Intiman Theatre Announces Kate Whoriskey's First Season as Artistic Director

Intiman Theatre Artistic Director Bartlett Sher, Co-Artistic Director Kate Whoriskey and Managing Director Brian Colburn announce the lineup of plays for Intiman's 2010 Season, the first under Whoriskey's artistic leadership. Subscription packages are available now from www.intiman.org or 206.269.1900.

"Kate's first season at Intiman includes great plays that will inspire conversation-and listening," says outgoing Artistic Director Sher. "It is a season in which Intiman audiences and the Seattle community will have the chance to see her vision, hear her ideas and be part of the journey of one of the most ambitious theatres in the country. I'm honored to have spent a decade at Intiman, and to introduce one of the most adventurous directors I know to the best audience I can imagine."

Intiman's season reflects Whoriskey's interest in supporting the environment of talent, curiosity and innovation that characterize Seattle's artists, audiences and community. The lineup will feature diverse, relevant and exciting work, both new plays and classics, which speak to the power of theatre to effect change. Whoriskey's debut season includes artists and productions that offer the possibility of surprise, new ideas and unexpected opportunities for programs that extend conversation and debate beyond the theatre into our community.

Intiman's 2010 Season will open with Paradise Lost, written by Clifford Odets and directed by Dámaso Rodriguez, March 19 to April 25 (opening March 26). Directed by Dámaso Rodriguez, the Associate Artistic Director of Pasadena Playhouse and a co-founder and the resident director of Furious Theatre Company in Los Angeles, Paradise Lost will continue Intiman's tradition of activating classic drama to resonate with contemporary ideas.

The season will continue with The Thin Place, a new play for one actor written by Seattle playwright Sonya Schneider based on interviews conducted by KUOW arts journalist Marcie Sillman, and directed by Andrew Russell. This world premiere will give voIce To 12 individuals in the Puget Sound region who have questioned, confronted or discovered their faith. The Thin Place will run May 14 to June 13 (opening May 21).

In the summer, incoming Artistic Director Kate Whoriskey will direct the critically acclaimed play Ruined by Lynn Nottage, winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize, as the first production of Intiman's new five-year International Cycle, Ruined will run July 2-August 8 (opening July 9). Through the International Cycle, Intiman will program one play each year designed to foster relationships with countries underrepresented to the American artistic community. The most acclaimed new play of last season, Ruined will be co-produced with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and travel to South Africa, where it will be produced at the Market Theatre. Through this collaboration, Intiman will also create programming opportunities to reach the large Congolese refugee population now living in South Africa; details about these initiatives will be announced at a later date.

Director Christopher Bayes, one of the foremost directors and master teachers of physical comedy, clown and commedia, returns to Intiman (where he previously worked on The Servant of Two Masters and Scapin) to co-adapt and direct Molière's A Doctor in Spite of Himself, co-adapted by Steven Epp, a company member of the late Theatre de la Jeune Lune. The production will star Daniel Breaker, who is currently appearing on Broadway in Shrek the Musical. Breaker previously appeared on Broadway and in Spike Lee's film version of Passing Strange, for which he received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and Theatre World and Audelco Awards. A Doctor in Spite of Himself will run September 3-October 10 (opening September 12).

Intiman's subscription season will conclude with its next American Cycle production, a new adaptation of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, adapted by Naomi Iizuka, the award-winning writer of plays including 36 Views and Polaroid Stories, and directed by Lear deBessonet, who has been acclaimed for her work developing interdisciplinary and site-specific music-Theatre Projects, which she has paired with active community organizing. The Scarlet Letter will run October 22-December 5 (opening October 29). A series of classic stories, the American Cycle is the largest annual initiative of Intiman's season. Each Cycle play is the centerpiece of numerous initiatives that inspire a city-wide conversation about issues relevant to our community, encompassing free community programs and events that reach out to people for whom there is otherwise little or no access to the arts.

Additional information about the season, including casting and Intiman's community initiatives, will be announced in early 2010. Season subject to change.

Subscription packages are on sale now from 206.269.1900, ranging in price from $108 to $348. In addition to the full five-play season, Intiman offers three- and four-play packages and Flex Pass vouchers for the convenience of its patrons.

Seasonal support for Intiman Theatre is provided by ArtsFund; Intiman Theatre Foundation; Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation; The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and Washington State Arts Commission.

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