Seattle Rep Announces Its Return To Live, In-Person Theater with a New Season Kicking Off This December
SEATTLE, WA (July 29, 2021) – Seattle Rep today announced its highly anticipated return to the stage with a full season of must-see live theater in both its remodeled Bagley Wright Theater and intimate Leo K. Theater. The season features productions of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale; the new play with music, Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer; Freestyle Love Supreme from Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale; the brilliant retelling of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Teenage Dick; an exciting new translation of Ibsen’s classic play Ghosts; the award-winning new play, Selling Kabul; and the World Premiere musical Bruce. The upcoming season will get underway with an ambitious hybrid film and live Public Works theatrical experience this December, with in-person theater productions at Seattle Rep beginning in January 2022 and running through June 2022. Season tickets are on sale now at SeattleRep.org and through Seattle Rep’s Patron Services Office at 206.443.2222.
“We have missed seeing our theaters full of people,” Artistic Director Braden Abraham said. “The live theater experience is necessary and essential with this upcoming slate of productions – and we are very excited about that. This season is full of joyful, surprising moments that are made stronger and more meaningful when shared alongside the collective audience around you. My hope is that being back in the theater is healing in many ways; activating our imaginations, engaging us with new ideas, and uniting us through stories that draw us back together again. Welcome back to Seattle Rep!”
ABOUT THE NEW SEASON
Seattle Rep’s new season kicks off with a Public Works production of the musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s play The Winter’s Tale. Featuring a remarkable cast and crew of both community participants and professionals, Public Works is a year-round initiative that culminates with an opportunity for community members to be part of a professional theater production. This year’s production will be a hybrid film and live theatrical experience, with expanded details to come this fall.
Seattle Rep’s season continues in 2022 with Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, a new play with music from award-winning local playwright Cheryl L. West (Shout Sister Shout!, Pullman Porter Blues) and Co-commissioned with the Goodman Theatre. This play tells the captivating story of one of the most powerful female voices of the civil and voting rights movements, Fannie Lou Hamer. Direct from Broadway comes the next show, Freestyle Love Supreme, the original hip-hop musical phenomenon created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale (In the Heights; Hamilton). First up in the Leo K. is New York Times Critics’ Pick Teenage Dick by Mike Lew (Tiger Style!), a satirical retelling of Shakespeare’s Richard III. In this play, one of the most famous disabled characters in literary history is reimagined as a 16-year-old outsider with all the teenage angst of high school. The season continues in the Bagley Wright Theater with Paul Walsh’s arresting new translation of Henrik Ibsen’s play Ghosts, which begs the question: how far should a mother go to protect her family? Seattle Rep introduces audiences to its 20x30 program’s commissioned playwright Sylvia Khoury with the next production in the Leo K., Selling Kabul. A 2021 recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, Selling Kabul is a deeply moving story about the consequences of collaboration with the enemy. The season closes with the highly anticipated World Premiere of Bruce, a new musical based on The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb, that takes you behind the scenes of the world’s first summer blockbuster.
Please find the complete season details below:
THE WINTER’S TALE
By William Shakespeare
Music & Lyrics by Todd Almond
Adaptation by Lear deBessonet and Todd Almond
Adapted for the Screen & Directed by Desdemona Chiang
A Hybrid Film and Live Theatrical Experience - December 2021
Seattle Rep’s Public Works family of community and professional actors join together for a dazzling journey of reunion and redemption in a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The Sicilian King Leontes suspects his wife of infidelity and seeks revenge by imprisoning her and banishing their newborn child to distant shores. Sixteen years later, in the wild woods of Bohemia, the consequences of his actions begin to unfold.
FANNIE: THE MUSIC AND LIFE OF FANNIE LOU HAMER
By Cheryl L. West
Directed by Henry Godinez
A Seattle Rep Co-commission with Goodman Theatre
Bagley Wright Theater - January 14 – February 6, 2022
Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer tells the impassioned story of American civil rights activist and hero, Fannie Lou Hamer. Part theater, part revival, and all power – this play with music will have your head nodding and hands clapping from start to finish. From her humble origins as the daughter of a Mississippi sharecropper, to co-founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and demanding recognition at the National Democratic Convention, hers is a story of justice that will not be denied.
FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME
Conceived by Anthony Veneziale
Created by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale
Directed by Thomas Kail
Bagley Wright Theater - February 16 – March 13, 2022
Before Hamilton, before In the Heights, there was Freestyle Love Supreme. Now — direct from Broadway — the original hip-hop musical phenomenon from Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale arrives in Seattle.
The recipient of a special 2020 Tony Award® and subject of the recently released Hulu documentary We are Freestyle Love Supreme, every performance of this Grammy-nominated show brings the unexpected, as the crew takes the crowd on a freestyle, hip-hop, improvisational comedy ride. The performers take suggestions from the audience and spin them into instantaneous riffs and full-length musical numbers. See it for the first time each time — as no two shows are ever the same.
TEENAGE DICK
By Mike Lew
Directed by Malika Oyetimein
Leo K. Theater - March 4 – April 3, 2022
In this satirical retelling of Shakespeare’s Richard III, one of the most famous disabled characters in literary history is reimagined as a 16-year-old outsider with all the teenage angst of high school. Bullied for his cerebral palsy, Richard plots his revenge as well as a glorious and ambitious plan to win senior class president. As he falls deeper into political turmoil, Richard is faced with an unexpected choice. Is it better to be loved or feared? Find out in this witty and lively production.
GHOSTS
By Henrik Ibsen
Translated from the Norwegian by Paul Walsh
Directed by Carey Perloff
Originally produced by the Williamstown Theater Festival, Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director
Bagley Wright Theater - April 1 – May 1, 2022
In this arresting new translation, Henrik Ibsen’s controversial drama resonates with startling contemporary power. Mrs. Alving welcomes home her beloved son Oswald after many years away. Rebuilding her life after the death of her unfaithful husband, she struggles to keep his debauchery hidden to protect his reputation for the sake of her son. But when Oswald begins a new romance, secrets of all kinds emerge, and Mrs. Alving must decide what course to take to truly be free.
SELLING KABUL
By Sylvia Khoury
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
Leo K. Theater - April 22 – May 22, 2022
Taroon once served as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. After the Americans have withdrawn, their promises of protection and safety are no longer there. He now spends his days in hiding from growing presence of the Taliban as he anxiously awaits news from the hospital on the eve of his first child’s birth. What are the consequences of taking sides during wartime?
BRUCE World Premiere!
Music by Richard Oberacker
Book & Lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor
Based on the book The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb
Directed and Choreographed by Donna Feore
Bagley Wright Theater - May 27 – June 26, 2022
In 1974, a virtually unknown 26-year-old director set out to film a best-selling novel. Invading a sleepy fishing island off Cape Cod to shoot on the open ocean, he battled weather, water, hostile locals, an exploding budget, endless delays, and a highly dysfunctional mechanical star named Bruce. Based on The Jaws Logby Carl Gottlieb, this world-premiere musical takes you behind the scenes of the world’s first summer blockbuster.
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