The fall 2019 calendar is filling up at Sylvia Center for the Arts in Bellingham, which is Whatcom County’s home for locally produced theater and musical events, including plays and concerts by iDiOM Theater and Whatcom Jazz Music Arts Center - both kicking off their fall seasons in September - as well as events by other groups from around the community.
The biggest shows of the fall season are productions The Norman Conquests, by Alan Ayckbourn (a “cryingly funny” trilogy of farces, ingeniously designed to be enjoyed individually or as a trilogy in any order), and iDiOM’s now-traditional and uniquely quirky rendition of A Christmas Carol (in which the text of Charles Dickens’ original novel is performed by just three actors to a [literally] captive audience).
Sylvia Center for the Arts creates and supports locally made performing arts in Whatcom County and offers affordable arts education programs.
iDiOM Theater, “the hardest-working theater in the known world,” has been one of the most prolific producers of new theatrical work in the nation since 2002, and became the in-house production company at Sylvia Center in 2016.
Weekly Wednesday night jazz concerts. 7:00 p.m., Sylvia Center Studio Theater
Ticket prices vary, tickets are sold at door only (no pre-sales)
In Concert: ALASDAIR FRASIER & NATALIE HAAS
Thu, Sept 19, 7:00 p.m., Lucas Hicks Theater
$32 General
Featuring Peadar McMahon, Richard & Helen Scholtz, Jan Peters, and more.
GODLIKE, by Rosalind Reynolds (New Works Series)
Fri/Sat Sep t20, 21, Thu/Fri/Sat Sept 26–28, 7:30 p.m., Lucas Hicks Theater
$12 General, $9 Sylvia Center Members
A modern, comedic spin on the events of Homer’s Odyssey, about a dysfunctional family trying to deal with the aftermath of the Trojan War via family counseling.
48hr Theater Festival #53
Fri, Oct 11 & Sat, Oct 12, 7:30p.m. & 10p.m., Lucas Hicks Theater
$12 General, $9 Sylvia Center Members
Brand new short plays, written overnight and performed less than 24 hours later, two days in a row.
MIXTAPE, by Trevor Allens (New Works Series)
Thu/Fri/Sat, Oct 17–19 & Oct 24–26, 7:30pm, Lucas Hicks Theater
$12 General, $9 Sylvia Center Members
The second entry in iDiOM’s New Works series is the winner of the 2019 edition of the annual Serial Killers play tournament, re-worked from a five-episode serial play into a single, full-length piece.
Tickets at https://sylviacenterforthearts.org/event/new-works-mixtape-by-trevor-allens/
THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, by Alan Ayckbourn (Main Stage Production)
November 1–30, Lucas Hicks Theater — see calendar link below for full schedule details
$25 General, $20 Sylvia Center Members — all tickets 30% off until September 30
The Norman Conquests is made up of three interlocking full-length plays — Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden — that are ingeniously written to be enjoyed individually or as a trilogy, and can be seen in any order.
The three plays will be performed on a rotating schedule for four weeks, and can also be seen all together on two marathon performance days (Saturday, November 23 & Saturday, November 30).
Set in the dining room (Table Manners), living room (Living Together) and garden (Round and Round the Garden) of an English country house, The Norman Conquests follows six characters — assistant librarian Norman, his wife, his in-laws and the local veterinarian — from Saturday night through Monday morning. We watch as desperate lothario Norman attempts to seduce his sister-in-law Annie, charm his brother-in-law’s wife Sarah and woo his estranged wife Ruth, during a disastrously hilarious weekend of eating, drinking and miscommunication.
With his characteristic compassionate humor, Ayckbourn explores the disappointments bubbling beneath the surface as his characters’ dreams of love and fulfillment go awry.
Directed by Evan Mueller, Associate Professor of Voice/Acting at the Department of Theatre and Dance of Western Washington University’s College of Fine and Performing Arts.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL, by Charles Dickens (Main Stage Production)
Thu/Fri/Sat, Dec 5–8, 12–14 & 19–21, 7:30pm, Lucas Hicks Theater
$20 General, $15 Sylvia Center Members
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another”—Charles Dickens. Whatever your feelings about Dickens, there is no denying that the man could turn a sentence. This December, we revive one of iDiOM Theater’s most popular shows ever, a three-actor telling of A Christmas Carol, which attempts to make peace with Christmas, Charles Dickens, the British Empire, ham, and the world at large.
Sylvia Center Annual Benefit
Tuesday, Dec 31, Sylvia Center for the Arts
Sylvia Center’s third annual benefit bash will once again provide a night of fun, games, and revelry. Theme and more details to be announced very soon.
