Dacha Theatre has built a reputation on devised and immersive theater work. Their “dice” shows, for example, reshuffle Shakespeare and Austen stories based on the roll of the dice. In 2019, they did a loving and earnest version of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses outdoors in a small corner of Magnuson Park. Their final 2022 show is a staged reading of Girls School Memory Play (written by Donovan Olsen and the ensemble, directed by Leah Sainz-Jones), a new play about a trans person at an all-girls middle school.
“Girls School Memory Play is a process of combing through the past with an eye toward healing,” playwright Olsen told The Ticket. “Trans protagonists replay middle and high school memories, putting daydream-like spins on the past to validate and free their younger selves. What started as a project to process my own history has become a love letter to trans people of all ages, and I’m incredibly excited to share that with Seattle.”
Dacha’s dedication to exuberance is in full force in this play. There’s a liberating fashion show, a boy band dream sequence, and “a pep rally gone feral.”
“People can look forward to hearing the inner monologues of their baby-gay selves, watching oppressive systems break down and falter, and witnessing the formation of queer community,” Olsen continued. “They can also look forward to a bold, caring, and phenomenally talented cast.”
