The newly revived and under new (no)management Free Skool Olympia has come out with its February calendar of classes!

Free Skool Olympia is an autonomous, all ages, egalitarian, volunteer-run collective which works to offer a wide range of workshops, classes, trainings, and skill shares freely to the community. The Free Skool offers a direct challenge to educational, economic, and social systems that oppress and divide our communities by providing vibrant alternatives to those systems and safe places for them to thrive so that we may begin to imagine and build a truly free world.

This month features classes on:

• Algebra
• Art and Activism
• Book Binding
• Computer Security
•  Freestyle Rap
• Haiku & Asian Poetry
• History
•  Knot Tying & Climbing
• Media
•  Musical Saw Playing
•  Mycology
•  Peace Psychology
• Really Really Safe Sex
• Self Defense
• Sign Language

• Stick 'N' Poke Tattoos

As well as a Black History Reading Group, White Privilege Reading Group, film showings, a Stitch 'N' Knit circle, and a Theatre of the Oppressed troupe!

All classes are absolutely free. The whole month's calendar, which includes descriptions, times, and locations is attached to this post!

Child care will be provided at classes on request. If you have child care or accessibility needs, contact the facilitator of the class you'd like to attend.

To find out more about the Free Skool, you can come to our general meetings every Sunday, 2:00pm at Media Island (816 Adams St. SE) or find us on Facebook. To contact us, e-mail olyfreeskool (at) riseup (dot) net

'Laramie Project' returns to South Puget Sound '10 Years Later'

More than eight years since the South Puget Sound Community College Drama Department hosted The Laramie Project, a play highlighting the death of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard. Now, the play returns in a new form as The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, revisiting the community and its ongoing struggle to cope with what happened that night. The play opens on Thursday, Aug. 5 at 8 p.m. at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts.

On Nov. 6, 1998, Shepard left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The following day he was discovered on a prairie at the edge of town, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death. Six days later Matthew Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft. Collins, Colo. Just eight days later, 10 members of Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyo. and conducted interviews with the people of the town.

Over the next year, the company returned to Laramie six times and conducted over 200 interviews. These texts became the basis for the play The Laramie Project.

Ten years later, on Sept. 12, 2008, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effect of the murder. They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history. In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted audiences in the original play, this time around, the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard. The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later is a bold new work, which asks the question, "How does society write its own history?"

The show runs from Aug. 5-8 and Aug. 12-15 at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts. The Aug. 8 and Aug. 15 performances begin at 2 p.m. All other performances begin at 8 p.m.

'Laramie Project' returns to South Puget Sound '10 Years Later'

More than eight years since the South Puget Sound Community College Drama Department hosted The Laramie Project, a play highlighting the death of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard. Now, the play returns in a new form as The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, revisiting the community and its ongoing struggle to cope with what happened that night. The play opens on Thursday, Aug. 5 at 8 p.m. at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts.

On Nov. 6, 1998, Shepard left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The following day he was discovered on a prairie at the edge of town, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death. Six days later Matthew Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft. Collins, Colo. Just eight days later, 10 members of Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyo. and conducted interviews with the people of the town.

Over the next year, the company returned to Laramie six times and conducted over 200 interviews. These texts became the basis for the play The Laramie Project.

Ten years later, on Sept. 12, 2008, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effect of the murder. They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history. In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted audiences in the original play, this time around, the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard. The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later is a bold new work, which asks the question, "How does society write its own history?"

The show runs from Aug. 5-8 and Aug. 12-15 at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts. The Aug. 8 and Aug. 15 performances begin at 2 p.m. All other performances begin at 8 p.m.

The South Puget Sound Community College Drama Department is paying homage to Jerry Herman, one of the most celebrated Broadway composers and lyricists of our time, with a staging of Showtune, an off-Broadway show inspired by Herman’s autobiography. Penning some of the stage’s biggest hits, Herman was nominated for five Tony Awards throughout his career and won two, also earning the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theater. Incorporating hit song after hit song, Showtune aims to please audiences young and old alike with witty lyrics set to iconic tunes from shows like Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles and more. The show runs from May 27-30 and June 3-6 at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts. The May 30 and June 6 performances begin at 2 p.m. All other performances begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, staff and faculty. Performances on May 27 and June 3 are “pay what you can” nights. Tickets are available online at OlyTix.org or by calling (360) 753-8586. For more information about the performances, go online at www.spscc.ctc.edu/entertainment or call (360) 596-5411.

Hello! We know the Vagina Monologues just happened and put us all in the mood to focus on our own experiences, our own community, our own ideas of gender. Now the opportunity has presented itself! A group of people are putting together a new series of performances made by our own community, including all genders, all ages, all sizes, all backgrounds, all capabilities! Welcome to "Gender Tales" (working title)! A cooperative series of performances, be they monologues, dances, songs, poems, or any mixed media... We are in the beginning stages of this project and are in need of more help. If you would like to be part of this project in any way, please write to us right now!! olygendertales@gmail.com
We have multiple opportunities available for participation:
1) Write/Choreograph/Design/Create/[Whatever] an individual performance, submit anonymously (or not) for someone else to perform.
2) Perform someone else's story/vision.
3) Create AND perform your own story!
If you have a story in mind, but you feel it may not fit directly under the title of gender, THAT'S OKAY! We want to hear your stories of cope, identity, etc.... So bring them to our first meeting: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7th, 2010, from 6-8pm at Caffe Vita in downtown Oly. If you cannot make it to the first meeting e-mail or call us. We are looking to create a close and safe community within the performance group.
e-mail: olygendertales@gmail.com
or call Erica: (818) 687-1624

Hey Everyone,

You're invited to attend The Maiden and the Warlock, an original theatrical performance conceived, written, directed, produced and narrated by a brilliant friend of mine.

It's a humorous yet wistful tale of romance in a far off and magical land. There's lots of laughter and it's really fun. So check it out.

There will be good food to eat, and a dance party afterward!

Cost: $2 - $12 sliding scale (not including tea and food)

Location: Hall of the Woods, 3712 Sapp Rd, Olympia, WA (google map)

Date and Time: Saturday, December/12/2009, play scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM - so I suggest arriving early to get situated and for a cup of tea and a delicious morsel or two.

Hope to see you there!

I have been thinking about the concept of perpetual war. What are some of the consequences of the perpetual war economy? George Orwell's classic novel, 1984, speaks directly to that question. I urge you to read it, or to remember it if you have already...

The following is something that I wrote up a while ago, after seeing the Actor's Gang performance of "1984" at the Washington Center for Performing Arts:

An adaptation of Orwell's 1984 for stage, it was a great performance.

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Check out The Phrontisterion's performance of Aristophenes' "The Birds" (translated by David Barrett). 7:30 pm tonight and tomorrow night at the recital hall in the COM (communications) building at Evergreen, it's free.

More information: facebook event page