WEDNESDAY 4/13
MJ Sieber
From left, Glowworm cast members Peter Dylan O'Connor, the goat, and MJ Sieber.
United Artists
The tramp and his blind beloved.
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Stage: Major Minutiae
With a compassionate whimsy that first took root at Seattle's Annex Theatre, playwright Glen Berger simultaneously spoofs and celebrates the gargantuan folly of those who insist on mucking about in the minutiae of everyday life. His off-Broadway hit Underneath the Lintel put audiences at the lecture of a desperate librarian convinced that a 113-years-overdue book was proof of God's existence. Great Men of Science, Nos. 21 & 22 watched as two would-be geniuses pondered, respectively, a mechanical duck and the supposed revelations of frog-mating. O Lovely Glowworm, which New Century Theatre Company begins in previews tonight, sees existence from the perspective of a stuffed goat who conjures up mermaids and memories atop a garbage heap in Ireland circa 1918. "It's about how small in the end we are," Berger wrote of the 2005 play. "Seen in regard to the whole huge universe, we and our struggles are so endearingly pathetic, it's laughable." The goat, trapped in unimaginable pain, imagines himself a conductor, a racehorse, a dog. That Berger, now based in New York, uncovers amusing profundity from what could easily come off as theatrical ramblings remains his most astonishing gift as an artist. But then the man fearlessly pursues gargantuan folly himself: He's been enmeshed for what must now seem like an eternity of minutiae in his chores as co-bookwriter (with former director Julie Taymor) of Broadway's compellingly beleaguered Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. (Through May 14.) Erickson Theatre, 1524 Harvard Ave., 800-838-3006, newcenturytheatrecompany.org. $18–$25. 8 p.m. STEVE WIECKING
THURSDAY 4/14
Comedy: Bald Bearings
Native Missourian David Koechner is proof that Middle Americans have plenty of edge. OK, maybe not in the looks department, as Koechner looks like an insurance salesman. But looks aren't anything, and good-looking comics rarely go anywhere anyhow. Koechner seems to crop up everywhere these days, notably in The Office and in Paul (still in theaters). But it was his role as sportscaster Champ Kind in Anchorman that really imprinted his hairless dome onto the cultural fabric. Veronica Corningstone's resistance to the alcoholic, cowboy-hatted Kind's invitation to pair up for "some chicken, maybe some sex" represents one of the great acts of self-control ever portrayed onscreen, and his closeted homosexual yearning for Ron Burgundy all but made Brokeback Mountain possible. His stand-up act is plenty risqué, even if he won't actually shit a squirrel onstage. Oh, well. (Through Sat.) The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E. (Lincoln Square), 425-289-7000, parlorlive.com. $20–$35. 7:30 p.m. MIKE SEELY
Stage: Profound Clowning
Vashon Island's UMO Ensemble is best known for combining rigorous physical-theater techniques—such as clowning, aerial work, and masks—and unlikely subjects (including Mexican conquistadors, Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, the Rapunzel fairy tale). Shows can take a year or longer to gestate before they reach an audience. Sometimes UMO's storytellers, like the Buffoons of El Dorado or the acrobatic Djools of Caravan of Dreams, are strange half-human creations. And sometimes, as in the new Red Tiger Tales , they're just strange. "When we started on this project about four years ago, the characters in this show began as Zen monks who were red-nose clowns," explains director Elizabeth Klob. "That allowed us to treat solemn material with complete audacity. But . . . now we're mixing up aerial and mask work with the clowning. That might offend some theatrical purists, but they'll get over it." And while the show began as a sampler of Zen parables (adapted by company member Lyam White), the stories draw from many different traditions, including Buddhist, Zen, and Sufi folktales. It's "mostly Eastern, all pretty darn old," says Klob, who cautions that Red Tiger Tales isn't all philosophical and serious. "If you're not laughing, I haven't been doing my job." (Through April 23.) ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 292-7676, acttheatre.org. $5–$20. 7:30 p.m.JOHN LONGENBAUGH
FRIDAY 4/15
Books: NGOs and IEDs
There's a twofold sense of mission to Rye Barcott's do-gooder memoir since, after college and before joining the Marines (before 9/11), he almost accidentally founded a charitable organization in the huge Nairobi slum called Kibera. (If you've seen The Constant Gardener, it's the same teeming place.) As he writes in It Happened on the Way to War (Bloomsbury, $26), he simultaneously wanted to help the poor and prove his mettle as a warrior. (His father fought in Vietnam, an influence Barcott frankly acknowledges.) But Christian charity and the military are nowhere near so simple as one's initial impulses. Barcott gets mugged by the same Kenyan teens he hopes to help; and while he's serving as an intelligence officer in the USMC, the locals more or less constantly lie to him, whether in Croatia, Somalia, or Iraq. Nothing is as it seems, and the introduction of Western cash—whether foundation microloans or U.S. macrobribes—only complicates things further. Very much to his credit (and attracting notice from the Gates Foundation), Barcott has built Carolina for Kibera into a nonprofit that today conducts health, economic, and educational programs in Kenya. It Happened is full of non-governmental organization (NGO) minutiae and standard military FUBAR-ism that makes the frustrations of both endeavors abundantly clear. If the test for young Barcott, now 32, was "to defy the stereotype of the soft, pampered middle-class kid," he passed. The test for his book, of course, is to see how many post-collegians follow his path. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255, townhallseattle.org. $5. 6 p.m.BRIAN MILLER
