Staff Picks

Strap in, theater lovers! September marks the start of many local companies’ 2026-27 season, and a lot of intriguing shows are coming down the pike. Below, check out a few shows I’ll be marking in my calendar, and stay tuned for even more recommendations in our upcoming fall arts guide!

‘Jar of Fat’

At long last, erstwhile Seattle playwright Seayoung Yim’s award-winning “Jar of Fat” gets its world premiere at home in the Northwest, helmed by performer/director Sara Porkalob. Yim started writing the play to explore her experience growing up in a Korean family obsessed with her weight. The funny piece resonated with a wider audience than she ever imagined. Kent-based Theatre Battery presents the premiere of this biting fantasia about body image, complete with a section called the Blood Bath Ballet.

When: Through Sept. 27
Where: Theatre Battery, 444 Ramsay Way, Suite 109, Kent
Price: $0-$108.35
More Info: theatrebattery.org

‘A Chorus Line’

As any dancer will tell you, elation can become crushing disappointment in a blink. To create the iconic 1975 musical “A Chorus Line,” director and choreographer Michael Bennett sat down with Broadway dancers sharing stories of their lives, loves, and disappointments. This raw material became the beloved musical about 17 dancers auditioning for a spot in a Broadway show, which won nine Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976. Tony-nominated choreographer Denis Jones directs this production at 5th Avenue Theatre.

When: Sept. 15-27
Where: The 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave., Seattle
Price: Tickets start at $50
More Info: 5thavenue.org | 206-625-1900

‘Ragtime’

Based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel, “Ragtime” is set in turn-of-the-20th-century New York, where three social worlds collide: Black Harlem, recent European immigrants, and WASPs from Westchester County. Lynne Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty wrote one of the most beloved scores of Broadway, which will now be brought to life at Village Theatre, featuring Allison Standley as Mother, Jed Resnick as Tateh, and Yusef Seevers as Coalhouse Walker, Jr.

When:

• Sept. 15-Oct. 18 at Village Theatre Issaquah, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah
• Oct. 24-Nov. 15 at Village Theatre Everett, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett
  Price: Tickets start at $42
  More Info: villagetheatre.org | 425-392-2202

‘The Chinese Lady’

In 1834, Afong Moy became the first recorded Chinese woman to enter the United States. She arrived under U.S. merchants who used her as a living display for fascinated white audiences. Playwright Lloyd Suh allows her to tell her own story in “The Chinese Lady.” ArtsWest presents this production in collaboration with Yun Theatre, co-directed by Yun Artistic Director Christie Zhao and ArtsWest staffer Zenaida Rose Smith.

When: Sept. 17-Oct. 11
Where: ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle
Price: $10-$55
More Info: artswest.org | 206-938-0339

‘Hamlet’

“Hamlet” remains one of the best-known plays in the English language for good reason: it’s a wild story full of love, madness, murder, and palace intrigue told through magnificent language. Union Arts Center opens its season with this tragedy starring Billy Finn as the titular Prince of Denmark, whose descent into madness begins when his father is murdered and his mother remarries his uncle.

When: Sept. 19-Oct. 11
Where: Union Arts Center, 700 Union St., Seattle
Price: $44-$114
More Info: unionartscenter.org | 206-292-7676

‘Eulogy or How to Plan Your Own Funeral (and Have Fun Doing It!)’

At Seattle Rep, Pony World Theatre reprises Brendan Healy’s 2025 show about his own memorial, a delightful yet poignant piece that gets you thinking about mortality but in a fun way! Healy, diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, spent decades pondering what his “celebration of life” might look like.

When: Sept. 24-Oct. 11
Where: Seattle Rep, 155 Mercer St., Seattle
Price: $52
More Info: seattlerep.org | 206-443-2222