Mike Bartlett's KING CHARLES III Set for Seattle Rep's 2016-17 Season

Seattle Repertory Theatre reveals a first look at its 2016-2017 season, which will include the dazzling and emotionally gripping drama KING CHARLES III by Mike Bartlett. Produced in association with American Conservatory Theater and Shakespeare Theatre Company and directed by David Muse, Seattle Rep will present this award-winning smash hit in the Bagley Wright Theatre.

The Rep's full 2016-2017 season will be announced in April.

KING CHARLES III explores the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of Britain's democracy, and the conscience of its most famous family. Winner of the 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Play, KING CHARLES III is set in the future, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. After a lifetime of waiting, Prince Charles ascends to the throne, flanked by wife Camilla, sons William and Harry, and daughter-in-law Kate. The newly crowned King challenges UK Parliament through his role as monarch in this modern take on the future of the Royal Family, written entirely in blank verse. Is Charles the man who would be king, or was he born to succeed in name only?

Artistic Director Braden Abraham says of the playwright, "Mike Bartlett is one of the great contemporary British dramatists. We are thrilled to bring his voice to Seattle for the first time."

Seattle Rep subscribers will have priority access to tickets for KING CHARLES III beginning in April, with single tickets going on sale this fall.

Mike Bartlett (playwright) is currently Associate Playwright at Paines Plough. In 2011 he was writer-in-residence at The National Theatre, and in 2007 he was Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Royal Court Theatre. His play Love,Love,Love won Best New Play in the 2011 Theatre Awards UK, and his play c*ckwon an Olivier Award in 2010 for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre; he won the Writer's Guild Tinniswood and Imison prizes for Not Talking and the Old Vic New Voices Awards for Artefacts. Theatre credits include: Love,Love,Love, 13 (National Theatre),Decade (co-writer), Earthquakes In London, Cock, Contractions, Artefacts, and My Child. Radio credits include: "The Core," "Heart," "Liam," "The Steps," "Love Contract," "Not Talking," and "The Family Man," all on BBC. Screen credits include Earthquakes in London and Hometown. Directing credits include Honest by DC Moore. He is currently under commission from Headlong Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Hampstead Theatre, and The Royal Court Theatre.

David Muse (director) is in his sixth season as Artistic Director of Studio Theatre in Washington D.C. For Studio and 2ndStage, he has directed Chimerica, Murder Ballad, Belleville, Cock, Tribes, The Real Thing, An Iliad, Dirt, Bachelorette, The Habit of Art, Venus in Fur, Circle Mirror Transformation, reasons to be pretty, Blackbird, Frozen, and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. Previously, he was Associate Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he directed seven productions, including Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Coriolanus. Other directing projects include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at Arena Stage, The Bluest Eye at Theatre Alliance, and Swansong for New York Summer Play Festival. He has helped to develop new work at numerous theatres, including New York Theatre Workshop, Geva Theatre Center, Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, and The Kennedy Center. Mr. Muse has taught acting and directing at Georgetown, Yale, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy of Classical Acting. A six-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Direction, he is a recipient of the DC Mayor's Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and the National Theatre Conference Emerging Artist Award. Mr. Muse is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama.

Seattle Rep was founded in 1963 and is currently led by Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. One of America's premier non-profit resident theatres, Seattle Repertory Theatre has achieved international renown for its consistently high production and artistic standards, and was awarded the 1990 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. With an emphasis on entertaining plays of true dramatic and literary worth, Seattle Rep produces a season of plays along with educational programs, new play workshops, and special presentations.

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