RFP for 2017 Season!

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Annex Theatre is now accepting proposals for its 30th Anniversary season 2017 (January through November), and you can now access the official RFP right here. We’re looking for four mainstage projects and up to four late night or off night projects – deadline for proposing is May 6 at 5pm!

Every spring, Annex Theatre chooses its production slate for the following year. In mid-March, a Request For Proposals (RFP) is made available on the website and advertised far and wide. Proposals can be for a scripted play; for a work in development; for an ensemble-generated who-knows-what; or anything else that sounds compelling and you think you can persuade the Annex Company — the body of artists and technicians who make Annex Theatre function — to produce.

Questions about proposals should be sent to rfp@annextheatre.org.

American Theatre features Annex in geek theatre article

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Annex is featured heavily in a recent article about “geek theatre” in American Theatre:

In 2010, Annex Theatre found itself with a surprise hit on its hands when it produced Alexander Harris’s Alecto: Issue #1, a satirical, Spandex-clad comedy about the hidden, questionable motives of a group of superheroes. In 2012, it revived these characters with Team of Heroes: Behind Closed Doors, the second installment of what would ultimately become known as the “Team of Heroes Trilogy” when it reached its final chapter in 2013’s Team of Heroes: No More Heroes. Annex artistic director Pamala Mijatov describes the central characters of the trilogy as “a corporate-owned conglomeration of genetically enhanced reality stars,” claiming that the ultimate audience appeal lay in the shows’ “larger-than-life but recognizably human power struggles, love affairs, aspirations and betrayals.”

Rachel Jackson, who portrayed the villain Chaos Theory in the last two “Team of Heroes” productions, acknowledges that the superhero narrative appeals to a sense of wish fulfillment. “It’s about being more than you seem to be, which is appealing when you’re feeling undervalued.” She also adds, slyly, “Your comfort thought if you were super-villain-inclined would be, ‘Just you wait!’”

American Theatre chats with Annex

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American Theatre recently interviewed Annex communications director Jake Ynzunza about how we survive on the fringe:

Annex Theatre of Seattle is another example of an organization that believes in across-the-board financial equality. The 25-year-old company operates as a democratic collective of theatre artists, and everyone on staff, from the marketing director, to the bar manager, to the artistic director, get equal pay. In the case of Annex, though, that’s $15 a month—hardly enough for a meal, much less to live on. “We all have regular day jobs,” Annex communications director Jake Ynzunza explains, admitting he typically works 45 hours a week for Amazon.com. “All the actors and designers get paid $50 for the production of a show.”

How is this different from community theatre, given that the fees are so…paltry? “For one thing, community theatre is often better funded,” says Ynzunza with a chuckle. “But we’re a professional theatre, and our work gets recognized.” (Seattle’s Gregory Awards recently nominated three Annex productions for “Best New Play.”) Ynzunza continues, “People keep working with us because of the quality of our work and the way we treat our artists. We make theatre that is exciting and pushes boundaries—I think that’s why talent and audience keep coming back.”

Pictures from the 25th Anniversary Gala

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by Ian Johnston

On September 4th, 1986, Annex Theatre was registered with the State of Washington as a non-profit arts organization. On September 4th, 2011, Annex Theatre turned 25.

That is 25 years of art, 25 years of madness, 25 years of passion. We have seen so many amazing talents pass across our stage, some of whom have gone on to national and international fame, some local, and some simply gone on with their lives, spreading their talent and goodness among friends and colleagues. Fortunately, among those talented people, there have been some talented photographers, so our long history of strictly ephemeral art receives some documentation and becomes, in a way, a bit less ephemeral.

I am proud to count myself among those with photographic talents who have helped document Annex through the years. I consider myself very lucky indeed to have access to high quality digital cameras, so that I can take hundreds of photos per night (I typically shoot 600-1200 photos in one evening of Spin the Bottle, our monthly cabaret) without spending the commensurate hundreds of dollars on film and processing. Fortunately, our historical photos more than make up in quality what they may lack in quantity.

Through the efforts of our board member and long-time Annex contributor Laurie Utterback, and Meaghan Darling, our amazing Production Director (who has also been the Production Manager on every show in the last year, as well as raising a family, holding down a job, and contributing her fabric-crafting genius when needed), we have a selection of Annex’s photographic history prepared for you. They collected, they scanned, they organized, and the result is this amazing collection of historical Annex photos.

First seen as a slideshow at our Silver Anniversary Gala on September 17th, we have also placed all the images into a gallery for your perusal. With so many pictures, the slideshow was necessarily somewhat quick — even at only 7 seconds per picture, the entire show clocks in at almost half an hour long. We wanted to give you the opportunity to relive Annex’s past at a more leisurely pace. Thus, we are proud to present:

Annex Theatre’s 25th Anniversary Slideshow