Out and about: Express Pride, tune in to mystery, watch Whales
Pandemic-era Pride
Though the state is set to open and live events are returning, Capital City Pride — topically a gala affair with a parade and lots of live entertainment — is this year keeping things simple with a virtual celebration (https://www.facebook.com/events/469356854170063/) from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 26. The free livestream will include music, dance and plenty of coming out stories. There are no other official Capital City Pride events this year, but organizers are encouraging small and safe gatherings — with lots of rainbows at downtown bars and restaurants. And for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 12-21), Stonewall Youth https://www.stonewallyouth.org/) is hosting a live gathering from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 27, in Heritage Park, Olympia. Organizers are promising food, games and other fun. Masks are a must. For details, email programs@stonewallyouth.org.
Case of the missing playwright
Although she won a Pulitzer Prize for drama and is credited with discovering Eugene O’Neill, playwright Susan Glaspell has been all but forgotten. Olympia’s Goldfinch Productions is doing its part to remedy that with an audio version of what’s considered her seminal play, the feminist murder mystery “Trifles.” Goldfinch’s take on the 1916 one-act, inspired by a case Glaspell covered as a journalist for the Des Moines (Iowa) Daily News, debuts at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 27, on the company’s podcast network (http://anchor.fm/gpn). The play “does its job of showing rather than telling very well,” director Ian Suchon told the Olympian. “It gets its point out in a sweet, succinct way, and this radio adaptation paints a detailed and immersive picture in your mind.” The play, featuring Charles Babler, Skylar Bastedo, Deborah Hampton, Josh Olver, Trace Turner and Laurie Winogrand, will be available on demand thereafter. And Goldfinch’s next production, “Othello” (https://www.facebook.com/events/469356854170063/), will happen live and in person Aug. 20-22 and 27-29 in Lacey’s Wonderwood Park, 5304 32nd Ave. SE, Lacey. Keep up with the latest on Goldfinch at https://www.goldfinchproductions.com/,
Whale songs
Funky improv-rock outfit Space Whales are playing Sunday afternoon in Centralia (https://www.facebook.com/events/906311980222366/) as part of The Music Mill. Conceived as a weekly series of shows at Mills & Mills Funeral Home and Memorial Park, The Music Mill is now happening at several different locations; keep up to date at the event’s Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/themusicmillsummersundayseries/). Sunday’s show, starting at 2 p.m. with the Whales spouting from 3 to 5, is outside Rarefaction Recording Studios, 6432 201st Ave. SW, Centralia. Most of the other shows, scheduled through the end of August, will be either at Mills & Mills, 5725 Littlerock Road SW, Tumwater, or West Central Park, 1919 Harrison Ave. NW, Olympia. They’re all free, with tips for the musicians appreciated. Next up is Dub Collective, playing Sunday, July 4, at West Central Park.
Like Susan Glaspell, freelance writer Molly Gilmore was once a journalist in Des Moines, Iowa; as a result, there is only one degree of separation between her and Jesse Jackson, and she once glimpsed Al Gore across a crowded newsroom She talks about what’s happening in Olympia and beyond with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.