dance
Impossible Maps, a dance concert choreographed by C. Asa Call and performed at Yaw Theater, explored the ever-agonizing experience of grief and how, despite its wretched terrain, it can and must be navigated. Under a mythic lens, it interwove expressions of humanity’s despair with the mourning of Earth’s seasonal cyclical deaths and its inevitable final destruction.
And the 2025 Gregory Award Winners Are…
October 27, 2025, marked the 25th annual Gregory Awards held by Theatre Puget Sound. Performers, designers, and theatre makers and lovers all filed into Town Hall Seattle decked in their finest fashion for a night to celebrate the artistry and creation of the performing arts. After an hour to mingle, socialize, and give toast to the year’s winner of the Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award (John Bradshaw), guests gathered in the pews of the Great Hall for the start of the ceremony.
One Night, Many Stars: Gregory Awards Fill Town Hall Seattle with Camaraderie, Joy
On the evening of Monday October 27, actors, theater crew, directors, and producers (along with their families and friends) gathered at Town Hall Seattle for The Gregorys. Twenty-five years of celebration and recognition from and for the theatre community, the theme apt and invited dazzling outfits: One Night, Many Stars.
STUFF Kicked Off with Hilarious, Mundane, Relatable Trans Moments
Seattle Trans Underground Film Festival (STUFF) held its first viewings on October 16, 2025, at the lovely Northwest Film Forum. I had the honor to snuggle into a cozy theatre amongst a host of creative Queer and Trans individuals to watch the festival’s first double feature, CW’s Laughtrack and Henry Hanson’s Dog Movie. There were many laughs and a few tears shed, especially at the films’ closes, where both received minutes-long applause.
The Little Foxes: A Haunting Examination of Fractured Community
October 16 was Opening Night of The Little Foxes at the Erickson Theatre in Capitol Hill. Directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell, this fall show is a collaboration between Intiman Theatre and The Feast. The play runs through November 2. Written by Lillian Hellman in 1939, The Little Foxes is set in the early 1900s, and follows a fractured southern family at war with each other over money. With a Gothic sensibility and a satirical, sharp wit, the play feels very contemporary and relevant to reality now, despite approaching a century in age.
On the Boards’ What Is War Shows Us What Our Televisions Do Not
What Is War, devised by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui, told a gut-wrenching story of the sufferings of women within war-torn nations, one which has been endured by generation after generation since before antiquity: that of brutality, sexualization, and objectification.
Jeffrey Combs Indulges Nerds at Neptune for Re-Animator’s 40th Anniversary
Released in 1985, Re-Animator was loosely adapted from H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 novelette, “Herbert West—Reanimator,” and while I would gladly change my legal name to “Official Lovecraft Hate Account,” I try not to hold the association against the movie. Director Stuart Gordon, whose background was in theater, originally planned Re-Animator as a stage production. Then it evolved into a television pilot, which was expanded into a feature film.
Masculinity Interrogated at Local Sightings Film Fest
Local Sightings Film Festival returned to Seattle for its 28th year from Sept. 19-28 at Northwest Film Forum. I was able to catch the second weekend of the festival and view three feature-length documentaries from Pacific Northwest filmmakers as well as the All in My Head horror shorts. A tendency in the weekend’s selections was examining large-scale social issues from a personal place, following people enmeshed in the heart of these issues. I noticed a clear thread in several of the films I saw: They contained powerful interrogations of masculinity.
Commingling at HUMP: Festival Newbies and Veterans Savor Sexuality on Screen
Upon arrival, we mingled, got in line for the bar, and sat in the lobby chatting about the excellent playlist, the overall vibe, and any preconceived notions (of which there were few). Once the doors to the theater opened, we meandered in, a perk of arriving early and secured seats that would allow for the optimal middle-of-the-theater view. We tried to answer the trivia questions as they popped up on the screen, the preshow displaying information about the sponsors as well as information for submitting a film to HUMP! for next year.
HUMP! Redefines Community with Humans’ Most Basic Instinct
On The Boards hosted the “pervs” of Seattle for part two of its 20th anniversary year. Submissions from all over the world to our backyards were carefully curated down to a selection of erotic short films that have a little bit of everything for everybody. And at least one thing that expands your mind to possibilities previously unthought of.
For Colored Boyz Beautifully Presents Black Men in Their Own Words and Worlds
On September 5, I attended the West Coast premiere of For Colored Boyz (On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown/When Freedom Ain’t Enuff), written by Bryan-Keyth Wilson with direction by Lynette Winters and Ry Armstrong and choreography by Jimmy Shields. Brought to us by The Underground Theater, the play was described as a choreopoem, utilizing poetry, movement, and music to detail the unique intersectionality of being a queer Black man in America.
Witness Immersive Experiments with Seattle Audiences in The Double
Witness Immersive is a New York and London based company which has spread its innovative creativity to various cities around the country. Its second show in Seattle, The Double, performed by a stellar local cast, brought an interdisciplinary performance medium to the city which has thus far gone mostly untapped—immersive dance theatre.
Hardware Electronic Artists Connect Communities in Seattle’s Live Music Scene
At 10 p.m., Seattle music project monocot.zip, composed of longtime friends Ryan Tucker and Luke Pendergrass, took to the stage and began their set. When their first notes hit the speakers, the crowd drew closer, because what was happening on stage was something you wanted to watch just as much as dance to.
The Grown-Ups Whimsically Lacks Production Maturity
In all our lives, there comes a frightful day when catastrophe strikes. We look around the room to find support from the nearest adult or superior, as we have always done, but when we do, we realize with great suddenness: Oh no. We are the adults in the room. The Grown-Ups, written by Simon Henriquez and Skylar Fox and originally devised by Nightdrive, took its humble place as Dacha Theatre’s third mainstage show of their season. It toured parks and campfires in and around the Seattle area, bringing its nostalgic story to a widespread public.
Boba Fest Revitalizes Summer in U District
On July 19, the U District, which boasts over 20 boba-centric establishments, hosted Boba Fest. It was a celebration of this delicious drink and the avid fan base around it. To wander between the shops was to hear deep discussions of what kind of boba is best with what tea and what savory snack pairs well with the sweetness.
Birds of Play Hatches Whimsical Fun at Seattle Public Theater
The show is a packed variety hour (and a half) featuring all manner of dance, illusion, aerials, and comedy. Oh yeah—and birds. At the start the audience is notified that the show might be different and more interactive than they are used to: “Things may happen above you, or behind you…and if you’d like to show your approval, feel free to do a little bird call.”
Friday Afternoon Tea an Inclusive Respite for All Communities
I closed out Pride Month by attending the fabulous and charming Queer Talent Show at Friday Afternoon Tea in Wallingford. This Queer and woman-owned business is a wonderful location with kind and knowledgeable staff, and their get-together for the end of Pride was cozy, loving, and all-around magical. Owned by the amazing Friday Elliott, Friday Afternoon Tea is quite simply the place to be.
Dark and Tender: Healing Black Men with The CUT Project
Aaron Johnson (he/him) is on a mission, the type of undertaking that comes to you through lived experiences. Ben Wilson (he/him), the producer of and participant in the short film Dark and Tender, invited me to attend the film’s screening at the Seattle Black Film Festival. The film, which aims to be a larger documentary, tells the story of the CUT Project.
SAAFF Highlights Deeply Human Experiences with Excellent PNW Filmmaking
The Seattle Asian American Film Festival returned for its 13th year this month. The festival was composed of several programs, including an opening night centered on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, a Native Hawaiian Showcase, and a Queer AF Shorts collection. Another highlight of the festival was the Bring it Home: Pacific Northwest Shorts program, held on June 21 at the Broadway Performance Hall. Featuring 11 films, the program was a celebration of the diversity of AAPI experiences in the Pacific Northwest.
SAAFF Opening Night Welcomes Community, Calls to Action
The 2025 Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) kicked off its two days of in-person screenings on June 20 and continues virtually through June 29. The opening night screened Reflections & Legacies, a feature-length compilation of films focused on stories of refugees and immigrants of Southeast Asian communities into the United States. While only a few hours of programming in a shorter-than-usual SAAFF, the evening captured a deeper sense of meaning and community than its schedule would suggest.
