Intiman Announces Free Public Programs Surrounding Opening of 'All The King's Men'

Intiman Theatre announces the schedule of free public programs for its upcoming American Cycle production of Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, which will run September 26-November 8 at the Intiman Playhouse, 201 Mercer Street at Seattle Center. The play, which will be performed by an ensemble of 18 actors, is adapted by Adrian Hall and directed by Pam Mackinnon.  

Scheduled to coincide with the presidential election season, All the King’s Men is a monumental tale of politics, power and history. John Procaccino stars as Willie Stark in this epic adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which tells the story of the flamboyant politician—a fictionalized portrait of Huey P. Long, the radical populist from Louisiana—and his right-hand man, reporter-turned-political insider Jack Burden (played by Leo Marks).

All the King’s Men is the concluding production of Intiman’s inaugural American Cycle, a five-year series of classic American stories and community programs. The goals of the Cycle are to produce great art, cultivate curiosity, advocate for literacy, encourage an informed citizenry and understand interconnectedness. American Cycle programs take place at Intiman and in schools, libraries and neighborhood gathering spots.

Information about Intiman’s second American Cycle series, which will launch in the 2009 season, will be announced later this year.

For each American Cycle production, Intiman works with Community Committees to create opportunities for civic dialogue. The Co-Chairs for this production are Christian Halliburton, Associate Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law, and Katie Hong, Senior Program Officer, U.S. Program Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The American Cycle is sponsored by The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, PONCHO, WaMu, Microsoft Corporation, National Endowment for the Arts and Ameriprise Financial.

Tickets for the production range in price from $10 to $50, with discounts available for students and groups, and are available for purchase from www.intiman.org or over the phone from the Ticket Office at 206.269.1900. All of the public events are free; program descriptions, locations and dates follow.

Front Porch Theater

Front Porch Theater is a series of informal dramatic readings from the play All the King’s Men, each one followed by a facilitated conversation about how the story resonates in this historic presidential election year. Members of the community are cast as characters from the play for each 40-minute reading; those who don’t wish to read are encouraged to attend as audience and participate in the conversation that follows. Each reading is free; no tickets are required.  To participate, interested community members should contact Annie Katica Green, Education & Community Programs Coordinator, at 206.269.1901 ext. 239 or annieg@intiman.org. A raffle for tickets to the play will be held at each location. The complete schedule is as follows:

Wednesday Sept 10, 7pm, Seattle Public Library, Central Branch

Tuesday Sept 16, 7:30pm, Town Hall, Eighth and Seneca

Tuesday Sept 23, 7pm, Intiman Rehearsal Studio, 201 Mercer Street at Seattle Center (in partnership with Compassion Action Network)

Thursday Sept 25, 7pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW (in partnership with the Washington Bus)

Sunday Sept 28, 2pm, King County Library, Auburn Branch

Wednesday Oct 1, 7pm, Hidmo Restaurant, 2000 S Jackson Street (in partnership with ColorsNW)

Monday Oct 6, 7pm, King County Library, Bellevue Branch

Sunday Oct 12, 2pm, King County Library, Covington Branch

Wednesday Oct 15, 7pm, King County Library, Burien Branch

Thursday Oct 23, 7pm, King County Library, Shoreline Branch                                             

Saturday Nov 1, 2pm, Seattle Public Library, Northgate Branch

Additional funding for Front Porch Theater is provided by 4Culture’s SITE-SPECIFIC program and KBCS 91.3 FM.

Rough Eagles

Monday, October 20 and Tuesday, October 21 

One of the cornerstone American Cycle programs is Rough Eagles, an annual project that brings together small groups of students from Seattle’s Cleveland and Roosevelt High Schools. (The name is a combination of the two school mascots, the Roosevelt Rough Riders and the Cleveland Eagles.) Each year, the students work with Intiman teaching artists during a summer intensive and longer rehearsal period in the fall to collaboratively develop and perform an original play inspired by the themes of that season’s American Cycle story.

This season, Intiman will present the Rough Eagles performance on stage at Intiman, on the set of All the King’s Men, on Monday, October 20 and Tuesday, October 21 at 7 pm. Both performances will be followed by a discussion and reception with the students. They are free and open to the public; seating will be general admission.

Rough Eagles is sponsored in part by the City of Seattle-Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs’ 2009 Youth Arts Program and Wells Fargo Bank, with additional support by Fales Foundation Trust.

Open Minds/Open Dialogue
Sunday, October 26   

Open Minds/Open Dialogue, an annual humanities forum, encourages conversation and debate about issues of direct relevance to our community. This season’s forum is inspired by the work of Intiman’s Core Audience, a diverse group of citizens who have come together over the course of the American Cycle as a model for arts-animated community building.

Following the matinee performance of All the King’s Men on Sunday, October 26, Intiman will open its Lobby doors to accommodate several ‘discussion circles’ in which community and audience members are invited to join one another and respond to the themes and ideas of the play, exploring questions of power, leadership and civic responsibility through the prism of their own personal ideas and experiences.

Writers & Artists with John Burt, Literary Executor for Robert Penn Warren
Sunday, November 2  

Writers & Artists, a free public lecture, focuses on the writers whose works are the foundation of the American Cycle series. This season, Intiman will host John Burt, Literary Executor for Robert Penn Warren and Chair of the Department of English and American Literature at Brandeis University. The lecture, which will be followed by questions from the audience, will follow the matinee performance of All the King’s Men on Sunday, November 2. 

The American Cycle Community Committee

For each of its American Cycle productions, Intiman works with Community Committees who offer expertise and guidance to help us create opportunities for civic dialogue. Members of the Community Committee for this production are:

Christian Halliburton, Co-Chair, Associate Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law

Katie Hong, Co-Chair, Senior Program Officer, U.S. Program Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

- Zaki Abdelhamid, Actor and Intiman Core Audience
- Chris Castaneda, Political Science major at University of Washington and alumnus of the Freedom School
- Marissa Chavez, Director, Youth Media Institute
- Randy Engstrom, Founding Director, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
- Felicia Gonzalez, Development Director, Seattle Arts & Lectures and Intiman Core Audience
- Naomi Ishisaka, Editor-in-Chief, ColorsNW  
- Jourdan Keith, Founder, Urban Wilderness Project and Intiman Core Audience
- Doug Klunder, Privacy Project Director, American Civil Liberties Union
- Shannon Roach, Executive Director, Vera Project
- Peter Steinbrueck, Principal, Steinbrueck Urban Strategies, LLC
- Amy Stromme, Junior at Roosevelt High School and alumna of Rough Eagles 2007
- Norm Swick, Intiman Trustee and Chair of the Education Committee
- Dustin Washington, Community Justice Program Director, American Friends Service Committee

 
Intiman Theatre

 Intiman Theatre, founded in 1972, received the 2006 Regional Theatre Tony Award. It produces classics and new plays, created by artists who have made their homes in Seattle and nationally recognized artists, all of whom are dedicated to engaging our community in conversation. World premieres include The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel; Prayer for My Enemy and Singing Forest, both by Craig Lucas; Native Son, Kent Gash’s adaptation of the novel by Richard Wright; Nickel and Dimed, Joan Holden’s adaptation of Barbara Ehrenreich’s nonfiction bestseller; and Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Intiman serves multigenerational audiences through the American Cycle series of classic stories and free public programs and other opportunities for community engagement and civic dialogue. Programs for students include the statewide arts education program Living History, for which it has been honored with the Golden Apple Award. www.intiman.org.

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