Come down to Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park for the 25th annual Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival, which has grown in leaps and bounds over a quarter of a century. From humble origins to a neighborhood mainstay, what started as a kind handshake deal between four theater companies has become an 18-performance extravaganza, with different types of live entertainment (and food!) for all walks of life over its two-day run.
Whether you’re in the mood for comedy on the amphitheater stage, Shakespeare on the conservatory lawn or fight choreography demonstrations on the museum lawn, there’s no reason to leave one of Seattle’s greatest green spaces over the festival’s span.
Weekend highlights:
- Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre, an Indigenous company dedicated to outreach via the performing arts, will present a short show while promoting their upcoming Seattle Indigenous Youth Arts & Performance two-week intensive in August.
- Thistle Theatre, Seattle’s premier puppet troupe, will stage their show “Brother Coyote and Sister Fox”on Saturday.
- Dacha Theatre, the 2024 Gregory Award People’s Choice winner for Organization of the Year, presents an interactive devising workshop with co-artistic director Kate Drummond.
Or maybe you’re only in it for the Shakespeare. There’s oodles of The Bard to witness, including shortened versions of “Much Ado About Nothing”(Greenstage and Shakespeare Northwest), “As You Like It” (Seattle Shakespeare Company Wooden O) and“Romeo & Juliet”(Last Leaf Productions), plus improvised Shakespeare courtesy of CSZ Seattle’s “Sound & Fury.”
