Seattle Public Theater Invites Americans To Face Their Demons In Its 2018-19 Season

Seattle Public Theater announced today the four shows selected for its 2018-19 Mainstage Season: #CONFRONTINGAMERICA. Featuring four productions in the company's intimate 165-seat Bathhouse Theater, the season includes the regional premiere of Tanya Saracho's national sensation FADE; the world premiere of 2017 Emerald Prize winner FIRE SEASON by Aurin Squire; DRY LAND, "a shocking but honest portrayal of teenage crisis" by Ruby Rae Spiegel; and THE CALL by Tanya Barfield, which tackles the complex issues that accompany adoption across cultures.

"From the opioid crisis to class struggles, from abortion to interracial adoption, our 2018-2019 season will confront issues facing us as a nation through the lens of individual experience," says Co-Artistic Director Kelly Kitchens. "We will go behind the closed doors of the break room, the bedroom, and the boardroom to delve into the highly personal navigation of these issues at which headlines can only hint."

Holiday favorite CHRISTMASTOWN: A HOLIDAY NOIR by local Gregory Award winner Wayne Rawley returns in November through December to supplement the four mainstage selections curated by Kitchens and Co-Artistic Director Annie Lareau. The company has also invited the local, critically-acclaimed sketch comedy troupe The Habit to write and produce a musical parody of the 80s cult classic Die Hard to run alongside CHRISTMASTOWN during the holiday season.

Season subscription packages start at $90 for a three-show flex pass, and are on sale now. For more information, call (206) 254-1300 or visit http://www.seattlepublictheater.org.

FADE

October 12 - November 4, 2018
Written by Tanya Saracho
Directed by Pilar O'Connell

In this witty, true-to-life new comedy, Mexican-born Lucia is hired to write for a ruthless Hollywood studio. She soon discovers that the studio's Mexican American custodian, Abel, has a windfall of plot ideas -- but as their friendship grows, his stories start to blur with hers, leading to unexpected consequences.

CHRISTMASTOWN: A HOLIDAY NOIR

November 23 - December 24, 2018
Written by Wayne Rawley

Directed by Kelly Kitchens

In this film noir-inspired holiday thriller, hard-boiled detective Nick Holiday investigates some un-holiday-like shenanigans taking place in Christmastown that sends him on a search for the truth about Big Red. Add a glamorous elf, a used-Christmas-tree salesman, a muckraking reporter, and a quick-thinking cab driver, and you have what the Seattle Times calls the "best new holiday romp of the year!"

FIRE SEASON

January 25 - February 17, 2019

Written by Aurin Squire

Directed by Kelly Kitchens

When a twelve-year-old boy overdoses on Oxycontin in rural Washington, his small-town community is left reeling. FIRE SEASON -- a brand new, never before seen world premiere and inaugural winner of Seattle Public Theater's Emerald Prize -- is a tragic and humorous look at the last generation of strong, working-class Americans. What happens when systems begin to harm the people they're supposed to help -- and what does it take to fight back?

DRY LAND

March 22 - April 14, 2019

Written by Ruby Rae Spiegel
Directed by Anita Montgomery

Amy and Ester must find a way to terminate Amy's unwanted pregnancy -- soon. Limited by their age and the legal restrictions on reproductive health services in their locality, the two best friends meet in the locker room of their Florida high school and do their best to manage the situation while struggling with academics, athletics, and their own respective physical and emotional growing pains.

THE CALL

May 17 - June 9, 2019
Written by Tanya Barfield
Directed by Annie Lareau

When Annie and Peter decide to adopt, they come to set their sights on a child from Africa. But when the reality of this choice sinks in, it opens a well of uncertainty that speaks to their very identity as White Americans. Politically-charged and tack-sharp, THE CALL is a startling portrait of cultural divide, casting global issues into the heart of an American home.

ABOUT SEATTLE PUBLIC THEATER

Seattle Public Theater produces compelling and socially relevant theater to spark conversation and ignite empathy in order to foster an intellectually curious and inclusive world. Every year, Seattle Public produces four shows as part of its professional mainstage season at its location in Green Lake in addition to its supplemental programming, robust education program, and community events.

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