Mike's adventures in art: Wolf Play, Strange Weather, Storm

If you're looking for tips on how to experience art in the Seattle area, you're in the right place. In this weekly post, KUOW arts reporter Mike Davis has suggestions for what to do around Seattle over the weekend so you can have your own adventures in arts and culture.

Theater

"Wolf Play" is showing at ACT Theater. This is my pick of the week. When I learned this play would tackle the complexities of rehoming an international adoptee, the phenomenon of rehoming children using the internet (in this case Yahoo message board), gender ideology, gender in relation to professional athletics, and homophobia all in one 2-hour play with no intermission — I was skeptical. Not of the ability of writer Hansol Jung to craft the story, but of my ability to absorb it all in a 120-minute sprint without a breather.

I was way off base with that assumption.

Before seeing the play, I spoke with director Rosa Joshi. She explained that even though the topics themselves are heavy, we experience the play through the eyes of a 6-year-old boy. So the tone of the play naturally becomes lighter. Sitting in the audience, I marveled at the execution. The contrasting moments where the adults are parsing through heart-wrenching discussions, and we get narration directly from the little boy who is at the center of the action, allow the audience to laugh. Even though we as adults understand what we are seeing, we are allowed to transition into the perspective of a child. And in this production, the child believes he is a wolf.

"Wolf Play" tells the story of a little boy, known as Wolf, who is struggling to find his pack. His family. Before the play starts, we learn that while the boy is Korean, the story is about Americans. We are slammed into the middle of the “rehoming” process. We see Wolf delivered to a new family and through his eyes we experience his world shift as his father explains to him that he will have a new home. The emotions from the adults, the terror of the child, a pressure cooker situation that eventually explodes into violence - this scene will live with the audience long after seeing the play.

Wolf's new parents are a lesbian couple, one of which did not want to adopt. So not only do we get the dynamic of a reluctant parent causing ripples in a marriage, but this parent is also a non-binary boxer preparing for their professional debut against a male fighter. So, in the midst of training for a historical bout, now a child has invaded their world.

There is so much more I could say about this play, but I encourage folks to see it for themselves. There is so much to unpack. The little boy is a puppet. His puppeteer, who is an adult, plays the character of a wolf. And that wolf speaks for the little boy. It is not only creative artistically, but adds a unique dynamic to production. The puppeteer speaks the boy's thoughts which cannot be heard by the other characters, and speaks directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall, and also has moments where he speaks to other characters as the little boy. It adds so much to the production having this element.

Puppetry, staged-boxing, and the quest to find love round out this amazing production. I see a lot of plays. This is easily one of the best I’ve seen this year.

Wolf Play, showing at the ACT Theater May 5 - 21

Visual Art

"Strange Weather: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation" is showing at the Bellevue Art Museum. If you find yourself on the east side, this contemporary art collection is definitely worth checking out. These pieces explore the relationship and boundaries between bodies and the environment. They were collected over five decades, from 1970 to 2020, and include works from some of the most influential artists in the United States. I could give you the entire list, but instead I’ll tell you why I am so excited.

This collection includes work by Kehinde Wiley. He’s most known for his portrait of Barack Obama in 2018, which made him the first Black artist to receive this commission from a sitting US president. But Wiley has done so much more in his career.

He is influenced by Western European painters who created portraits that portray honor and dignity, such paintings of a Christ and fallen soldiers. Wiley crafts contemporary pieces that depict everyday African Americans that convey these same emotions. He finds models by walking the streets, and he uses the images of these people he encounters to make portraits, some over 25-feet long, of Black people interacting with nature. Sometimes, the people are dead in natural environments. His use of color and keen eye for detail make his pieces remarkable. Every part of his subject feels real from eyelash to fingertip. If you have a chance to see his work in person, you should take advantage.

Strange Weather: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, is showing at the Bellevue Art Museum March 15 - Aug 20

Sports

The Seattle Storm, home opener at Climate Pledge Arena. I don’t usually give sports picks, but this is a big one. I know we are still feeling the Kraken’s playoff loss, but this is not time for sadness. It’s time for celebration because the Storm are back! They have their home opener, facing the Las Vegas Aces, who eliminated them from the semi-finals in the playoffs last year. These games are a lot of fun, the tickets are affordable, and the experience is kid friendly. Your kiddos may even have a chance to join the conga-line!

Seattle Storm, home opener at Climate Pledge Arena vs The Las Vegas Aces is at noon, Saturday, May 20.