Macha Theatre Works Announces Season 18

Macha Theatre Works is excited to announce two production for their 18th season for 2018-2019, including a Northwest Premiere and a World Premiere.

Starting off the season for Macha Theatre Works is the Northwest Premiere of Veils, written by Tom Coash and directed by Lia Sima Fakhouri. Veils is a two-woman show featuring actors Fathiya Ritter and Alaji. The design team includes Parmida Ziaei (set/props designer), Sadiqua Iman (costume designer), Johanna Melamed (sound designer), Suzi Tucker (projection designer), Zanna King (lighting designer), Mike Stephens (tech supervisor), and Madison Silva (stage manager).

About the play: Intisar, a veiled African-American Muslim student, thought she might finally fit in when she enrolled for a year abroad at the American Egyptian University in Cairo. Samar, her non-veiled Egyptian Muslim roommate, enlists Intisar's help in creating an internet blog about the practice of wearing veils (or not), in hopes of challenging Western assumptions of Muslim culture and bridging the gap between the West and the Middle East. As Egypt hurtles toward revolution, Intisar and Samar are surprised to find themselves on opposite sides of a bitter cultural divide. Will the violent events and emotions leading up to the revolution salvage their friendship or shatter it?

Veils will run November 30-December 16, 2018 at West of Lenin (203 N. 36th Street) in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.

Macha's second production of the season is the World Premiere of Sheathed, written by local playwright Maggie Lee and directed by Macha Artistic Director Amy Poisson, opening on
March 8, 2019. Macha is excited to bring Amy and Maggie together for their fifth theatrical collaboration. Joining them will be Movement Choreographer Alyza Delpan-Monley and Fight Choreographer May Nguyen Lee.

About the play: In the aftermath of a devastating war between clans, two swordswomen try to find their way forward in this strange new world of peace: one trying to escape her past, and the other driven by an inherited thirst for revenge. When your very existence is defined by your blade, how do you keep the violence within yourself sheathed? A tale of an unlikely friendship tested by the bonds of honor and the terrible price of forgiveness, Sheathed combines lyrical movement and storytelling in an exciting new way to explore the emotional depths of why we fight.

Sheathed will run March 8-23, 2019 and be produced in association with Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Avenue S.) in Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

Macha Theatre Works' new play reading series, The Distillery, will take place throughout the 2018-2019 season, featuring innovative new work by local playwrights Maggie Lee, Jenn Ruzumna, Lisa Every, and more.

About Macha Theatre Works:

Envisioning a world where fearless female voices thrive, Macha Theatre Works is a small, dynamic Seattle-based theatre company that produces exceptional new works featuring strong female characters. We are a nonprofit arts organization that strives to bring complex, provocative, empowering, innovative, eclectic, and diverse women's stories to the stage through professional productions, a new play reading series, and educational offerings. The company was founded in 2001 as Macha Monkey Productions by Kristina Sutherland Rowell and Desiree Prewitt. In 2017 the company was renamed and began a period of transition and growth under the leadership of Artistic Director Amy Poisson (director of Smoke & Dust, Happy, Happy, Happy..., The Tumbleweed Zephyr, A Hand of Talons, Blood/Water/Paint) and Managing Director Kyna Shilling (Melissa Hines Award for Outstanding Theatre Practitioner, 2016 Gregory Awards). The name Macha Theatre Works honors the company's history while evolving to fully embrace the vision of fearless female theatre, with Celtic Warrior Goddess Macha featured as the company's new logo.

Macha most recently produced the World Premiere of Smoke & Dust by local playwright Joy McCullough-Carranza at Theatre Off Jackson (March-April 2018) and the World Premiere of Happy, Happy, Happy... by Jenn Ruzumna and Lisa Every at the Erickson Theatre (October 2017)

For more information on Macha Theatre Works, please visit www.machatheatreworks.com. You can reach us by phone at (608) 909-1252 or by e-mail at artistic@machatheatreworks.com.

Tickets and Info: For further information on tickets for any of Macha Theatre Works' productions, please visit www.machatheatreworks.com/tickets, call (608) 909-1252, or e-mail tickets@machatheatreworks.com.