SEATTLE – Actress Julie Briskman gushed with absolute giddiness about the play “The Women,” one of the selections of ACT Theatre’s 2007 lineup.
The sets are lavish. There are 100 costumes. 100. And there are 16 in the cast. 16. And every one is a woman.
To do a play like this is nothing short of gutsy.
“Here at ACT we’re saying we value our actresses in Seattle and they need to be shown off,” Briskman said.
Briskman was among the presenters Sunday during an open house and preview of ACT’s upcoming season, a season not short on guts, comedy or moving theater.
ACT calls itself a contemporary theater. And this season’s offerings are all that, with topics that range from Iraq and race relations to what it means to be a woman.
As artistic director Kurt Beattie described it, ACT is a laboratory of the soul – “a place to take risks without actually being at risk.”
This season, ACT returns to the practice of alternating theaters, using the Allen Theatre, an arena theater with seating in-the-round, and the thrust-style Falls Theatre.
ACT describes the six plays for the 2007 mainstage season as follows:
“The Clean House,” by Sarah Ruhl, March 30 through April 29. A finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize, “The Clean House” is a quirky and unexpectedly moving comedy about love, loss and the power of a good joke as four different women confront the messy, beautiful ambiguities of life.
“Souvenir,” by Stephen Temperley. Director R. Hamilton Wright described this work as “incisive, interesting and an odd little play.” Favorite Broadway leading lady Patti Cohenour stars in the comedy as demented diva Florence Foster Jenkins. This real-life New York socialite stunned concert audiences with her unassailable self-confidence and unique interpretations of the opera repertoire.
“Stuff Happens,” by David Hare. This is a political drama in which Hare peels back the public face of the Bush administration to reveal what we should have known, didn’t know, and now must know about the backroom wheeling and dealing that led to the war in Iraq.
“First Class,” by David Wagoner, is a one-man show is based on Northwest poet Theodore Roethke. John Aylward, a veteran of the Seattle stage, is the famously gifted and hell-raising Roethke in this voyage into the passionate heart and art of a genius.
“The Mojo and the Sayso,” by Aishah Rahman. The second mainstage production of The Hansberry Project at ACT, directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton. A black family’s strength and faith are tested as they search for a talisman powerful enough to guide them through their grief and isolation after their younger son is shot down in a case of mistaken identity.
“The Women,” by Clare Boothe Luce. This is a super-stylish 1930s comedy about marriage, gossip, divorce and friendship among a group of back-stabbing ladies who lunch. The stellar company will include Anne Allgood, Suzanne Bouchard, Julie Briskman, Emily Cedergreen, Deb Fialkow, Katie Forgette, Suzy Hunt, Laura Kenny, Marianne Owen and Annette Toutonghi.
New subscriptions for the ACT season are $66 to $300, available at the ticket office, 700 Union St., Seattle, by phone at 206-292-7676 or online at www.acttheatre.org.
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