Coming soon!

Poster designed by Jeff Soifer

Don't miss the show that critics have called a "working class version of Desperate Housewives meets Thelma and Louise"!

Featuring a stellar local cast:

Jess Alla as Stephanie, Luke Amundson as her son Jayden, Aaron Bredlau as the sensitive biker boyfriend, Eileen Dolan* as Stephanie's best friend Sharice, and Karter Duff* as The Mailman.

Lead by veteran WCTNW director Tom Sanders (of School for Lies fame), and expertly choreographed by dance superstar Joel Meyers-- Sluts of Sutton Drive oozes wit, shockingly dark humor and sudden plot twists.

Join us this May for the funniest and possibly most disturbing piece of live theatre you will see in Tacoma this decade. Pay what you will preview on May 5. Performances on May 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21 at 8pm in the UW Tacoma's best hidden small theatre. 007 Cherry Parks, 1922 Pacific Avenue, down the hall from Indochine.

Tickets (only $15 suggested donation!) are available online and at the door.


*Indicates UWT student.

Audition Announcement

This spring, in partnership with the University of Washington Tacoma, Working Class Theatre NW presents
The Sluts of Sutton Drive by Joshua Conkel. Directed by Tom Sanders, this dark humored escape fantasy is about a single mother without a lot of choices whose life takes a turn for the strange.

Students and people of color are especially encouraged to audition.
Auditions are March 9, 10, 11 at 7pm at the UWT- 1900 Commerce Street, Cherry Parkes Room 007, just up the steps from Indochine.
Performances May 6-8, 13-15, 19-21 at 8pm
3M, 2W

Stephanie Schwartz, 30s; a working mom
Sharice Hildebrand, 30s; Stephanie’s best friend
Will, 30s - 40s; Stephanie’s live-in biker boyfriend
Jayden, 12 (played by an adult actor); Stephanie’s son
The Mailman, 30s; quiet and slightly off-putting

In The Sluts of Sutton Drive, Stephanie’s life is weighed down by her menial job, demanding son and complete lack of choices. So she stops paying her bills and starts drinking cleaning fluid. Her best friend and co-worker Sharice tries to cheer her up with waxing and stripper-cize. Now a rapist is in town, Stephanie starts getting obscene phone calls and even the Mailman is acting weird. How far does she have to go to make it stop?

If you would like to help, we have several student internships available, as well as ongoing volunteer opportunities. Hit us up on Facebook, or email us at workingclasstheatrenw@gmail.com.

Join WCTNW at People's Park

People's Park in Tacoma, WA

Join us this Saturday, 8/22 at the Hilltop Street Fair. We will have a booth all day where you can meet us, and learn more about our upcoming season in our brand new space. At 1pm on the People's Park Stage, local actors Chevi Chung and Mark Peterson will perform the short comedy "The Sure Thing" by David Ives. Directed by Luke Amundson.

On Saturday 9/12, we will reprise this excellent performance at 5pm as part of the Spaceworks Community Celebration, with an added preview from our upcoming full length production "Enron" by Lucy Prebble. Directed by Michael Christopher, and starring a bevy of talented local actors.

We look forward to meeting you and hanging out at one or both of these fun, free, family friendly events!

ENRON AUDITIONS

Monday August 10
Tuesday August 11
7:30 pm @ Tacoma Youth Theater
924 B Broadway, Tacoma

Coming Soon! A theatre near you...

The Helen Hayes Theatre in New York

There are many exciting things afoot for Working Class Theatre NW. One very real possibility is a permanent theatre home here in Tacoma! I will share more soon. But there are things that I can talk about right now!

We are seeking directors and playwrights for our upcoming seasons. Have a play you've always wanted to direct? Not only are we looking to produce four shows a season, we are looking for one acts, play readings, and other theatre pieces to round out our performance offerings. Pitch your ideas to workingclasstheatrenw(at)gmail(dot)com

We will have a booth at the Hilltop Street Fair on August 22nd. Visit us in person! Learn about our upcoming seasons, awesome future plans, and give us input on what performing arts mean to you.
Because theatre is for everyone. Young, old, rich, poor- anyone can  tell a story.

Want to help Working Class Theatre NW build a permanent home in Tacoma? We are looking for volunteers at every level. We want your ideas, unique skills, passion for the arts and commitment to the working class community.

Ideas (not an exhaustive list) of how you could help:
Accounting, budgets, fundraising, grant writing, ad sales, marketing, social media, photography, carpentry, sewing, event planning, community outreach, graphic design, painting, taking tickets...
Extroverts- you can be an actor, director, audience member with distinct laughter, community outreach guru, ad sales specialist, board member....
Introverts- perhaps you'd like to sew costumes from home, produce social media content, build theatre apps, enjoy the company of other audience members without really having to interact, or serve on the board...
Theatre Professionals- why not teach a workshop, suggest ways WCTNW can improve, or serve on the board...
Theatre Newbies- come as you are! No need to dress up. You can bring friends, or enjoy a show on your own. Ask every question; we absolutely won't think you're stupid.

Thank you so much for making our first season a resounding success. We could not have done it without the support of actors, technicians, audiences, and other awesome people just like you. We look forward to collaborating with this community for many more years!

Rave Reviews for Life in the Theatre!

Backstage Drama- Mark Peterson (R) and Frank Thompson (L)

 Opening Night Tonight,  8pm at 733 Commerce! Life in the Theatre is back in Tacoma after a weekend in Olympia. You have 2 more weekends to share the drama onstage and off. Alec Clayton, of the Weekly Volcano, enthuses- "It is well staged, beautifully directed, and Peterson and Thompson are both outstanding."

A preview of the show, featuring an interview with the director Luke Amundson, was written by Molly Gilmore of the Olympian. Tickets are available at the door or online at Brown Paper Tickets.
 

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2015/05/21/3738232/david-mamet-play-gives-audience.html#storylink=cpy

Onstage Drama- Frank Thompson and Mark Peterson

Life in the Theatre- a play by David Mamet

Olympia: May 21–24
Tacoma: May 28–June 7

Tacoma’s Working Class Theatre NW (WCTNW) presents its third full-length production, David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre, opening at Olympia’s Midnight Sun in a pay-what-you-will preview on May 21 and continuing with performances at Tacoma’s 733 Commerce through June 7. Tickets are $10–$12 and are on sale now. 

A Life in the Theatre is a play in one act written by David Mamet, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-The-Plow. Portraying the lives of two actors: John, young and rising into the first flush of his success; and Robert, older, anxious, and beginning to wane, in a series of short and increasingly raw exchanges, Mamet depicts the estrangement of youth from age and the wider, inevitable and endless cycle of life, in and out of the theatre.

Working Class Theatre NW’s production of A Life in the Theatre is directed by Luke Amundson and stars local actors Mark Peterson as John and Frank Thompson as Robert. Amundson is reviving the show (previously presented with the help of Spaceworks as a reading in 2013 and in preview form in 2014) as a fully staged production.

“I’m thrilled at the chance to return to direct A Life in the Theatre again with WCTNW and to have Frank Thompson and Mark Peterson returning to their roles,” stated Director Luke Amundson. “The play’s backdrop of two actors working on shows over the years is one of my favorite works of Mamet’s.  While the setting is wholly a theatrical one, their conflicts are all too familiar to any working environment of political positioning, petty arguments, and friendships that spring from unlikely scenarios."

A Life in the Theatre opens at The Midnight Sun at 113 N. Columbia St. in downtown Olympia with a pay-what-you-can preview on May 21, with performances on May 22, 23, and 24, before reopening on the third floor of Tacoma venue 733 Commerce, for a pay-what-you-can preview on May 28 and performances May 29, 30, and 31 and June 5, 6, 7, and 8. All performances are at 8:00 p.m.

Suggested donation is $12 for general tickets and $10 for students, seniors, military and union members. Tickets are available online through Brown Paper Tickets, or at the door.

Working Class Theater Northwest was founded in 2013 by Christina Hughes and Tim Samland. The nonprofit community theater was honored with a mention in The Weekly Volcano’s Best of 2014 issue. Working Class Theater Northwest’s mission is to provide and encourage an inexpensive, high-quality theatre experience that is grounded in the diverse culture of Tacoma.