ACT Announces Complete Casting For 2008 Season

ACT–A Contemporary Theatre announces a stellar line-up of local talent performing in the remaining three shows of its 2008 season.

Intimate Exchanges (August 15-September 14) by Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Kurt Beattie is the perfect vehicle to demonstrate the remarkable versatility and comedic skills of veterans Marianne Owen [The Women, Stuff Happens, The Underpants] and R. Hamilton Wright [Stuff Happens, The Pillowman, Bach at Leipzig]. In this hilarious farce (featuring four different possible endings in ACT's production), Owen and Wright each play three distinct characters—all with different dialects, looks, ages and emotional states, and often occupying disparate physical spaces—at an astonishingly athletic clip.  

Eurydice (September 5-October 5) by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Allison Narver, features a 100% local cast blending fresh up-and-comers with seasoned actors in a sublimely beautiful, fantastic and quirky retelling of a classic story. Renata Friedman [Vincent in Brixton and The K of D at ACT; The Importance of Being Earnest Off-Broadway] plays the title role and is joined by Trick Danneker ["Bench Seat" at Rebar, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball at ArtsWest, American Buffalo at Theater Schmeater] as her young husband Orpheus and Mark Chamberlin [A Christmas Carol and Stuff Happens at ACT; Noises Off at Seattle Repertory Theatre] as her father. Holding court in Hades is Paul Morgan Stetler [Born Yesterday and Wintertime at ACT; All's Well That Ends Well at Seattle Shakespeare Company] as the Nasty Interesting Man/Child. And no production of Eurydice would be complete without a chorus of snarky stones, featuring the ever alluring Anne Allgood [The Women, The Clean House, Vincent in Brixton] as Loud Stone, Tim Hyland [A Christmas Carol at ACT and currently A Streetcar Named Desire at Intiman] as Big Stone and Tracy Repep [Spokesong, Travesties and C at Seattle Public Theater] as Little Stone.

The world-premiere play Becky's New Car by Steven Dietz, commissioned by ACT, and directed by Kurt Beattie, also marks the ACT debut of three actors: Kimberly King [Native Son and Prayer for my Enemy at Intiman] in the role of Becky Foster, Benjamin Harris [Twelfth Night and Scapin at the University of Washington; Hamlet at Indiana Repertory Theatre] as Becky's son Chris Foster, and Anna-Lisa Carlson [The King Stag and The Great Gatsby at Seattle Repertory Theatre] as the discontented heiress, Kenni Flood. The cast also features R.Hamilton Wright as Steve and the return of the luminous Suzanne Bouchard [The Women and The Clean House at ACT; Richard III at Intiman] as Ginger. Playing Becky's loyal husband is Charles Leggett [A Christmas Carol at ACT; Twelfth Night at Seattle Repertory Theatre; A Streetcar Named Desire at Intiman] and representing a tempting alternative reality for Becky in the form of millionaire Walter Flood is Michael Winters [Stuff Happens and Enchanted April at ACT; Heartbreak House at Intiman].

 

Intimate Exchanges Cast
Marianne Owen                        Sylvie, Celia and Irene
R. Hamilton Wright                   Lionel, Toby and Miles

 
Eurydice Cast
Renata Friedman                       Eurydice
Trick Danneker                         Orpheus
Mark Chamberlin                      Father
Paul Morgan Stetler                   Nasty Interesting Man/Child
Anne Allgood                            Loud Stone
Tim Hyland                               Big Stone
Tracy Repep                             Little Stone

Becky's New Car Cast
Kimberly King                           Becky Foster
Charles Leggett                         Joe Foster
Michael Winters                        Walter Flood
R. Hamilton Wright                   Steve
Suzanne Bouchard                     Ginger
Benjamin Harris                        Chris Foster
Anna-Lisa Carlson                    Kenni Flood

For the past 43 seasons, ACT's mission has been to present a broad spectrum of the very best of Contemporary Theatre that speaks to audiences of all backgrounds. A significant part of ACT's mandate is to commission new works and to foster the development of those works in a supportive and inspiring workplace. Through The Central Heating Lab, ACT seeks to heat things up and create a conversation with its season that reaches for a deeper impact.

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