Dear Jack, Dear Louise is more than a wartime romance. It is a meditation on patience, hope, and the courage required to trust another person in uncertain times. Key City Public Theatre achieves intimacy without sentimentality, humor without frivolity, and romance without cliché. Every element — the emotional performances of Krista Curry and Erik Gratton, the understated set, the evocative lighting and sound, and precise period costumes — works in concert to transport the audience into the emotional world of these letters. By the final scene, as the last letter is read, the audience is left with a sense of fulfillment and quiet awe: a reminder that love, connection, and human resilience endure, even when faced with the distance and uncertainty of war. This is theatre that lingers, inviting reflection long after the curtain falls.

Renton Civic Theatre’s Little Women may not capture the full depth of Alcott’s novel, but the cast more than makes up for it with heartfelt performances and stunning vocals. At the center is Sonja Rose Usher’s radiant Jo March, whose energy and expressiveness drive the production. With strong ensemble work, beautiful music, and thoughtful design, this is a show well worth seeing.

Exotic Deadly is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud satire about MSG and our fraught relationship with it. But it’s more than that. Keiko Green’s writing is so deft that the humor sweeps you away, only for you to realize later she’s offering a warning: abandon critical thinking, and we’ll believe anything we’re told—like a blind man in the market buying whatever he’s sold. In this production, playwright, director, and cast unite to create an important allegory delivered with joy and energy. Keiko continues to craft witty, incisive theatre, and the group in this co-production doesn’t just perform her work—they embody it. It’s a busy time in theatre, with so many shows opening this month, but this is one you won’t want to miss.

Whether you’ve devoured all the Jurassic Park books and films or have just a passing familiarity with this franchise, Jurassic Parking Lot is a show that entertains. The Habit’s latest production honors the spirit of the Jurassic Park series while amplifying the comedy times a hundred through farcical hijinks, witty banter, delightful song parodies, and dancing dinosaurs that are alternately sensual and hilarious. To paraphrase both the original Jurassic and this latest parody – comedy, uh, finds a way.

POTUS succeeds as both sharp satire and hilarious farce. It doesn’t ask you to parse policies or take a side — it just invites you to recognize the absurdity of power and laugh at the chaos. And in today’s climate, that feels less like escapism and more like relief. It’s fast, funny, and refreshingly non-partisan — a reminder that while some men fumble their way through the highest office in the land, it’s often the women around them who keep the country, and the comedy, alive. And when a story that is this funny is told by a cast as good as this one is, it is a true delight.

The Play That Goes Wrong at Seattle Rep delivers exactly what its title promises and more — a night of mayhem, expertly executed. Seattle Rep has engineered a catastrophe that audiences will be delighted to watch collapse night after night, and with this production Dámaso and the theatre have a bona fide crowd-pleaser on their hands, picking up exactly where they left off last season.

Theatre Battery’s Threepenny Opera is the kind of show that rivets you to your seat and haunts your thoughts long after the curtain falls. This production does an excellent job of showcasing both why the original socio-political opera was so powerful while adapting the text, music, and staging for a modern audience. If you’re looking for a show that features spectacular musicians and vocalists, takes place in a unique found location, and serves up Cabaret-style political commentary that makes you both laugh and cringe in recognition, this one is a do-not-miss.

It seems there is no way to look around within the current zeitgeist without coming across any mention of a multiverse, a concept in which every choice we make, or don’t make, results in a new and different timeline, the result of which is a collection of universes, a multiverse, each with a unique combination of realities. Perhaps the best example of this being depicted on stage is with Nick Payne’s Constellations, and what emerges with the SecondStory Rep production of his play is a version that captures both the vastness of Payne’s multiverse and the intimacy of a two-person love story. Exceptional performances by actors BJ Smyth and Leah Shannon, under the direction of Doug Fahl, succeed in showing us how endless the possibilities are — and how precious each choice can be.

Although Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is produced a fair amount, Rainy Day Artistic Collective’s reimagining proves that this centuries-old play can still offer us fresh insights into both the era it was written in and our own time. Instead of shying away from the queer subtext found in the original, Rainy Day capitalizes on and broadens the text’s queer themes to boldly explore love, the gender spectrum, and both the beauty and (within the Malvolio plotline) horror that can arise from actions propelled by desire. Whether you love the original Shakespeare play, have mixed emotions about how the canonical script frequently reinforces rather than challenges heteronormativity, or have never seen Twelfth Night, this is a joyfully, smartly queered production worth seeing.

At its core, Soul Breadcrumbs offers a hard-won lesson: to move forward, we must confront why people treated us as they did. Understanding does not excuse harm, but it gives us a way to untangle from its grip. Leza’s performance insists that this process is not only possible but necessary—and, through her example, profoundly inspiring. It is rare to witness a piece that feels both so intimate and so universal. Soul Breadcrumbs may have only had two nights on the Bainbridge stage, but one hopes it finds a longer life. Stories like these leave a trail for others to follow.

At every moment, Dance With Me presents an incredibly earnest account of the complex relationships between parents and children, falling in love, and the difficulties of both. But this sincerity comes at a price: the production is perhaps twice as long as necessary, largely because Wang seems unable to resist the urge to include as much in as possible. But if whittled down, at its core is a deeply honest love letter that rings true.

Big Fish, the current musical production on stage at Kitsap Forest Theatre, is an ambitious and touching production. It’s a story about fathers and sons, about the stories we tell and the truths that lie within them. In the capable hands of this talented cast, under the direction of Craig Schieber, it becomes a reminder that sometimes the setting, with all of its natural imperfections, and by adding its own magic to an already fantastical story, can make for an experience that transcends the tale being told on its stage.

Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga is the must-see theatrical experience of the summer. There’s no sense in burying the lead when a show is good, and this one most certainly is. The story of IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad took a bit of time to come to American shores, but now that it has in the English translation’s world premiere presented by Latitude Theatre, it could very well populate like IKEA’s stores themselves. The story is extremely entertaining, it’s funny, it’s educational, and it’s smartly constructed in layers that present a different (perhaps) view of the pitfalls of capitalism and consumerism, a perspective that is as important to consider today as it has ever been. Directed by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom, the show has a simple but effective design and cast of superb actors who are talented both vocally and comedically. Ingvar! is a show with a widely relatable story and a performance quality that stands up against anything else out there. I suggest not to just take my word for it, though, see it yourself, you won’t regret it.

Whether Mary Poppins is something that you’ve enjoyed casually, or if it’s a vital part of your musical theatre background, the foundational stories told first by author PL Travers, then in the Disney film, and finally the stage musical have resonated for years. The latest version, on stage at Tacoma Musical Playhouse, directed by Harry Turpin, and featuring Meagan Castillo as everyone’s favorite nanny, presents all of the heart of the original stories, but with enough of a unique perspective to make it stand out among the other versions that have been on stage in the area. With a solid ensemble and a group of lead and supporting actors who act, sing, and dance with talent and precision, this production has everything going for it, nostalgia, familiar songs, and lively dance numbers, all coming together to create a fun theatre experience.

The latest play on stage at Taproot Theatre is both a lampoon of and a tribute to the murder mystery genre popularized by Agatha Christie. Led by Richard Nguyen Sloniker as a just about perfect Hercule Poirot, and under the direction of Karen Lund, Murder on the Links is a hilarious adaptation of Christie’s 1923 novel that is told by a cast of actors who understand the nuance of character and how to mix suspense and comedy in a phenomenal way. Frantic and fun, the play is a smartly written murder mystery that takes a complex story and presents it as a tongue-in-cheek ensemble driven farce that fits the personality of Taproot Theatre perfectly.

A trip to Sequim is a nice day out on any weekend. The town’s weather is always temperate, it lacks the rain that the PNW is known for as a result of its rain shadow, and its personality is extremely welcoming. But if you’re the kind of person who needs a reason to visit a spot, well, July is the perfect month to go, and the third weekend of the month and its annual Lavender Festival is the reason. And when you go to Sequim to see the fields of violet, visit the farms that harvest the shrub that cools, soothes, and subdues, Olympic Theatre Arts is a venue that has to be on your list. Its annual Lavender Melodrama is on stage now and I can’t think of a better accoutrement to the festival than Lavender Legacies, a funny, satirical, and wholly entertaining production that combines comedy, education, and music to lampoon the town and its favorite shrub. The play is a wonderful way to learn about the history of the town, its personality, and its relationship with lavender. And in a time when many theatres have closed their doors for the season, it’s nice to see that there’s something on stage worth making the trip to see.

The Spitfire Grill is a musical that tells the story of a small town and a newcomer that nobody wanted but everyone needed, a stranger with a past who, through her own hard work and open heart gives each of the town’s citizens permission to deal with their own pain in a most constructive way. It’s a story of redemption, healing, and empowerment that is told through humor and music in a manner that is both enjoyable and relatable. The Lakewood Playhouse production is filled with all of the heart anyone familiar with the story through its film or stage versions will recognize, and presented by a cast that not only understands the story’s messages, and how best to deliver them, but does so with beauty and precision. It’s the perfect way for Lakewood Playhouse to close out its season, a season that has steadily improved the quality of its storytelling as the year has progressed, stating without a doubt that, after a change in direction over the past year or so, the theatre’s creative team under the leadership of Joseph C. Walsh, has not just found its footing, but it’s built a foundation on which to build for years to come.

The Double is a unique show that likely resembles nothing most audiences have experienced recently or will experience again soon. Through its innovative cocktail of theatre, multimedia, and dance, Witness’s current production destabilizes ideas like identity, modernity, and truth. With its complex narrative, evocative movement, and impressive technical elements, The Double immerses us in a world where multiple versions of the truth clamor for our attention.

Be More Chill, the 2015 musical that artfully presents the uncomfortable angst that most everyone feels at one time or another during their teenage years, is a show that combines fun and catchy songs with a unique way of telling the classic story of the unpopular kid who will do anything to raise his social standing in order to get the girl. Featuring a cast of talented and funny actors under the direction of Doug Fahl, the SecondStory Rep production proves once again what a theatre is capable of, even in a small space. And when a capable group of actors who perform well individually come together to create a full and solid ensemble in a show like this, it’s a recipe for success, and anyone who comes to Redmond for this musical will agree, Be More Chill is a rousing success.

The Realistic Joneses is so named by playwright Will Eno because of his intent to make a story that is relatable with characters who behave realistically. He’s certainly done that with this piece, and in the latest production of it at the Jewel Box Theatre in Poulsbo, director Jeffrey Brown presents a show that is indeed accessible, a solid story of mortality, communication, loneliness, and love, told by a talented cast of actors who are able to strip back the walls of their characters in order to expose their vulnerable sides. It’s a show that will make us think about our own lives, how their challenges define our behaviors and relationships, the walls that exist to prevent people from getting too close, and how, by knocking them down, we may find the grace we need to fill the holes in our hearts.