Through April 28: "Reservoir Dogs"

Theater Artists Olympia

By Christian Carvajal on April 11, 2013

On the off chance you've never seen the movie, here's the gist: a crime boss named Joe Cabot and his adult son, "Nice Guy Eddie," hire six thugs under pseudonyms to pull a diamond heist. The heist, which we never see, goes utterly sideways, and the thieves reassemble at their hideout to ascertain what went wrong. They decide there's a snitch among them, guns are drawn, guns are fired and it all gets rather bloodily Jacobean.

Director Pug Bujeaud stages the screenplay with no intermission - nothing more, nothing less. Only about two minutes' worth of material is presented in audio or video form, though a few scenes are juggled. There's even a title sequence. But wait! Performances alternate between all-male and all-female casts. I caught the male cast at its final dress rehearsal. The show was slickly produced, and its cast, especially Brian Jansen as Mr. Pink, was quite good indeed. Jansen plays Pink as if he never heard of Steve Buscemi, and reminds us that when directors call for more energy, they usually mean urgency. Jansen has it in spades. I also enjoyed Tim Shute as hard-assed Joe Cabot and Gabe McClelland's stentorian Nice Guy Eddie.

Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Reservoir Dogs in the Weekly Volcano's Arts section.

THEATER ARTISTS OLYMPIA, RESERVOIR DOGS, MALE CAST APRIL 11, 13, 19, 21, 25, 27 AT 7:30 P.M., APRIL 12, 20, 26 AT 10 P.M., APRIL 14 AT 2:30 P.M., FEMALE CAST APRIL 12, 14, 18, 20, 26 AT 7:30 P.M., APRIL 13, 19, 27 AT 10 P.M., APRIL 21, 28 AT 2:30 P.M., $12, 113 COLUMBIA ST. NW, OLYMPIA, 360.357.3471