Inspiring Tale of a Fisherman's Rediscovery Through Poetry: In ACTING SHAKESPEARE, A One Man Show by James DeVita

The funny and touching story of how a young fisherman was so inspired by the works of William Shakespeare, that he left behind his life on the boats to pursue a career on stage. After overcoming his biggest hurdle: convincing himself that he was smart enough to understand Shakespeare, this man grew into one of America's top classical actors. Written and performed by acclaimed theatre artist James DeVita, In Acting Shakespeare comes to Seattle for the first time after an off-Broadway run and recent tour of Ireland. Freely adapted from Sir Ian McKellen's Acting Shakespeare and directed by ACT's Associate Artistic Director John Langs, this autobiographical one-man show illustrates the journey of an unsure speaker and anemic mumbler from Long Island who came to be a force on the regional stage.

James DeVita has been an accomplished actor in the American Theatre for more than 25 years. With more than 125 roles to his credit, his work in classical theatre includes Iago, Macbeth, Richard III, Benedick, Richard II, Romeo and Hamlet. DeVita was awarded Best Season for an Actor from the Denver Critics Circle.

In addition to his many accomplishments in the theatre, Mr. DeVita is also an award-winning author and playwright. He has also published two novels, The Silenced and Blue with HarperCollins Publishing. Awards include National Endowment for the Arts: Literature Fellowship for Fiction, the AATE 2007 Chorpenning Award, The Distinguished Play award from The American Alliance of Theater and Education and The Intellectual Freedom Award: Kentucky Council of Teachers of English/Language Art.

CAST:

James DeVita-Himself and various others

CREATIVE TEAM:

John Langs-Director

FULL DATES AND SCHEDULE:

Thursday, January 8, 7:30pm

Friday, January 9, 7:30pm

Saturday, January 10, 7:30pm

Sunday, January 11, 2:00pm

About Central Heating Lab
Launched in 2007, The Central Heating Lab at ACT serves as an incubator and catalyst for new works. ACT cultivates, produces, and presents artists working in all performance genres and provides an artistic home for a variety of local performance groups and artists. Relationships develop daily with individual actors, performers and playwrights while established partnerships with groups such as the Azeotrope, The Seagull Project, 14/48, and Icicle Creek Theatre Festival grow and develop. New programs are added throughout the year. With year-round programming produced by The Central Heating Lab at ACT alongside ACT's Mainstage plays, ACT offers its patrons a unique opportunity to maximize their theatre experience-the ACTPass: all you can see for only $30 per month. ACTPass Members can attend nearly all ACT produced performances.