ASSASSINS, 2016 Young Playwrights Festival & More Coming Up at ACT

A Contemporary Theatre announces the spring shows that will occur during the debut season of Artistic Director John Langs. Highlights include the haunting and hilarious musical Assassins, the sixth co-production with The 5th Avenue Theatre, is now running through May 8. ACT celebrates eight talented writers in the 2016 Young Playwrights Festival Mar 10-12 and the world premiere of Worse Than Tigers opens Mar 24. April brings the heartbreaking, hilarious, sort-of-adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull with Aaron Posner's Stupid f-ing Bird.

Core Company Member Kirsten Potter will appear in ACTLab's Worse Than Tigers. Keiko Green, Jasmine Jean Sim, G. Valmont Thomas, and Connor Toms will appear in Stupid f-ing Bird. Lorenzo Roberts will appear in The Mystery of Love & Sex. The Core Company is a group of actors that will join ACT in a year-long creative endeavor, performing and contributing as artistic ambassadors to ACT's Mainstage season.

Additional productions and events with eSe Teatro, Endangered Species Project, the Icicle Creek New Play Festival and more are featured in chronological listing below.

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

EVENTS:

Assassins

Book by John Weidman. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Feb 27-May 8
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. Best availability between Mar 18-Apr 7

Tickets: Variable prices based on seating and date selection

2016 Young Playwrights Festival

Mar 10-12

The 14th annual festival of award-winning new work from ACT's Young Playwrights Program: eight talented writers ages 13-18 join with a professional team of local directors and actors to bring their new plays to life in staged readings.

Tickets: $5-$10

Season 51 Sneak Peek and Happy Hour

Mar 14

Kick off a new era at ACT by joining us for a sneak peek of Season 51! Join us for free beer and get the inside scoop at this happy hour event with Artistic Director John Langs, directors from the season, special guests, and your fellow theatre lovers!

Tickets: Free

The Great Soul of Russia (ACTLab Reading Series)

· Apr 20

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: $15

Endangered Species Project (ACTLab Reading Series)

· Apr 24 - A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev

· May 16

· Jun 13

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

Worse Than Tigers (ACTLab)

By Mark Chrisler

March 23-April 17

This world premiere is a wild and absurdist comedy that takes you on a 90-minute thrill ride to discover what it takes to zap a failing marriage back to life. Brought to you by RED STAGE, Seattle's newest theatre company, Worse Than Tigers explores the way we deal with grief through technology and is full of wit and laugh-out-loud moments.

Tickets: $20-$25

Stupid f-ing Bird

By Aaron Posner

Apr 8-May 8

Chekhov's story of love, art, and a hapless bird gets a remarkably contemporary face lift in Aaron Posner's Stupid f-ing Bird. On the grounds of a country estate, a battle between young and old ensues in this heartbreaking, hilarious, sort-of-adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. Winner of the 2014 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, Stupid f-ing Bird is about our longing to love and be loved.

Tickets: $15-$68

Bernie's Apt. (ACTLab)

By Rose Cano

May 5-28

In this modern-day Latin-American exploration of Lorca's classic tale The House of Bernarda Alba, matriarch Bernie is sequestered by a tracking bracelet and responsible for her aging mother while her daughters struggle to deal with Bernie's tightfisted control of their lives. At once tragic and darkly comedic, Bernie's Apt. offers a unique perspective into social factors that cause some contemporary women to feel trapped.

Tickets: $20-$30

Icicle Creek New Play Festival (ACTLab)

May 17-18

The Icicle Creek New Play Festival presents two extraordinary new plays in its 10th annual mounting. May 17 is a curated selection of scenes of Daisy by Sean Devine, ACT's Mainstage production opening July 14. Plays previously developed at Icicle Creek have won a Steinberg Award (the top award for new plays produced outside of New York City), a Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Awards, an Obie, and a Gregory Award.

Tickets: $10-$15

The Mystery of Love & Sex

By Bathsheba Doran

May 27-Jun 26

A coming-of-age story that challenges the loving heart of a modern family as childhood friends Charlotte and Jonny start to connect on a romantic level when they go off to college. Written by Bathsheba Doran (Boardwalk Empire, Smash, and Masters of Sex), The Mystery of Love & Sex is a humorous and tender look at navigating relationships while attempting to define them.

Tickets: $15-$68

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