NEW ENTERTAINMENT VENTURE SETS SAIL >>>

Does Tacoma really need a new theater company? As Gold From Straw proved last year, new ventures add vitality to the live entertainment scene, along with fresh new voices and talents unlikely to be readily embraced by more traditional companies. I spoke to Jen Davis, the company's associate artistic director, about Toy Boat's aims and aspirations. Read the interview here.

[Toy Boat Theatre, Dakota's Belly, Wyoming, $10 at BrownPaperTickets.com, 8 p.m. Aug. 5-7 and 12-13, 1314 Martin Luther King Way, Tacoma, 253.879.3330]