New Play Café reading series – donations at door
2023-03-11 19:30 - 21:00 UTC
Six new plays by Pacific Northwest playwrights, selected from 75 submissions, are featured in the launch of the New Play Café reading series, presented by Bellingham TheatreWorks. The New Play Café continues Bellingham TheatreWorks mission to produce stories of significance to the Pacific Northwest, with an emphasis on local actors, directors, and playwrights.
The inaugural New Play Café series is March 3,4,5 and 10,11,12 at 7:30 pm at the New Prospect Theatre, 207 Prospect Street, Bellingham. Donations are accepted for admission.
The plays will have one or two rehearsals, and are presented without staging, props or sets. The actors are at music stands, reading from the script.
“This is an exciting new step for Bellingham TheatreWorks, (BTW), one that’s been made possible thanks to our expanded community-member board,” said Mark Kuntz, BTW artistic director. “My producing partner Steve Lyons and I have both written and directed plays for BTW in the past. Now we have the organizational capacity to expand our programs to showcase and celebrate the work of emerging local artists and foster their growth.”
The playwrights come from throughout the Pacific Northwest, including two from Bellingham, two from Seattle, one from Camano Island, and one from Portland.
Themes in the plays include the complexities of family dynamics, and monsters; an exploration of sex, power and unrequited love; belonging, connection, and the barriers we experience with each; and, two plays inspired by real events: one of a famous Seattle Madam and a second play about a lighthouse keeper.
Saturday March 11th:
Marcus by Aaron Allen Ussery
After suffering a head injury during a game, 20-year-old college football player Micah McDaniel faces internal and external pressure to force his way back into the game.
Aaron is a Western Washington University alumni, where he studied theater with an emphasis on directing. “Marcus” is his first and currently only full-length work. Past directing credits include Noah Haidle’s “Rag and Bone” and Craig Wright’s “Orange Flower Water.”
In addition to writing and directing plays, he also enjoys making music, playing drums, and designing tabletop RPG campaigns. He currently lives in the Lake City neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. He’s grateful to BTW for this opportunity to share his work with the community.

New Play Café reading series – donations at door
2023-03-12 19:30 - 21:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Six new plays by Pacific Northwest playwrights, selected from 75 submissions, are featured in the launch of the New Play Café reading series, presented by Bellingham TheatreWorks. The New Play Café continues Bellingham TheatreWorks mission to produce stories of significance to the Pacific Northwest, with an emphasis on local actors, directors, and playwrights.
The inaugural New Play Café series is March 3,4,5 and 10,11,12 at 7:30 pm at the New Prospect Theatre, 207 Prospect Street, Bellingham. Donations are accepted for admission.
The plays will have one or two rehearsals, and are presented without staging, props or sets. The actors are at music stands, reading from the script.
“This is an exciting new step for Bellingham TheatreWorks, (BTW), one that’s been made possible thanks to our expanded community-member board,” said Mark Kuntz, BTW artistic director. “My producing partner Steve Lyons and I have both written and directed plays for BTW in the past. Now we have the organizational capacity to expand our programs to showcase and celebrate the work of emerging local artists and foster their growth.”
The playwrights come from throughout the Pacific Northwest, including two from Bellingham, two from Seattle, one from Camano Island, and one from Portland.
Themes in the plays include the complexities of family dynamics, and monsters; an exploration of sex, power and unrequited love; belonging, connection, and the barriers we experience with each; and, two plays inspired by real events: one of a famous Seattle Madam and a second play about a lighthouse keeper.
Sunday, March 12th:
This Gray House by August Croft
The tragic and true story of Mary and Alexander Pesonen, the first keepers to tend to the newly-founded North Head Lighthouse, an unforgiving and windy light located in Southern Washington.
August Croft is a freelance writer based in Oregon. With a keen focus on the occult and Pacific Northwest history, their work has been featured with Theatre Viscera, Theatre Vertigo, as well as Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival of New Works. They have performed with Bag & Baggage Productions, Pulp Stage, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. When not writing content for a variety of clients, you can find them camping along the Oregon coast with their dog and high school sweetheart, or in their home kitchen, perfecting recipes in a gleaming cast iron skillet.

Workshop Introduction and Sign-up – Free Event
2023-03-15 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Come and meet our workshop leaders and sign up for workshops.
Music provided by Kid’ Sax Ensemble Students of Mark Kelly
Workshop Scholarships available – contact workshop leaders for details
Workshop fees vary – 10% discount for 3 / 20% discount more than three
Select workshops are free for members!

Story and Character Workshop
2023-03-16 18:00 - 20:30 UTC | Ethos West Stage
Workshop hosts: Isabella Jones and Bill Cantrell
This is an excellent workshop to combine with a puppet building workshop so you can develop your puppet’s character and storyline for the Workshop Showcase.
Story and Character Workshop with Bill and Isabella
About Instructors:
Bill Cantrell is a local playwright and lover of stories of all kinds.
Isabella Jones is a Brazilian transplant with background in acting, design and illustration.
About the Class:
The first part of the class will focus on story creation as it applies to the creation and development of puppetry characters.
We will look at historical and current approaches to storytelling and consider various options and elements for making good dramatic content for puppet performances. We will cover styles such as political satire, sketch comedy, drama, pageantry, spectacle, and improvisation as they apply to puppetry. Bill uses index cards and a storyboard to capture and organize inspirations in the process of creating puppet characters. We will also cover script writing if there is an interest.
In the character design portion of the workshop, you’ll learn how to use basic principles of design and illustration to create a character that better tells a story. Tools like color archetypes, dynamic spacing and shape language will be taught, and used to sketch the characters we started creating on the storytelling portion of the workshop.
Provided:
Course materials. Index cards.
To Bring:
Pencils, pens, and notepad.

Stop Motion Animation Workshop Intensive
2023-03-18 11:00 - 14:00 UTC | Green Room
Workshop leaders: Amanda Timmins and Bill Cantrell
Workshop daily from March 18 till March 25
March 18,19, 25 at 11am – March 20 – 24 at 4pm
There are two parts to this workshop: building a puppet and animating the puppet using Dragonframe software and Panasonic GH5 camera. Most materials provided.
Depending on what focus the participants desire, one could opt to work more on the puppet making or the animation practice.
This is an intense 8 day introduction to an incredibly complex artform.
Looking for 10 interested people (5 teams of 2 would be perfect) 16yrs + $100 each
One Scholarship has been sponsored – please check with workshop leader for details.

Puppets from Simple Materials for Kids
2023-03-19 11:00 - 13:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Workshop leaders: Christina Aimerito and Isabella Jones
Learn to make simple puppets from household items. Materials provided, but if you would like to bring additional materials – newspapers and plastic shopping bags it would be most welcome.
Puppets from newspapers and bags is the most cost efficient way to explore the beautiful world of puppetry! Inspired by the Bunraku puppets of Japan and the Abayomi dolls of Brazil, crafting these simple puppets will be a great skill to add to your puppet resume
Kid’s class is not a drop off class – adult must accompany the child
Scholarships available – please contact workshop leaders for details.

Stop Motion Intensive Workshop
2023-03-19 11:00 - 14:00, 2023-03-20 16:00 - 18:00, 2023-03-21 16:00 - 2023-03-24 18:00, 2023-03-25 11:00 - 14:00 UTC | Green Room
Workshop leaders: Amanda Timmins and Bill Cantrell
Workshop daily from March 18 till March 25
March 18,19, 25 at 11am – March 20 – 24 at 4pm
There are two parts to this workshop: building a puppet and animating the puppet using Dragonframe software and Panasonic GH5 camera. Most materials provided.
Depending on what focus the participants desire, one could opt to work more on the puppet making or the animation practice.
This is an intense 8 day introduction to an incredibly complex artform.
Looking for 10 interested people (5 teams of 2 would be perfect) 16yrs + $100 each
One Scholarship has been sponsored – please check with workshop leader for details

Puppets from Simple Materials - for Adults
2023-03-19 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Workshop leaders: Christina Aimerito and Isabella Jones
Learn to make simple puppets from household items. Materials provided, but if you would like to bring additional materials – newspapers and plastic shopping bags it would be most welcome.
Puppets from newspapers and bags is the most cost efficient way to explore the beautiful world of puppetry! Inspired by the Bunraku puppets of Japan and the Abayomi dolls of Brazil, crafting these simple puppets will be a great skill to add to your puppet resume.

Large Puppet Workshop Part One
2023-03-20 16:30 - 18:30 (America/Denver) | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
This is a two part workshop. Keefe Healy, our Technical Director and Suzanne Mackay, our Artistic Director will share their techniques for building large paper mâché puppets in the Bread and Puppet style. Materials will be available, but we always need more newspaper so please bring as much as you can.

Puppet Talk - Donations at the Door - Free for Members
2023-03-21 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Our workshop leaders and local puppeteers will host this forum style talk highlighting several puppetry genres, puppetry history, tips and techniques.

Large Puppet Workshop Part Two
2023-03-22 16:30 - 18:30 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium

Puppet Variety Show - Postponed
2023-03-24 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
We are sorry to announce that we will have to postpone the Puppet Variety Show due to health and family emergencies some of our performers are dealing with. We send thoughts of healing and strength to the universe for them. We send our apologies to the audience for any inconvenience this has caused and we look forward to seeing you at the next Puppet Slam and Puppet Variety Show.

Puppet Movement
2023-03-25 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Workshop leader: Suzanne Mackay

Mark and Mark
2023-04-02 14:00 - 15:30 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Mark and Mark perform “Old Radio Tunes” that range from Jazz Vocal standards, show tunes, Bossa Nova, Big Band etc. Songs that were performed by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Antonio Carlos Jobim and even Willie Nelson. Mark Ashworth sings and plays guitar, Mark Kelly plays sax, flute and clarinet.

Mark Kelly performs with numerous bands in the area and teaches the same instruments he plays. Mark Ashworth does sound and video around town. He heard this music growing up listening to old radios and watching music shows on black and white TV with his grandparents.
Tickets available at the door.

$10 or $8 with receipt from Bellingham Cider Co. / kids under 12 free / $5 for members

ALL MY LITTLE WORDS: A Performance Lecture on Art and Failure
2023-04-08 19:30 - 20:30 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
I’m afraid of being an artist who doesn’t make art.
In 2004 Ashley Hollingshead met Nate Harpel while they were both undergrads at Western Washington University. They became best friends and life long artistic collaborators…or that was the plan anyways.
In ALL MY LITTLE WORDS Ashley uses Nate’s unfinished graduate playwriting thesis as a jumping off point to explore the concepts of artistic failure, practice, and success. All the while examining their changing relationship with Nate and with their own artistic practice in this interactive performance/lecture/essay.
—
Ashley Hollingshead (they/them) is a director, performer, and collaborator currently living on the unceded lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde/Portland, Or. They hold a MFA in European Devised Performance Practice from Columbia College Chicago. Their practice mashes up personal narrative, queer culture, and sweet dance moves made by a non-dancer body. In 2006 they graduated from WWU with BA in theatre and they are so excited to be bringing this piece to Bellingham!
Tickets available here: ALL MY LITTLE WORDS: A Performance Lecture on Art and Failure (bpt.me) and at the door.

O-Pole Studios: The Debut
2023-04-15 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Students and instructors from Bellingham’s O-Pole Studios take to the stage in this one night performance. Featuring a variety styles of dance, from pole dance to chair routines, this show will be sure to dazzle!

Performances may contain adult language and moments.

Tickets: https://bpt.me/5996252

Open Mic
2023-04-19 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-05-03 17:30 - 20:00 UTC | Ethos West Stage
5;30 sign ups Performances 6 – 8pm
All ages. Family friendly. Donations at door.

Men of Parts, a new play by Rosalind Reynolds
2023-04-21 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-04-22 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-04-23 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-04-28 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-04-29 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-04-30 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Those Brazen Wenches Theatre Company presents Men of Parts, a new play by Rosalind Reynolds, directed by Dawn Hunter. Performances April 21, 22, 28, and 29 at 7:30 pm, and April 23 and 30 at 2 pm, at the New Prospect Theatre in Bellingham, WA. Tickets $15 general, $10 students, from Brown Paper Tickets, or at the door. London, 1525. A ragtag company of actors struggles to mount a production of The Deeds of Robin Hood, while evading angry sheriffs, greedy publishers, vengeful husbands, landlords, lawyers, bears, and their own checkered pasts. All while asking themselves – as one does – what would Robin Hood do?
Rosalind Reynolds is a former playwright-in-residence of the iDiOM Theater. Her previous works include Godlike, Julian the Humble, The Wingmaker, and Branwen Spikes the Drink. Dawn Hunter is a long-time actor and director with the iDiOM Theater. Together they founded Those Brazen Wenches Theatre Company in 2022, with the mission of smashing the patriarchy in entertaining ways. Men of Parts is the long-awaited follow-up to their debut production, Thrice to Wind the Charm.
https://bpt.me/5869780

Bellingham Story Hour - This month's theme: Oh no thank you
2023-04-25 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
Bellingham Story Shares take place on the 4th Tuesday of every month.
Join us for a night of true stories told live!
The act of sharing our most authentic selves with other people in a safe and encouraging environment creates connection and allows us to see ourselves in others.
Stories can be entertaining, heartwarming, educational, cringe inducing, shame releasing, vulnerable, weird, and all of the things in-between but they are always true, always your own experience, and always rewarding to tell and hear.
Put your name in the hat for the chance to tell your own 5 to 10 minute story live on stage, or just enjoy listening to the true tales and authentic adventures of your friends and neighbors.
Read our story guidelines and community agreement below.
*please note that online ticket sales stop at 4:30 pm on the date of the show.
Tickets can still be purchased at the door starting at 6:30pm.
Story hour guidelines : Story Guidelines | Bellingham Story Hour
Tickets: Home | Bellingham Story Hour

Bellingham Story Hour Workshop
2023-05-02 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Ethos West Stage

A Spring Reading Series
2023-05-05 19:00 - 22:00 UTC | Lucas Hicks Auditorium
The Menagerie, a new Bellingham based theatre company, was created to highlight LGBTQ+, plus size, and disabled creatives and their work. May 4th and 5th @ 7pm, a Spring Reading Series will be held at the New Prospect Theatre. It will include 3 plays written by 3 playwrights. Come on out and celebrate these beautiful plays! To purchase tickets and seek more info on this company and event, refer to https://lnk.bio/themenagerie or @themenagerietheatrecompany
Tickets can be purchased here or with cash at the door: https://lnk.bio/themenagerie
