By SHAWN SKAGER<\/strong> Theater Simple brings its interactive production of “The Adventures of Owl and Pussycat” to the Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Park in Kent at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n By pulling audience members into the performance and allowing them to interact with the unfolding play, the Seattle-based troupe defies perceptions of what theater is, said Llysa Holland, artistic instigator.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “Unlike most park shows, theater simple’s outdoor work is interactive – and it moves the audience around a space, whether a garden, a farmer’s market, or a recently-capped reservoir,” Holland said. “We combine theatricality with music, spectacle, visual and literary arts, mental or physical games, and this year – a scooter water ballet.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Holland said Theater Simple’s newest production looks between the lines of Edward Lear’s famous poem, allowing audiences to imagine “the escapades that happened in-between the lines.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “It examines the logic of nonsense, love of friends and ideas, the literal power of poems, and gives a whole family \u2013 a borrowed one works \u2013 a delightful excuse to hang out with a picnic on a lark in a park for an afternoon,” Holland said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Theater Simple created the show, a “variety of storytelling tactics mashed up with poetry, songs, puppets and an ample serving of sass,” for all ages. For the Auburn performances, Holland said, the troupe will present a series of 10-15 pop-up performances with guitar interludes, rather than the entire, linear performance usually presented.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “These adventures are for everyone with a curious mind, a generous heart and a playful love of words,” Holland added.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The troupe has performed throughout the Puget Sound area this summer and will be part of this year’s Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Performances are free, but donations to cover performance costs are encouraged.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
sskager@auburn-reporter.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n