Revisiting Our Most Human Questions in Honor of Groundhog Day

This February, in honor of Groundhog Day, the events that the newsroom is reviewing shed light on the dilemmas that have come to define the human experience: Who am I? Does joy come from continuity or change? Will there be another six weeks of winter? Though the fact that we continue to struggle with these questions can feel disheartening, we can also relish the fact that we, like so many of our ancestors, have the opportunity to untangle the complicated web of human existence.

Joy Harjo will be at Seattle Town Hall on February 27, a poet known for her writings on reconciling the past with the future as we all ask ourselves, how do we remember the past and our heritage without idealizing the pain in our history? Also taking inspiration from history, ArtsWest is running Born With Teeth from February 1 through 25. The play depicts queer, fictionalized depictions of William Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, capturing the conflict experienced by all queer people and the erasure of their history while celebrating queer joy and excellence.

While some anxiously await Groundhog Day to see coverage of Puxatawney Phil, others genuinely wonder if they will get to escape the cold, bleak winter a few weeks early. If you’re in the latter camp, consider checking out The Lower Depths before it closes on February 24. This adaptation of the Russian classic, produced by Intiman Theatre and The Seagull Project, has been developed over an extensive 18-month production process, which makes the winter feel like a flash in time.

If you want to take a different approach and launch into the season of blooming through your art consumption, why not check out some of the new productions blooming across Washington? The “high art” scene can often feel like a time loop of the same big titles, but Olympic Ballet Theatre and Seattle Opera are working to change that. Debuts at Olympic Ballet Theatre highlights new work by contemporary choreographers and X at Seattle Opera is a world premiere opera modernism, minimalism, and jazz to provide a biographical account of the unique civil rights leader Malcolm X.

This month, we invite you to consider the questions that have plagued, enticed and inspired humans and artists for millennia. Art has always been a way for us to understand and work through these questions, and we’re so excited to see our writers do the same through their reviews.

Lead Photo Credit: Raff Liu on Unsplash

The TeenTix Newsroom is a group of teen writers led by the Teen Editorial Staff. For each review, Newsroom writers work individually with a teen editor to polish their writing for publication. The Teen Editorial Staff is made up of 5 teens who curate the review portion of the TeenTix blog. More information about the Teen Editorial Staff can be found HERE.

The TeenTix Press Corps promotes critical thinking, communication, and information literacy through criticism and journalism practice for teens. For more information about the Press Corps program see HERE.