Union Arts Center, Home of ACT & Seattle Shakespeare — Attraction in Seattle

Went to see Twelfth Night and it was wonderful. The stage is small but there's so much tech to it! This show had a beautiful set with two stories, a hidden piano built into a bar, a powerful projector that covered the whole stage, and a working fountain set piece that emerged from below the stage seamlessly.

Beyond the stunning set, the cast was excellent. Their expressions and the inhabitation of the characters had the audience both rapt and roaring. Also, every member of the cast doubled as an accomplished singer or musician or both! They were all so, so multitalented and a joy to watch. Any complaints of Shakespeare being boring or hard to comprehend were easily shattered by their giddy performance.

My only minor disappointment with this play was more in a script/directorial choice. This show was advertised as a more inclusive representation of love, but the two gay subplots they added in were both disregarded in the end and one was treated as deranged (due to other factors but still). It would have been really impressive and affirming to have mixed up the plot in a way that a gay relationship was depicted as reciprocated at least or that allowed gay characters to end up together. The main characters, for example, are pretty easily set up to be switched around.

It was still a really lovely experience and I'm very much looking forward to see what comes out of the merger between ACT contemporary and Seattle...

Friendly staff. They have two, separate genderless bathrooms. Small theater with little orchestra pits around a stage.

I saw The Last Five Years. The storyline was kinda hard to follow and boring for me but the music was pretty great.

One of the main actors was spitting profusely like a Windex spray bottle all over the stage as they delivered their lines and sang the musical numbers. The stage and props were glistening with spittle and I almost covered myself with my coat when this actor was delivering lines in my direction, but I didn't want to embarrass them. You know when you see someone in a spotlight sneeze and you can see every particle of the mist? Yeah. They were doing that for every hard consonant they delivered. One of the props was a notepad which became well-moistened by the end of it. I felt bad for the co-star and I hoped they weren't getting spritzed by every line. I wish I had a poncho, safety glasses, and a mask.

They have a place to buy drinks and they allow them in the theater but the seats don't...

I love this place. I have an ACT pass and attend virtually every play, reading or musical. ACT is accessible from University St. or from inside the Convention Center. The historic Eagles Building houses ACT's performances spaces. Extensive work, while preserving the surrounding artistry of the original building, created A Contemporary Theatre. It now has two tradional theaters, a presidium and one in the round, and a Cabaret space, which appears mostly unaltered. It is used for various shorter runs, readings and interactive theater. Other smaller areas are also utilized for readings or social events. The playbill is continuous and extremely varied. I try to see them all. Best of all, I can get there on foot. The building's facade is beautiful white terra cotta. It was designed and built by artisans and workers who had been building the city for the rich folks who wouldn't the workers into the fancy clubs...