Christmas is still months away, but a yule log will already finish burning in Seattle Oct. 29. Kevin Kling's From the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log finishes this family portrait at A Contemporary Theatre, where performances began Oct. 11 on The Bullitt stage.
Despite the holiday title, Charred Underbelly is more of a family expose, focusing on everything from Christmas with his grandparents in Missouri to the smell of gasoline and riding through life in the "way back" of a 1965 Impala station wagon.
Kling has had a lot of solo stories to tell, whether on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" or in one of his many shows, 21A, Fear and Loving in Minneapolis and The Education of Walter Kauffman. As an actor, he appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Playboy of the Western World and Lysistrata at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theatre. His multi-character pieces include Lloyd's Prayer, produced at ACT, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, directed by playwright Steven Dietz and Home and Away, which premiered at Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Ann Ciecko is the lighting director. Jason Rummel is the stage manager.
Tickets are $15-$10. The Bullitt at A Contemporary Theatre is located at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Union Street. For reservations, call (206) 292-7676. A Contemporary Theatre is on the web at http://www.acttheatre.org. Next up on the Bullitt stage will be a workshop production of Dmitry Lipkin's Moscow Nights, running Nov. 8-19.
-- By Christine Ehren
