SecondStory Repertory’s production of Ruthless! embraces everything that has made the musical a cult favorite for more than three decades—its outrageous humor, its memorable characters, and its unapologetic theatricality. With Harry Turpin guiding a cast that clearly understands the style of the piece, the result is a lively and thoroughly entertaining evening that reminds audiences just how much fun musical theatre can be when it isn’t afraid to laugh at itself.

Part memoir, part cultural exploration, and part theatrical magic act, I Love You, I Miss You, I’m Glad You’re Gone explores how we process some of life’s most difficult experiences. Rather than offering a simple resolution, Maritess invites the audience to consider how memory, culture, imagination, and humor can coexist when confronting illness and survival. It’s a play reminds us that storytelling itself can be its own form of magic, transforming personal experience into something shared, and allowing an audience to witness the resilience required to turn life’s most difficult chapters into art.

Thalia’s Umbrella’s current production is like a delightful giant puzzle, one where even the audience members are jumbled-up pieces, that we get to help artfully piece together in real time. The play fearlessly asks questions about its own vulnerability, politics, artistry, responsibility, and reality while interrogating ours. Between A Mirror’s insightful direction, actors that perform fluidly as both an ensemble and individuals, and top-tier design elements, this show will likely be one of the best from this season.

Like the tides themselves, The Highest Tide moves between curiosity and contemplation, wonder and uncertainty. It asks audiences to engage their imagination in the same way readers do when opening a novel, filling in the spaces between words and trusting the story to guide them somewhere unexpected. In doing so, this production offers a thoughtful reminder that sometimes the most powerful stories are the ones that leave room for the audience to imagine the rest.

This is the kind of production that reminds you why companies continue to take on a play like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? despite its demands. It asks a great deal—of its performers, its designers, and its audience—and in return, it offers an experience that lingers. Olympic Theatre Arts has embraced that challenge with a clear understanding of what makes this piece work: trust in the text, commitment to the performances, and a design that supports rather than competes. The result is an evening that doesn’t just justify its length, but earns it, delivering a story that is as uncomfortable as it is compelling, and one that stays with you well after the final moment fades to black.

The play doesn’t shy away from those internal tensions, whether in debates over how to respond, who should speak, or how openly one should live. And that may be what lingers most. The Normal Heart doesn’t just ask us to remember a moment in history—it asks us to consider how we respond when history is happening in real time. In this production at Lakewood Playhouse, that question lands with clarity, honesty, and a quiet but undeniable weight. As we say at The Sound on Stage, every stage deserves a spotlight—but some stories demand it.

Like the mirror at the center of the space, this production doesn’t offer a single, clean reflection—it reveals something more layered, made up of fragments, angles, and shifting perspectives. In that way, Circle Mirror Transformation feels perfectly at home with inD Theatre’s mission, embracing a stripped-down, actor-driven approach that invites both introspection and connection. What emerges is a quietly affecting exploration of vulnerability and the courage it takes to be seen, even imperfectly. It’s a reminder that theatre doesn’t need spectacle to resonate—it simply needs honesty, and a willingness to hold up the mirror.

This production makes a strong case for itself not just as a successful staging of a beloved musical, but as a reminder of why this story continues to endure. With a cast that works seamlessly together, a creative team that understands how to keep the piece moving while supporting its quieter moments, and performances that consistently meet the demands of the material, this is a show that delivers on both its charm and its craftsmanship. For those who already love She Loves Me, this production offers a satisfying and well-executed take, and for those encountering it for the first time, it’s a strong introduction to a musical that has earned its place among the classics.

Woodinville Repertory Theatre’s current show invites us into a theatrical experience that feels urgent, emotional, and topical without veering into preachy. Their production of Perfect Arrangement uses a slice of history to illuminate the paradoxes and moral dilemmas that remain pertinent for many of us, while impressively balancing this with moments of levity and love. Featuring a talented seven-person ensemble and spectacular design elements, this one is worth making the trek beyond Seattle.

This show is about real life—deceit, loss, self-discovery, disappointment, shame, self-hatred, mental health, bullying, and complex relationships between parents, siblings, and romantic partners. The subject matter may seem “dark,” but I assure you it isn’t—it reflects the reality of where our society currently is and how we can all show up to be better. But most importantly, it’s about hope—that no matter what, like the show says, “Even when the dark comes crashing through, when you need a friend to carry you, and when you're broken on the ground, you will be found.” It will always get better, nothing lasts forever, and you are not alone—just keep going.

I implore you to go see Dear Evan Hansen at Tacoma Musical Playhouse; it will be a show that I remember “for, forever.”

Young Dragon: A Bruce Lee Story, written by Keiko Green, is an important and provoking piece of art that everyone will enjoy and continue to talk about for years to come. Seattle Children’s Theatre always does an incredible job of bringing stories to life that reflect and pay tribute to minorities, disabilities and special differences that make us all unique, which right now is more imperative than ever. Run, don’t walk to get your tickets before the run ends on March 22nd, 2026.

This show blends humor, life-story, dance and social perspective in a very creative way that rewards the audience with Teal Shearer's own sense of wonder and excitement about humanity and this world we live in. It is a gift she has decided to share with us, and for that we should be absolutely honored.

Standing Room Only Theatre’s production of The Odd Couple (Female Version) is a strong example of what can be accomplished with a clear vision, a capable ensemble, and a willingness to adapt to the limitations of a nontraditional space. As the company continues its search for a permanent home, this production serves as a promising indicator of what they are capable of—and a compelling reason to follow what comes next.

At just over 75 minutes with no intermission, Chick Fight! delivers a theatrical experience that is both immediate and thought-provoking, but more importantly, it’s one that refuses to let its audience remain at a comfortable distance. This is not passive viewing—it’s participation, whether you’re ready for it or not. The production’s strength lies in its willingness to embrace that discomfort, to challenge both its characters and its audience to confront difficult questions about control, identity, and agency. Supported by strong performances, intentional design, and choreography that carries as much narrative weight as the text itself, the piece succeeds in creating something that feels urgent and relevant. It doesn’t aim to please everyone, nor should it. Instead, it commits fully to its perspective, and in doing so, carves out a space for dialogue that feels necessary. That alone makes Chick Fight! a production worth seeking out.

What lingers most after Fishbowl is not any one design element or performance, but the questions it leaves behind. In a world where the systems we rely on—environmental, scientific, even interpersonal—feel increasingly fragile, Catherine’s play resists easy answers. Instead, it invites us to sit with the uncertainty, to consider whether progress and empathy can coexist, and to ask what it means to truly understand one another. In that way, Fishbowl becomes less about the mysteries beneath the surface of the ocean and more about the ones within ourselves—and whether we are willing to face them.

Staging Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is an ambitious undertaking, and Red Curtain deserves credit for tackling a piece of this scale. The craftsmanship on display is evident in every corner of the production, particularly in its striking visual design and the clear commitment from the cast and creative team. As with many productions of the classic whodunit, the balance between spectacle and storytelling is a delicate one, requiring seamless movement, sustained tension, and a strong connection to the performances at its core. At its best, this production finds those moments—particularly in its final reveal, where the story is allowed to take center stage and the emotional weight of the mystery fully lands. It’s a reminder of why this story continues to be revisited time and again, and of the unique theatrical challenge it presents to every company that dares to bring it aboard.

Burien Actors Theatre’s production of R.U.R…or Rossum’s Universal Robots is an engaging and thoughtfully realized staging of a foundational work of science fiction. It balances visual cohesion, committed performances, and thematic clarity to deliver a piece that feels both classic and strikingly relevant. More than a century after its debut, Čapek’s warning still resonates—and in this staging, it lands with unsettling clarity.

Annex Theatre has long been a home for new and unconventional work, and Next Exit is a clear continuation of that mission. It’s a play that doesn’t aim to provide easy answers, but instead invites the audience into an ongoing conversation—sometimes humorous, sometimes reflective—about how we navigate uncertainty, mortality, and connection. In the end, Next Exit suggests that while we may search endlessly for reasons and clarity—about both life and death—the truth may be both simpler and more complex: things don’t always happen for a reason, but they do happen. And it’s what we make of those moments, how we choose to live within them, and how we connect with others along the way, that ultimately defines the journey.

We are all human. We are all different. We are all the same. We all experience hurt, fear, love, joy, pain, regret, and ambition. Sometimes we experience life at the top, and sometimes we experience it at the bottom. But when we are gone, what remains is who we were—flesh, bones, blood, scars, and the impact we left behind. So don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy it, because you are only human. Bremerton Community Theatre has a gem of a production on its hands that I encourage everyone to experience. This show runs until Sunday, March 1, 2026—grab tickets before they sell out.

Topdog/Underdog, per director Valerie Curtis-Newton is “the story of two brothers trying to… find a way to heal the generational trauma and come out the other side.” But, “in its most basic form, they are trying to win an unwinnable game.” The actors, ML Roberts and Yusef Seevers call it, “hilarious, heartbreaking and relevant … hysterical, Black and important.” It is all of those things and more.