A Tasting Menu of Fall Arts

A sampler of outstanding selections from the coming cultural season, from soup to nuts.

Edited by Laura DannenWith contribution from Douglas Bair and Tiffany Wan

THEATER

Photo: Courtesy Mark Kaufman

God of Carnage

Appetizer

Haven’t met Eric Lane Barnes, the man behind the sassy all-male comedy chorus Captain Smartypants? Now’s the time to get acquainted as he debuts his semiautobiographical play Rapture of the Deep, about growing up in Appalachia in 
a Pentecostal household, at Balagan Theatre in the venue’s final production. Sept 9–25, Balagan Theatre, 1117 E Pike St, 800-838-3006; balagantheatre.org

Soup or Salad

The year’s health care havoc sets a timely backdrop to Intiman’s staging of Molière’s 1666 play A Doctor in Spite of Himself, a spirited physical comedy starring Daniel Breaker (Donkey in Broadway’s Shrek ). “Molière loved to make fun of doctors,” says director Christopher Bayes who, with Steven Epp, adapted the work. We wonder what the Frenchman would have thought of “death panels.” Sept 3–Oct 10, Intiman Theatre, 201 Mercer St, Seattle Center, 206-269-1900; intiman.org

Entree

When two well-to-do couples meet to discuss a playground dustup between their children in God of Carnage, it takes about 30 minutes before their civility cracks. And one of them vomits. “That’s our one big special effect in God of Carnage,” says Bellevue-born director Wilson Milam over the phone. He’ll take the reins of the Tony-winning play in its Seattle Rep production. “When Annette vomits after eating all that pastry. That’ll be fun to play with.”

Compared to Milam’s latest gig directing Lieutenant of Inishmore in Los Angeles—with its eight gallons of fake blood splattered per night— God of Carnage practically seems genteel. Don’t be fooled. Yasmina Reza’s 90-minute play is full of verbal sparring and cellphone destruction; suit jackets are abandoned, alliances reformed over rum. The action never leaves the living room, so the pressure’s on the actors playing the fractured foursome: lawyer Alan and his wife, “wealth manager” Annette; wholesaler Michael and his writer wife, Veronica. Thankfully, ever since this play debuted in London in 2008, it’s been the beneficiary of a standout cast, and Seattle’s production—the first outside of New York or London—is no exception. Milam speaks enthusiastically about working with Denis Arndt (“a legend”), Bhama Roget, and real-life married couple Hans Altwies and Amy Thone, who’ll bring that extra dose of authenticity to their outbursts. You can practically hear Milam grinning. “It’s a lively evening.” Oct 1–24, Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St, 
Seattle Center, 206-443-2222; seattlerep.org

Dessert

Actor Rainn Wilson got an early start perfecting Dwight Schrute—a nerdy cube dweller for NBC’s The Office—at Shorecrest High, where he was in computer club and chess club. He shows his hometown some love in a onetime, Seattle-only comedy show with surprise Office costars as guests. Oct 23, Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave, 877-784-4849; stgpresents.org