Turmoil and rebirth marked the early 2000’s at ACT, nearly closing their doors during financial crisis in
2003, and then coming back with clarity and precision to close out the decade. 2007 saw the
beginning of the Central Heating Lab, which has since become an integral part of the ACT experience.
productions
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2005
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Bach at Leipzig (2005)
ln 1712 Johann Kuhnau, revered organist of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. died (on the job) leaving his post vacant. ln order to fill the position, the Leipzig council invited a small number of musicians to audition for the post, including Johann Sebastian Bach. This, however, is not his story. From an important new American playwright comes a farcical escapade of entrances, exits, and witty rapiers of dialogue as six little-known musicians scheme, bribe, blackmail and audition in an attempt to secure the most coveted musical post in all Europe.
“An extravagantly theatrical romp for comedic actors, a valentine to Baroque music"
The Ugly American (2005)
From the mad mind of the creator of 21 Dog Years comes a coming-of-age story about the strange and unpredictable experiences of a sheltered young American studying acting in London in 1993. Dazzlingly funny, Mike Daisey becomes a lightning rod for all manner of strange occurrences. He regales with stories of his naive 19-year-old sell - stumbling on his journey into theatre through failed acting classes, a postmodern neo-feminist play, and serving tea to Tom Stoppard, all-the-while artfully weaving together the lessons of artifice, class, gender and power that his new world so fiercely taught him.
"A commentator with real heart, Mike Daisey is a funny young everyman with a cherubic face and the persona of an innocent.”
Born Yesterday (2005)
Meet Billie Dawn - a beautiful but ditzy ex-chorus girl and mistress to millionaire tough-guy Hairy Brock, she's about to have her eyes opened to the world around her and to her own worth by good-guy journalist Paul Verral. One of the greatest and most enduring comedies of the 20th century, BORN YESTERDAY is a heartwarming, positive, and scathingly truthful tale about the relationship of our government to commerce. Kanin’s American classic still serves as an appropriate call to arms for all citizens in order for our democracy to function properly.
"A savagely funny look at influence-peddling in Washington and the innate sexism of American life, BORN YESTERDAY also reminds us that there is no insignificant person, no negligent human being."
The Night of the Iguana (2005)
A defrocked Episcopalian minister, a lusty widowed hotel owner, and an honest but penniless painters are united by chance circumstances for a stormy night at a dilapidated Mexican hotel. Torn between sexual desire and guilt, tempted by the nymphet Charlotte, lusted alter by Maxine, and denied and inspired by the chaste Hannah, Shannon straddles an essential human dilemma of how to lead a moral life and remain a sexual creature. In his controversial and poetic play, which brought the American treasure his third Pulitzer Prize, Williams examines turbulent emotional and sexual forces, and physical and spiritual needs.
“A great portrait of the impossible yearnings of human beings,"
Vincent in Brixton (2005)
Before he knew he was a painter, brash, young Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in South London for three years as an art dealer, an experience that his mother would later recall as altering her son’s character. The emergence of genius and the costs of an extravagantly sensitive sensibility are the subjects of Nicholas Wrights 2003 Olivier Award-Winner. Extrapolated from Van Gogh’s personal family correspondence, Wright weaves a rich, detailed exploration of the nature of artistic inspiration through an unlikely romance, a love made all the more unpredictable by the involvement of genius.
"A wonderful portrait of the unpredictable nature of love. especially of a genius in love."
Flight (2005)
At a secret meeting place around a fireside in the woods, six members of a slave community gather to rescue one of its members - a child - from catastrophe through the healing power of storytelling. African and African-American folktales, dance, song and drums representing the sustaining heartbeat of Mother Africa, come together in a joyous celebration of the oral tradition. Seattle favorite Charlayne Woodard, acclaimed for her shows PRETTY FIRE, NEAT, and IN REAL LIFE, returns to us with this redemptive and poignant homage to a people’s ability to heal, support, unite and inspire hope in one other.
“A heart-warming and dynamic theatrical piece about how we are unconditionally responsible for each other."