SEATTLE: Seattle Repertory Theatre has announced its 2019-20 season, featuring nine productions.
“The first half of our new season features inspiring plays about 20th-century trailblazers by two of the great playwrights of our time: Paula Vogel and Cheryl L. West,” said artistic director Braden Abraham in a statement. “We have an incredible lineup in store that truly reflects and elevates our vision of ‘theatre at the heart of public life.'”
The season will open with a musical version of Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Sept. 6-8), adapted by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery with music and lyrics by Taub. More than 100 Seattle citizens will join professional actors and regional performance groups onstage for the show, part of Seattle Rep’s Public Works Seattle program. Timothy McCuen Piggee will direct.
Next up will be Indecent (Sept. 20-Oct. 26), by Paul Vogel, a play-within-a-play chronicling an acting troupe’s controversial staging of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance in 1923. Sheila Daniels will direct.
Following will be the world premiere of Anna Ziegler’s The Great Moment (Oct. 11-Nov. 17), a meditation on beginnings and endings in life. The play was commissioned and developed by Seattle Rep’s new-play development program, the Other Season. Abraham will direct.
The season will continue with Shout Sister Shout! (Nov. 8-Dec. 22) by Cheryl L. West. Inspired by Gayle F. Wald’s book Shout, Sister, Shout!, the play depicts the life and career of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the musician considered the godmother of rock ’n’ roll. Randy Johnson will direct.
Next will be Sam Shepard’s True West (Jan. 17-Feb. 15, 2020), a comedy about two brothers from different walks of life, both pursuing the American Dream. Abraham will direct.
Following will be The Children (Feb. 7-March 15), Lucy Kirkwood’s play about two retired nuclear physicists who are visited by an old friend who brings a shocking proposition. Timothy Bond will direct.
Seattle Rep will then present Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of August Wilson’s Jitney (Feb. 28-March 29). The play, part of Wilson’s Century Cycle, is set in 1970s Pittsburgh and follows a group of men making a living driving unlicensed cabs. Ruben Santiago-Hudson will direct.
Following will be The Importance of Being Earnest (April 17-May 17) by Oscar Wilde, a farce that follows two bachelor friends who take on double lives to pursue the attention of women. Casey Stangl will direct.
The season will close with the world premiere of Lydia and the Troll (May 8-June 14) by Justin Huertas, which was commissioned and developed as part of the Other Season. The musical was co-created and directed by Ameenah Kaplan. It’s set in Seattle, but inspired by fantasy and folklore.
Founded in 1963, Seattle Repertory Theatre produces classic and contemporary plays, provides educational programming, and develops new work.
