Three shows for Fall 2024

Here are a few plays in Seattle that I’m looking forward to seeing this fall. Each should resonate with the work of a plaintiff trial lawyer in a different way. I hope you see one of these that sounds promising to you, and that you share about it when we run into each other next!

POTUS at ACT Theatre, Sept 7-22

How do you give a familiar story more texture by telling it from an unexpected perspective? POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, promises escapist joy in an all-too-familiar setting. In this Tony-nominated White House farce, the focus is on the frantic behind-the-scenes effort of advisors, aides, and others to keep their barely-competent employer/husband/President on track as he coasts along on a cushion of unearned privilege.

Guards at the Taj at ArtsWest, Sept 12 – Oct 6

How do you focus on the essential core of a story when you want to include every detail? In a prior version of what would become Guards at the Taj, Tony- and Pulitzer-nominated playwright Rajiv Joseph had written what he describes as a larger, more sprawling, and ultimately more boring play. He threw that play out and reimagined it entirely, focusing solely on the two smallest characters. Those characters – guards at the newly-built Taj Mahal – find themselves forced to confront their own complicity with authoritarian power.

Primary Trust at Seattle Rep, Oct 24 – Nov 24

How can we see past someone’s surface to find their deeper truths and meaningful stories? At first glance, the main character of 2024 Pulitzer winner Primary Trust is easy to dismiss as an alienated, underachieving loner. But as we get to know him and understand him, we develop a fuller appreciation for him and for his value as an individual and as a member of his community.