Category: ACT Contemporary Theatre

Elevator Thoughts (aka Tweet): Wolf Play at ACT Theatre by Hansol Jung directed by Rosa Joshi. Interesting story about a lesbian queer couple, unconventional adoption, parenting, betrayal, & boxing. Novel puppetry. #LGBT #LGBTQ

Synopsis from the Theatre: When an online adoption process goes sideways, the young boy caught in the middle launches himself into a lone wolf’s journey to find a pack he can call his own. From South Korean playwright Hansol Jung, one of the most imaginative story tellers in the field, comes a wild new play employing puppetry, boxing, and crackling dialogue to tell the affecting story of trust, love, identity, and the families we choose and unchoose.

Reviewed Performance: 5/11/23 Opening Night

Type: Play

World Premiere: No

Several or Few Scenes: Several

Several or Few Settings/Locations: Several

Prior Exposure/Knowledge Required: None

Defined Plot/Storyline: Yes

Recommendation: See it, especially if you’re a(n) (aspiring) gay parent or if you like watching on-stage puppetry. This was not your typical furry Muppets or Avenue Q puppetry though! Read more below.

Was This the First Time I Attended a Production of this Show: Yes

Would I See It Again 3 Years from Now: Probably not, but it was good

Rating Compared to Other Shows with the Same Production Value:
4.5 stars (Out of 5 Stars)

Equity Actors: 2

Total Number of Actors: 5

Length (Including Any Intermission): 2 hours

Intermission: No

Other Rave(s) Not Mentioned in Elevator Thoughts

• Puppetry: I usually don’t like puppetry on-stage (and thankfully only the main character was a puppet), but I’ll admit that the puppetry design/presentation in this play was unique. Throughout the show, Morgan Gwilym Tso portrayed a child (Wolf) as a life-sized non-furry puppet. A side benefit was that it let the theatre avoid casting a child actor, which can be problematic.
• Courtroom Scene: They lowered poles from the ceiling to simulate a boxing ring in the courtroom.
• Lesbian MomsLGBTQ Parents (Updated 5/21): This play showcases an LGBTQ couple with a lipstick female (Robin) and a more butch non-binary person (Ash) who was originally born a female. Ash was a boxer with a beard and hairy armpits! I originally described them as a “lesbian couple” since that’s how Concord Theatricals (the organization that licensed the play performing rights to ACT Theatre) described them. But a reader messaged me that “queer couple” is more accurate.

Rant(s)

• Opening Monologe : The play started slow with a monologue but eventually hit its stride. I suggest cutting or shortening the monologue. You want to hook the audience at the very beginning.

Other Musing(s) and Observation(s)

• eBay Adoptions: The premise is that a lesbian queer couple adopts a child online from a family who changed their mind about raising an adopted kid. It’s like a how one might adopt a dog at the shelter and later decide to give it away to another family because the dog pees on the carpet. I never really considered people might actually commit this atrocity in real life until this play. Sadly, it probably happens more than we realize.

Theatre Company: ACT Theatre

Venue: Allen Theatre at ACT Theatre

Venue Physical Address: 700 Union St, Seattle, WA 98101

Price: Medium

Ticket Affordability Options: You can self-select lower ticket prices on the ticketing website. Also, check out the the theatre’s official discounts page.

Dates: May 5 to 21, 2023 – Opening night was only 5/11 and they’re already ending the production 5/21! Have ACT Theatre runs always ended this early? I remember the same thing for History of Theatre.

Seating: Assigned Seating

Parking: Paid lot or paid street parking. If I don’t walk to this theatre, I park in the Convention Center garage with the entrance between Seneca and Pike. There is indoor access from the garage to the ACT Theatre going through the convention center.

Like/Comment/Share my Social Media Posts About this Performance:
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Buy a Ticket or Learn More:

• https://acttheatre.org/2023-season/wolf-play/
• Program

Other Video +/- Pictures: See pictures in video and under video by Jim Bennett

Cast and Production Team: See after pictures and video below

@showsiveseen "#Wolf #Play" at @ACT Theatre Seattle by Hansol Jung directed by Rosa Joshi. Interesting story about a #lesbian couple, unconventional #adoption, #parenting, betrayal, & #boxing. Novel #puppetry. Ends this weekend! Photos by Jim Bennett. Review: showsiveseen.com/5408 #theatre #LGBT ♬ Follow Through – Devin Kennedy

Role	Name
Wolf	Morgan Gwilym Tso
Ash	S. Franco
Robin	Vahishta Vafadari
Ryan	Xander DenAngeles*
Peter	Aaron Blakely*
Wolf (Understudy)	Koo Park
Ash/Robin (Understudy)	Ayodele Ngozi Tushinde
Ryan (Understudy)	Darius Sakui
Peter (Understudy)	Christopher Clark
—	—
Director	Rosa Joshi
Playwright	Hansol Jung
Assistant Director	Dylan Tomas Nieves
Scenic Designer	Andrea Bush
Costume Designer	Christine Tschirgi
Lighting Designer	Connie Yun^
Sound Designer	Meghan Roche
Puppet Designer	Amanda Villalobos
Puppet Coach	Annett Mateo
Intimacy & Fight Choreographer	Helen Roundhill
Boxing Coach	Laura Wright
Assistant Lighting Designer	Thorn Michaels
Stage Manager	Tori Thompson
Production Assistant	Michelle Chesley

Elevator Thoughts (aka Tweet): Every Brilliant Thing one-person storytelling play w/ Ian Bell written by Duncan Macmillan & Jonny Donahoe. Feel-good show that ironically explores depression w/ the help of audience participation. First time I sat front row at ACT Theatre!

Synopsis from the Theatre: The color yellow. Sunsets. Things with stripes. Wearing a cape. Ice cream! There are a million brilliant things. Can you name them all? The hit play and international sensation Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe is a one-of-a-kind storytelling experience blending comedy, improv, and audience interaction to tell the story of an adult growing up in the shadow of mental illness and learning to grapple with their own experiences of love, loss, and a finding a new way forward, one brilliant thing at a time.

Reviewed Performance: 3/23/23 Opening Night

Type: Play

World Premiere: No

Several or Few Scenes: Several

Several or Few Settings: Several

Defined Plot/Storyline: Seemed more like a collection of related vignettes than an actual plot

Recommendation: See it if either

• You like one-person plays
• You’re not a cynic
• You like the quirky, basic, hipster millennial, whimsical, cutesy vibes of Zooey Deschanel in New Girl
• You like sentimentality
• You like plays that explore depression and suicide (but remember this is a feel-good play)
• You like the private “dance it out” scenes in Grey’s Anatomy w/ Meredith and Christina
• You like dancing in the rain
• You like seeing audience participation
• Or you like participating from the audience

Was This the First Time I Attended a Production of this Show: Yes

Rating Compared to Other Shows with the Same Production Value:
4 Stars (Out of 5 Stars)

Equity Actors: 1

Total Number of Actors: 1

Length (Including Any Intermission): 75 minutes

Intermission: No

Other Rave(s) Not Mentioned in Elevator Thoughts

• Playlist: The overhead stage playlist before and after the show was a nice selection of retro feel-good songs
• Live Band: There was a live band in the lobby before and after the show. I hope they performed for more than just opening night…

Rant(s)

• “Why?” Scene: For some reason, I really hate scenes on on-stage or on-screen when kids incessantly ask “Why?” in response to everything an adult tells them. It is not cute at all.

Other Musing(s) and Observation(s)

• Audience Participation: There was a ton of audience participation in this production. I was a little worried when Ian Bell (the solo actor of this performance) passed out cards throughout the audience a couple of minutes before the show began. Be careful if you’re on the front row like I was! Fortunately, he didn’t choose me to participate. While I’m usually not a fan of extensive audience participation in shows (total theatre “pillow princess” here), I thought it was a novel cost-effective way to add additional actors/characters to a one-person show. There were scenes where an audience member euthanized a coat, proposed marriage to Ian Bell, or hosted a therapy session with a sock puppet! I always wonder what’s the contingency plan in shows with such extensive audience participation if a chosen person is an absolute psycho and derails the intended trajectory of the performance.

Theatre Company: ACT Theatre

Venue: ACT Theatre – Allen Theatre

Venue Physical Address: 700 Union St, Seattle, WA 98101

Price: Cheap to Expensive

Ticket Affordability Options:

• Pay What You Can: You can self-select ticket prices as low as free for the value seats on the ticketing website. The value seats are just about the same view as the non-value seats.
• Other ACT Theatre Discounts: https://acttheatre.org/visit/discounts/
• TodayTix

Dates: March 17 to April 2, 2023

Seating: Assigned Seating

Parking: Paid lot or paid street parking. If I don’t walk to this theatre, I park in the Convention Center garage with the entrance between Seneca and Pike. There is indoor access from the garage to the ACT Theatre going through the convention center.

Like/Comment/Share my Social Media Posts About this Performance:
Instagram | TikTok | Twitter

Buy a Ticket or Learn More:

• https://acttheatre.org/2023-season/every-brilliant-thing/
• Program

Other Video +/- Pictures: See pictures below by Truman Buffet Photography

Cast and Production Team: See after pictures below

Role	Name
Main Character	Ian Bell*
Understudy	Imogen Love*
—	—
Director	John Langs
Playwrights	Duncan Macmillan w/ Jonny Donahoe
Scenic Designer	Parmida Ziaei
Costume Designer	Danielle Nieves
Lighting Designer	Lily McLeod
Sound Designer	Maggie L. Rogers
Stage Manager	Jeffrey K. Hanson*
Production Assistant	Max Zamorano
Stage Management Intern	Em Wittress