Region's theaters hope to round up fans with Live Theatre Week deals, special programs

You can't keep a good art form down.

Even in these hard times, fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly and actors gotta act.

So, many local theater companies are banding together to celebrate the dramatic arts in the Puget Sound region's fifth annual Live Theatre Week celebration, which runs through Oct. 18. On the bill? Dozens of gratis and low-cost special events for public consumption — play readings, backstage tours, workshops, panel discussions, with an all-ages emphasis on Family Day (Oct. 17).

The celebration's sponsor, Theatre Puget Sound (TPS), has doled out thousands of free tickets to regular theatrical performances at a bevy of venues. A limited number may still be available, including some freebies to the luxe dinner-cabaret Teatro ZinZanni that will be offered online today (at seattleperforms.com/ltw/.). And patrons can also take advantage of some good ticket discounts at various venues (including a $25-off deal for Teatro ZinZanni).

The goals of the Live Theatre Week shebang (which is part of a nationwide Live Theatre Night promotion, devised by Theatre Communications Group, a national organization) are simple: 1. Turn newbies on to the enduring art of in-the-moment performance; and 2. encourage veteran playgoers to keep on attending and expanding their theatrical horizons.

Here is a small sampling of the more than 30 special events offered by dozens of organizations during Live Theatre Week:

• "The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later." This sequel to the hard-hitting, award-winning docudrama "The Laramie Project," which viewed the hate-crime murder of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard from many angles, will get a free staged reading at theaters across the country on the same night (Monday). Here, Seattle Repertory Theatre will do the honors, with a local cast reciting from a script created by the Tectonic Theatre Company, based on interviews with many Wyoming citizens including one of Shepard's (jailed) murderers.

7:30 p.m. Monday, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center.

• Playwrighting Workshop. Youths and adults are invited to try their hand at summoning up stageworthy dialogue in this free class at ACT Theatre. Noon Oct. 17, ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle.

• Halloween Costume Clinic. The Eastside's Youth Theatre Northwest lends its creative costume know-how, free of charge, to those interested in fashioning a dramatic Halloween get-up. 1 p.m. Oct. 17, Youth Theatre NW, Mercer Island.

• 5th Avenue Theatre Tour. Ever wonder what's backstage and in the basement of this historic downtown showplace? Here's your chance to find out, gratis. Noon Monday, 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave., Seattle.

• "Super School." Taproot Theatre hosts a free live performance of Bethany Wallace's educational play about bully prevention and problem solving. 11 a.m. Oct. 17, Greenwood Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle.

• Olympia Little Theatre Diamond Anniversary Celebration. This enduring community theater marks its diamond jubilee with a free reception and reading of Jeffrey Hatcher's "Murderers," a comic trio of homicidal monologues.

7 p.m. Oct. 17, Olympia Little Theatre, Olympia.

• Gregory Awards. To promote the profusion of top-notch stage talent in this vicinity, TPS is instituting an annual awards show, named in honor of the late ACT Theatre founder Gregory Falls.

Prizes will be handed out for special achievements in acting, directing and other categories at a party with hors d'oeuvres, cocktails and live entertainment. And the public is invited to mingle with the theater artistes and administrators. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Center; $20/general, $12/TPS members.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com