Must List: Nordic Lights Film Festival, Sara Porkalob’s Two New Plays, Novelist Jesmyn Ward
Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events.
By Gavin Borchert, Gwendolyn Elliott and Seattle Magazine Staff January 12, 2018
MUST WATCH
Nordic Lights Film Festival
(1/11–1/14) Contemporary Scandinavian feature-length films, shorts and documentaries screen as part of this ninth annual film festival, presented by the Nordic Heritage Museum in partnership with SIFF. Among the offerings: the Swedish art world parody The Square by Ruben Östlund, and a documentary titled Arctic Superstar, about an aspiring rapper from a remote village in northern Norway. Times and prices vary. SIFF Cinema Uptown, Queen Anne, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N; and SIFF Film Center, Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St.; 206.789.5707; nordicmuseum.org/nlff
MUST TAKE NOTICE
Sara Porkalob plunges into 2018
Co-curator of Intiman Theatre’s 2017 season, Sara Porkalob, directs two plays this month: Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men (for Washington Ensemble Theatre, 1/12–1/29) and Jiehae Park’s Peerless (for ArtsWest, 1/18–2/11). “That two different theaters are producing two plays by Asian women that explicitly look at the intersection of race, class and gender is evidence of a growing awareness of how white supremacy and white politics affects everything we do,” Porkalob says. Times and prices vary. ArtsWest, West Seattle, 4711 California Ave. SW, 206.938.0963, artswest.org; Washington Ensemble Theatre at 12th Avenue Arts, Capitol Hill, 1620 12th Ave., 206.325.5105, washingtonensemble.org
MUST LISTEN
Jesmyn Ward
(1/17) In her four acclaimed novels, Ward, a professor at Tulane University and one of last year’s MacArthur “genius grant” winners—has drawn on her Mississippi upbringing and adult residence in New Orleans to examine the ongoing effects of racism. In this Seattle Arts & Lectures appearance moderated by executive director Ruth Dickey, Ward will discuss her latest book, Sing, Unburied, Sing (Scribner, $26), and perhaps the essay collection she edited before it, The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, which The New York Times said is “so alive with purpose, conviction and intellect that, upon finishing [it], you feel you must put this volume down and go walk around for a while.” 7:30 p.m. Prices vary. Benaroya Hall, downtown, 200 University St.; 206.621.2230; lectures.org
MUST SEE
Two Trains Running at Seattle Repertory Theatre
(1/12–2/11) Flashback: Travel back in time to 1969 Pittsburgh and the height of the Civil Rights Movement in Pulitzer Prize–winning (and former Seattleite) playwright August Wilson’s Two Trains Running. (Tip: Look for more on Wilson next week on seattlemag.com.) Times and prices vary. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 155 Mercer St.; 206.443.2222; seattlerep.org
MUST GET OUTSIDE
Martin Luther King Jr. Free State Parks Day
(1/15) Admission to all state parks is free in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Visit Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah or Kopachuck State Park in Gig Harbor and celebrate the civil rights leader’s legacy of a free and inclusive society, which includes making our treasured natural places accessible to all. Free. Washington state parks; 360.902.8844; parks.state.wa.us
Get the Must List in your inbox. Subscribe here.
Follow Us
Artist’s Corner: Tininha Silva
Brazilian-born fiber artist Tininha Silva talks about building a life in the Pacific Northwest and the coastal landscape that influences her work.
Along the shores of the Salish Sea, textures are everywhere—seaweed tangled in the tide, stones worn smooth by water, the strange geometry of coral and barnacles. Those details are finding their way into the work of artist Tininha Silva. Silva grew up in Brazil’s rugged Pernambuco region before moving to Seattle in 1999 after earning…
Spring Arts Preview: Film
Festivals keep the region’s movie scene busy this season.
Spring is festival season for Seattle movie lovers. For a few weeks each year, film festivals take over the city’s theaters, turning them into gathering spots for audiences eager to see what’s new on screen. Here are some worth catching. Seattle Jewish Film Festival The 31st annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival is a celebration of…
Spring Arts Preview: Visual Art
New exhibitions across Seattle offer plenty of reasons to spend an afternoon gallery hopping.
Pioneer Square’s First Thursday crowds may be getting the headlines, but the city’s visual arts scene stretches far beyond one neighborhood. From Belltown to Ballard to Capitol Hill—and even down to Tacoma—galleries and museums are presenting new exhibitions that reward a slow look. Here are the shows we recommend seeing this spring. Indira Allegra: The…
Spring Arts Preview: Theater
Stages across the region are hosting everything from intimate productions to beloved Broadway favorites.
This spring’s theater lineup runs the gamut—from a Tony-winning drama at Seattle Rep to a velvet-roped cabaret in Capitol Hill and the return of one of Broadway’s biggest musicals. These productions offer a look at the range of work happening on local stages right now. Hurricane Diane Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George, Hurricane…