STUPID F***ING BIRD and More Set for Artistic Director John Langs' Debut Season at ACT

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre is proud to announce the Mainstage productions and two ACTLab productions for the dynamic debut season of incoming Artistic Director John Langs. Having recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary Season, ACT looks forward to the next 50 years as a destination for contemporary theatre and arts in downtown Seattle. Langs' debut season features six plays in the traditional mainstage season, plus two large-scale shows in the ACTLab, which serves as an incubator and catalyst for new works.

John Langs joined the ACT staff as Associate Artistic Director in 2013 and takes over as Artistic Director this coming January, following Kurt Beattie's retirement. As Langs moves into the role of Artistic Director, he is clearly defining his objectives. The Mainstage Season will feature plays that reflect the current conversation in our city and the world, stories that entertain, and also "legacy plays" that highlight important figures and events throughout history. Langs will increase ACT's focus on new play development through ACTLab, where experimentation really takes hold.

In looking at the play selections in 2016, Langs says, "I've been in a conversation with ACT audiences for several years now and the plays we've selected for 2016 reflect where that conversation is going next. It is an exciting time to launch this season as we are going into an election year, after our milestone 50th anniversary, and during a time when Seattle is changing."

Starting in February, ACTLab co-presents Buzzer, a play about gentrification, race, and relationships, by Tracey Scott Wilson with local producer AJ Epstein Presents. Near the end of February, ACT continues to partner with The 5th Avenue Theatre, co-producing a musical that appears on each organization's season and is performed at ACT. The dark and funny Assassins begins at the end of February and runs for 10 weeks, directed by John Langs. Next, ACT presents Aaron Posner's hilarious and heartfelt sort-of adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull, Stupid f-ing Bird.

In May and June, ACT will produce Bathsheba Doran's The Mystery of Love & Sex. Doran is also known for her TV work with the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, NBC's Smash, and Showtime's Masters of Sex. In the summer (heading into the election countdown) comes the world premiere of Daisy by Sean Devine. Based on a true story, the play is titled after the iconic advertisement that ran only once, during the 1964 presidential election campaign and forever changed the world of political messaging. In September the ACTLab co-presents the incendiary rock musical Bad Apples by Jim Leonard with Sidecountry Theatre and Circle X Theatre. Langs directed the play about the Abu Ghraib scandal with Circle X in Los Angeles in 2012 to great acclaim.

Rounding out the season are the final two mainstage plays of 2016. The Royale by Marco Ramirez brings to life the explosive sights and sounds of the early-20th-century boxing circuit, inspired by Jack Johnson - the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion. Marco Ramirez is known for his TV work on Sons of Anarchy and Orange is the New Black. Finally, the mainstage season concludes with a dangerous game of seduction, revenge, and erotic one-upmanship with Dangerous Liaisons by Christopher Hampton's 1985 adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel.

Watch the ACT Season Preview video! to view here.

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Buzzer (ACTLab)

By Tracey Scott Wilson

Feb 2-21, 2016

Allen Theatre

Co-presented with AJ Epstein Presents

Money, race, love, trust, and fear are at the door-buzz us in. Jackson went to all the right schools, has the perfect job, an amazing girlfriend, and just moved into a fantastic apartment in his old neighborhood; only it's not-his old street is in the throes of rapid gentrification. When he invites his best friend to stay with them, their lives and realities are challenged and then ripped apart.

Assassins

Book by John Weidman. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Feb 27-May 8, 2016

Falls Theatre

Find yourself in the company of some of the most notorious figures in American history-a band of presidential assassins, from the attempted to the successful. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, John Hinckley, and more recount the stories of their troubled lives and deadly deeds. Created by one of the undisputed masters of musical theatre, Stephen Sondheim, this powerful work is by turns dark, funny, and haunting.

Stupid f-ing Bird

By Aaron Posner

Apr 8-May 8, 2016

Allen Theatre

On the grounds of a country estate, two generations worth of Russians mope and love and hate in this heart-breaking hilarious sort-of-adaptation that takes a baseball bat to one of theatre's most famous works, and staunchly refuses to pick up the pieces. Welcome to the wild world of Stupid f-ing Bird, where Chekhov's story of love, art, and a hapless bird get a remarkable contemporary face lift.

The Mystery of Love & Sex

By Bathsheba Doran

May 27-Jun 26, 2016

Allen Theatre

As her parents' marriage begins to fray, Charlotte's close relationship with her childhood best friend Johnny starts to turn romantic-maybe. If they can figure out who they are, first. This portrait of two relationships from two generations dives into secrets, identities, resentments, sex, and the love that continues despite it all.

Daisy (World Premiere)

By Sean Devine

Jul 8-Aug 7, 2016

Falls Theatre

Turmoil over civil rights is spilling onto the streets, a fearful ideology is growing from the conservative right, and the threat of nuclear war is palpable. With a presidential election looming, a group of "ad-men" working for Lyndon Johnson create the most devastating and provocative political commercial ever made. In 1964, war was the objective; peace was the bait.

Bad Apples (ACTLab)

By Jim Leonard. Music by Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns

Sep 6-25, 2016

Falls Theatre

Co-Presented with Sidecountry Theatre and Circle X Theatre

Welcome to Club Abu, the darkest party in Baghdad. An incendiary rock musical that pulls back the curtain of one of the greatest moral challenges we have faced as a nation and sets it to a wicked irreverent back beat.

The Royale

By Marco Ramirez

Sep 9-Oct 9, 2016

Allen Theatre

Jay "The Sport" Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. But it's 1905, and in the segregated world of boxing, his chances are as good as knocked out. When a crooked boxing promoter hatches a plan for "the fight of the century," The Sport might just land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion.

Dangerous Liaisons

By Christopher Hampton

Oct 21-Nov 20, 2016

Falls Theatre

In the extravagant days before the French revolution the unimaginable wealth of the Parisian elite breeds boredom. Two cynical aristocrats and former lovers launch a dangerous game of seduction, revenge and erotic one-upmanship, with sex the only power the women wield. But this calculating battle of wicked wits and wills spins out of control when love changes the rules and raises the stakes in ways the players never anticipated.

Following the Mainstage season, the 41st Anniversary production of Dickens' A Christmas Carol will be in the Allen Theatre. Greg Falls' taut 90-minute adaptation has been entertaining hundreds of thousands of families in Seattle since 1975.

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John Langs has served as Associate Artistic Director of ACT for three years, and will become ACT's Artistic Director in 2016. Langs' 16-year freelance career has afforded him the opportunity to work with many prestigious theatre companies across the country. He has directed productions at Playwrights Horizons NY, Ensemble Studio Theater NY, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Lookingglass Theater Company in Chicago, Circle X in Los Angeles, The Resident Ensemble, New Century Theatre Company, Washington Ensemble Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company.

Langs received his directing degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Some of his favorite directing credits include The Shaggs Philosophy of the World (Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award for Best Original Musical), and Brothers Karamazov (seven LADCC Awards including Best Production of the year and Best Direction) and directing Kurt Beattie in King Lear. Langs received the first annual Seattle Gregory Award honoring excellence in direction for The Adding Machine. Recent Seattle credits include NCTC's Mary's Wedding, The Seagull Project's The Three Sisters, and Seattle Shakespeare's Othello. As a dedicated fan of original work, Langs has shepherded over a dozen projects to their premier production. He looks forward to his debut season as Artistic Director as ACT moves into its next 50 years.

Subscription packages for 2016 are on sale now, with priority given to renewing season ticket holders. All Mainstage shows are also available on the ACTPass monthly membership. Single Tickets for Assassins are now on sale and all other Mainstage shows will go on sale to the general public on February 10, 2016. All ticket purchases and information are available at www.acttheatre.org or (206) 292-7676.

Located in Seattle's Downtown Historic Theatre District, ACT is home to five performance spaces under one roof. Since 1965, ACT has been a destination for experiencing new voices, stories, and art. ACT is steadfast in its dedication to producing work with contemporary playwrights and local performing artists through its Mainstage Play series, ACTLab producing partnerships, and Young Playwrights Program. With more than 450 performances a year, ACT is a community hub where artists and the public connect about today's issues and ideas, and celebrate the shared experience.

Launched in 2007 as The Central Heating Lab, ACTLab serves as an incubator and catalyst for new works. Uniquely positioned to provide the space and resources to the development of projects in a collaborative environment, ACT partners with emerging and seasoned local artists, giving them the sustenance and pressure required to experiment, grow, and transform their work and reach new audiences. ACTLab presents artists working in all performance genres and provides an artistic home for a variety of local performance groups and artists like Azeotrope, The Seagull Project, UMO Ensemble, and Endangered Species Project. With year-round ACTLab and Mainstage programming, ACT offers its patrons a unique opportunity to maximize their theatre experience-the ACTPass: all you can see for only $30 per month. ACTPass Members can attend nearly all ACT produced performances.

Photo Credit: Hayley Young Photography

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