Seattle Rep Announces Full 2013-2014 Season

Seattle Repertory Theatre's full 2013-2014 season was announced today by Artistic Director Jerry Manning. The new season features three world premieres by Northwest writers, two Broadway hits, and the addition of an American classic into the theatre's repertoire. The season will run from September 2013-June 2014.

"This line-up is what I consider a perfectly balanced season," stated Artistic Director Jerry Manning. "We will produce works by artists deeply rooted in this community-David Pichette, Bob Wright, Elizabeth Heffron-further establishing the Rep's leadership role as a producer of new work by Seattle artists. We'll also present the very best of what's happening in theatre nationally and internationally, like David Ives' Venus in Fur and Peter Brook's The Suit."

The 2013-2014 season opens in the Bagley Wright Theatre with Christopher Bayes' vividly inventive and hilarious adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters. Bo-Nita, a new play written by Seattle Rep Writers Group member Elizabeth Heffron, receives its world premiere in the Leo K. Theatre in October 2013, directed by Paul Budraitis. Rounding out the fall is the world premiere of David Pichette's and R. Hamilton Wright's adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Seattle Rep commission. Rep mainstay Allison Narver (Boeing Boeing, Or,) will direct.

The spring kicks off with another world premiere of a Seattle Rep commission: Idaho native Samuel D. Hunter's A Great Wilderness, which was workshopped at the Rep in Winter 2013 as part of its inaugural New Play Festival. David Ives' Venus in Fur, Broadway's sultry export, hits Seattle Rep's stage in February 2014, followed by Peter Brook's The Suit, a moving parable of forgiveness which has become an international sensation after critically acclaimed runs in Paris, London, and New York. In April 2014, Associate Artistic Director Braden Abraham (The Glass Menagerie, Clybourne Park), returns to the Bagley Wright Theatre directing Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, an American masterpiece never before seen on Seattle Rep's stages. The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Once rounds out the season at the Paramount Theatre, presented in association with Seattle Theatre Group and Broadway Across America.

Seattle Rep will continue its commitment to a variety of artistic and educational programs in the 2013-2014 season. The Writers Group, a collective of Northwest playwrights at all stages of their careers, will continue developing new work with the full support of Seattle Rep resources. The fourth annual Seattle August Wilson Monologue Competition has been confirmed, along with a second year of the Y-WE Speak program, a full-year residency that encourages young women ages 14-18 to find their voices through shared theatre experiences.

About the plays*

Yale Repertory Theatre's production of
The Servant of Two Masters/Bagley Wright Theatre
by Carlo Goldoni, adapted by Constance Congdon, from a translation by Christina Sibul
directed by Christopher Bayes
September 27 - October 20, 2013

Director Christopher Bayes (The 39 Steps, The Doctor in Spite of Himself) brings his inventive take on a classic comedy to Seattle. When the trickster Truffaldino signs on to serve two masters in the hope of double wages and double dinners, chaos and hilarity ensues. This witty new adaptation is brought to life by an ensemble production full of music, magic, and every trick in the theatrical rucksack - from Goldoni to Groucho Marx.

Bo-Nita/Leo K. Theatre - WORLD PREMIERE
by Elizabeth Heffron
directed by Paul Budraitis
October 18 - November 17, 2013

Life's not easy for Bo-Nita. It never is for a 13-year-old, but especially one who winds up with a dead, semi-ex-stepfather on her bedroom floor. With humor, pathos, and a dash of Midwest magic realism, Bo-Nita follows the resourceful exploits of a working class mother-daughter duo determined to stay together-and out of jail. Elizabeth Heffron is a resident playwright with the Rep's Writers Group, and under her skillful hand Bo-Nita is a theatrical coming-of-age tale that is both hilarious and heartbreaking.

The Hound of the Baskervilles/Bagley Wright Theatre - WORLD PREMIERE
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright
directed by Allison Narver
November 15 - December 15, 2013

Expect suspense and laughs alike in this popular Sherlock Holmes tale adapted by veteran Seattle theatre artists David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright. Commissioned by Seattle Rep as part of its New Play Program, Pichette and Wright bring their witty sensibility to this classic Victorian whodunit about an attempted murder tied to the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound.

A Great Wilderness/Leo K. Theatre - WORLD PREMIERE
by Samuel D. Hunter
directed by Braden Abraham
January 17 - February 16, 2014

At the edge of forced retirement, and at the cusp of dementia, a man who's devoted his life to counseling teenage boys out of their homosexuality has decided to take on one last client. But when tragedy strikes, and his life and mind begin to unravel, he is forced to confront some demons of his own. As directed by Braden Abraham, this world premiere tackles complex and important issues with gentle clarity and enormous humanity. Commissioned by Seattle Rep and performed in workshop at our 2013 New Play Festival, A Great Wilderness introduces playwright Samuel D. Hunter's distinctive voice to Seattle audiences.

Venus in Fur/Bagley Wright Theatre
by David Ives
presented in association with Arizona Theatre Company
February 7 - March 9, 2014

Broadway's sultry export hits Seattle Rep's stage. Playwright Thomas Novachek is at a loss. There are simply no actresses talented enough to play his leading lady. Then in walks Vanda, a mysterious siren with the uncanny ability to inhabit his character. All bets are off when the audition quickly escalates into a seductive power play. With loads of cheek and a hint of the erotic, Venus in Fur keeps you on the edge of your seat as you question: "Who is really in charge here?"

The Suit/Bagley Wright Theatre
based on The Suit by Can Themba, Mothobi Mutloatse, and Barney Simon
direction, adaptation, and music by Peter Brook, Marie-Hélène Estienne, and Franck Krawczyk
presented with Seattle Theatre Group
March 19 - April 6, 2014

Legendary director Peter Brook (The Tragedy of Hamlet, 2001) brings to the stage a parable about forgiveness set in apartheid South Africa. Combining a rich musical score with a remarkably simple staging, The Suit follows a cuckolded husband who doles out an unusual punishment to his wife: he asks that she treat her lover's abandoned suit as a guest of honor in their home. At once charming and disquieting, The Suit has been called "pretty close to perfect" by The New York Times.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?/Bagley Wright Theatre
by Edward Albee
directed by Braden Abraham
April 18 - May 18, 2014

Director Braden Abraham returns to the Bagley with this modern American classic. Set amidst campus politics, Albee's hilarious and provocative masterpiece examines why we are sometimes cruelest to those we love most. George and Martha (theatre's most dysfunctional couple) invite young Nick and Honey over for a nightcap. The evening devolves into an exercise of wits, a war of words in which the past is fair game. Never before seen on our stages, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? still has the power to surprise and exhilarate modern audiences.

Once/Paramount Theatre
by Enda Walsh, music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
presented in association with Seattle Theatre Group and Broadway Across America
May 27 - June 8, 2014

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Once tells the enchanting tale of a Dublin street musician who's about to give up on his dream when a beautiful woman takes an interest in his songs. As the chemistry between them grows, his music soars to powerful new heights, but their unlikely connection turns out to be deeper and more complex than your everyday romance. Once is an unforgettable story about going for your dreams, not living in fear, and the power of music to connect all of us.