SEATTLE: Seattle Repertory Theatre has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring eight plays staged in the Rep’s two theatres, including an theatrical adaptation of a bestselling novel, a world premiere from a local playwright, a Tony-winning musical, a thriller direct from London’s West End, and more.
“Theatremakers all traverse the crossroads of myth and history,” said artistic director Braden Abraham in a statement. “Drawing from unexpected sources of inspiration, the singular artists in next season are creating stories that often become microcosms of our larger world—stories brought to life in an exchange between people that can only happen in a theatre…These plays and the artists that create them hold the possibility to imbue our lives with a new sense of wonder about the multitudes contained within us all. I’m delighted to share these eight marvelous works with you, and I welcome you on this journey.”
The season begins with Ursula Rani Sarma’s theatrical adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel A Thousand Splendid Suns (Oct. 5–Nov. 10), directed by Carey Perloff. This play, which tells the sweeping story of three generations of Afghan women and their remarkable resilience, is produced in association with American Conservatory Theater.
Next up, storyteller, author, actor, and provocateur Mike Daisey presents A People’s History (Oct. 17–Nov. 25), a series of 18 stand-alone monologues in which Daisey compares what he learned in his high school U.S. history textbook with Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s In the Heights is next (Nov. 23–Dec. 30). This Tony- and Grammy-winning musical weaves stories about chasing dreams with the desire to belong in New York City’s Washington Heights. May Adrales directs the production, staged in association with Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Seattle Rep A.D. Braden Abraham will then direct Last of the Boys (Jan. 18–Feb. 10, 2019), by Seattle playwright Steven Dietz (Lonely Planet, Becky’s New Car). This intimate drama delves into a veteran’s struggle to understand his troubled past, which is threatening to swallow him whole.
Next up is the classic horror story The Woman in Black (Feb. 22–March 24, 2019), adapted by English playwright and screenwriter Stephen Mallatratt from Susan Hill’s novella. This spine-tingling play, directed by Robin Herford, has enthralled audiences on London’s West End since 1989.
Abraham will next direct Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 (March 15–April 28, 2019), a continuation of Ibsen’s acclaimed drama. Hnath’s play explores gender roles and social expectations through the eyes of a woman mired in an era for which she is simply too exceptional.
“The High Priestess of Soul” takes the stage next with Nina Simone: Four Women (April 26–June 2, 2019), a play with music that immerses audiences in the complex harmony of protest. Written by Christina Ham and directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, the play includes some of Nina Simone’s most popular Civil Rights anthems, including “Mississippi Goddam,” “Sinnerman,” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”
The season closes with the world premiere of Lydia and the Troll (May 17–June 23, 2019), a new musical from Seattle playwright Justin Huertas (Lizard Boy). Inspired by fantasy and folklore yet grounded in Seattle’s noted landscape and landmarks, the show was developed through Seattle Rep’s the Other Season in 2017.
Founded in 1963, Seattle Rep is one of America’s premier nonprofit resident theatres, achieving international renown for high production and artistic standards, with an emphasis on entertaining plays of true dramatic and literary worth.
