OTHELLO, All-POC HENRY IV and More Announced for Seattle Shakespeare 2022-23 Season

Seattle Shakespeare Company will return to a full season of plays as the company has unveiled its 2022-2023 season.

"This season was primarily built from projects that were already in the works prior the pandemic," said Artistic Director George Mount. "Although a lot has happened over the past two years, these classics still have something to say to us in this moment now. I'm calling this our season of 'Vices and Versus'"

The 2022-2023 season launches in October with William Shakespeare's Othello directed by Reginald André Jackson. Shakespeare's play follows a racist master manipulator as he deceives a military leader into believing his wife has been unfaithful.

"I've been talks with Reggie Jackson to direct this play for some time now," said Mount. "We had originally intended it to be an outdoor production for Wooden O but given what has gone on in the world recently, it felt like the gravity of the play was better suited to an indoor production." Jackson has appeared in Othello several times as an actor and is the artist who has most frequently appeared on Seattle Shakespeare's stages.

Othello will run October 25-November 20, 2022.

"Volpone was originally scheduled for our 30th Anniversary season that was cancelled due to the pandemic. I'm so glad that Kurt Beattie and David Pichette, who originally expressed interest in it, were still available," said Mount. "Kurt and David Are Seattle stage legends and great practitioners of classical work. Volpone will be our first work by a contemporary of Shakespeare. Ben Jonson was part of the three titans of Elizabethan theatre. The other two being Christopher Marlowe and then Shakespeare, who towered above them both. Having a matchup of two consummate and inventive theatre folk bringing their talent and great history paired with this play about duplicitousness and greed, well, I can't help but be excited about it."

Volpone will run January 3-29, 2023 and will feature actor David Pichette in the company.

Following up on the thrilling Shakespeare: Drum and Colours pairing from winter 2022, an all-POC company gathers for Henry IV. Shakespeare's intimate family story plays out on the grand political stage as the fate of a nation rests in the hands of a reckless prince who must learn to rule.

"We haven't revisited Henry IV for an indoor production in quite a long time," said Mount. "When brainstorming with our Diversity Programming Manager Lamar Legend about a follow up to Shakespeare: Drum and Colours brainchild, they immediately proposed this stalwart political and family drama."

Henry IV will perform March 14-April 9, 2023 and will feature an all-POC company.

A musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night will conclude the season. Named one of the best theatrical productions of 2018 by Time and The Washington Post when it premiered at New York's Public Theatre, this rousing contemporary musical is an adaptation of Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy about mistaken identity and self-discovery.

"Frankly, there aren't that many well done musical adaptations of Shakespeare's plays that capture both the language and the spirit of the original," said Mount. "Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub have crafted pure confection with their enchanting and soulful musical adaptation. It's been a long time since we've presented a musical on our stage, and this is one I can't wait to share with our audiences."

Twelfth Night will perform April 25-May 21, 2022.

"We've been so heartened by having audience at our shows again after such a long time away," remarked Mount. "We still have a long, hard road ahead of us to build back up to the capacity and levels that Seattle Shakespeare was at prior to March 2020. We really hope patrons will continue to see the value and lessons these time-tested plays have for us in our present moment. It's the whole reason to do them."

Season ticket packages will go on sale June 1, 2022 and range from $92 to $184 for all four indoor productions. Season ticket packages can be purchased by calling the ticket office at (206) 733-8222 or online at www.seattleshakespeare.org. Single tickets will go on sale July 6 for all productions.

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