Looking for fun this weekend? See Shakespeare or a comedy, LoveOly, or music and a movie
Live theater offers the bard, comedy
After a two-year hiatus, Olympia’s Animal Fire Theatre has brought back Shakespeare in the park. “Twelfth Night,” a merry tale of shipwrecks, love triangles, cross-dressing and mistaken identities, opens Friday, Aug. 12, at Squaxin Park (formerly Priest Point Park), 2600 East Bay Drive NE, Olympia. “It’s one of Shakespeare’s most easily accessible plays and a rousing good time, which is what we all need right now — actors and audience,” said Rachel Permann, who is directing the show with Scott Douglas. Both directors will be on stage, too, along with Brian Hatcher, Drew Doyle, Paige Doyle, Korja Giles, J Benway, Deya Ozburn, K.E. Jenkins, David Shoffner, William Peer and guest artist and fight choreographer Jenn Zuko. “I’ve never seen such a strong group of actors in any Animal Fire show,” Permann told The Olympian. Performances of “Twelfth Night,” happening in the park’s lower loop field, will happen at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12-14, 19-21, 26-28 and Sept. 2-4. Admission is free, and masks are preferred.
Also opening Friday, Aug. 12, is the celebrated comedy “The (One-Act) Play That Goes Wrong,” directed by Pug Bujeaud. The show — with a cast including such familiar faces as Heather Christopher, Andrea Weston-Smart. Robert McConkey and Xander Layden — is a co-production of Theater Artists Olympia and Broadway Olympia Productions, which are teaming up to produce shows in Broadway Olympia’s Black Box Theater in the Capital Mall. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-13, 18-20 and 25-27 and at 2 p.m. Aug. 14, 21 and 28 in the theater, 625 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia. Tickets are $12-$22, and masks are required.
Music and movie combo at the Port
Beatles hits will provide the soundtrack for Summer Nights at the Port on Saturday, Aug. 13. The punnily named tribute band Magical History Tour will play from 6 to 8 p.m., followed by a screening of the zany 2014 sci-fi adventure “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Summer Nights events happen in the lower parking lot at NorthPoint, next to Swantown Marina’s boat trailer parking lot, and feature a beer garden and food trucks. Bring your own chair or blanket and something warm to wear when the temperatures drop.
New Orleans sounds downtown
You can celebrate both Olympia and New Orleans at LoveOly Summer Fest on Saturday, Aug. 13. Bon Bon Vivant, a Big Easy-based group that blends bawdy Bourbon Street sounds with klezmer, is headlining the Olympia Downtown Alliance’s street party, which also features art, games, children’s activities and a beer garden. The Mona Reels and Naked Giants will open. The festival lasts from 1 to 7 p.m. at Fifth Avenue and Washington Street, with the music beginning around 4 p.m. in front of the Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks about what’s happening in Olympia and beyond with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.