Tag: Quinn Armstrong

“‘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

DESIGN TEAM

PRODUCTION TEAM

Macha Monkey is proud to present the northwest premiere of Stephanie Timm’s Sweet Nothing, a (grim) fairytale at Annex Theatre’s space in June 2012. Sweet Nothing explores the repercussions of violence and war through a fairytale lens. Once upon a time in a raped and pillaged land, the youngest of three sisters weds herself to a man she’s never met who lives across the sea. When the next youngest is offered a similar promise of living happily ever after, she discovers that hope might just be her worst enemy.

“…there really wasn’t an aspect of this production that didn’t appeal to me. From the outstanding script by Timm and direction by Garcia to the stunning cast to the gorgeously designed show make this one an absolute winner!” –Broadway World

“Timm is a smart, gifted writer and nicely sets up all the archetypal bowling pins—the three sisters, their ravaged land, the mysterious other-land where the youngest sister goes, the dangerous yet attractive wolf-man, the mute and sweet-hearted woodsboy, the alliteration and rhyming…” –The Stranger

“It’s a lovely evening’s entertainment, a little sticky in the chewing but tasty and a bit dark without being especially heavy.” –The Sunbreak

Playwright Stephanie Timm is company playwright for New Century Theatre Company, and recently finished a year-long residency with ACT Theatre. She was commissioned by 5th Avenue Musical Theatre to write Rosie the Riveter! with composer Albert Evans. She was nominated for a Gregory Award for New Century Theatre Company’s premiere of On the Nature of Dust. Her play Crumbs Are Also Bread was published in the Rain City Projects Manifesto Series, edited by Steven Dietz. Her plays have been produced and developed at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Kennedy Center, Lark Theatre, Boots Up Theatre Company, Washington Ensemble Theatre, and Live Girls! among others. Stephanie also teaches at Cornish College of the Arts, and writes for video games. Stephanie received her MFA from UC San Diego.

Director Laurel Pilar Garcia most recently directed a reading of Royal Blood by Sonya Schneider with Northwest Playwright Alliance, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl for Lincoln Center Directors Lab and Center of the Universe by Dustin Engstrom at Open Circle Theatre. Additional credits include directing and producing WAKE by Sonya Schneider at the Little Theatre with Onward Ho! Productions, The Diary of Anne Frank for the Driftwood Players, Zapatista for Teatro Milagro in Portland, Ore., Two Rooms by Lee Blessing at the Freehold Studio Series, Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies and A Christmas Carol, both at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Her assistant directing credits include several productions with former Intiman Artistic Director Bartlett Sher, including Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, Shakespeare’s Richard III and Chekhov’s Three Sisters. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Lewis & Clark College.

CAST

CREATIVE TEAM

Macha Monkey Productions is a nonprofit arts organization showcasing exceptional artists, delivering innovative educational programs, and producing new theatrical work that features strong female characters.