Greek Active Presents "King John" by William Shakespeare, Directed by Keenan Hollahan, at Re-Bar, Seattle, WA, February 16 - March 10, 1996

In the 1996 Seattle, Washington, theatre scene, new life for old plays was a major source of theatrical vitality. One such unfamiliar take on a familiar text was Greek Active’s comedic production of Shakespeare’s King John, a laughable, participatory affair which first ran, as advertised by this poster, from February 16 to March 10, 1996, at Re-Bar in Belltown.  The Seattle PI described this Greek Active staging of King John as “Shakespeare at its most impure. The adulterations are hilarious and snippets of the original—treated with a chuckle-headed notion of Elizabethan theater—are pretty funny, too.” Dan Savage (b. 1964), sex columnist for The Stranger since 1991 also credited as Keenan Hollahan, was one of the founders of Greek Active, known as “queer theatre for queer people,” and directed King John. Actors featured in King John include Burton Curtis, Rebecca M. Davis, Kevin Fabian, Stephen Hando, Jonathan Hochberg, John Kaufman, Mia Levine, Erin McGaughan, Patricia Grace Miles, David Morden, Richard Painter, and Shelley Reynolds.  

Steve Wells and Patrick “Pit” Kwiecinski opened Re-Bar in January 1990 at 1114 Howell Street, Seattle, Washington, which had long been a safe space for Seattle’s LGBTQ community. The Night Hawk Tavern (or Nite Hawk) opened in the 1930s, creating a center of gay nightlife featuring cabaret, followed by Thirsty’s in the 1970s, which then became Axel Rock, a dance-focused venue, in the 1980s, and finally Sparks Tavern, which added full-length stage plays, before Re-Bar moved in. Until 2020, when Re-Bar, like many venues, closed indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic, they hosted disco nights, art exhibits, theatre, drag, burlesque, and live bands, supporting generations of LGBTQ patrons and performers. KEXP’s Riz Rollins got his start as a DJ, becoming a big part of Seattle’s Black music scene, David Schmader put on his first three plays, and drag performer and comedian Dina Martina was born at Re-Bar. The venue also hosted one of the longest running poetry nights in the West, Seattle Poetry Slam, and a weekly Sunday dance night, Flammable. On September 13, 1991, Re-Bar also hosted the infamous release party for Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind. 

This poster was designed by Hank Trotter and printed by BSK Screenprinting. Trotter (b. unknown) is an artist who, during his time in Seattle in the 1980s and 1990s, designed records at Sub Pop and Up Records and served as art director at The Stranger. He also learned graphic design from Art Chantry at The Rocket. Trotter now lives in Missoula, Montana where he works as a general contractor. Shane Bastian (b. unknown), Nick Sherman (b. unknown), and Jeff Kleinsmith (b. unknown) started BSK Screenprinting in a Seattle basement in 1992. They eventually had an office at 1419 10th Ave in Capitol Hill and were responsible for numerous well-known music posters in the early stages of Seattle’s Punk and Rock scenes. Seattle’s 1990s graphic aesthetic was developed here, where Art Chantry (b. 1954), Tae Won Yu (b. unknown), Ellen Forney (1968), Ed Fotheringham (b. unknown), Hank Trotter (b. unknown), Joe Newton (b. unknown), and dozens of other artists had their work printed for local rock shows, bands, theaters, and other businesses. BSK became BSK(T), sometimes stylized as BSKt on prints, with the addition of Brian Taylor (b. unknown), who later formed a short-lived press called BLT (Brian Leroy Taylor), before joining Kleinsmith, Jesse LeDoux (b. unknown), and Jacob McMurray (b. 1972) to form Patent Pending Press, which ran from 2002 to 2008.