Leaving Iowa, currently playing at Taproot Theatre, is a classic family story, celebrating one family's road trips across America.
Our reviewer Bethany B recently wrote: "Leaving Iowa is the perfect example of the family vacation without any pain at all--just extra hilarity!" If ever there was a show to see with your parents and siblings, this is the one.
And to help that, Taproot Theatre has just announced that for TONIGHT only, Friday June 1st, any card-carrying Teen Tix member can purchase additional tickets for $10. So head up to Greenwood, purchase your $5 Teen Tix ticket for tonight's show, bring along the adults in your life, and they'll receive $10 tickets. Score!
Review of Otelo Burning at Seattle International Film Festival by Olivia O.
What is freedom? It’s 1988, and the fight against apartheid in South Africa is at its peak. Narrated by Otelo’s friend New Year, Otelo Burning tells the story of how two friends find their freedom through surfing as black South Africans fight to find their freedom from racism.
Although it has many of the elements of a sports movie, like the training montage and the rookie underdog winning the big championship, Otelo isn’t necessarily a feel-good film. The fact that the protagonist is named Otelo is no coincidence – the movie has many parallels to Shakespeare’s Othello, including a feeling of an epic tragedy. One character tells New Year, “Freedom costs...people have to die.” The film shows the true cost of liberty, both political and personal. There are moments of humor but many more moments of heartbreak.
Otelo is brilliantly acted and directed. Even though the language and culture in the movie are unlike anything I had ever experienced, the scrapbook pages that mark a new “chapter” in the movie and the water on the camera lens during some of the surfing scenes gives it an intimate feel that makes you feel like you are being shown the characters’ home movies. The young actors who play Otelo, New Year, and Otelo’s little brother Ntwe are just wonderful. They create fully realized characters that are likable but still flawed humans.
Apartheid is not something that we Americans know much about, but for a very intimate and human look at an important time in South Africa’s history, I highly recommend Otelo Burning. It may confuse you, it may surprise you, and it will definitely leave you thinking about what it really means to be free. Otelo Burning Seattle International Film Festival Friday, June 8 | 3:30 PM | Pacific Place
Saturday, June 9 | 6:30 PM } Pacific Place
Director Sara Blecher scheduled to attend both screenings $5 at the door with your Teen Tix pass
Review of Leaving Iowa at Taproot Theatre by Bethany B.
Kim Morris, Ian Lindsay, Robert Gallaher and Helen Harvester
Photo by Erik Stuhaug
Do you remember your last family vacation? Late night drives, annoying siblings, everlasting heat, 20 hour drives, and trying to fit in between the front seat and the trunk was exhausting enough to start a chorus of “Are we there yet?” fast and furiously. But after we got home my parents would still cheer with excitement about next year’s vacation. Vacations are the epitome of family and people you love, as much torture as they seem at the time, and Leaving Iowa is the perfect example of the family vacation without any pain at all--just extra hilarity!
Leaving Iowa creatively manages a family car, flashbacks, and the main plot in perfect order with more than enough amusement for everyone. The day after the play I rushed to my parents and giggled my way through telling them how much they were like the mom and dad in the play to every detail. I also urged them to go the next night, which they did (and they happened to love it). But my parents had an entirely different view of the play than I did, because instead of seeing the parents as mirror images of their personalities they saw the kids identical to their own.
Helen Harvester and Ian Lindsay
Photo by Erik Stuhaug
I feel like most younger siblings (myself included) have pulled the same tricks, but the way Helen Harvester played the part of Sis was simply spectacular. In fact all the cast and production team was simply extraordinary, with my special favorite being Kim Morris, who pretty much summed up the best of adoring mother, but not the way you would expect! To be honest, all the actors were kinda my favorite. Ryan Childers and Jenny Cross both had about ten different parts, from grandparent to part of an Amish market to any passerby that the family met on the road trip. It wasn’t until about the middle that I realized all the creatively strange characters were the same actors!
I think one of my favorite parts of the play was just Taproot itself. Everyone was cracking up together, and it was comfortable. But of course, the best part of all was how much it made me laugh and how eerily spot-on some of the lines were, such as “In our family, fascinating was summer vacation f-word.” And that, plain and simple, is why you cannot miss Leaving Iowa. Leaving Iowa Taproot Theatre
Through June 16
Review of This Wide Night at Seattle Public Theatre by Anika M.
Emily Chisholm and Christina Mastin
Photo by Paul Bestock
This Wide Night at the Seattle Public Theater gives an unflinching and irrevocable look at two women attempting to cope with freedom and fear of regression after being released from prison. While this show doesn’t necessarily have a clear plot, it is heartbreaking, tumultuous, revealing, and ultimately hopeful.
This piece addresses an issue not often seen in media, literature, or art, of an impossible adjustment back into an unchanging and difficult society. Actors Emily Chisholm (who plays Marie) and Christina Mastin (Lorraine) have an undeniable chemistry and tension, which escalates, crackles, and explodes as the show progresses. They display an impressive and shocking range of emotion within the piece, leaving the tone ambiguous and undefinable, giving the audience the ability to interpret independently.
Emily Chisholm and Christina Mastin
Photo by Paul Bestock
The venue allows the audience to confront the piece personally face-to-face, with seemingly little barrier between audience and characters, because of the intimacy of the space, which is absolutely necessary for success within the script. The director, Sheila Daniels, helps to support the silent ferocity in her exciting staging of the piece, which is subtle, strong, and natural, and allows the actors to be real rather than forced and idealistic.
I would highly recommend this show, not because it’s necessarily an extraordinary piece of theatre, but rather because the concept, idea, and dialogue intertwined throughout the show presents a new look at an unadvertised part of a common system, and allowed me to begin thinking about what it means to ask for forgiveness, and what the word ‘change’ encompasses. This Wide Night Seattle Public Theatre
Through June 10
Review of Mozart's Requiem and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at Seattle Symphony by Alden N.
Mozart's Requiem is just one of those concerts that you love if you love classical music, especially the music of Mozart, and of course Gerard Schwarz conducted his arrangement of the piece wonderfully (if you look at the program, you'll know what I mean.) But this was a concert that was perfect for people that have a good amount of patience, because while it was not very entertaining, it was still played very well and very powerfully by the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Symphony Chorale.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by painter Johann Georg Edlinger
Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
This concert could not of come at a more interesting time, since the long-time contributor to the arts, Jack Benaroya, died of Parkinson’s disease recently, and so it was thus dedicated to the late Mr. Benaroya. Even through all the grief Gerard Schwarz must have gone through (and is going through), he still managed to conduct and rehearse the concert excellently, and so I have to give a compliment to the maestro.
Jack Benaroya
Photo by Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times
And, of course, the Requiem was not the only thing performed. The other piece played was Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg played the Mendelssohn traditionally, yet still clearly and with romantic vigor.
This concert is a reminder that if you love classical music, or just want to try the symphony for the first time, you should try their next big concerts, which are Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, and Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, which is a large scale choral work. And if you do not especially like classical music, there is The Matrix projected while the symphony plays the soundtrack. So no matter what art form especially interests you, you should try Seattle Symphony at some point.
Upcoming Seattle Symphony concerts: Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3
June 14 - 17 | more info Morlot Conducts The Damnation of Faust
June 21 & 23 | more info The Matrix Live: Film in Concert
June 28 & 29 | more info
Review of We Are Legion at Seattle International Film Festival by Callan C.
“We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.” These chilling words are echoed in Brian Knappenberger’s documentary We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists as a warning to those who dare challenge the community of hackers known as Anonymous. Although the slogan may give the impression that Anonymous is a dangerous, radical group (which is not entirely undeserved), the film itself is not dominated by such doom and gloom. Instead, it attempts to reveal some of the people that hope to take Anonymous from being a bunch of merry pranksters to something with a larger goal.
We Are Legion gives a fairly clear overview of Anonymous’ origins and history, from its early involvement with internet pranks and viruses (e.g. Rickrolling) to more recent activism supporting the Egyptian revolution and WikiLeaks. Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger also scratches the surface of the legal consequences of so-called "hacktivism," raising questions about whether Anonymous’ strategies are legitimate forms of protest and if the current punishments for such internet attacks are fair. One young hacker who is being taken to court for a “denial of service” attack on Paypal pointed out how she faces an average prison sentence of fifteen years, while the average for a pedophile is only eleven.
While the variety of topics and information that the film covers keeps it moving along at an appropriately brisk pace, it seems at times that Knappenberger has attempted to do too much; for those who are not knowledgeable about hacker culture, there are many references left unexplained. We Are Legion is clearly geared towards the young, tech-savvy crowd, but is not ideal for pre-teens and under due to plenty of expletives and a few crude images. The lack of a narrator adds to the slightly chaotic, all-over-the-place feel of the film (perhaps an intentional choice meant to mimic the loose structure of Anonymous itself); instead, the film is comprised of interviews, which are well-edited to keep the audience from losing focus. The interviewees, many of whom are current or former members of Anonymous, give never-before-heard accounts of their activity; all are fascinating, though I was left wondering if some opinions had been left out. Anonymous is notoriously large, unstructured group with sometimes conflicting ideologies, and it seems impossible that all were represented.
Despite occasional moments of confusion, We Are Legion is an undoubtedly important, educational documentary. Technology is consuming our everyday lives; many of us are on the internet for hours a day, often for trivial reasons. Anonymous is out to prove that the internet can be used as a tool for activism, and We Are Legion is spreading the word. As one hacker put it, “Your opinion matters.” We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists
Friday, June 1 | 9 PM | SIFF Cinema Uptown
Sunday, June 3 | 1:30 PM | Egyptian Theatre
Wednesday, June 6 | 8:30 PM | Kirkland Performance Center $5 day-fo-screening with your Teen Tix pass NOTE: contains course language and imagery
Watch the trailer: (NOTE: contains course language)
Review of Trimpin | The Gurs Zyklus at On the Boards by Sam H-A.
Water dripping from the ceiling, fire making music, magnets causing piano strings to play, three women and a man singing. These are the only few of the many words that come to mind after seeing Trimpin's The Gurs Zyklus.
Through physics and simply using four natural elements, kinetic sculptor, sound artist, and composer Trimpin creates not only a beautiful story, but also a breathtaking array for the ears, and eyes. Set in 1940, The Gurs Zyklus follows the story of a young Jewish boy getting sent from his home to a concentration camp, Gurs, in southern France. Using just four vocalists, and sixty minutes, Trimpin and Rinde Eckert (co-director and writer of the show, along with being an actor) tell the story through words, song, and various instruments, among which are a fire organ (an organ that uses thermodynamics to create sound), various drops of water falling into glass jars, and magnets that make piano strings vibrate (using magnetic fields).
The entire audience is mesmerized by the beauty of everything that The Gurs Zyklus comprises: the story, the visuals, and the sounds that are heard ringing throughout the theatre. The story goes on through the train ride to Gurs, the letters from and to family, the many many memories placed by the hundreds of Jews who died and the few who lived through the terrifying experience.
The Gurs Zyklus is at times beautiful, and at times terrifying. It is a must-see for anyone who likes fire, music, a good story, or any kind of theatre in general. The Gurs Zyklus is closed
To learn more about Trimpin, check out trimpinmovie.com
The reviews on this blog are contributed by our Teen Press Corps. The views expressed in these reviews do not necessarily reflect the views of Seattle Center's Teen Tix or its sponsors or affiliates.
Seattle Center's Teen Tix is a revolutionary arts-access program for teenagers. Anyone who is 13 to 19 years old can sign up for free. Registered members receive a pass that gets them into the Seattle area's best music, dance, theatre, film, visual and literary art for just $5.00!
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