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Openings & Previews
3:1—a One-Act Play Festival Dirt battles soap in Ciara Rose Griffin's Mud; Tater Stew, by John Budge and Monte Jenkins, is a dark comedy set at a school; Justin Tracy's Shim-Sham and Crutch presents an array of characters "from an awful demon to his square headed sidekick." The Buttenik Ensemble and The Synchronicity Exchange at Live Girls! Theater, 2220 N.W. Market St. $8-$10. 8 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 18-Sun. Jan. 21 only.
365 Days/365 Plays Suzan-Lori Parks' yearlong theater project, a cycle of 365 short plays, offers free one- to ten-minute performances from a great variety of performers in venues across the city. Week 10, through Sun. Jan. 21: ReAct Theatre at Elliott Bay Book Company, 110 S. Main St., 7 p.m. daily (except 2 p.m. Sun. Jan. 21). Week 11, Jan. 22-28: Seattle Arts & Lectures, Seattle Public Library, Delridge Branch, 5423 Delridge Way S.W, 3 p.m. Mon. Jan. 22-Fri. Jan. 26; also Seattle Public Library, Ballard Branch, 5614 22nd Ave. N.W., 2 p.m. Sat. Jan. 27-Sun. Jan. 28. See www.365seattle.com.
Chili Clash SEE THE WIRE, MONDAY.
Dear World Jerry Herman's 1969 musical version of The Madwoman of Chaillot. Showtunes! Theatre Company at Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave., Kirkland, 425-893-9900, www.kpcenter.org. $15-$24. 8 p.m. Sat. Jan. 20, 2 p.m. Sun. Jan. 21 only.
An Enemy of the People Arthur Miller's adaptation of Ibsen's play: "When the resident physician in a small Norwegian town discovers that the local springs are poisoned, she is shocked to find that instead of being thanked, she is looked upon as a dangerous enemy of society." Substitute "Marge" for "the resident physician," and you've got the plot of about a dozen Simpsons episodes. Strawberry Theatre Workshop at Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., www.strawshop.org. $20 (pay-what-you-can each Thurs.) Opens Thurs. Jan. 18. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Sat. Feb. 17.
The First Flower It's jocks vs. drama geeks in this reading of Russell Weeks's play about high school. Ballinger Room, Shoreline Center, 18560 First Ave. N.E., Shoreline, 417-4645. Free. 7 p.m. Mon. Jan. 22 only.
Gone with the Wine A spoof of—well, you can figure that out yourself. Breeders Theater at E.B. Foote Winery, 127B S.W. 153rd St., Burien, 242-3852. $20 includes hors d'oeuvres and tasting. Opens Fri. Jan. 19. 7 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun.; also 7 p.m. Wed. Jan. 31 and 1 p.m. Sun. Feb. 4. Ends Feb. 4.
How I Got That Story Amlin Gray's Obie-award-winning dark comedy about war, the media, and the search for truth. (Replaces Journey's End in the ArtsWest season schedule; tickets for that show will be honored.) ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0339, www.artswest.org. $10-$32. Showtimes not available at press time. Opens Wed. Jan. 17, ends Sat. Feb. 10.
The Jungle Book An adaptation of the Disney classic. Kidstage at First Stage Theatre, 120 Front St. N., Issaquah, 425-392-2202, www.villagetheatre.org. $8-$10. 7:30 p.m. Fri. Jan. 19, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat. Jan. 20, 2 & 5 p.m. Sun. Jan. 21 only.
Lady from Dubuque More marital cut-and-thrust from Edward Albee, directed by David Esbjornson. Seattle Repertory Theatre at the Bagley Wright Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222, www.seattlerep.org. $10-$48. Opens Wed. Jan. 17. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Sun., 2:00 p.m. Sat.-Sun.; also 2 p.m. Wed. Feb. 7. Ends Feb. 10.
The Mandrake Love (or at least lust), intrigue, satire, and plenty of pragmatism in this comedy by Niccoló Macchiavelli, in Wallace Shawn's translation. Theater Schmeater, 1500 Summit Ave., 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com, www.schmeater.org. $15-$18 (pay-what-you-can Thurs.). Opens Fri. Jan. 19. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Sat. Feb. 17.
Lynn Manning A presentation by this California playwright/poet/actor, artist in residence next week at UW Bothell. North Creek Café, 18115 Campus Way N.E., Bothell, www.uwb.edu. Free. 7:30 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
Monolodge For the sort of audience member who prefers to keep the "fourth wall" firmly in place, this smorgasbord of original vignettes is definitely going to have him or her walking out of Odd Duck Theatre feeling violated. Unicycle, a debuting "solo artists' theater collective," is as experimental, face-to-face, and tactile as modern theater is liable to get—and above all else, incredibly brave. Beginning with a confounding autopsy of a solo show as it is happening, Keith Hitchcock humorously parodies the "serious actor" as he agonizes over the oft-neglected (and here anthropomorphized) "middle of the show." Ironic riffs of music and helpful slides enable both actor and audience to navigate the jumble of discrete parts that comprise the typical solo show. "Muffin Face," by its own admission, delightfully straddles the line between "education and fluffy, fluffy bullshit." The night continues with Mary Purdy, another soloist who dishes out three doses of theater in "Side Dishes." Food is used ironically: causing fisticuffs during a game show, acting as a poison under the guise of nutrition at a hospital, and serving as a means for bartering for love with a fairy godmother. The night of absurdity concludes on a serious note with Seth Rosenbloom's "Coming to America." With credible subtlety and (undoubtedly, to some) shocking sympathy, Rosenbloom goes so far in one vignette as to give a human face to a terrorist before his final mission. Odd Duck Studio, 1214 10th Ave., 800-838-3006,www.brownpapertickets.com,www.unicyclecollective.org. $10. 8 p.m. Fri. Jan. 19-Sat. Jan. 20 only.JENNA NAND
