Puny Humans

Written by Bret Fetzer & Keiko Green
Directed by Gavin Reub

April 22 – May 14, Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30PM
PWYC Preview: Thursday, April 21
PWYC Industry Night: Monday, May 2

The Queen City Comicon throbs and bustles with fans in cosplay, celebrities on the rise (or on the way down), disgruntled vendors hoping to make a buck, and desperate staff members trying to hold the whole damn thing together. A young fangirl finds out she’s pregnant, an actor promoting his new movie tries unconventional means to get laid, and Sailor Moon and Darth Vader fall in love. Passion, comedy, and geekdom collide as thirteen characters’ lives intertwine over the course of one epic day.

“…approximately eight intersecting narratives involving 13 characters unfolds. They’re all pretty compelling. It’s sort of like a stage version of Robert Altman’s Nashville but for nerds and not as weird. The narratives involve a range of issues, revealing the human drama humming beneath the alien sheen of commercial comic-cons… Te Yelland was a stand-out. She plays an often quiet, contemplative aspiring writer named Hazel, who’s not into all the hubbub of the comic-con. She’s the one deciding whether or not she wants to have a baby. It’s challenging to play a captivating introverted character—the impulse to over-brood often wins out — but Yelland’s subtle gestures and easy humor drew me in.” – The Stranger

“Fetzer and Green have created several memorable characters and plots and have done a fantastic job of weaving them all together in a story. Puny Humans contains clever dialogue, spoken by fully formed fascinating characters in intricately connected stories. It’s topical. It’s timely. It’s full of wit and wisdom. It’s a huge delight for genre fans but it’s accessible to non-fans as well. It’s a strong piece of theater writing.” – Seattle Gay Scene

Starring:
GUS — David Rollison
BRADLEY — Ben McFadden
KEITH — Nic Morden
EMMA — Rachel Guyer-Mafune
JOAN — Kelly Johnson
LAUREN — Grace Carmack
ALICE — Heather Persinger
NATASHA — Patty Bonnell
SAM — Zenaida Smith
HAZEL — Te Yelland
PAULETTE — Lauryn Hochberg
GORDON — Cole Hornaday
JACOB — Kevin Bordi

Poster art by the incredible Peter Hon, local Seattle illustrator

Zapoi!

Written by Quinn Armstrong
Directed by Kaytlin McIntyre

Jan 30 – Feb 21
Thu, Fri & Sat at 8pm | Mon, Feb 9 industry night
All Thurs PWYC
$20 general/$18 advance tickets
$12 senior, military, TPS / $5 student

Fleeing the censorship of Soviet Russia, a brilliant composer stumbles upon a strange town where all of Russian history is happening at once. Saints and spies, performing bears and falling cosmonauts — all collide in the shadow of the candy factory in this dark and delicious phantasmagoria.

“‘Zapoi’ is Russian slang, dating back to at least the 19th century, for the national habit of going on days-long benders so catastrophic that, as one ethnographer reported to the Anthropological Society of London in 1870, they ‘are regarded as a disease.’ The word doesn’t appear anywhere besides the title in Quinn Armstrong’s world-premiere comedy at Annex Theatre, but it could be a one-word summary of a sprawling fantasia that treats Russian suffering and derangement as an endemic sickness…. It’s a delirious and damaged run at Our Town, filtered through the battered kidneys of Russian history…. Kayla Walker gives a commanding performance as the KGB agent Oksana, a woman with 1940s Hollywood glamour and torture chambers hidden behind her meticulously charming smile…. Zapoi! tends to be funniest when things are at their worst…. its darkness is delightful.” – The Stranger

Zapoi!, the new play from writer Quinn Armstrong that is playing at Annex Theatre through February 21, is surrealist and ambitious…. it is a play that I hope a lot of people see and think and talk about. It’s what Annex Theatre likes to call a ‘#BoldNewWork.’ Armstrong and director Kaytlin McIntyre deserve credit for creating a work that never feels predictable…. What I found so timely and relevant about Zapoi!, was that the subjects of free speech and free will come up and they’re impossible to ignore…. there are so many ideas coming out of Zapoi! in its two and a half hours, that they all can’t be explored fully, and really shouldn’t be. It leaves a lot to the audience to continue the conversation afterward.” – The Journal of Precipitation

CAST
Kevin Bordi Matvei, Yuri the Cosmonaut
Nathan Brockett Alexei, Violin Bear
Ben Burris Andrei, Comedy Bear, Man in Black
Sophia Franzella Anastasia
Frank Lawler Kiril
Jordi Montes Anna, Joan
Carol Thompson Sobaka
Kayla Walker Oksana
James Weidman Pericolo
DESIGN TEAM
Scenic Designer Catherine Cornell
Lighting Designer Ryan Dunn
Sound Designer Alex Potter
Properties Designer Brandon Estrella
Costume Designer Arin Larson
PRODUCTION TEAM
Assistant Director Zoe Wilson
Stage Manager Mike Hennessy
Poster Designer Keara Burton
Musical Director Matt Giles
Fight Choreographer Caleb Penn
Voice Over Actor Alex Matthews
Technical Director Ian Johnston
Production Manager Kaeline Kine