I promised myself and you, gentle readers, that Just Wrought was moving on from being a Seattle theatre bitch blog, so I am asking you to help a homey out and chime in below in the comments section to educate The New York Times and Intiman’s Artistic Director, Andrew Russell, about why his statement in that paper’s recent article on the Intiman’s Summer Festival is so woefully ignorant. The condescending carpet-bagging quote in question: “Few theaters in Seattle have ambitious summer shows.”
Here, I’ll prime the pump: every summer Balagan Theatre develops a brand new, original locally grown children’s show and puts it on free in Seattle parks. I had the immense pleasure of participating in the 2011 offering, King Arthur and the Knights of the Playground.
That’s just one example pulled from the myriad of amazing ambitious work getting done here each summer. Now you add one.
And seriously, New York Times, if you want to know what’s happening in Seattle, get on a plane and get out here. Your breezy phone interviews with Big House wannabe auteurs just don’t cut it anymore. And if your shrinking budget doesn’t allow for that sort of quality reportage, then do us a favor and STFU about Seattle theatre, ‘cuz ya know what? We don’t care what you think.
I’m am striking the above paragraph out, as it is based on my eroneous assumption. The fact is, the Times reporter did fly out to research this story. (Thank you, Brendan Kiley, for setting me straight.) I could wish that Mr. Healy had taken the time to investigate how rich and ambitious the Seattle theatre scene really is in the Summer (and every other season), but you know what they say about wishing.