THEATER: West Seattleite to direct ‘Everyone Wants to Love Your Beating Heart,’ online

With health restrictions putting much of the performing-arts world on hold because of the pandemic, some artists are finding new ways to express themselves anyway. West Seattleite Kelly McMahon is about to direct a play you can see live online starting this Friday. Here’s the announcement:

Playlist Seattle and Trial and Error Productions are pleased to announce the online revival of Everyone Wants to Love Your Beating Heart, a full-length theatrical production inspired by Temple of the Dog’s eponymous album.

Originally staged in 2016, Director and Playlist Founder Kelly McMahon and playwright Stacy D. Flood return to the play in this time of social distancing to explore the connection that is possible through music and to answer the questions: how can we find ways to relate to one another without occupying the same physical space? How can we do that through music? And through theater? While traditional theater spaces and music venues aren’t available to us, this production melds performance with live video manipulation via digital platforms to bring actors and audiences together.

Everyone Wants to Love Your Beating Heart is about overcoming isolation using the songs of Temple of the Dog as a jumping-off point for exploring our connection to music despite time and distance. The characters alternately relate and repel as they consider the songs they all know and love in the space music creates. The cast includes Joe Glass, Christopher Martinez, Sarah Lockard, Garrett Dill, Liz Vital, and Bjorn A. Whitney, working from their living rooms across the country.

Since its founding in 2014, Playlist Seattle has created original plays and performance pieces inspired by a range of Seattle bands, from legends like Jimi Hendrix, Alice in Chains and Nirvana, to current artists performing in the scene today, such as such as Ayron Jones, Whitney Mongé, Prom Queen and The Black Tones. Trial and Error was founded in 2013 to present inclusive and thought-provoking productions for a wide range of audiences by supporting visual artists, writers, and performers of the Puget Sound region and beyond.

“Everyone Wants to Love Your Beating Heart — a play inspired by Temple of the Dog” will be streamed live via Zoom on September 11, 12, 17, and 18. Tickets for the show are available at https://dice.fm/bundle/everyone-wants-to-love. Admission is $10-35 with proceeds going to MusiCares and Road Recovery. More information about the show and Playlist Seattle at www.playlistseattle.com

1 Reply to "THEATER: West Seattleite to direct 'Everyone Wants to Love Your Beating Heart,' online"

  • Kelly McMahon September 8, 2020 (1:18 pm)

    Thank you so much for sharing the info!And yes, everyone, this show has essentially been built from right in the heart of the Junction :)I don’t know if many of you have viewed some of the theatrical offerings that have been popping up since March, but one thing I’ve been stressing to friends is that we are not just doing talking heads in zoom boxes! We’re using some cool technology to chromakey people so they are performing in the same virtual space. You can see more in this little promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-lvyDhZLs We'll be performing live at 7pm each night, but the video will be available for 24 hours.Hope you can check it out!

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