Don't be surprised if walking down East Cherry Street this month feels like stepping into an off-Broadway production. It just might, as you catch a free showing of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' plays being performed as part of the nationwide 365 Days/365 Plays.
Director-producer Susie Polnaszek and Spectrum Dance Theatre will present the short plays in Madrona this month, in conjunction with other groups around Seattle and the country.
"I want to present moments at various street corners in my neighborhood," Polnaszek said. "I like the fact that all of my group's performances will be outdoors, in the streets and parks."
A NATIONAL PRODUCTION
365 Days/365 Plays began after Parks spent a year, starting Nov. 13, 2002, writing one play a day for a year. Seattle is one of 16 cities around the country - including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles - participating in the performance, according to Joy Fairfield, project coordinator for Seattle.
"It was really important to Suzan-Lori Parks that the performances be free and open to everyone," Polnaszek said.
Large theater companies, small studios, schools and independent directors and actors have formed into 52 separate groups in Seattle, dedicated to performing at least one play a day for a year.
Groups involved include Intiman Theatre, University of Washington School of Drama, Seattle Children's Theatre, Town Hall Seattle, Seattle Repertory Theatre and The Empty Space Theatre, to name a few.
"There are students involved, independent actors, as well as big theater groups and professionals," Fairfield said. "It's great because it creates a broad range of performances in places you normally wouldn't see theater."
Elizabeth Sanders, an actor working with Polnaszek, said she heard about the project in a Madrona newsletter and loved the idea.
"The project is an exciting way to involve everyone in the art, out in the open where they don't have to sit in a theater to get the experience," Sanders said.
POLITICAL THEATER
The performances began last November and will continue until Nov. 12 of this year. Each group will perform or has already performed for one week out of the year, according to Polnaszek, who will present Week 24 the last week of April.
The plays run anywhere from 30 seconds to about three minutes in length and deal with a number of current issues such as the war in Iraq.
"The plays are about the great social problems of our time," said Leticia Lopez, director of the group who performed during the last week of March at various locations around Seattle. "They're edgy, highly theatrical and very political."
Polnaszek said that though the groups are given Parks' scripts, they have a lot of room to add their own ideas to the performance.
"I really wanted the opportunity to play with the text," she said. "We get to take the idea of play performance very broadly."
She described one scene that looks much like everyday life: children are playing, people are shopping for groceries and a woman comes out and takes a large step. The play then ends.
"There is no dialogue - just stage directions. Most of it will be choreographed," Polnaszek said.
MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCES
Seattle's performances are multimedia, according to Fairfield, with the performances involving music, dancers and film, along with theatrical performances.
Margaretta Lantz, an actor who worked with Leticia Lopez the last week of March, said she really enjoyed being involved with the plays.
"One time, we were in a park and got a bunch of people involved in a chase scene," she said.
"This is a really low-stress, high-fun opportunity to put on theatrical performances out there, even if people don't know they are there," Polnaszek said.
For more information about Seattle's 365 Days/365 Plays, go towww.365 seattle.com.
