Tag: Ian Johnston

What happens to white privilege when there are no more black people?

Annex Theatre invites you to the town of Mini-Salt-Lake-in-the-North-Woods, where the local cloud factory has produced “quality clouds for over half a century.” This is a world in which the whites are immortal, where Death itself is running for high political office, and where there is always an abundance of pink cake.

“Is She Dead Yet?” updates Euripides’ tragicomedy “Alcestis”—about a young wife who sacrifices herself to save her husband from death—into an absurd exploration of American whiteness. In this adaptation, the young wife turns out to be the last black person on earth, and her sacrifice will render the planet entirely white.

Written and directed by Brandon J. Simmons, with music by Christen Audio Group, choreography by Noah Duffy and featuring the talents of Page Clark, Hannah Victoria Franklin, Soren Gillaspy, Yesenia Iglesias, Alex Matthews, Dani Suder, Shane Regan, Carol Thompson, Tom Wisely and John Wray.

Don’t miss this topical, hysterical, “white comedy”!

“…a vitally important drama for all of us at this very distressing time in American race relations…It is about the human condition, about justice and equality, about racial arrogance and insensitivity, about love and how it defines everything that matters in our individual lives…it’s the best locally written play that I’ve seen this year. Don’t let it get past you.” – Seattle Actor

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Six playwrights–all female, all young, all local–collaborate on an evening of short works. Each is playwright of one play, director for another, and an outside eye for a third. The ensemble cast performs in all six plays about a range of topics such as ghosts of ex-lovers, comedic nightmares, and an absurdly honest job interview.

Instead of expressing his terrifying vision of malevolent, eldritch gods via horror stories in the early twentieth century, H.P. (“Howie” to his friends) Lovecraft expresses his terrifying vision in the present day via stand-up comedy. But an ancient evil stirs beneath the sea— can Howie pull off one last sold-out gig before the human race is destroyed?

Press Photo: Andy Buffelen, Scotto Moore, Erin Ison; photo by Ian Johnston

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The twelve year old president of the Lady Jean Ladies Horseback Riding Club will sacrifice anything or maybe everything to keep the club together. But her bubblegum-pink world cracks as the lives of the ladies beloved equines are threatened forcing them to question their loyalty to each other.

“This short, bitter, and bloody gallows comedy takes place in the pink and frilly bedroom of an imperious 12 year-old named Ashley who runs a club for ‘horse girls’—classmates who gather at Ashley’s home to ride her horses, conduct obsessively ritualistic meetings about those horses, and engage in the frighteningly hierarchical social rituals of pre-teen Americans… Playwright Jenny Rachel Weiner has a sharp ear for viciousness—when one character says she’s had a stressful day, the others swarm around to check her arms for slash marks—and Horse Girls could be the promising start to a gleefully devastating body of work.” – The Stranger

“Take ‘Mean Girls,’ add a pinch of ‘National Velvet,’ a dash of ‘Carrie.’ Stir briskly and you get Jenny Rachel Weiner’s ‘Horse Girls.’ A satire of pubescent female equestrians at their most insufferable, the raucous black comedy is like an extended ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit (featuring Gilda Radner or Amy Poehler) — with a macabre twist. Weiner… handily, hilariously nails a kind of peer and class pressure, and obsessive pony love, in this unbridled spoof… The youthful audience at a recent show howled throughout at the sharp mockery and teen nightmares… Weiner is a young humorist to keep an eye on.” – Seattle Times

“Directed by Norah Elges with the complete seriousness this snarky material deserves… A fantastic pink horsey bedroom set by Jenna Carino and costumes by Devon Allen, lights by Ryan Dunn and sound by Shane Regan combine to support the fun. If you have an evening free, try to see this. It’s a hoot.” – Miryam Gordon

“One of the delights of Annex Theater is their ‘off night’ productions, taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday nights; the current Off Nighter, Horse Girls by Jenny Rachel Weiner, is no exception…The director, Norah Elges assembled a strong cast…Horse Girls was only one hour…there is a snide song and dance number about an almost famous First Lady equestrian (not Jackie) which is not to be missed….you can grab a bite to eat in an un-crowded restaurant, have a good laugh during the middle of the week, to help you get through the week.” – Drama In The Hood

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The life of Countess Elizabeth Bathory- the historical noblewoman accused of bathing in young girl’s blood so she could live forever young becomes a supernatural tale both creepy and creepily funny in the hands of the playwright of “Kittens in a Cage” & “The Underneath”.

Kelleen Conway Blanchard lends her unique voice to the story of Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian Countess fabled to be one of the inspirations behind vampire lore. Bathory is rumored to have killed anywhere from 60 to 600 young woman and bathed in their blood to preserve her youth.

This fictional account follows the countess from her happy marriage to the fierce warrior Ferenc to her conviction and death bricked up within the walls of her castle. Along the way it explores her possible motivations for the sadistic murders of which she stands accused.

Landing solidly on the dark side of dark comedy, Blood Countess still employs plenty of Kelleen Conway Blanchard’s trademark humor and linguistic gymnastics. This historical horror story is filled with dead birds, headless soldiers, eel pies, and pailfulls of blood.

Blood Countess is directed by Bret Fetzer, and features original songs by Rick Miller, reuniting the team behind Gregory-nominated hit Kittens in a Cage.

Terri Weagant makes her Annex debut as Elizabeth. Weagant has appeared on stages big and small from Seattle Shakespeare Company and Book-It Repertory Theatre, to Theater Shmeater and upstart crow collective. Supporting Weagant is a group of wonderful local talent including Gregory-nominated Mary Murfin Bayley, Blanchard veterans James Weidman and Erin Stewart, and retuning Annex actors Ashlen Hodge, Martyn G Krouse and Sarah Winsor.

“Blanchard has written a gothic comedy that resists the temptation of camp. Instead, she lands startling punches with vivid and unexpected language… The two leads make grimly charming predators, bored by and superior to everything except morts, both petit and grand. Weidman brings a refreshingly abstracted, understated moodiness to a role that some actors would take as an excuse to chew up the scenery, while Weagant gives a positively sociopathic performance, fully unable to understand—and, in the end, not really caring—why other people don’t find chopping off people’s hands and branding the servant girls with hot coins diverting.” – The Stranger

“It would be easy to make the argument that Kelleen Conway Blanchard’s new play, ‘Blood Countess’ is a natural selection for October, with its Halloween balance of the horrific and the bizarre, its combination of cartoonish terror and god-awful blood lust. Blanchard, however, never lets a first impression become the content of her plays. As in ‘Kittens in a Cage’ and ‘The Underneath’ the initial triteness of commonplace tropes provide an easily accessible gateway to well-developed and compelling characters dealing with the absurdity of their situations with genuine emotion and real internal conflict. There are plenty of laughs throughout ‘Blood Countess’ but we never lose sight of the fact that these uncommon people are dealing with exactly the same challenges that we deal with daily, and that caring about their struggles is at least as rewarding as the pure entertainment of the evening…This is real drama. And it works.” – Seattle Actor

“…a gleefully fractured history tale that’s part wickedly black comedy, part demented love story and part scathing prod at the sexual and religious climate of the era… …with a sly performance as the bloodlust-consumed countess […] Weagant keeps the boiling passion simmering beneath the surface…” – Seattle Times

“Blood Countess is a lot of fun. As the countess, Terri Weagant’s unconventional looks and excellent expressive range are riveting… two other characters in her entourage are far more freaky: a deranged, id-like provocateur named Fitzco, played with nearly boundless perversity by Erin Stewart; and a priest, played with chilling, sexualized placidity (and heavy eye makeup) by Martyn G. Krouse. Bathory’s violence-loving libertine husband Ferenc (James Weidman) is another unctuous delight. In Bathory’s grim castle (a simple, black-walled, portrait-adorned set by Susannah Anderson), victims progress from birds to a parade of neighborhood girls (all winningly portrayed by Sarah Winsor)… canny performances and a wacky, Wikipedia-confirmed bite of Hungarian history make the Bathory vein a worthwhile draught.” – Seattle Weekly

“The mayhem is directed by Bret Fetzer as he uses Annex’s usual minimal technical accessories to exceed their low monetary value and provide great stagecraft at the same time. With Ian Johnston’s support for set design, Gwyn Skone providing inventive creepy lighting, super costuming and wigging from Samantha Armitage (probably on a miniscule budget), and sound by Kyle Thompson, the overall effect is a very sophisticated production… The play could be seen as a ‘Halloween’ event at this time of year, but that downplays its execution, cast and the beautiful poetry of the script. Blanchard seems to love creepy, but also demonstrates that she loves language more. Go get your fright on and also experience a multi-layered biography.” – Miryam Gordon

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