As you may have heard, in executive session (closed to the public) the Burien City Council supported the termination of the leases of all seven nonprofits in the Burien City Annex. This includes Burien Actors…
The comedy The Christmas Spirit at Burien Actors Theatre
Burien Actors Theatre’s (BAT’s) production of the comedy The Christmas Spirit is a 
touching and hilarious look at what makes life worth living.
Performances run November 29 through December 22, 2019.
The Burien Actors Theatre production, written by Frederick Stroppel, features specialty drinks themed to the show and plenty of free on-site parking, plus BAT’s famous opening night party.
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
When Death arrives to whisk Julia Dowling into the afterlife, Julia instead fast-talks him into a nonexistent Christmas party. As Julia scrambles to bring her estranged family together on Christmas Day, old resentments surface, new connections are made, and even Death feels the magic of the Christmas spirit.
The show contains a little adult language, including the “G”, “J”, “F” and “D” words. BAT’s policy is to inform audiences of content but to let parents, guardians and teachers make decisions that they feel are appropriate for the youth and teens in their care.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. at Burien Actors Theatre, 14501 4th Ave. S.W. in Burien.
Early in my volunteering at BAT, I went to a Burien City Council meeting. The guy speaking right before me during the public comment said he just moved to Burien from a small town on the East Coast. He explained the town’s mayor had all but broken the City’s budget to bring arts and artists to the City. It was so bad that there was a recall petition 
started against the mayor.
I could see where all of this was going. Art bad. Art killed my last City, don’t let it happen here. Knowing I had to follow the speaker to talk about the next show at BAT, I began slumping down in my chair. I was thinking of ways to leave without being noticed.
But then the speaker took a breath and continued. Within a year, the City’s budget was balanced. Within three years, the City had grown so much it began decreasing taxes while expanding services. Due to expanded arts, the City grew. More restaurants. More businesses. More revenue.
I was pleased to get up and talk about BAT after that speaker. I also never forgot that night or the lesson that was there to learn.
Good fences make bad neighbors in comedy Native Gardens at Burien Actors Theatre
(September 11, 2019 – Burien, WA) Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) kicks off BAT’s 40th-
anniversary season with the company’s production of Native Gardens, a comedy about new neighbors and a fence line disagreement that soon spirals into an all-out war of taste, class, privilege, race, and entitlement.
Performances of this play, which premiered in 2016, run September 27 through October 20, 2019.
The Burien Actors Theatre production, written by Karen Zacarias, features specialty drinks themed to the show and plenty of free on-site parking, plus BAT’s famous opening night party.
NATIVE GARDENS
Pablo, a high-powered lawyer, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, have the American dream on lock when they get the keys to a house next to deeply rooted Virginia and Frank. But a spat over a wandering fence line blooms into an all-out war of taste, class, privilege, race, and entitlement. Planted in difficult issues, in this hilarious play, no one comes out smelling like a rose.
[This post is edited to include the reply to BAT’s comment on FaceBook.]
BAT is on FaceBook. Come and say, “Hi” sometime.
FaceBook is one of the places BAT gets feedback. Some is postive, and some not so much. Here is one coment, and BAT’s response.
From FaceBook:
Seriously? This is the image you chose for the show? Here is an important play about Latinx identity and conflict, written by an important Latinx playwright, and you put the white male as your poster image.
I wish you would think harder about the choices you make. Why do this play in the first place? Was it to show the issues inherent in the play, or simply to capitalize from the current popularity of the playwright and Latinx themes in general?
BAT’s response:
Thanks for your input.
You are right. A talented Latinx playwright wrote Native Gardens. It is a beautiful script, one that deserves to be on many stages. It is a comedy, but it looks at human relationships with amazing insight.
If you think BAT selected this play to “simply capitalize [on] the current popularity of the playwright and Latinx themes,” you are mistaken. Native Gardens is about much more than Latinx issues. It is also about the relationships between women; the relationships between men; differences in class; how couples work out their differences; how neighbors get along or don’t; how race and privilege may be an issue in all of those relationships; and how we are all much more alike than we are different.
Seeking stagehands of all races and ethnicities to perform in onstage action in comedy “Native Gardens” at Burien Actors Theatre Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) is seeking stagehands of all races and ethnicities, preferably with performing…
I was walking into the PCC in Burien. I saw a young woman and her baby sitting under a small tree. She had a sign that said she needed money for rent. As I walked…
Audition!
Seeking actors from their mid-20s through 70s for a Holiday comedy
The Christmas Spirit at Burien Actors Theatre
Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) is seeking actors to play characters from their mid-20s 
through 70s in the comedy The Christmas Spirit, written by Frederick Stroppel.
Synopsis: When Death arrives to spirit Julia Dowling to the afterlife, Julia instead wheedles him into joining her for a Christmas party with her family. Julia, who had no such party planned, scrambles to persuade her estranged family to come together on Christmas Day. Old resentments surface, new connections are made, and everyone, even Death, feels the magic of the Christmas spirit. A touching and hilarious look at the things that really make life worth living.
Performances are at BAT in Burien from Nov. 29 through Dec. 22, 2019. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Rehearsals begin the week of Oct. 20 at BAT on some weeknight evenings, plus some Saturday afternoons or Sunday afternoons or evening, exact times be determined based on actor availability, until tech week.
BAT has plenty of free on-site parking and is two blocks from the Burien Transit Center.
The director is Taylor Davis.
$200 stipend provided.
Auditions are at Burien Actors Theatre on Tuesday, Sept. 3 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 7 to 10 p.m. Callbacks will be at Burien Actors Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 5 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. If any of these dates is problematic for you, let us know to see if we can work around it. Video submissions also accepted. Skype available with advance notice.
Actors will audition by reading sides from the script. Sides will be emailed to the actors. Actors auditioning for Paul or Melissa should be prepared to sing something a cappella: Happy Birthday is fine. Please also bring resume and headshot. Callbacks will also be from sides.
Please make audition appointment: audition@burienactorstheatre.org, 206-242-5180. Auditions will be held at Burien Actors Theatre, 14501 Fourth Ave S.W., Burien. Directions HERE.
Seeking Latinx actors and Caucasian actors for race-specific comedy “Native Gardens” at Burien Actors Theatre Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) is seeking two Latinx actors and two Caucasian actors for Native Gardens, written by Karen Zacarias.…
Burien Actors Theatre is taking it to the parks with the comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest”
This hilarious, family-friendly adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s farce has fictitious personas, romantic proposals, and the big shoulders of the 1980s.
BAT is taking it to the streets (well, the parks anyway) with a beautiful adapation by 
Rachel Rene of the family-friendly comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. Set in 1985 with all of the big hair and Valley Girl charm that goes with that, this show will make you laugh out loud.
Oscar Wilde’s farce follows the story of two men who use fictitious personas to escape the social standards of the Valley Girl era. The show is full of dramatic, romantic proposals that are thwarted by the fearsome Lady Bracknell–and the insistence of the two women the men are infatuated that they can only marry a man if his name is Ernest.
Often touted as a perfect comedy, BAT is bringing The importance of Being Earnest to:
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- Des Moines – Sunday, July 14, 2019, at 3 pm at Wooton Park at Redondo, 28336-28464 Redondo Way S, Des Moines, WA 98198
- Burien – Friday, August 2, 2019, at 8 pm at Town Square Park, 480 SW 152nd St, Burien, WA 98166 (part of Burien’s First Friday)
- Normandy Park – Sunday, August 4, 2019, at 5 pm at Marvista Park, 19990 4th Avenue SW, Normandy Park, WA 98166
- SeaTac – Friday, August 9, 2019, 7 pm at Angle Lake Park, 19408 International Blvd, SeaTac, WA 98188
“This is BAT’s first time performing outside of its roost,” said Eric Dickman, BAT’s artistic director. “We are so excited to perform in your park!”