Budget Arts in King County Turns 1!

 

The Budget Arts Blog is turning 1 this week!  For your blogger, it's been a year of fascinating shows and exciting new ventures.   

The best anniversary gift my readers could give me is more input! Have you seen any shows this year because of Budget Arts?   Did we help expand your horizons or save you some cash?  

I have some ideas about how to expand this, and make it more of a community.  Is there anyone who would be interested in a Budget Arts chat group, via Discord, WhatsApp, or some other form of media?  Or do you all have other ideas about how we can connect and engage with the performing arts together?

I'd love to hear more!

May 26 - June 1 2025- All showtimes have $15 and under options

  

"House of Joy," Seattle Public Theatre, Green Lake

In an Imperial Harem, in a place like India, in a time like 1666, distant and yet familiar, the women of the court live on an idyllic estate protected by an all-female guard. Men cannot enter the House of Joy and the women cannot leave. Witness a story of loyalty, betrayal, oppression, politics and romance told with language, movement and spectacle. 

Limited $10 "Art is For Everyone" tickets available for each performance.  Click here for tickets and more info.

"Alice in Arabialand," Annex Theatre, Capitol Hill

Fall down the rabbit hole with Alice on an adventure to “Arabialand” where she will meet queens, challenge djinns, and learn from mystics. As Alice journeys through the queer underground, she learns more about the impact of decades of colonialism and imperialism on the region. A magical realism fusion of Lewis Carroll’s novel and Arab folklore, Alice in Arabialand will delight and move those familiar with and new to queer life in the Middle East.

Sliding Scale tickets start at $5.   Click here for tickets, showtimes, and more info.

"Elysium: Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst HUMANS! Book II," dani tirell, Kubota Gardens, Rainier Beach

Transforming Kubota Garden into a divine landscape, this work imagines what utopia would look like if Black bodies were free to imagine.

Book II is a performance piece that combines live and recorded music. This offering centers around Black and brown bodies leaving this world and entering the "afterlife," Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst humans. Book II brings the club to heaven and imagines what heaven or utopia would look like if Black bodies were free to imagine.

The piece explores ideas around death, the afterlife, and the pageantry and parade of religious ceremony. It also examines what it means to bear witness in the streets and how to bring people to "God" outside of a traditional church setting.

The performance connects the pomp and circumstance of the church to the pomp and circumstance of the club. The club setting represents a place where God can live in a community that embraces "sin" and welcomes those who are not traditionally considered "worthy" of God's grace. Although the club had rules, there was a sense of freedom in that space that was indescribable.

Admission is free, but tickets should be reserved online.  Click here for tickets, showtimes, and more info.

"Native Related," Red Eagle Soaring, Various Locations, Throughout Seattle

Set against the backdrop of an inner city high school, several Indigenous students struggle to forge their own identities while reconnecting with their traditions and heritage. Meanwhile, two spirits  fed up with their lack of knowledge  decide to take the students' education into their own hands, with chaotic results.

Tickets are free.   Click here for dates, locations, showtimes, ticket reservations, and more info.

May 19 - 25, 2025- All showtimes have $15 and under options

 

"Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam," Theatre Off Jackson, International District

Gather your garlic, grab your silver bullets, and hold onto your emotional baggage — because FCPS Vol 27: MONSTER OF THE WEEK is clawing its way to the stage for two nights only. Prepare yourself for 10 creature-feature puppet acts crafted by ghoulishly gifted puppeteers from around the Northwest. It's a celebration of the strange and the silly, inspired by the campy, creepy, and oddly charming world of one-off monsters. Expect laughs, a few light scares, and maybe even a tender moment with a tentacled creature who just wants to be understood.

Choose Your Own Price tickets start at $15.   Click here for tickets, showtimes, and more info.

"Alice in Arabialand," Annex Theatre, Capitol Hill

Fall down the rabbit hole with Alice on an adventure to “Arabialand” where she will meet queens, challenge djinns, and learn from mystics. As Alice journeys through the queer underground, she learns more about the impact of decades of colonialism and imperialism on the region. A magical realism fusion of Lewis Carroll’s novel and Arab folklore, Alice in Arabialand will delight and move those familiar with and new to queer life in the Middle East.

Sliding Scale tickets start at $5.   Click here for tickets, showtimes, and more info.

"House of Joy," Seattle Public Theatre, Green Lake

In an Imperial Harem, in a place like India, in a time like 1666, distant and yet familiar, the women of the court live on an idyllic estate protected by an all-female guard. Men cannot enter the House of Joy and the women cannot leave. Witness a story of loyalty, betrayal, oppression, politics and romance told with language, movement and spectacle. 

Limited $10 "Art is For Everyone" tickets available for each performance.  Click here for tickets and more info.

"Native Related," Red Eagle Soaring, Various Locations, Throughout Seattle

Set against the backdrop of an inner city high school, several Indigenous students struggle to forge their own identities while reconnecting with their traditions and heritage. Meanwhile, two spirits  fed up with their lack of knowledge  decide to take the students' education into their own hands, with chaotic results.

Tickets are free.   Click here for dates, locations, showtimes, ticket reservations, and more info.

May 12 - 18, 2025 - All showtimes have $15 and under options

 

"Proof," InD Theatre, Rolling Bay Hall, Bainbridge Island

On the eve of her 25th birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, confronts how she has spent years caring for her brilliant and unstable father Robert, a famous mathematician.

Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions, the arrival of her estranged sister Claire, and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind.

Over the long weekend that follows, a budding romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness—or genius—will she inherit?

Name Your Price Tickets start at $0.00.  Click here for tickets, showtimes, and more info.

"Hungry," Sound Theatre Company, Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center

“We are what we eat.” It’s a mantra that devours the relationship of two Brits who are first united by a love of food: Bex, a working-class Black waitress who know the world isn’t her oyster, and prefers to slurp down Top Noodle than try the upscale delicacy. Then there’s her white girlfriend Lori, a chef with big dreams to fix up (read: gentrify) a humble chicken shack with high-concept, hard-to-pronounce fare.

Soup’s not the only thing simmering; it’s got a powerful, hidden base of class, race, appropriation, family nostalgia, and righteousness. In the two-hander HUNGRY, opposites attract… but preparing meals with good intentions may be the very thing that poisons relationships.

"Inclusion Rate" Tickets for all shows available online for $5.  Click here for showtimes, tickets and more info.

"House of Joy," Seattle Public Theatre, Green Lake

In an Imperial Harem, in a place like India, in a time like 1666, distant and yet familiar, the women of the court live on an idyllic estate protected by an all-female guard. Men cannot enter the House of Joy and the women cannot leave. Witness a story of loyalty, betrayal, oppression, politics and romance told with language, movement and spectacle. 

Limited $10 "Art is For Everyone" tickets available for each performance.  Click here for tickets and more info.

May 5 - 11, 2025 - All showtimes have $15 and under options

 

"Hungry," Sound Theatre Company, Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center

“We are what we eat.” It’s a mantra that devours the relationship of two Brits who are first united by a love of food: Bex, a working-class Black waitress who know the world isn’t her oyster, and prefers to slurp down Top Noodle than try the upscale delicacy. Then there’s her white girlfriend Lori, a chef with big dreams to fix up (read: gentrify) a humble chicken shack with high-concept, hard-to-pronounce fare.

Soup’s not the only thing simmering; it’s got a powerful, hidden base of class, race, appropriation, family nostalgia, and righteousness. In the two-hander HUNGRY, opposites attract… but preparing meals with good intentions may be the very thing that poisons relationships.

"Inclusion Rate" Tickets for all shows available online for $5.  Click here for showtimes, tickets and more info.

"Proof," InD Theatre, Rolling Bay Hall, Bainbridge Island

On the eve of her 25th birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, confronts how she has spent years caring for her brilliant and unstable father Robert, a famous mathematician.

Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions, the arrival of her estranged sister Claire, and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind.

Over the long weekend that follows, a budding romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness—or genius—will she inherit?

Name Your Price Tickets start at $0.00.  Click here for tickets, showtimes, and more info.