West Coast Premiere of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Opens 9/29

On the heels of its groundbreaking Public Works Seattle production of The Odyssey, Seattle Repertory Theatre prepares for the opening of its west coast premiere production of Pride and Prejudice, a playful adaptation of the Jane Austen classic by inventive playwright, Kate Hamill (Bedlam's Sense & Sensibility). Pride and Prejudice will run on the Bagley Wright Theatre stage September 29 through October 29, 2017 (opening night October 4) and tickets are on sale now through the Seattle Rep Box Office at 206.443.2222 or online at SeattleRep.org.

Last month marked 200 years since the passing of Jane Austen, and her stories are still as popular today as ever before, as Hamill has proved with her first wildly successful Austen adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2016. Since then, Hamill has been working on her adaptations of Vanity Fair - a Wall Street Journal Critics Pick, which saw three extensions Off-Broadway at the Pearl Theater Company - as well as Pride and Prejudice, which enjoyed its world premiere at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival over this past summer. Seattle Rep's production marks the west coast premiere of this work, directed by Amanda Dehnert, an artist Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout calls "a prodigally gifted director." Dehnert led an early workshop of this play last year through the Rep's new works development program, The Other Season, and will stay with the show as it makes its Off-Broadway debut in November 2017.

"I'm thrilled to share this fun and vibrant new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with our audiences," Braden Abraham, Seattle Rep's Artistic Director comments. "Kate Hamill has given this iconic novel new life through bold theatricality and her keen insight into character and relationships. She is faithful to Austen while also staying true to her own unique take on the story."

Seattle Rep's irreverent production of Pride and Prejudice features an array of well-known-to-Seattle faces including: Kjerstine Anderson as Lizzy; Kenajuan Bentley as Mr. Darcy; Cheyenne Casebier as Mrs. Bennet; Emily Chisholm as Jane/Miss de Bourgh; Trick Danneker as Mr. Bingley/Mary; Hana Lass as Lydia/Lady Catherine; Rajeev Varma as Mr. Bennet/Charlotte Lucas; and Brandon O'Neill as Wickham/Miss Bingley/Mr. Collins. The creative team includes Kate Hamill (playwright); Amanda Dehnert (director); John McDermott (scenic design); Tracy Christensen (costume design); Robert J. Aguilar (lighting design); Mark Starritt (sound design); Gin Hammond (dialect consultant); Ellenore Scott (movement consultant).

ABOUT Amanda Dehnert (DIRECTOR) Recent productions include: West Side Story (director), Carnegie Hall; Timon of Athens (adaptor, composer, director), Into the Woods (director, music director/conductor), M. Fair Lady (director, music director), Julius Caesar (director, adaptor) for Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Eastland: A New Musical (world premiere - director, orchestrator), and Peter Pan - A Play (by Amanda Dehnert, world premiere), for Lookingglass Theatre Company; Richard III (director, adaptor, composer), for The Public Theatre Mobile Shakespeare Unit; The Verona Project (words and music by Amanda Dehnert, world premiere), for California Shakespeare Theatre; Death of a Salesman (director, composer) for Dallas Theatre Center; The Fantasticks (director,) for Trinity Rep, Long Wharf, Arena Stage, and South Coast Rep. Amanda is an associate professor of theatre at Northwestern University.

Kate Hamill is an actor/playwright. As playwright: Sense & Sensibility (in which she originated the role of Marianne - Winner, Off-Broadway Alliance Award 2016); Nominee, Drama League Award (Best Revival, 2016); 265+ performances off-Broadway. Other plays include Vanity Fair (in which she originated the role of Becky Sharp; Nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award 2017), In the Mines (Sundance Lab semi-finalist), Em (Red Bull New Play finalist), Little Fellow (O'Neill semi-finalist). Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, at the Guthrie Theatre, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre (Helen Hayes Award, best production: Sense & Sensibility), and others. Upcoming productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, A.R.T., WaterTower, Playmakers Rep, Primary Stages, and more. Kate's Sense and Sensibility and Vanity Fair are published by DPS.

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