Annex Theatre: Season 22
October 17, 2008 – July 18, 2009
 

Our season for 2008-2009 includes 4 mainstage shows, each paired with a Late-Night presentation. In addition, we'll host an out-of-town comedy troupe in December 2008, and a weekend of shows by local writer David Schmader in February 2009. This season continues Annex's 21-year mission of producing new work with 4 World Premieres and 2 Northwest Premieres.

  Mainstage Show
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Late-Night Show
Fridays & Saturdays at 11 p.m.
Fall 2008
October 17 - November 15
The Moon Is a Dead World
(World Premiere)
written by Mike Daisey, directed by Chris Comte
This first play by acclaimed monologuist Mike Daisey (21 Dog Years, Monopoly!, How Theater Failed America) weaves a vision of the brutal history of the Soviet space program with an unbelievable premise: a dead cosmonaut is called back down to Earth on a radio wave when Americans in a remote Arctic base hear the beating of his dying heart. A dark and hilarious fairy tale set against the Cold War, it asks what we risk in the struggle between will and humanity, and what it means to love beyond death itself.
October 24 - November 14
Eating Round the Bruise
(Northwest Premiere)
written by Barret O'Brien,
directed by Ciara Griffin
In a series of skillful monologues that blend comedy and pathos, two actors portray a spectrum of frustration and yearning. The vivid characters range from a liberal civics teacher trying to lift his students out of apathy to a woman struggling to deliver an effective video-dating pitch to a two strangers in an elevator conducting an unexpressed and unconsummated romance.
Winter 2008
Holiday Comedy
December 5 - 20, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm
The Pajama Men
This dazzling comic duo, who were named Best of the Fest in the last Seattle Fringe Theater Festival, return to Seattle with their fluid free-associative theatrics. Comparable to the Northwests' own The Cody Rivers Show, The Pajama Men have been touring the U.S., Canada, and festivals worldwide, gathering acclaim and awards by the fistful. For more information, see their web page.
Winter 2009
January 16 - February 14
Blind Spot
(World Premiere)
written by Bret Fetzer & Juliet Waller Pruzan,
directed by Rachel Katz Carey, with songs by Rick Miller
In the nooks and crannies of her home, eight-year-old Kirsty Vanderkamp discovers a miniature world: Dust bunny farms under her bed, a burlesque show in the butter dish, a gossip magazine called Dish published in the china cabinet, a religious empire centered in the bathroom lighting fixture.

As Kirsty explores and documents this world, she crosses paths with an ambitious social climber named Aura Rotter and a lovelorn farmboy named Iota Potts, who loves Aura more than is good for anybody. If Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez co-wrote a children's play about divorce and NAFTA, it might look a little like Blind Spot. Nine actors play more than 50 roles while a handful of tables and chairs transform into a dozen locations.
January 23 - February 13
Murder, Hope
written and performed by Becky Poole
directed by Carrie Morris
Murder, Hope is a new play based around neurological research, Appalachian murder ballads, family history and superhero mythology, presenting an impassioned collage of compelling characters who all have in common a distinct lack of balance.
Spring 2009
Guest Artist
February 27 & 28
STRAIGHT: A Conversion Comedy
Written & performed by David Schmader
Straight is David Schmader's hilarious and subversive excursion into the world of conversion therapy, where gays and lesbians are reputedly "cured" of their homosexuality and made "straight."

Plunging into the heart of this highly charged territory--from going undercover at "ex-gay" support groups to an intensive crash course in Christian heterosexuality deep in the heart of Texas--Schmader blends an essayist's insight with the spark of stand-up comedy to confront difficult questions, reject easy answers, and get to the bottom of what it means to be "straight."

(SCHEDULE NOTE: Due to unexpected circumstances, our planned spring show Elevator Plays has been postponed. Annex is currently in discussions with Specific Gravity Ensemble about producing Elevator Plays in 2010.)
Spring 2009
April 17 - May 16
Love's Tangled Web
(Northwest Premiere)
written by Charles Ludlam, directed by Ed Hawkins
In the “ridiculous” tradition of Ludlam's Corn and Exquisite Torture, Annex presents the hellzapoppin sex farce: Love's Tangled Web, a lurid melodrama featuring a crippled heiress, a greedy clergyman, a voodoo-practicing nymphet, a randy gorilla, and slamming doors galore. Director Ed Hawkins has helmed some of Annex's most popular shows, including Stage Door and Chris Jeffries’ The Glory Booty Club, as well as comic romps at Re-Bar like DeFlowered in the Attic, Brent or Brenda? and What've We Done To Baby Jane?. Don't say we didn't warn you!
April 24 - May 15
Monolodge Late Night
curated by the Unicycle Collective
The Unicycle Collective, that loose federation of solo performers, presents a late-night version of their popular Monolodge series, featuring 5-6 solo performers spinning out their take on the lurid themes of the prime-time show, Love's Tangled Web. Expect everything from embarrassing autobiography to mind-expanding metaphysics to sheer physical slapstick.
Summer 2009
July 31 - August 29
Annex Theatre and Pony World present
Emerald and the Lovesong of the Dead Fisherman
(World Premiere)
written and directed by Brendan Healy
Annex and new theater group Pony World collaborate to bring you the new work from Brendan Healy (creator of The Secret Recordings of Lenin to His Lost Love Mary Ann of Topeka, KS) that merges Seattle history with his own freewheeling imagination as a green-haired barista seeks her fisherman father, long lost at sea, on the day that the dead fishermen walk the earth. Featuring sea chanteys, Captain Ahab, and a quartet of mermaids.
August 8 - 28
Penguins, Episode 1
(World Premiere)
written by Scot Augustson,
directed by Bret Fetzer
Scot Augustson, the mastermind behind Sgt. Rigsby & His Amazing Silhouettes and the daffy ecological armageddon of Plants and Animals, turns his comic lens on the Catholic church. Imagine the gang warfare and byzantine internal politics of The Sopranos...only it's priests vs. nuns in a no-holds barred cage match of the holy spirit.
Watch this site for ticket information and for more news on special performance "extras" throughout the season.

Annex Theatre is dedicated to creating bold new work in an environment of improbability, resourcefulness and risk. For press information, contact Alex Harris: alex.harris (at) annextheatre.org.

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