Capitol Hill Arts Center

Capitol Hill Arts Center, also known by its acronym CHAC (pronounced "shack"), is a performing arts center located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. CHAC operates two performance spaces in the building, most widely known for its theatre.

The center was founded in 2002 by Matthew Kwatinetz. Since its founding, CHAC has been widely acknowledged as producing some of the most exciting theatre in Seattle [Brendan Kiley, [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=31363 What's CHAC Got to Do With It?] , "The Stranger", Mar 30 - Apr 5, 2006. Accessed 8 April 2006.] : from Bertolt Brecht's "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" and Clifford Odets' "Waiting for Lefty" to the Pacific Northwest premiere of Dario Fo's "Archangels Don't Play Pinball."

The summer of 2005 brought about some great changes and additions to CHAC; most notable being the longstanding and highly respected Seattle fringe theatre group Annex Theatre moving into the building, and the revamping of the lower level bar so as to allow for all-ages shows.

On the evening of Friday, March 24, 2006, CHAC was the venue of a zombie-themed rave called "Better Off Undead". Attendees of an afterparty after that rave were the victims of the Capitol Hill massacre. By nearly all accounts, CHAC itself had excellent security at the rave, and the only connection of the massacre to the rave was that the perpetrator and the victims attended the rave, and that one of the victims invited the perpetrator to the afterparty. [Angela Galloway and D. Parvaz, [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/264855_shootdance30.html No rave crackdown coming] , "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", March 30, 2006. Accessed 7 April, 2006.] [Josh Feit and Dan Savage, [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=31362 Raving Mad] , "The Stranger", Mar 30 - Apr 5, 2006. Accessed 7 April, 2006.]

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