Seattle Rep's 2014 New Play Festival to Kick Off This October; Tickets on Sale 9/2

Seattle Repertory Theatre announced today the programming and schedule for the 2014 New Play Festival, running Oct. 17-26, 2014. Festival packages and single tickets go on sale Sept. 2. For ticket reservations, call the Seattle Repertory Theatre Box Office at 206-443-2222 (toll-free at 877-900-9285), or go online at www.seattlerep.org.

Programming includes workshops of:

• The Good Book by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson
  The creative team behind international sensation An Iliad (2010) returns to Seattle Rep with their latest project The Good Book. As 13-year-old Connor struggles to reconcile his identity with his dream of becoming a priest and modern-day Biblical scholar Miriam wrestles to resolve her crisis of faith, they lead us through an incredible exploration on how the Bible was conceived. From ancient Judea to medieval Ireland to suburban America, The Good Book is a powerful and exuberant journey through the most influential book in Western history.

• BasketCases by Cheryl L. West
  Acclaimed Seattle playwright Cheryl L. West (Pullman Porter Blues, Birdie Blue) takes on the comical escapades of basketball moms in this Seattle Rep commission.

• Summerland by Arlitia Jones
  It's 1869 and the American Spiritualist Movement is at its peak. But not everyone is a believer. Inspired by a true story, Summerland follows the rise and fall of celebrated spirit photographer William H. Mumler, whose images captured haunting portraits of the dead.

"Inviting audiences to participate in this critical stage of development is hugely valuable to our playwrights and gratifying to our patrons, who can say they 'saw it first,'" stated Acting Artistic Director Braden Abraham. "It's a chance take part in the messy and exhilarating process of getting a play on its feet for the very first time."

Patrons may purchase single tickets at $15 per workshop or buy a $40 festival pass, which will include one ticket to each workshop date of their choice.

For audiences interested in deepening their understanding of the new play development process, Seattle Rep offers the Theatre 101 package. For $101, patrons will follow West's BasketCases through the life cycle of a workshop by attending the first read of the script, a closed-door rehearsal, a technical rehearsal, and a workshop performance. The series will culminate with a private reception with the playwright.

Seattle Rep's New Play Program is the theatre's formalized program dedicated to cultivating new voices and presenting world premieres by some of the country's top playwrights. The program encompasses a robust commissioning division, a rigorous calendar of developmental readings and workshops, and an eight-member Writers Group, a collective of regional playwrights who are awarded a two-year residency with access to Seattle Rep resources. Recent world premieres to emerge from the New Play Program include Samuel D. Hunter's A Great Wilderness (2014), David Pichette's and R. Hamilton Wright's adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles (2013), Cheryl L. West's Pullman Porter Blues (2012), Bill Cain's How to Write a New Book for the Bible (2012), and An Iliad by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson (2010).

More information about the Rep's New Play Festival can be found at www.seattlerep.org/newplay.

Performance Details: Performance dates for The Good Book are Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 19, 24, and 26 at 7:30 p.m. Performance dates for BasketCases are Oct. 22, 23, and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. Performance dates for Summerland are Oct. 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 19 and 25 at 2 p.m. Although this is a ticketed event, seating is general admission. Brief post-play talkbacks with the playwrights will be held following every performance.

About the Playwrights

Denis O'Hare has appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Take Me Out (Tony Award for Best Actor), Assassins (Tony nomination), Sweet Charity (Drama Desk Award), Inherit the Wind, Major Barbara, Racing Demon, and Cabaret. O'Hare has appeared in over 30 feature films and many television series, including HBO's "True Blood" and FX's "American Horror Story".

Lisa Peterson's recent directing credits include The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters (Playwrights Horizons); An Iliad, written with Denis O'Hare (New York Theatre Workshop, 2012 Obie Award); Donald Margulies' Shipwrecked (Primary Stages); Deborah Laufer's End Days (Ensemble Studio Theater); Midsummer (Hartford Stage); Othello (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); and The Poor Itch (The Public Theater). Previous credits at Seattle Rep include the world premiere of Cheryl L. West's Pullman Porter Blues (2012).

Cheryl L. West is the librettist for Play On! (which ran on Broadway) and the author of many plays, including the adaptation Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; Addy: An American Girl's Story (21-city tour); Pullman Porter Blues; Birdie Blue; Rejoice; Holiday Heart; Puddin 'n Pete; Jar the Floor and Before It Hits Home. She is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Playwriting Award and the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Best Playwright Award. She has created television and film projects at Paramount, MTV Films, Showtime, TNT, HBO and CBS.

Arlitia Jones is a playwright, poet and director, as well as co-founder of TossPot Productions in Anchorage, AK. Her play Rush at Everlasting was produced at Perseverance Theatre in Juneau in January 2014 and Anchorage in February 2014. Her short play Tornado was selected as a winner in the 38th Annual Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival in July 2013. In addition to her theatre work, Jones is also a published poet and author of The Bandsaw Riots. She is currently a member of Seattle Rep's Writers Group.

Festival packages and single tickets for the 2014 New Play Festival go on sale Sept. 2. Prices range from $15-$101 and are general admission. For ticket reservations, call the Seattle Repertory Theatre Box Office at 206-443-2222 or toll-free at 877-900-9285, or go online at www.seattlerep.org.

Seattle Repertory Theatre was founded in 1963 and is currently led by Acting Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. One of America's premier non-profit resident theatres, Seattle Repertory Theatre has achieved international renown for its consistently high production and artistic standards, and was awarded the 1990 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. With an emphasis on entertaining plays of true dramatic and literary worth, Seattle Rep produces a season of plays along with educational programs, new play workshops and special presentations.