When I moved to Seattle, I struggled to identify medium and small theaters other than the big civic theater companies. The only lists of theater companies that I could find were wildly out of date or highlighted individual productions rather than standing companies. Having now done the legwork out of necessity, I’m now paying it forward so you don’t have to repeat the process.
In order to be included:
- The theater venue or company must stage mostly narrative works, whether scripted or improv. That means concerts, revues, cabarets, stand-up comedy, and non-narrative dance don’t count. They’re totally awesome art forms, but they’re not what I’m trying to capture.
- The company must be active within the last 2 years.
- The venue must be close enough to Seattle that a person could drive there, see a show, and go home to Seattle without absolutely hating themselves afterwards for the terrible decisions that led to driving back 50+ miles at rush hour from a matinee, or getting home 3am from an evening show.
Some theaters don’t have their own venues, and some venues don’t have permanent companies. I’ve tried to label this as best I can, but sometimes it’s fuzzy or hard to tell.
Corrections? Additions? Broken links? Contact me with the details.
STAGES MOSTLY PLAYS:
- Capitol Hill
- Mostly new works
- Also houses other theater groups without their own home theaters
- Downtown
- Capitol Hill
- Exclusively new works by resident company
- Available for rentals/hosted productions
- West Seattle
- About one musical a year
- Usually Center Theater (Seattle Center)
- All plays based on books
- Burien
- Federal Way
- Mostly plays, some musicals
- Tacoma
- Edmonds
- Mix of plays and musicals
- SoDo – Slate Theater
- All Shakespeare and Shakespeare-inspired works
Greenstage (Shakespeare in the Park)
- Various parks in King County
- Free Shakespeare in the Park all summer!
- Various theatre and non-theatre venues in Seattle
- Experimental and site-specific works
- Various venues, mostly in north Seattle
- Science and technology-related theatre, often in conjunction with science orgs or scientists
- Various venues, especially around Seattle Center
- Lakewood (south of Tacoma)
- Various venues
- Shows by Latinx writers
- Various venues, including 12th Ave Arts
- Shows by and about women
- Lower Queen Anne
- Mostly new works
- Various venues
- Marysville (north of Everett)
- Plays and musicals
- Lots of classes, including classes for adults
- Renton
- Mostly plays, some musicals
- Various venues
- Experimental works and improv comedy
- Various venues, depending on the story
- Experimental, immersive, site-specific works
- Green Lake
- Seattle Center
- Mostly plays, some musicals
- Lots of new works
- Various bars in Seattle
- Drunk Shakespeare
- Various venues, including Seattle Rep, Center Theater (Seattle Center), and parks in and around Seattle in the summer
- Also free Shakespeare in the Park all summer!
- Redmond
- Mostly plays, some musicals
- Various theatre and non-theatre venues, including Center Theatre (Seattle Center) and Discovery Park
- Usually 12th Ave Arts
- Tacoma
- Mostly plays, some musicals
- Greenwood
- Often 12th Ave Arts
- Usually one production a year
- Belltown
- Also summer shows in the parks
- Various venues
- Stages classic works with all-female casts
- 12th Avenue Arts in Capitol Hill
- Mostly new works
- Fremont (west of Lenin, literally)
- Available for rentals
- Woodinville
- Performs in a slab and tile warehouse!
STAGES MOSTLY MUSICALS:
- Downtown
- Mostly touring shows and original works testing before Broadway
- Pioneer Square
- Dinner theater!
- Bainbridge Island
- Seattle Center
- Ballets are technically a kind of musical with very little talking, right?
- Downtown
- Mostly touring shows
Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society
- Various venues, including Seattle Rep and 12th Ave Arts
- Mostly but not entirely G&S, all musicals
- Sand Point
- Seattle Center (mainstage) or South Lake Union (second stage)
- Operas are sort of a musical, right? (Opera people would probably say musicals are sort of an opera.)
- Various venues in Seattle
- Concert (i.e., minimalist) versions of rarely staged musicals
- West Seattle
- Mostly musicals, some plays
- Issaquah and Everett
- All shows run at both locations
- Strong kids’ program
STAGES MOSTLY COMEDY:
Ghost Light Theatricals at the Ballard Underground
- Ballard
- Available for rentals
- Scripted
- Greenwood
- Only a venue – all productions by outside artists
- Including me (Proof)
- Mostly semi-scripted improv and standup
- RIP as of December 2019, we will miss you, Pocket!
- Various venues in Seattle
- Scripted sketch comedy and plays
- Works by Asian and Asian-American artists
- International District
- Available for rentals/co-productions
- Scripted, themed improv, and improv
Unexpected Productions at the Market Theater
- Downtown/Pike Place Market
- Improv and themed improv
STAGES MOSTLY SHOWS BY AND/OR FOR CHILDREN:
- University District
- Seattle Center
Seattle Historical Arts for Kids
- Various venues in and around Wallingford
- Historical music and theater classes for kids only
- Wallingford/Fremont border
- Various venues in and around Seattle
- Puppet theatre
COLLEGE THEATER:
- Bellevue
- Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center
- Theatre and dance
- Edmonds
- Capitol Hill
- Also rentals
- Queen Anne
- Shoreline
University of Washington
- University District
- Main Drama Dept season
- Ethnic Cultural Center performances
OTHER:
- SoDo
- Classes for adults, workshopping resources for new plays
- Not a performance space
- Maple Leaf
- Mostly a museum of puppets and puppet history, some performances
