Posts tagged Bret Fetzer

Conceived & directed by Bret Fetzer
Thu-Sat at 8 pm, Oct 21-Nov 19
$15 general / $10 TPS, senior, military / $5 student
PWYC Industry Night: Monday, November 7

Annex Theatre invites you on a journey to 1993, the year River Phoenix died, WWF’s RAW was launched, Bill Clinton was inaugurated, and Whitney Houston convinced the world she would always love them.

Bret Fetzer and his ensemble of local performers present a moody musical mash-up, a retrospective with modern resonances. There will be singing, there will be dancing, there will be wrestling, there may be a few answers, but the fun will lie in asking questions.

c. 1993 (you never step in the same river twice) began with the death of troubled young man, who happened to be a huge celebrity. Bret Fetzer found himself unexpectedly saddened by the death of River Phoenix; Fetzer had always liked Phoenix, but hadn’t realized the emotion and hope he’d projected onto the young actor.  Looking for a way to examine the cultural impact of icons and celebrities, Fetzer turned to theater; looking for a larger frame for this exploration, he turned to 1993, the year Phoenix collapsed on a Los Angeles sidewalk and died of a drug overdose.

1993, it turns out, was a pretty busy year. While sifting through its cultural remnants a second theme began to emerge. One cannot examine celebrity without the media nor can one examine the media without noting their focus on sexual politics and their disparate portrayals of men and women. From the graphic Bobbitt headlines, to the music of P.J. Harvey and Billy Ray Cyrus, to the romanticism of Sleepless in Seattle; tensions, contradictions and double standards were in fine form in the early 90’s. While River Phoenix’s overdose only added to his mystery and sex appeal, Courtney Love’s struggles made her an object of ridicule; a drunken clown.

Once c.1993 was cast, the production began to take shape during development workshops in August.  The 15 performers and nimble crew gathered to experiment and brainstorm, drawing on the research and initial ideas of the director as well as their own memories.  (Not every member of the cast was old enough to have vivid recollections of the cultural climate of the 90s.  In fact, not every member had been born by the show’s title year.)

The beauty of ensemble generated work lies in the contribution of each member to both the creation and execution of a project. This is also the challenge of ensemble generated work. c.1993 thrives from the strength of a collective consciousness working under a unifying vision. The result is a non-linear, highly musical performance piece; more theatrical essay than a well-made play.

History, even recent history, fascinates with its unique mixture of the alien and the familiar. We may have sleeker haircuts and wardrobes with considerably less flannel, but we still build cultural movements around new musicians. We still pin our hopes on Presidential candidates offering change, only to be disappointed. We continue to blur the lines, not only between sports and entertainment, but between entertainment and any situation, competition or career that will compel viewership. And we still get sucked in to the sexy, soulful drama of self-destructive young men, while shaking our heads and clicking our tongues at their female counterparts.

The Seattle Weekly review:

Among the fine ensemble, Phoenix and his My Own Private Idaho castmate, Keanu Reeves, are portrayed by actresses Danielle Daggerty and Emily Lockehart, respectively. Daggerty skillfully employs Phoenix’s mannerisms, like the constant brushing back of his hair and tendency to look away from his interviewer. The brash foil to Phoenix’s tender-hearted soul is none other than Courtney Love (the luminous Melinda Parks), who commands the stage in fierce red undies while powering through Hole’s “Violet.” Somehow Parks makes Love both vulnerable and tough, reclaiming a multidimensional woman from clownish caricature. Her performance alone is worth the price of admission.

About Bret Fetzer

Bret Fetzer is a playwright, director, and performer who’s been working in Seattle theater since 1987.  His plays—which include Planet Janet, The Story of the Bull, Blind Spot (co-written with Juliet Waller Pruzan), and Clubfoot, or, Tales from the Back of an Ambulance (co-written with Stephen McCandless)—have been produced by theaters in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and other cities around the U.S.  He was commissioned by Seattle Children’s Theatre to write a play for young audiences: Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like.  He has recently directed Hearts Are Monsters by Kelleen Conway Blanchard for Macha Monkey Productions and solo performances by Matt Smith and Stokley Towles, as well as all five episodes of Scot Augustson’s late night serial Penguins for Annex.  His collections of original fairy tales, Petals & Thorns and Tooth & Tongue, are available through www.pistilbooks.com.  He has been the artistic director of Annex Theatre, the theater editor of the Stranger, the building manager of Richard Hugo House, and a vacuum cleaner salesman.  He was also a field agent for the Barbie Liberation Organization, who, in 1993, switched the voice boxes of Teen-Talk Barbies and talking GI Joes, resulting in toy soldiers who said “Let’s go shopping!” and sprightly blonde dolls who said “Dead men tell no tales.”

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End times are near in the final episode of Scot Augustsonʼs black-and-white comedy Penguins! The conflict of priests vs. nuns comes to a head, along with exorcisms, conspiracies, lesbian love, historical secrets revealed, and more of the caustic comedy thatʼs brought this late night serial acclaim and dismay! Directed by Bret Fetzer.

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The underbelly of Beatrix Potter comes to life in The Tale of Jemima Canard. A young innocent, capricious but willful, falls under the romantic sway of a predatory cad—but the characters are not Edwardian ladies and gentlemen; they are ducks, hounds, badgers, and foxes. As the author is interrogated by one of her own characters, layers of love, envy, jealousy, and much worse become revealed as the play delves into the deceptively whimsical lives of Jemima, her hard-as-nails sister Rebecca, the rugged but earnest St. Hubert brothers, the degenerate Tommy Brock, Miss Potter herself, and the elegant and alarming Tawny Whiskered Gentleman. Seattle actor Brandon J. Simmons makes his playwriting debut with this anthropomorphic dream-play, using Potterʼs The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck as a springboard to explore the nature of fate and time, blurring the lines between animal/human, love/violence, food/sex, and the artist and the art she creates. Directed by Carys Kresny, who previously dug her directorial fingers into dark and roiling emotions in The Changeling and Penetralia at Annex.

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Jan 28-Feb 18, 2011 | Fri-Sat at 11 pm
$10 gen / $5 TPS/senior/student
Industry Night (PWYC) Mon Feb 14, 8 pm
Pay What You Can Feb 11/12

The scandals that rocked the Catholic Church finally come to roost at St. Benedict’s: The diocese has its very own pedophile. Someone’s got to take the fall. As reporters dig into the past, the ever-greedy Father Jones and tyrannical Sister Bernadette fight to control the present—including missing relics, rebellious underlings, incriminating videotape, and a lonely Mormon missionary. Sister Candy and elderly Connie Sullivan face unexpected pregnancies; Sisters Jenny Memphis and Mimi Coco wrestle with inappropriate desires; and young Adam learns some unwelcome news about his parentage. Mix in a couple of dance numbers and some surprising guest stars and you have the latest episode of Annex’s late-night serial comedy, Penguins!

Written by Scot Augustson and directed by Bret Fetzer.

Featuring Daniel Christensen, Chris Dietz, Katie Driscoll, Karen Heaven, Sophie Lowenstein, Jenny Schmidt, Jillian Vashro, Lisa Viertel, and Clayton Weller

“Augustson’s late-night serial comedy Penguins is a breath of fresh, filthy air…its balls-out devotion to depravity is executed by a talented, canny cast.” – The Stranger

“The cast is nearly faultless. Bret Fetzer’s direction is excellent. … I had seen two of the prior installments in the series, so it wasn’t a shock to see a nun acting sinfully, but I still laughed and I wasn’t alone.” – Seattlest

Check out a very different late night mass this summer and enjoy communion libations in our fully stocked bar. You can always confess about it later!

August 7-August 27, 2010 | Fri-Sat at 11 pm
$15 gen

The bloody feud between nuns and priests gets set aside in the face of a greater threat: Other churches! Everyone thinks the Bishop’s illegitimate child can be used to their advantage, so the bastard’s baptism becomes a war zone filled with forbidden love, strange addictions, May/December romance, schizophrenia, radical atheists and musical numbers. Come see the bullets fly in Penguins, Episode III: The Bishop’s Bastard!

Written by Scot Augustson and directed by Bret Fetzer.

Featuring Daniel Christensen, Chris Dietz, Katie Driscoll, Teri Lazzara, Sophie Lowenstein, Jenny Schmidt, Jillian Vashro, Lisa Viertel, and Clayton Weller.

“Augustson’s late-night serial comedy Penguins is a breath of fresh, filthy air…its balls-out devotion to depravity is executed by a talented, canny cast.” — The Stranger

Check out a very different late night mass this summer and enjoy communion libations in our fully stocked bar. You can always confess about it later!

August 10-25, 2010 | Tue-Wed at 8 pm
$10 gen

Clubfoot is the harrowing, surreal and wildly funny experiences of an Emergency Medical Technician. Jump in the ambulance and be transported into a tripwire world of manic teenage wrestling in the middle of I-5, stroked out delusionals, cutters, car crash victims, flesh-eating bacteria and more! It’s an outrageously skewed view of humanity at its worst and at its best: fragile, resilient and accident-prone!

Written by Stephen McCandless and Bret Fetzer and directed by Bret Fetzer.

Featuring Chris Dietz, Pamala Mijatov, and Ray Tagavilla.

“An incisive view into the surreal world of first-responders…You should consider this required viewing.” – Seattle Times

Don’t miss this adrenalin-soaked night of theater!

curated by Bret Fetzer and Troy Mink
Nov 7-20, 2009 | Fri-Sat 11pm

Come hear stories of sexual misadventure, accidental arson, bad dates, sheep-tossing (which is not a euphemism), scars gained, condoms lost, unfortunately named drinks, and much, much more. NOT PANTS is a compendium of true tales from the lips of great local performers, including David Schmader, Jennifer Jasper, José Amador, Emmett Montgomery, Keira McDonald, Gillian Jorgensen, Michele Colyn, and many many more! Curated by Bret Fetzer and Troy Mink.

Due to a potential intellectual property dispute, Annex Theatre has canceled its impending production of Hot Pants, a fusion of storytelling and game show. But rather than let all the juicy stories we’d been promised go to waste, we’ve invited all the performers to take the Annex stage and reveal the comic, preposterous, and sometimes embarrassing true things that have happened to them.

If you want to learn more, go to: slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/10/19/hot-pants-a-ridiculous-story-of-poor-etiquette-tantrum-throwing-pricks-and-lose-lose-ending

And as an added bonus, Not Pants will still feature the HOT PANTS DANCERS!
Choreography by Jen Moon and Meg Tully.

Not Pants graphic by Ryan Schmidt.

First Friday of every month, 11pm
$10 gen / $5 stu

Audiences of all shapes and sizes are entertained monthly by Annex Theatre’s late-night variety show, Spin the Bottle! The next chance to see it is February 3!

This month’s edition of Spin the Bottle features, in no particular order:

>> Sneak previews of Annex Theatre’s COCKTAILS AT THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH and THE THRILLING ADVENTURES OF THE FAMOUS LEWIS & CLARK!
>> The Grizzly Adams of stand-up comedy, EMMETT MONTGOMERY!
>> The borderline-Bjork musical madness of ABA KISER!
>> Cartoon adventures from CLAYTON WELLER (of Ubiquitous They)!
>> The ineffable, the inexplicable, ERIN PIKE!
>> GUDE/LAURANCE turn thespian!
>> Fantastical smut from IAN JOHNSTON!
…and more, more, more!

All held together by that splash of liquor on your lips, KATE JAEGER!

Curated by Annex Theatre’s former Artistic Director Bret Fetzer, Spin the Bottle – featuring theater, music, dance, spoken word, film, and whatever else we can find – has appeared on the first Friday of every month since Sept 12, 1997.

Please to enjoy these
PHOTOGRAPHIC HIGHLIGHTS FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF SPIN THE BOTTLE

written by Scot Augustson, directed by Bret Fetzer
LATE NIGHT: Jan 29 – Feb 12, 2010, Fri-Sat at 11 pm
(no show Friday, Feb 6)
$10 gen / $5 stu

A gang war twixt nuns and priests!

Episode 2 of Annex’s smash-hit Penguins, about a gang war between nuns and priests in the Catholic church that rocks the dioceses!

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SPECIAL THANKS

Lynn Jepson, Jen Moon, Deb Skorstad and the UW Costume Shop, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Theater Schmeater.