BWW Q&A: Dámaso Rodríguez on THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH at Seattle Rep

Seattle Rep puts theater at the heart of public life. Founded in 1963 and winner of the 1990 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Seattle Rep is currently led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. Over a season and throughout the year, Seattle Rep collaborates with extraordinary artists to create productions and programs that reflect and elevate the diverse cultures, perspectives, and life experiences of the Pacific Northwest.

Dámaso Rodríguez is a director of new and classic plays with over 100 credits at theaters across the country. Most recently, he concluded a nine-year tenure as Artistic Director of Artists Rep in Portland, Oregon. In prior years, he co-founded L.A.’s Furious Theatre and served as Associate Artistic Director of The Pasadena Playhouse. He is a recipient of awards from L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage, and the NAACP. Dámaso serves on the Directors Council of the Drama League, the Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee, and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. 

What drew you to the role of Artistic Director at Seattle Rep?

Seattle Rep is one of the most consistently vibrant and vital theater companies in the country. It’s an honor to be a part of this organization and contribute to its storied history. I see Seattle Rep and Seattle as a place of boundless artistic possibilities. I’m drawn to the extraordinary facilities and what they make possible—there are few producing theaters in the country with performance spaces, production shops, and administrative offices all in one location. The theaters are canvases for creating the most dynamic range of work one can imagine, from the epic to the intimate, from timeless classics to timely new plays.

Can you tell us about your vision for the 2024/25 Season at Seattle Rep?

As Artistic Director, I’ve curated Seattle Rep’s 2024/25 Season to take audiences on a journey that spans the spectrum between comedy and drama, capturing the ebb and flow of theme, content, and form across an expansive range. It’s a journey best experienced in its entirety, live and together in community.

How do you intend to spotlight the expertise of local artisans, actors, directors and more in the upcoming productions?

The Skin of Our Teeth, along with five other productions this season, will be #BuiltBySeattleRep, showcasing the incredible expertise of our artisans in the scene, costume, and props shops. We're also proud to feature mostly local actors, directors, and designers who are shaping the work on stage. The Skin of Our Teeth will also serve as a spotlight for the talent in our community, providing opportunities for 300 people to shine on stage. This production will feature a rotating 13-person Community Ensemble, a cast of professional actors, and opportunities for up to 10 guest stars for each performance. No two nights will ever be the same!.

You have a wide range of experiences directing both new and classic plays, how will this influence your work as Artistic Director at Seattle Rep?

I believe my directing experience aligns with Seattle Rep’s work over the decades. We’re here to entertain and exhilarate, to generate passion for the shared experience of theater. Our vision of “theater at the heart of public life” means creating theatrical events that feel like vital community gatherings, inspire word of mouth, are newsworthy, spark dialogue, and create FOMO. Audiences can continue to expect ambitious new plays and musicals alongside timely Seattle Rep productions of both iconic and canon-expanding revivals. I think our 2024/25 Season, my first as Artistic Director and lead curator, gives a glimpse at philosophy. Seattle Rep will be a home for bold Seattle theater-makers who collaborate with peers from around the world.

How do you feel about making your directorial debut at Seattle Rep with "The Skin of Our Teeth"?

Making my directorial debut at Seattle Rep with The Skin of Our Teeth feels like the culmination of a journey that began 25 years ago. I began studying The Skin of Our Teeth as a directing intern at Los Angeles’ classical repertory theater, A Noise Within. (For the record, I played the Woolly Mammoth in that production.) Since then, The Skin of Our Teeth has been a theater bucket list item for me—a massive, ambitious, classic play that is also absurdly funny. In 2016, I had the privilege of producing and directing a production during my tenure as Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon. This Seattle Rep production builds upon an approach I've been developing for nearly a decade. The play is a comic fantasia about endings and new beginnings, and it serves as a love letter to human endurance, resonating deeply in times when the world feels on the brink of change.

Can you share some of the unique aspects of the production of "The Skin of Our Teeth"?

Besides the addition of an enormous Community Ensemble and rotating guest stars, our production also incorporates a “past, present, and future” approach to Wilder’s three-act cyclical structure, and takes the play’s “fourth wall”-breaking meta-theatricality as far as we can. Act One is set in 1963, the year Seattle Rep was founded. Act Two is set in the summer of 2024, and Act Three in a not-too-distant future (amid circumstances I won’t spoil here).

Can you tell us more about the diverse array of stories, voices, narratives, and aesthetics we can expect from the 2024/25 Season?

This season truly speaks to the heart of our vision, “theater at the heart of public life.” The lineup features both new voices and reimagined classics, all carefully selected to serve and reflect our diverse community. These are plays that engage with the issues of our time, often through a humorous lens, and emphasize elements that are built by and for our stages (#BuiltBySeattleRep). This is the theater we were founded to be: deeply immersed in Seattle’s cultural fabric, relying on the excellence of local artists and artisans, and creating work that is both locally rooted and nationally relevant.

Why must audiences come and check out the upcoming season at Seattle Rep?

This season, we’re creating the most dynamic range of work we can imagine, from the epic to the intimate, and from timeless classics to timely new plays. Join us for the journey and be part of incredible artistic experiences that only Seattle Rep can bring to you.

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