Seattle Rep Announces 2011-2012 Season, Includes RED, CLYBOURNE PARK

As Artistic Director Jerry Manning wraps up his first official season at the helm of Seattle Repertory Theatre, the theatre announces its 2011-12 season today. Just two years from the theatre's 50th Anniversary, Manning and his artistic team have selected eight plays representing the best of Seattle Rep. Season tickets are on sale now.

"In a lot of ways this season is what the Rep is known for: taking a recent Broadway hit like Red and making it our own, showcasing Seattle's best actors in a juicy drama like Clybourne Park, or staging new works that are destined to be classics, like Bill Cain's How to Write a New Book for the Bible," Manning said.

Since Manning's appointment in May 2010, he has emphasized the importance of both new play development and championing Seattle talent as "pillars" of his artistic vision.

The 2011-12 season includes a number of other new plays, all recent hits Off-Broadway. Lorenzo Pisoni (The Great Gatsby, Tuesdays with Morrie) returns to Seattle Rep with his one-man autobiography about growing up in his father's circus troupe, Humor Abuse. In the Leo K., Seattle Rep will stage Liz Duffy Adams' gender-bending Restoration comedy Or,, and Circle Mirror Transformation, a comedy about an "Adult Creative Drama" class that landed on Top Ten lists of The New York Times and The New Yorker for 2010.

The 2011-12 season also features two contemporary classics: Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie in an innovative, updated staging in Seattle Rep's intimate Leo K. Theatre; and A.R. Gurney's comedy Sylvia about the dog that comes between a married couple. Sylvia is an audience favorite Seattle Rep is bringing back as part of celebrations leading up to the theatre's 50th Anniversary in 2013.

Seattle Rep will also continue work through the New Play Program, which will include readings and workshops with local and national playwrights throughout the season. (Recent projects have included plays by Cheryl L. West, Robert Schenkkan, Mike Daisey, and Stephanie Timm).

Additionally, the theatre will continue its commitment to fostering young artists and audiences through the Yes Project, a multi-year grant to find and develop work for the main stage that features young characters and/or has a curriculum tie-in. In the 2011-12 season, The Glass Menagerie and Circle Mirror Transformation are Yes Project plays.

ABOUT THE SEASON

Humor Abuse BAGLEY
created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt | Sept. 30-Oct. 23, 2011
In this delightful, sweet, acrobatic new show, acclaimed Broadway actor Lorenzo Pisoni transports us to his eccentric childhood spent performing with his father's Pickle Family Circus.

The Glass Menagerie LEO K.
by Tennessee Williams | Oct. 21-Nov. 20, 2011
An innovative take on one of the most lyrical, beautiful dramas in American theatre, this is an opportunity to see Williams' delicate family portrait like never before.

Sylvia BAGLEY
by A.R. Gurney | Nov. 11-Dec. 11, 2011
A street-smart lab/poodle named Sylvia becomes the bone of contention between empty nesters Greg and Kate, testing their marriage to hilarious and touching effect.

How to Write a New Book for the Bible BAGLEY
by Bill Cain | Jan. 13-Feb. 5, 2012
From the writer of Equivocation comes a beautiful new play taken from Cain's own experiences caring for his dying mother. A simple, powerful illustration of why the details of our lives and loves matter.

Circle Mirror Transformation LEO K.
by Annie Baker | Feb 3-Mar. 4, 2012
In this charming indie comedy, an unlikely group of strangers sign up for Marty's small-town "Adult Creative Drama" class. But as their relationships develop, the seemingly silly games generate some real-life drama.

Red BAGLEY
by John Logan | Feb. 24-Mar. 18, 2012
Winner of six Tony Awards, this sizzling 90-minute drama about famed abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko is one of the most intellectually riveting shows to hit Broadway last season.

Or, LEO K.
by Liz Duffy Adams | Mar. 23-Apr. 22, 2012
Set in Restoration England, this playful farce about England's first female professional playwright (and spy!), Aphra Behn, is a rush of mad-cap antics, gender bending, and rollicking intrigue.

Clybourne Park BAGLEY
by Bruce Norris | Apr. 20-May 13, 2012
A spin on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, this razor-sharp new satire takes a jab at race and real estate in a Chicago neighborhood's past and present.

 

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