What’s Happening

Mark Lanegan and guest Mark Pickerel will croon at The Vashon Theatre at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 6. Tickets, $30 to $40, are available at the therater box office or online at VashonTheatre.com. The all-ages show will feature Lanegan, an American alternative rock musician and singer-songwriter, and Pickerel. Born and raised in Ellensburg, Lanegan began his musical career in 1984, forming the grunge band Screaming Trees with Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner and Mark Pickerel. During his time in the band, Lanegan also started a low-key solo career and released his first solo studio album, The Winding Sheet, in 1990. Since 1990, he has released 9 additional solo studio albums, as well as several collaborative efforts, and has received critical recognition for his projects.

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Tennessee Williams plays hit the Rock

Civic Rep, a new addition to the Vashon theater scene, will produce a season of work written by Tennessee Williams while in residence at Open Space. The first will take place in November and the second in May 2019. Civic Rep was founded on Vashon in 2015 by Thea Cooper, Angie Harrison, L. Zane Jones, Robin Jones and Sam Read.

“We value the artistic opportunity for depth and dimension that evolves when working with one writer,” said Civic Rep Co-Artistic Director L. Zane Jones. “Additionally, we find the beauty and complexity of Williams’ work to be challenging and immensely satisfying.”

Civic Rep’s first Williams production at Open Space, Something Unspoken and Other One Act Plays, will be staged in November 2018. The second offering is The Night of the Iguana.

“Williams was incredibly prolific and throughout his career wrote tons of short plays, many of which are experimental in theme and style,” Jones said. “In spite of his commercial success, (Williams) became an outsider: he struggled to be valued and respected as he and his work continued to evolve. As a way to honor his artistic courage and tenacity, we wanted to put together an evening of some of his most inventive and lesser known pieces.”

He noted that the performances of Williams’ plays at Open Space will be immersive.

“As we were watching the renovation of Open Space unfold, we spent time envisioning different forms of art and expression,” said Amanda Westbrooke, Open Space for Arts and Community’s executive director. “One of the images that kept coming to mind was a resident theater company. Civic Rep had the vision, passion, bandwidth and the theatrical chops that we were looking for in a resident theater company.”