ACT Announces Shows for December 2015-March 2016

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre announces the winter shows that will close out its 50th year and carry over into the debut season of Artistic Director John Langs. In December, ACT presents the 40th Anniversary Production of A Christmas Carol and the merry Ham for the Holidays: Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham? by Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt. Also in December, ACT celebrates the achievements of all the playwrights in the 2015 Young Playwrights Program and presents As You Like It, directed by ACT's Kenan Directing Fellow Wiley Basho Gorn.

ACTLab collaborates with AJ Epstein Presents to stage Buzzer by Tracey Scott Wilson in February followed by Worse Than Tigers by Mark Chrisler, co-presented with Red Stage, in March. ACT kicks off its bold 2016 season in late February with the haunting and hilarious musical Assassins, co-presented with The 5th Avenue Theatre.

Tickets are currently on sale at www.acttheatre.org or (206) 292-7676. All shows are included on the monthly ACTPass membership.

EVENTS:

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens, adapted by Gregory A. Falls

Nov 27-Dec 30

Celebrate ACT's 40th anniversary of a beloved Christmas classic by Charles Dickens! Directed by incoming Artistic Director John Langs, this tale of redemption and hope reminds us what's really worth celebrating.

Tickets: Variable prices based on seating and date selection

Ham for the Holidays: Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham?

By Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt

Dec 3-20

Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt (aka Dos Fallopia) return to ACT with their wackadoodle holiday sketch-comedy series to take you on a holiday outing packed with devilish social satire, cockeyed musical parodies, and more wigs than Dolly Parton.

Tickets: $20-$42

Young Playwrights Program Celebration

Dec 7

Join ACT and guest speaker Holly Arsenault in celebrating the achievements of all the playwrights in the 2015 Young Playwrights Program! Find out which talented young playwrights ACT will feature in the March 2016 Young Playwrights Festival, as well as which plays will be chosen for presentations by other local theater companies.

Tickets: Free

Endangered Species Project (ACTLab Reading Series)

· Dec 14 - Life With Father by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse

· Jan 11

· Feb 8

· Mar 7

Presenting great plays seldom seen on the stage, Seattle theatre artists revive and give voice to excellent works that may not receive contemporary productions.

Tickets: $10-$15

As You Like It

By William Shakespeare

Dec 17-20

Using a few props, simple costumes, an empty space, and the imagination of Shakespeare's text, five actors craft a bullet of vulnerability that aims for the soul. Directed by ACT's Kenan Directing Fellow Wiley Basho Gorn, this show is a celebration of love, poetry, and the rhythm of life.

Tickets: $10

Sandbox Radio LIVE!

Dec 28

Just in time for New Year's, ACT welcomes back Sandbox Radio, the locally grown variety show that combines killer music, engaging storytelling, the city's best performers, and an ultra-cool sparkly host for an event you just can't experience anywhere else ... recorded in front of you--a live "studio" audience--for podcast. This all-new episode, "The Big One", features new plays by Scot Augustson, Juliet Waller Pruzan, and Wayne Rawley.

Tickets: $10-$25

14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival

Jan 8-16

Seattle's most daring theatre artists accept the challenge to write, cast, design, direct, score, rehearse, and perform 14 world premiere plays in 48 hours. Theatre at its freshest from artists forever willing to raise the stakes!

Tickets: $20

REAL TIME

Jan 21-Feb 19

REAL TIME is an art installation that brings together four artists who are career theatrical artisans, contributing to productions in every major theatre company in Seattle. Invited to consider the concept of time, their work both refers to it and incorporates it. All four of these installations will be located throughout ACT's building and ask the viewer to become part of the art, and to engage it in REAL TIME.

Tickets: Free

Buzzer

By Tracey Scott Wilson

Feb 3-21

Jackson went to all the right schools, has the perfect job, an amazing girlfriend, and just moved into a fantastic apartment in his old neighborhood; only it's not-and when he invites his best friend to stay with them, they come face to face with the tensions that hide inside and out.

Tickets: $15-$35

The Great Soul of Russia (ACTLab Reading Series)

· Feb 3

· Mar 2

The Great Soul of Russia continues its fifth season in partnership with ACTLab. Join The Seagull Project and members of Seattle's vibrant artistic community including The Endangered Species Project, director Gavin Reub, and director and actress Kelly Kitchens, as we explore how various Russian artistic roads, past and present, begin and end with Chekhov.

Tickets: $10-$15

Assassins

Book by John Weidman. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Feb 27-May 8
Welcome to the carnival, where everybody has the right to be happy! In this tawdry carnival's shooting gallery, you'll find yourself in the company of some of the most notorious figures in American history-the assassins who tried (and in some cases succeeded) to kill the president.

Tickets: Variable prices based on seating and date selection

Worse Than Tigers

By Mark Chrisler

March 24-April 16

Olivia and Humphry's quietly failing marriage is ready to eat them alive. Unless the escaped tiger outside their door does first.

Tickets: $15-$25

ABOUT ACT

Located in Seattle's Downtown Historic Theatre District, ACT is home to five performance spaces under one roof. Since 1965, ACT has been a destination for experiencing new voices, stories, and art. ACT is steadfast in its dedication to producing work with contemporary playwrights and local performing artists through its Mainstage Play series, ACTLab producing partnerships, and Young Playwrights Program. With more than 450 performances a year, ACT is a community hub where artists and the public connect about today's issues and ideas, and celebrate the shared experience.