Support Parley's Artistic Community and Productions

The term ​​parley derives from the French verb parler: to speak. Historically, a parley was a meeting between adversaries in order to negotiate an end to battle. Think: pirates. Think: battles.

To signal a willingness to talk peaceably, armies would run up a white flag. A parley was a moment when people who care deeply about vastly different opinions could hold conflicting truths, together.

Creating is a solitary act, and isolation without challenge, nuance, or difficult and conflicting truths can make art rigid. By committing to an ongoing process of creation, feedback, and production, we surrender the lone struggle and move forward together, in collaboration.

Please support us in our work to develop new writing and art in Seattle and beyond. We feel so grateful to engage in this work alongside you, to produce work for you.

A little more about us..

Parley has been developing new work in the Pacific Northwest and beyond for more than ten years.

Photo by Mark Gladding

We are a production company supporting community art in multiple modalities. In Parley's 2024 season, we have supported makers across the country in:

Art by Carol Y. Lee

Our diverse collective of makers includes skilled professionals in their fields who act, direct, produce lighting and sound, create props, costume, music, visual art, and incredible writing.

Photos by Mark Gladding

Parley was the first company in Seattle to produce a Zoom play almost immediately during the 2020 lockdown, and because of Parley's history embedding multimedia and multigenre aspects in their productions, the Zoom plays were artistic and engaging.

Parley is woman-owned and run, and more than 80% of our group is composed of individuals from historically underrepresented backgrounds in the arts.

We are fundraising to support the art and creativity in our communities and the communities we seek to invite, support, and build.

Everyone in Parley has a parallel practice (at least one day job). We write our own grants. If we cannot find external funding, we fund our own projects.

We offer free tickets and sliding scales for all our productions.

Please support Parley by donating here. Every dollar offered will go directly to supporting artists and will make it possible for us to invite a wider community to participate and develop and widen their skills.

In Parley, we support each other by teaching and learning. A Parley is a moment of stillness, a moment of peace and receptivity. It is the pause, the breath that makes art possible.

Join us in supporting and growing this incredible and longstanding space for creation, connection, and creative community.

Our YouTube channel features our radio plays, online performances, animations, promotional materials, developmental work, and much more.

And finally, our current 2024 season announcement...

Videos by Parley Productions