Intiman Theatre continues its 2010 Season with A Doctor in Spite of Himself, a new adaptation of Molière's comedy starring Tony Award-nominee Daniel Breaker. Adapted by Christopher Bayes, one of the foremost clown and commedia experts in the country, and Steven Epp (and further developed with the company in rehearsal), the production is directed by Bayes, whose previous Intiman credits include directing Molière's Scapin and serving as commedia instructor for Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters.
Performances will begin at
Intiman Theatre, 201 Mercer Street at Seattle Center, on Friday, September 3 and continue through Sunday, October 10. The opening night performance is Sunday, September 12 at 7:30 pm. (Please note the special Sunday opening.) Please see the Fact Sheet at the end of this release for the schedule.
Tickets are available from www.intiman.org or 206.269.1900. Single ticket prices range from $25 to $50 for Wednesday-Sunday performances. All adult tickets on Tuesday nights are $25. Discounts are available for groups and members of the military, and patrons age 25 and under can purchase tickets to any performance for $10. Pending availability, patrons can purchase pay-what-you-can, standing room, standby and rush tickets for every production. The pay-what-you-can performance for A Doctor in Spite of Himself is Wednesday, September 8 at 7:30 pm. Tickets will go on sale that day at noon and may now be purchased over the phone or in person; patrons can pay by credit card with a $10 minimum per ticket.
Playing doctor takes on a whole new meaning in Molière's bawdy comedy, which reaches increasingly over-the-top levels of comic pandemonium after a marital squabble between husband and wife Sganarelle and Martine escalates. The spirited wife decides to get revenge on her scoundrel of husband by convincing the town that he's the best doctor around and can cure any ailment, but he turns the tables on her-and everyone else-with his own definition of "in sickness and in health."
Performed with live carnival-style music, A Doctor in Spite of Himself is the Seattle debut of
Daniel Breaker, a Tony nominee for Passing Strange (and a star of
Spike Lee's concert film) and the Donkey in Shrek the Musical in New York. Among his regional theatre credits, he has appeared numerous times with the
Shakespeare Theatre Company of Washington, D.C., earning
Helen Hayes Award nominations for The Comedy of Errors and The Tempest.
Breaker, who plays Sganarelle, is joined on stage by actors Austin Durant, co-adaptor
Steven Epp,
Renata Friedman,
Allen Gilmore, Ashley Marshall,
Don Darryl Rivera and Chelsey Rives, and musicians Greg C. Powers and Robertson Witmer on multiple instruments including trombone, clarinet, drums and accordion. Gilmore and Rives have both appeared many times at Intiman: Gilmore in Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, Our Town and Richard III, and Rives in A Streetcar Named Desire, Prayer for My Enemy and The Skin of Our Teeth. All of the other members of the company are making their Intiman debuts.
Co-adaptor and co-star Epp was an actor, writer, director and Co-Artistic Director at Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, from 1983-2008. In his 25 years with Jeune Lune, he collaborated in the creation and performance of more than 50 productions.
Co-adaptor and director Bayes began his theatre career with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, where he worked for five years as an actor, director, composer, designer and artistic associate. In 1989 he joined
The Acting Company of The Guthrie Theater where he appeared in more than 20 productions. He created movement and choreography for the Broadway and national touring productions of The 39 Steps and serves as Head of Physical Acting at the Yale School of Drama.
The creative team includes scenic designer
Narelle Sissons, costume designer Elizabeth
Caitlin Ward and lighting designer Greg Sullivan. The composer and sound designer is Aaron Halva and the stage manager is Stina Lotti. For biographies of the company, visit
www.intiman.org.
