Seattle Rep is getting ready to revel while raising funds that will support the creation of new work and bringing world-premier productions to stage. The festivities take place Saturday night at its donor event, Revel + Raise.

If you didn’t get a ticket and can’t make it in-person, you can still catch the evening’s celebration. Revel + Raise will be livestreamed – no registration required. The cocktails and four-course meal may not translate virtually, but you can still enjoy the live performances taking place throughout the night.

Bruce, aka Jaws

In fact, Seattle Rep is treating everyone to a sneak-peek performance of “Bruce.” This world-premiere musical is highly anticipated. “Bruce” involves an unknown director (at the time), plenty of drama, and most of all a very big shark. The musical is an adaptation of the best-selling memoir The Jaws Log by “Jaws” screenwriter Carl Gottlieb.

Not only did Jaws mechanical apparatus (known as Bruce) prove problematic during Spielberg’s filming in the 70’s, producing the musical nearly 50 years later also hit some snags, namely the pandemic. Initially slated to hit the stage last summer, “Bruce” now will have its debut at Seattle Rep on June 8th with previews starting on May 27.

Selling Kabul

There’s another intense thriller that simmers at Seattle Rep.

Currently playing in the Leo K. Theater, “Selling Kabul” is a suspenseful evening spent in a Kabul apartment as Taroon (Yousof Sultani), a former interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, hides from the encroaching Taliban. Hiding in a closet, he is aided by his sister Afiya (Susaan Jamshidi) and her husband Jawid (Barzin Akhavan). But, it quickly becomes clear that his whereabouts will soon be discovered.

Adding to the tension, Taroon’s wife just gave birth to their first child and he is desperate to visit them. Although a trip to the hospital poses the its own set of dangers. If that wasn’t enough, the chatty and inquisitive neighbor, Leyla (Fatima Wardak), has a sense that Taroon is somewhere in Afiya’s apartment and has made it her businesses to uncover his hiding place.

The sound design is another character that deserves a mention. It’s very subtle – a fan to cool the apartment that whirrs in the background gets under your skin without you even knowing it. And then the deafening silence that permeates the stage as it’s turned off. Both soundscapes used quite effectively to ratchet up the tension. You still have time to catch “Selling Kabul” which runs through Sunday, May 22.

Visit Seattle Rep for tickets and additional information.