Videos are here!

Here is curator Keira McDonald interviewing a patron from last weekend.

Keira interviews an audience member from Michael Harris on Vimeo.

Lisa Koch's Demonstrate the Place of My Abode

A letter from the Board President of Theatre Off Jackson:

I'm writing because I would love for you to come see Lisa’s new show at SPF. I caught it earlier this week and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a beautiful, loving tribute and a frank look at helping those you love through death. I honestly feel transformed and think it’s one of the best shows I’ve seen. She’s put everything she has into it, and we can all relate to her story.

Lisa’s father was diagnosed with a pretty advanced cancer in January 2009, and passed away a few short months later. An Oregon resident, he inquired about the Death With Dignity law and wanted to explore his options. Washington passed a similar law last year, and so far we’re the only two states to do so. This is a poignant story about courage, love and laughter. I can't recommend it highly enough, and wish I possessed the eloquence to describe it justly.

There are 3 more shows:

Fri 3/12 – paired with Suzanne Morrison’s Your Own Personal Alcatraz (growing up with Ted Bundy!) and Jeff Frieder’s Kitty In the City

Weds 3/17 – paired with Jonah Von Spreecken’s The Dwellers

Tues 3/30 – Paired with Erin Jorgensen’s Worse Places

Amanda Slepski
Board President
Theatre Off Jackson

Compete or just witness our Monologue Slams with Kevin Kent & Jennifer Jasper

SPF Monologue Slam - March 13th & 27th, 10.30 PM
at The Canoe Social Club (right above Theatre Off Jackson)
Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/1693
$10

Danger & Delight on two Saturday Nights!

Come witness the carnage of Solo Performance Festival's Monologue Slam.

Or join in . . . Use those improvisational skills that your Papa told you would someday get you into trouble. (Let this be the day).

Sign up at 10.30 on the spot to “compete” for fabulous prizes - including Pocket Lint and Two Tickets to Teatro Zinzanni.

How the competition works:
10:30-10:45 signups

Round One Timed Monologues - 30 seconds ea. (Suggestion Optional)

Round Two Timed Monologues - 1 min. (audience provides suggestion of title or surprise sentence insert)

Judging

Round Three the Lightning Round - details at event!

Hosted by Jennifer Jasper & Kevin Kent
Appearing as: Mistress Fou Fou (Kevin Kent of Teatro Zinzanni) And Babette, A Ladies Maid. (Jennifer Jasper the Genius behind Maggie).

Judged by a bevy of Seattle Celebrities!

**
For more info on the Solo Performance Festival, visit http://bit.ly/tojspf4

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=401896714347&ref=mf

BroadwayHour loves solo performance!

All this month, BroadwayHour.com is reviewing various shows in the Solo Performance Festival lineup. Both veteran BroadwayHour-ers and guests will be popping in to see shows and posting their thoughts. Want to be involved in reviewing? Now's your chance! Email broadwayhour AT sbcglobal.net and let us know what shows you're itching to review.

For now, take a look at the first couple reviews up on the blog:

Pipa & Frontier: Valley of the Shadows

One of the best parts of Seattle's Solo Performance Festival is the sheer amount of variety in the acts brought to the stage. Curator Keira McDonald pairs performers that otherwise might never share the stage, and that pairing brings out nuances in each act. Such was the case with Friday night's show, which paired Tamera Ober's Pipa and Ki Gottberg's Frontier: Valley of the Shadows.
....
Ober's movements are beautifully controlled, whether she is carefully measuring herself out on the floor, or catapulting around the stage.... Her quirky and charming choreography takes us through her house and on a journey to the supermarket that quickly turns fantastical.
....
Gottberg is a master storyteller, able to change her voice and body at a moment's notice to imitate her father's gruff German accent, or her mother's wispy Indian voice..... Though the story has a happy ending, Gottberg does not shy away from baring her grief to the audience, and bringing us close to her.


The Dwellers & Samson

Von Spreecken as Yerda is a very engaging performer. Every expression and action is very specific, including a catalogue of repeated hand gestures that provide some of the funniest bits of the evening. You feel a part of this world before the show even begins, and long after it ends, just what a successful solo performance hopes to achieve.
......
This piece, a re-telling of the story of Samson and Delilah, is her [Wildrick's] first foray into a new world and it is an excellent start. When the piece hits its mark, and her beautiful voice intertwines with Josh Carter’s haunting music, it soars.


Solo Performance continues all this month!
Check it out:
http://www.theatreoffjackson.org/spf4.html

SPF in the Times!

Seattle Times theater critic Misha Berson has a lot of good things to say about the Solo Performance Festival, or, as she puts it, "a month's worth of 30-plus eclectic pieces by a small army of local solo auteurs."

Berson describes the list of upcoming performers as "tantalizing," and quotes SPF producer Keira McDonald: "And since I've been teaching classes on solo performance here...I've seen a lot of great talent come through. So I've invited people to come to the table, try something new and scare themselves! And they've responded."

You can read the whole article here: http://bit.ly/dl09WP

(Tamera Ober in 'Pipa,' which runs this weekend.)

Want to see that great response to Keira's invitation?

For the Festival Page, visit http://bit.ly/tojspf4

Tickets at Brown Paper Tickets: http://bit.ly/spf4tix

TWO FOR ONE Tickets for March 3 - 6

Use code word TANLINE at the door when buying tickets for March 3 - March 6 performances this week and get two for one! Invite all of your friends - 6 of you can get in for the price of 3. Crazy how that works!

Theatre Off Jackson's Festival page, here for full show descriptions.

This week's festival:

Wednesday March 3:
Best in Shorts

Daddy is Plastic by Elspeth Walker

A One Man Miss Saigon by Manuel R. Cawaling

Rapid Slippage Along a Fault by Keira McDonald

The Riverboat Runs Aground: Based on a True Story by Wesley K. Andrews

Sick by Elizabeth Kenny

Above Normal Range by Rebecca M. Davis

Clown Car by Emmett Montgomery

Jam by Peggy Platt

Thursday March 4:
The Dwellers by Jonah Von Spreecken
Pipa by Tamara Ober (details and reviews here: http://bit.ly/9bkBOn)

Friday March 5:
Frontier: Valley of the Shadow by Ki Gottberg
Pipa by Tamara Ober (details and reviews here: http://bit.ly/9bkBOn)

Saturday March 6:
Not. Stable. At All. by Paul Budraitis

Pipa by Tamara Ober (details and reviews here: http://bit.ly/9bkBOn)
The Price is Not Right by Carrie McIntyre
Traveling Panties by Mike Harris

Feel free to spread the word!

Festival Focus: Best in Shorts March 3 - Comedians, Love and a Solo Miss Saigon

Highlights of this week at Solo Performance Festival: Wed March 3rd - Best in Shorts

(Facebook event page here)

• Comedian and Seattle favorite, Peggy Platt (Dos Fallopia, Ham for the Holidays) presents her new show, Jam.
• Cornish teacher and SPF founder, Keira McDonald shares her story about the Nisqually earthquake, war and love
• Manuel R. Cawaling is going to do his interpretation, solo of course, of Miss Saigon in 10 minutes. This is going to be fun.
• Comedian Emmett Montgomery takes the stage with Clown Car. Anyone who can pull off a unicorn suit is in my book under awesome (unicorn suit may not be present)
  

The night features even more solo performance shorts.

Use code TANLINE at the door for 2 for 1 tickets (regular door price $18)