Patrick Hogan News

ACT Theatre has announced the Seattle premiere of Will Eno's whimsical and poetic comedy drama, Middletown. In his contemporary take on Thornton Wilder's classic Our Town, Will Eno (2012 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award) digs acutely into American life, bringing the deeply human journeys of neighbor and stranger together in an 'Everytown USA.' Eno's critically acclaimed new play explores how the imponderable mysteries of the universe reveal themselves through the apparently everyday lives and relationships of ordinary people in an ordinary place.

Is the grass really greener on the other side? Obie Award winning playwright Gina Gionfriddo's searing new comedy Rapture, Blister, Burn explores the evolving attitudes of women towards career, marriage and family - and the consequence of choice. ACT is proud to present the West Coast premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn which the The New York Times described as 'an intensely smart, immensely funny new play.' A smash Off-Broadway hit and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Kennedy Theatre Prize, Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn confronts a variety of post feminist topics from the ongoing career vs. family debate, male dominance in business and relationships, feminist implications of torture movies, and even takes on society's acceptance and consumption of pornography. Described by the author as an unintentional homage to Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, with a title inspired by the band Hole's single, 'Use Once and Destroy', Rapture, Blister, Burn is a wickedly perceptive and surprisingly relevant take on cross-generational feminism.

Is the grass really greener on the other side? Obie Award winning playwright Gina Gionfriddo's searing new comedy Rapture, Blister, Burn explores the evolving attitudes of women towards career, marriage and family - and the consequence of choice. ACT is proud to present the West Coast premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn which the The New York Times described as 'an intensely smart, immensely funny new play.' A smash Off-Broadway hit and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Kennedy Theatre Prize, Gionfriddo's Rapture, Blister, Burn confronts a variety of post feminist topics from the ongoing career vs. family debate, male dominance in business and relationships, feminist implications of torture movies, and even takes on society's acceptance and consumption of pornography. Described by the author as an unintentional homage to Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, with a title inspired by the band Hole's single, 'Use Once and Destroy', Rapture, Blister, Burn is a wickedly perceptive and surprisingly relevant take on cross-generational feminism.

Conservative parents and their Liberal children square off in Jon Robin Baitz's thrilling drama, Other Desert Cities.

GREY GARDENS, a co-production with The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT is now playing on the mainstage through May 26. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production shots below.

GREY GARDENS, a co-production with The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT will play on the mainstage tonight, March 16-May 26 with a press opening of March 21.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre single tickets go on sale to the public for all 2013 Mainstage shows February 12, 2013. ACT is offering 50 percent off of adult price tickets for all Mainstage preview shows throughout the season for one-day only February 12. ACT also shares a glimpse of the casting for the first half of the upcoming Mainstage season.

ACT has announced some of the casting for the first half of the upcoming Mainstage season. ACT's own Artistic Director Kurt Beattie gets back on the boards alongside Jeff Steitzer, Marianne Owen, Julie Briskman, and Laura Kenny in Assisted Living. In Other Desert Cities the critically acclaimed Marya Sea Kaminski makes her ACT debut going head to head with television actress Pamela Reed (Parks and Recreation, Kindergarten Cop) who is a UW Drama alumni and Washington resident. Many other notable local actors will be returning to ACT or making their debut including Jessica Skerritt, Matt Owen, Lori Larsen, Suzy Hunt, Aaron Blakely, and Kirsten Potter to name a few. See the current listing of committed artistic and production talent below.

On the chance that you only read the first few sentences of my review of "Ramayana", currently playing at ACT, let me just say this right at the start. Go see this show! Hire the babysitter, arrive early (to catch the awesome Indian bazaar in the lobby), and prepare yourself for one of the most glorious and magical evenings I've had in the theater for quite awhile as ACT Theatre presents an exquisite and epic tale that mesmerizes from beginning to end.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre presents a full-scale theatrical celebration of the works of modern master and Nobel Prize Laureate Harold Pinter. Famous for his biting humor and a favorite of professionals, scholars, and people who like their humor on the darker side, ACT looks to introduce the city of Seattle to many of Pinter's lesser known and rarely produced works in its Pinter Festival, running today, July 20 - August 26, 2012.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre announces a full-scale theatrical celebration of the works of modern master and Nobel Prize Laureate Harold Pinter. Famous for his biting humor and a favorite of professionals, scholars, and people who like their humor on the darker side, ACT looks to introduce the city of Seattle to many of Pinter's lesser known and rarely produced works in its Pinter Festival, running July 20 - August 26, 2012.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright. The play began previews June 8 and opens tonight, June 14, running until July 8.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright. The play begins previews June 8 and opens June 14, running until July 8.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright.

Seattle's ACT - A Contemporary Theatre announces that the casting and directors for the summer of 2012 Pinter Festival have been finalized. Performances begin in July when eleven actors perform a double-bill of The Dumb Waiter and Celebration, then adding Old Times and No Man's Land to the schedule in August. Distinguished British director Penny Cherns will direct No Man's Land and nationally renowned actors Peter Crook and Frank Corrado appear in multiple productions alongside such Seattle favorites as Anne Allgood, Julie Briskman, Darragh Kennan, Charles Leggett, and more.

Theatrically the questions of "What is art?" and "Can art be commercialized" are not new ones. But that is precisely what John Logan's Tony Award winning play "Red", currently playing at the Seattle Rep, is putting out there. And while not a new issue, the play still results in an interesting look into the mind of two artists, one established and one fledgling, and above all turns in some stellar performances from the actors involved.