OP&L’s Brand New Theater Section!

OP&L’s brand new theater section! 

We are butt-shakingly excited to announce that Lauren O’Neill and Morgan Picton wlll be full-time theater writers. (Well, “full-time” meaning at least one of them will write something – preview, review, profile, whatever – for every issue.)

We have long hoped to give local Olympia theater the attention it deserved, so we are thrilled to have two talented and literate theater insiders on the job. So let us introduce Lauren and Morgan!

Lauren O’Neill

Be the change you want to see in the world. I’ve been asked a few times by my friend Matt if I’d consider writing a Theater column-reviews/previews/features etc. I’ve been hesitant at best. At times  I didn’t feel it was “politically” appropriate for me to do. Other times I cringed in fear of becoming an asshole critic that deflates others, oftentimes friends or colleagues, in pursuit of some strange secret ideal.

So why would I decide to write this column now? And why would I do it in this small fucking town? Because I want to see something different than what we have now. I crave a new and fresh perspective, and a different set of ideals. AND BY GOLLY I THINK I CAN DO IT.

What is the purpose of reviews? Most peeps will tell you it’s ultimately publicity, but it’s so much more. Print. Pull-quotes. Something to clip and send to your mom. But in a pool as small as ours, there’s a lot of us swimming close together. Are we really increasing viewership and patronage and raising awareness with the reviews and Theater features currently available? Who is the audience? Who cares?

Let’s go on a journey together, gang!

My goal with this column is to explore the Theater and Theatrical Performance that is available to us in our area and to engage in a dialogue about it while increasing the visibility of our local performance community. As OP&L is a bi-weekly paper, I will review shows when there is a long enough run for readers to go see them, offer previews when available, and try to feature shorter run events to broaden the scope of what I present here.

Can I create a space where we gain knowledge and insight and still keep you interested? Can I do it and offer constructive criticism? Will only occasional eviscerations satisfy the slavering masses? Who reads theater reviews anyway?

Actors. Directors. Costumers. Producers. Lighting Designers. Music Directors. People who go to shows.

We’re all in this together, truly. We can raise the bar for ourselves and have the growth so many of us claim to desire. It’ll be fun and only sometimes painful.

Lauren is an Olympia based performer/entertainer/actor/singer/dancer/MC/compulsive project-taker-on-er/designer/crafter/arts administrator/house manager.

Morgan Picton 

Olympia theater is amazing.

Eight active companies work year round to heal and amuse our mere 50,000 souls. On any given weekend, an Olympian can take a ten minute drive and witness brilliant living art practiced by dedicated performers who pour every spare moment into living out stories onstage.

The human special effects I have witnessed in Olympia have proven to me that no glowing rectangle in the dark will ever transmit a story as completely as the living imagination of a breathing, sweating, stinking human being in my presence. You can’t find that on Netflix or anywhere in the mall.

I am no theater critic. I am not qualified. When I still have so much to learn about this art and craft, the idea of critiquing my peers on the same journey absolutely does not compute. Experienced, accomplished critics already serve Olympia and we’re lucky to have them. I aim to be useful in a different way. Three years ago I resolved to do all possible shows, to learn all possible things while I had the good fortune to live somewhere so rich with elite theater artists.

This curiosity is merely going into print now. I will respond to shows in this spirit. I am not a theater critic; I am a theater reporter. From a lifetime immersed in stories, a degree in literature and three years of shows, I have derived but one objective truth about art: Charles Bukowski is vastly overrated; people just like to drink. There, it’s out of my system.

My co-conspirator Lauren O’Neill is on point all day in every way. Working with her and OP&L to bring Olympia the astonishing story of its theater world is going to be huge fun.

Watch this space, and see you at the show!

Morgan is an Olympia actor, writer and standup comedian. He is a graduate of the Evergreen State College who prefers his coffee black, his bourbon with ice and his Shatners drunk and puffy. For the past three years Picton has acted in numerous Olympia productions, playing several tall men and one flower. He urges readers to direct all comments, declarations of love and theater story tips to . ◙