The 90s at ACT saw three different artistic directors (from Steitzer to Shannon to Edelstein) and two
different theatre spaces. The theatre moved into the heart of downtown in the middle of this decade,
making the 90s a period of resettling and reimagining the possibilities for Seattle’s contemporary
theatre.
productions
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1994
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Betty the Yeti (1994)
A wild and wooly fable about a yeti who sets up housekeeping with an out-of-work logger. This audaciously funny new play takes us to the heart of the timber crisis, leaving no stone unturned- and no one unscathed.
Gray's Anatomy (1994)
Set deep in the heartland at a time
“before men loved machines,” this
warm and humorous play tells the story
of a small town in need of a doctor -—
and the peculiar stranger who arrives
claiming to be a healer. Before long,
folk near and wide are proclaiming
ailments they never knew they had.
But is Galen Gray a real doctor or a snake oil salesman? In the face of
growing suspicion and a mysterious
illness, both he and the town are put to
the test. With homespun charm, Gray ’s
Anatomy examines the bright colors of
faith and science in a world reminiscent
of Our Town.
Keely and Du (1994)
Choice, chance and the explosive ethics of abortion collide in this powerful drama.
Keely, a pregnant rape victim, is kidnapped from an abortion clinic by radical right-
to-life activists. Guarding her in a cell-like room is Du, a grandmotherly nurse
charged with keeping Keely in good health until she comes to term. Brought together
by circumstance and conviction, the two women slowly form a bond born of sympathy, rage and confinement. Acclaimed by TIME Magazine as one of the 10 best plays
of the year, Keely and Du transcends politics for a compassionate portrait of two
ordinary women Whose lives veer into agonizing and unexpected paths.
Man of the Moment (1994)
A wickedly funny indictment of the public’s voracious appetite for scandal and the
media frenzy that feeds it. Ayckbourn‘s latest play takes off with a bang when a British
tabloid TV show reunites two men 17 years after a foiled bank robbery. One man had
become an instant hero, then faded into obscurity. The other served time, exploited
his celebrity and became a fabulously rich television personality. Now at the ex-con’s
luxurious Mediterranean villa the producer of Their Paths Crossed is desperately trying
to incite a confrontation between the two for a show that could make or break her
career. Will she succeed? Will the famous felon get his just desserts? Enquiring minds
want to know!
Fish Head Soup (1994)
With beautifully lyrical language and stunning imagery, Fish Head Soup paints a
moving portrait of a Japanese American family struggling to hold together as cultural
and generational conflicts threaten to tear them apart. When Mat returns after a
mysterious disappearance, he finds a family falling apart at the seams: Papa clutching
to a dream world of life before the internment camps; his mother immersing herself in
her work to avoid her husband’s senility; an older brother still healing from the scars
of the Vietnam War. Mat’s sudden arrival upsets the family’s tenuous balance, forcing
them to exorcize the secrets and demons of their past in order to realize their dreams
of the future.
Philip Kan Gotanda is the critically acclaimed author of Yankee Dawg You Die,
A Song for a Nisei Fisherman and The Wash.
This production will be a unique collaboration between ACT, The Group Theatre
and Northwest Asian American Theatre, and will be directed by The Group’s Tim
Bond. ,
Voices in the Dark (1994)
An electrifying thriller about a radio talk show whose quiet vacation getaway becomes an inescapable nightmare. From the author of Willi and Agnes of God