Team of Heroes: Behind Closed Doors

Written by Alexander Harris
Directed by Jaime Roberts

Thu-Sat at 8 pm, April 20-May 19 (Thu PWYC)
$15 general / $10 TPS, senior, military / $5 student
PWYC Industry Night: Monday, May 14

Contains strong language.

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The gleaming teeth and bulging muscles of America’s preeminent superheroes hide a dirty past and a fractured present.
HOW DID MADAME MAYHEM AND THE CAP’N GET THEIR POWERS?
IS MISS DIXIE AS SWEET AS SHE SEEMS?
WILL SHOCKWAVE’S MOVIE CAREER TAKE OFF?
AND HOW DO GORILLAS FIT INTO ALL THIS?
The same creative team that brought you Annex Theatre’s surprise hit Alecto: Issue #1, returns with another spandex-clad tale of media manipulation and super-heroics.
NEW PLOTS! NEW VILLAINS! NEW HEROES!

“Big, stupid fun done smartly and with tremendous intimacy… Anyone who loves theatre should see this show. Anyone who makes theatre should go learn something from it.” –The Sunbreak

“Cheeky and dark…delightfully self-conscious comedy.” –Seattle Times

“It’s definitely a night to enjoy, and you can puzzle out the deeper meanings later.” –Seattle Gay News

“The real treat of the evening was the main villain, ‘Chaos Theory’, superbly played with great comic timing by Rachel Jackson who also…enacts Chaos Theory’s Scottish Puppet Henchman/Lover ‘Randy’. Ms Jackson’s love scene between her own felt covered hand, and herself, was pretty damn brilliant.” –Seattle Gay Scene

CAST
Tracy Leigh Madame Mayhem
Jason Sharp The Cap’n
Nik Doner Shock Wave
Rachel Jackson Chaos Theory
Ashley Bagwell Ace Johnson
Jana Hutchison Black Swallow
Danielle Daggerty Miss Dixie
Angela DiMarco Melody Knox
Sam Hagen Vladimir/8
Ryan Higgins Mikhael/Dick Engelbert
CREW
Writer Alexander Harris
Director Jaime Roberts
Production Manager Kristina Volkman
Stage Manager Lisa Stahler
Scenic Designer Devin Petersen
Sound Designer Michael White Hayes
Graphic Designer/Geek Consultant Cole Hornaday
Fx Team Max Reichlin, Emily Sershon, Ian Johnston
Fly Master Mike Gilson
Projection Artist Dominick DiGregorio
Costume Designer Candace Frank
Assistant Costume Designer Jenn Hill
Lead Seamstress Meaghan Darling
Lighting Designer Regan MacStravic
Props Designer Amy LaZerte
Assistant Props Designer Jodi Sauerbier
Fight Choreographer Casey Brown
Assistant Director Katherine Karaus
Dialect Coach Pamala Mijatov
Videographer Ben Laurance

Gallery of Press Photos

c.1993 (you never step in the same river twice)

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.”

CAST
Samantha Cooper Riot Grrrl, Interviewer, ensemble
Danielle Daggerty River Phoenix, ensemble
Aubrey Dangel Bee Girl, Tom Hanks’ kid, Cadet, ensemble
Justine Freese Wrestler, Meg Ryan, ensemble
Bruce Hall Gus Van Sant, ensemble
Marty Krouse Bill Clinton, Wrestling Announcer, Cadet, ensemble
Emily Lockehart Keanu Reeves, Reporter sick of penises, ensemble
Mike Mathieu Wrestling Referee, Double Dare Host, Tom Hanks, ensemble
Melinda Parks Courtney Love, Academic discussing Madonna, ensemble
Erin Pike Lorena Bobbitt, Oscars Host, ensemble
Peter Richards Kurt Cobain, ensemble
Gina Russell Whitney Houston, Wrestling Announcer, Shannon Faulkner, ensemble
Evan Tucker John Bobbitt, ensemble
Sarah Winsor Martha Plimpton, Wrestler, Howard the teddy bear, ensemble
Amanda Woodard Wrestler, Walter, Cadet, ensemble
CREW
Assistant Director Kristina Volkman
Lead Designer Max Reichlin
Sound Designer Peter Richards
Stage Manager Michelle Berweiler
Choreographer Monica Gilliam

Press photos

The Tale of Jemima Canard

Written by Brandon J. Simmons
Directed by Carys Kresny

Fri-Sat at 8 pm, April 22-May 21
$15 general / $10 TPS, senior, military / $5 student
PWYC Industry Night: Monday, May 9

There’s something odd about Kilkin Farm. The ducks parade about in skirts and bonnets and carry on forbidden love affairs with the hounds. Badgers and foxes negotiate their bloody deals behind the henhouse, bartering for flesh by day, and stealing it by night. And Miss Potter, the farm’s indomitable mistress, is driven nearly to madness.

Only Potter can unlock the mysteries of this world. As she examines the hidden corners of her own past, layers of passion and regret weave themselves into a tale that blurs the lines between love and violence, food and sex, and ultimately, the artist and the art she creates.

Love! Whimsy! Terror!

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.

CAST
Mary Murfin Bayley Potter
Truman Buffett TWG
Danielle Daggerty Rebecca
James James Leroy/Brock
Martyn G. Krouse Roland
Jillian Vashro Jemima
CREW
Production Director Meaghan Darling
Stage Manager Katie Driscoll
Set Design Emily Reitman
Light Design Tess Malone
Costume Design Hannah Schnabel
Mask Maker/Props Design Cole Hornaday
Sound Design Erin Paige
Fight Choreographer Ryan Spickard
Dialect Coach Pamala Mijatov
Dramaturg Bret Fetzer
Technical Director Ian Johnston