ACT Announces Upcoming Schedule, Begins With Pilgrims Musa and Sheri...

A Contemporary Theatre serves up plenty of new works in the month of July, starting with the continuation of the very sexy, "very now" World Premiere of Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World by acclaimed local playwright Yussef El Guindi, followed by scorching performances produced from The Central Heating Lab: Pinter Fortnightly, featuring a first for Seattle audiences - a reading of Grace by Doug Lucie; the return of The Love Markets with Summer Nacht; and the debut of REPRESENT!: A Multicultural Playwrights Festival from The Hansberry Project. Cinching up July is the opening of Sarah Ruhl's tender, electric new comedy hit, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play.

Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Anita Montgomery
A Mainstage Play
June 17 - July 17 | WORLD PREMIERE!
Tickets: start at $37.50 (adults) $15/$20 (students/people 25 & under), or included with the ACTPass When Musa, an Egyptian cab driver who's been in America less than a year, falls for Sheri, a sassy American waitress, his life takes unexpected and delightfully complicated turns. This brand-new comedy by Seattle playwright Yussef El Guindi is full of unabashed sweetness and goofy charm, and reminds us that we are all "immigrants" with far more connecting than separating us. Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World came directly out of development at 2010's Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, in collaboration with ACT Theatre. Featuring Anthony LeRoy Fuller, Sylvester Foday Kamara, Shanga Parker, Carol Roscoe and Kimberley Sustad.

Pinter Fortnightly
A Central Heating Lab Event
July 11, July 25
Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 for students, people age 25 and under, and seniors (65 and older), or included with the ACTPass
Curator Frank Corrado continues the popular Pinter Fortnightly series - Monday evening readings of works by the late Nobel laureate playwright Harold Pinter, performed by some of Seattle's favorite local actors. July 11 readings will feature The Dwarfs, Silence, Night and Monologue. July 25 will feature Grace by a writer other than Pinter, Doug Lucie. His works have never been produced in Seattle even though he is one of the most important British playwrights of the last 30 years! Programs will continue October 10 and 24.

The Love Markets: Summer Nacht
A Central Heating Lab Event
July 8, August 19
Tickets: $18, or included with the ACTPass
The Love Markets are back! Clad in military lingerie, the Love Markets are decadent, subversive, stylish and absurd - highbrow enough to tackle Kurt Weill and Hans Eisler, lowbrow enough to pelt the crowd with Slim Jims during a risqué duet about wiener schnitzel. The world of Weimar Berlin wouldn't have batted an eye!

REPRESENT! A Multicultural Playwrights Festival
Featuring The Hansberry Project, eSe Teatro, SIS and Pratidhwani
A Hansberry Project Event
July 19-24
Tickets: $5, $15 for All Festival Pass, or included with the ACTPass
The Hansberry Project, in a joint venture with eSe Teatro, SIS and Pratidhwani, will host REPRESENT!: A Multicultural Playwrights Festival, July 19-24. The festival will feature staged readings of three new full-length plays, an evening dedicated specifically to showcasing the work of six very talented local writers, and a panel discussion about the role of ethnically specific theatres in the development of new work. New works include: The Final Days of NegroVille by Keith Josef Adkins (presented by The Hansberry Project); The Land of Corn and Power by Joann Farias (presented by eSe Teatro); and Samsara by Lauren Yee (presented by SIS Productions and Pratidhwani).

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Kurt Beattie
A Mainstage Play
July 29 - August 28
Tickets: start at $37.50 (adults) $15/$20 (students/people 25 & under) or included with the ACTPass
In a prim upper class Victorian home, a gentleman doctor has innocently invented a most extraordinary and mysterious device for treating "hysteria." When his increasingly despondent wife overhears the strange sounds emanating from the operating theatre and sees patients leaving in the pink of health, she is compelled to investigate-even if it means risking domesticity for desire. Ranging from the tender to the farcical, this smart comedy ponders love, sex, marriage, intimacy, and how electricity came along to fuse them. Featuring the incredible talents of Jeff Cummings, Jennifer Sue Johnson, Deborah King, Michael Patten, Mary Kae Irvin, Tracy Michelle Hughes, and Connor Toms.

Launched in 2008, The Central Heating Lab at ACT serves as an incubator and catalyst for new works. ACT cultivates, produces, and presents artists working in all performance genres and provides an artistic home for a variety of local performance groups and artists. Relationships develop daily with individual actors, performers and playwrights while established partnerships with groups such as the Contemporary Classics, 14/48, RAWSTOCK, Seattle Dance Project, and Icicle Creek Theatre Festival deepen. New programs are added throughout the year.
With year-round programming produced by The Central Heating Lab at ACT alongside ACT's Mainstage plays, ACT offers its patrons a unique opportunity to maximize their theatre experience - the ACTPass: all you can see for only $25 per month ($20 for age 30 and under)! ACTPass Members can attend any ACT produced performance throughout any given month, provided tickets are available. It is the new, more flexible, more affordable way to see more performances for one low price, and is the first of its kind in the region. ACTPass members may cancel at any time, and there is no limit to the number of times a card holder can attend. For the month of July, that means an ACTPass member can see all our shows, if they so choose, for only $25 vs. paying the single ticket price of at least $108 (if buyer would choose to see all offerings).

July 2011 Summary

Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World
June 17 - July 17 | WORLD PREMIERE!
Tickets: start at $37.50 (adults) $15/$20 (students/people 25 & under) or included with the ACTPass

Pinter Fortnightly
July 11 & 25
Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 for students, people age 25 and under, and seniors (65 and older), or included with the ACTPass

The Love Markets: Summer Nacht
A Central Heating Lab Event
July 8, August 19
Tickets: $18, or included with the ACTPass

REPRESENT! A Multicultural Playwrights Festival
Featuring The Hansberry Project, eSe Teatro, SIS and Pratidhwani
July 19-24
Tickets: $5, $15 for All Festival Pass, or included with the ACTPass

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
July 29 - August 28
Tickets: start at $37.50 (adults) $15/$20 (students/people 25 & under) or included with the ACTPass

ACT Theatre
Ticket Office: (206) 292-7676
Group Sales (12 or more): (253) 839-4204
700 Union Street, Seattle WA 98101
www.acttheatre.org

About ACT: A Theatre of New Ideas - Raising Consciousness Through Theatre
Located in the heart of downtown Seattle and serving a population of curious, open-minded, and brave audiences, ACT - A Contemporary Theatre is the only theatre in Seattle dedicated to producing contemporary work with promising playwrights and local performing artists since 1965. A theatre of new ideas, ACT serves as a cultural engine that makes plays, dance, music, and film that touch us. Because contemporary life demands examination, ACT is driven to inspire and strengthen our diverse community through works that advance our understanding of human life. With more than 100,000 people who attend shows annually, ACT is an interactive community where artists and the public witness, contemplate, and engage in dialogue on today's thought-provoking issues, ideas and art, presented with intelligence, insight, and humor.

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