Calling all Mindy Kaling fans! This month, her play “Matt & Ben” debuts in Seattle at ArtsWest, running from Sept. 7 to Oct. 1. The show originally featured Kaling herself along with Brenda Withers in the title roles of the unforgettable duo that epitomize modern Hollywood friendship. The play, which won the top prize at FringeNYC, centers on that Matt and Ben (yes, Damon and Affleck if you hadn’t caught on yet) and their artistic collaboration on the film that propelled their rise to fame, “Good Will Hunting.” Usually cinema and theater are at odds with each other, in competition with each other, or, in comedy, making fun of each other (see: “All About Eve”), so to see a merging that aims to tell a story of one form by using another to its full advantage will be a treat.
On that note, movie-lovers — there’s another show that’s taking the big screen to the stage this month! “Titanish,” directed by Mark Siano and running through Sept. 17, is Seattle Public Theater’s musical parody of James Cameron’s blockbuster 1997 film, and if it’s anything like what the Habit Comedy writers have achieved with their other raucous successes, it’ll be a laughter-filled, off-the-rails night at the theater.
If you’re in the mood to be awed by jaw-dropping acrobatics, Seattle Rep’s new show “Passengers” will be right up your alley! The 7 Fingers is a company like no other, combining gravity and death-defying acrobatics with a lot of soul and breaking boundaries of what a physical theater troupe can do, and their show, running from Sept. 22 to Oct. 15, has already been hailed by The Guardian as “an illustration of grace, freedom, moments of wonder and leaps of faith.”
Speaking of dazzling and inspiring things to escape into, one of my favorite book series, “Peter and the Starcatchers” by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, is going on stage at Theater Off Jackson. Reboot Theatre Company’s new production of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” running from Sept. 8 to Sept. 23, is being billed as a “LGBTQIA+ whimsical comedy,” exciting given the variety of ways to reframe a story about the perils of greed, the pursuit of a life more thrilling than the banal reality we are born into and the love that makes our fight for a better life worthwhile.
Last but not least, Sound Theatre Company is bringing “Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead” to 12th Avenue Arts from Sept. 7 to 30. The show features a majority-Deaf/Hard of Hearing cast and creative team (a first in Seattle history, with a Deaf scenic designer and lighting designer working on the production) and also subverts the horror genre in a tale about the afterlife that features Alexander Graham Bell communicating with the characters, in the modern day, via a TTY (teletypewriter phone.) With a concept this intriguing, it’ll be a can’t-miss show!
Johannes Saca is a writer and artist living in Seattle. Follow him on Instagram/Twitter @JohannesSaca.
Read more of the Sept. 6-12, 2023 issue.