Intiman Announces First American Cycle Events Connected To 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois'

Intiman Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Bartlett Sher and Managing Director Brian Colburn, announces the first public events scheduled for its new American Cycle, which launches this fall with Robert E. Sherwood's play Abe Lincoln in Illinois, directed by Sheila Daniels. Intiman's largest annual initiative, the American Cycle includes productions of great American stories and free-standing programs that offer opportunities for people to talk, laugh, argue and ask questions about how ideas of the play on the Intiman stage connect to our shared history, their own experiences and the challenges of our lives today.

This season, the Cycle's programs will echo a central theme of Sherwood's play: that Abe Lincoln, who as a young man wanted only to be left alone, grew into an American hero because of a community and friends that drove him to take responsibility for his conscience and his country. The city-wide initiative will encourage conversations among multigenerational audiences and between high school students about what it means to be a hero at this time and in our community, as well as foster discussion about Lincoln the man and the president during this bicentennial year of his birth.

Intiman's Front Porch Theater, developed for the American Cycle and now offered throughout each season, is a series of informal dramatic readings from Intiman productions followed by facilitated conversations about how the stories resonate today. The series takes place in neighborhood gathering spots, civic and arts institutions, and unexpected venues that encourage spontaneous participation. Community members are "cast" for each 40-minute reading; those who don't wish to read are encouraged to attend as audience and participate in the conversation that follows.

Front Porch Theater for Abe Lincoln in Illinois will kick off on August 3 with a private event at KCTS Television, featuring local author Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain) and visiting actor Lucas Hall (Cassio in the Theatre for a New Audience production of Othello now playing at Intiman) both reading the role of Abe Lincoln. This reading is closed to the general public, but members of the press are invited to attend.

A free public reading will be held at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), 2700 24th Ave East, on Thursday, August 6 at 6 pm. No tickets are required. To participate, interested community members should contact frontporch@intiman.org. Additional readings, at venues including the JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous in Belltown, Mount Zion Baptist Church and the UW Bookstore, will be announced at a later date.

Each season, diverse teens from Cleveland and Roosevelt High Schools audition to be part of Rough Eagles, one of the most popular American Cycle programs. (The name combines the two school mascots, the Roosevelt Rough Riders and the Cleveland Eagles.) The students work with professional teaching artists to create an original play, inspired by the themes of the American Cycle story. They first participate in a summer retreat, during which they begin to create bridges between their unique experiences through theatrical exercises and by attending shows at different companies around the city. In the fall, they come together again to develop, write and rehearse their own play, which they perform on the Intiman stage for an audience of family, friends and the public, and in the schools for their peers.

This season's Rough Eagles cast includes nine diverse students from both schools, directed by Seattle artist Marya Sea Kaminski. During this summer's retreat, they will attend Othello at Intiman, the break/s: a mixtape for the stage at ACT, Catch Me If You Can at 5th Avenue Theatre, 14/48 The World's Quickest Theater Festival and other performances.

Intiman will present the Rough Eagles performance on the set of Abe Lincoln in Illinois on Monday, October 26 at 7 pm. The performance will be followed by a discussion and reception with the students. It is free and open to the public.

Robert E. Sherwood's Abe Lincoln in Illinois Spanning 20 years, the period of Lincoln's maturation before he became president, Abe Lincoln in Illinois is an epic play about the making of an American hero - and the shaping of our history. The story of how Lincoln forged his conscience, his ideals and his actions amid personal struggles and troubled years for our country launches Intiman's second American Cycle under the direction of Intiman Associate Director Sheila Daniels. Performances will begin on Friday, October 2 and continue through Sunday, November 15. The opening night performance is Friday, October 9 at 8 pm.

Erik Lochtefeld, who is making his Intiman debut as Abe Lincoln, has appeared on Broadway as Orpheus in Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses and at Seattle Repertory Theatre in Metamorphoses and The Secret in the Wings. Former Seattleite Mary Jane Gibson, an actor and writer, will play Mary Todd Lincoln. The company will feature actors from every generation of Seattle's theatre community, including Hans Altwies, Clayton Corzatte, Susan Corzatte, Philip Davidson, Angela DiMarco, Langston Guettinger, Russell Hodgkinson, Reginald André Jackson, Peter Dylan O'Connor, Jose Rufino, Matt Shimkus, Richard Nguyen Sloniker, Adam Standley, Kate Wisniewski and R. Hamilton Wright, and musician John Ackermann.

Tickets are available from www.intiman.org or 206.269.1900. Tickets range in price from $40 to $55. To support patrons in the current economy, throughout the season all adult tickets on Tuesday nights will be on sale for $25 and Intiman will offer floating pay-what-you-can performances. Patrons 25 and under can purchase tickets to any performance for $10, and discounts are available for groups, seniors and members of the military. Patrons can purchase standing room, standby and rush tickets (released 15 minutes before curtain for $20) pending availability. Intiman has also created a new "Friends Four Pack" for the remainder of this season: patrons can buy four adult tickets for any production and save $50 off their total order.

The American Cycle is sponsored in part by Microsoft Corporation, PONCHO and Ameriprise Financial.

Seasonal support for Intiman Theatre is provided by ArtsFund; Intiman Theatre Foundation; Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation; The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and Washington State Arts Commission.

Artwork By Robert E. Sherwood

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