P-I goes from the page to the stage

Editor's note: This story was edited to reflect that Dawson Nichols, not Paul Mullin, was the director of  "It's Not in the P-I: A Living Newspaper About a Dying Newspaper." We regret the error.

"Journalism is a passion that never dies," a nameless girl chants from the audience. Unfortunately for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, that wasn't the case for the newspaper's print edition.


"It's Not in the P-I: A Living Newspaper About a Dying Newspaper" is a play written by six Seattle playwrights—Paul Mullin, Scott Auguston, Pam Carter, Kelleen Conway Blanchard, Dawson Nichols and Bryan Willis—and directed by Dawson Nichols, recounting the downfall of one of Seattle's favorite newspapers.


The playwrights decided to work on the project as if it were a newspaper itself. Each playwright set out to research on their own "beat"—sports, music, business, crime and a few others. They interviewed old P-I journalists, current bloggers for the online edition, local florists, baristas and the P-I's old janitor. Some of the interviews were merely influence for scenes written; others they placed directly into the play.


The production follows the lives of a number of the journalists who worked for the P-I, telling the stories of their struggles to make it in the journalism business, the burden of having to cover a story full of tragedy, the craziness of a newsroom and the disbelief of more than 100 people losing their jobs. Rather than focusing on the journalists' personal lives, the play focuses on what they do for a living and how the community is impacted by the loss of the P-I.


The dialogue is filled with quirky and witty lines. One character jibes, "We're not good people, we're reporters." The actors frequently break the fourth wall with lines like, "I used to be a reporter, and now I'm in a play."


The set consists of two-dimensional cardboard objects and projectors displaying hand-drawn images. While at first the set may seem spare and disappointing, it soon becomes obvious why a choice like this was made: It allows for the easy transition from story to story of each beat and reporter in the production. It also allows for the audience to focus more on the story and issue at hand, rather than pretty, painted scenery.


This production particularly reaches out to loyal P-I readers and old employees of the P-I. References are made in the dialogue about the conservatism of The Seattle Times, and how the P-I is much more like "your friend, or your drinking buddy." While any journalist or newspaper fan can really appreciate this play, others may be a bit lost. A great deal of journalism jargon is used and journalism-related jokes are made, leaving the average viewer in the dark.


"It's Not in the P-I" goes through many emotional turns. The theater fills with laughter as the play pokes fun at the uselessness of trying to question a politician and goes silent after scenes describing the coverage of the Green River Killer.


Mullin's production successfully covers the shock that the closing of the P-I brought to the community while focusing on what really mattered most about it—its sense of closeness and community to all Seattle residents.

"It's Not in the P-I" is playing at Stage 1 at North Seattle Community College through Nov. 22.