Before the in-laws, distant cousins, and long-lost friends descend on your home expecting turkey and pumpkin pie, make time to catch some great theatre and take your mind off the busy months to come.
Fifth of July
By Lanford Wilson
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
November 13-24
Meany Studio Theatre
Renowned director Valerie Curtis-Newton and second year students in our Professional Actor Training Program tackle Lanford Wilson's contemporary classic about family politics, sexual identity, and American disillusionment in the wake of the Vietnam War.
Check out the sneak peek video and then join us for a night of great theatre. We have several special events in conjunction with Fifth of July. Learn more.
What do you do when the fireworks are over? It is the central question of our production of Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July. And I think that there are a lot of people asking that question right now. We have been on fire with political foment for more than a decade now. People are exhausted, battling malaise and looking for a way forward.
Fifth of July continues to be relevant. It is a play about people who have spent themselves in the political battles of their era and are now faced with what to do with the rest of their lives. And as they wrestle with that central question, they snipe and fight; they cajole and test; they hide from each other and hold each other accountable. And ultimately, they love each other into a shared future in which each of them does his or her part. That’s what resonates with me in the play.
Aunt Sally Tally has it absolutely right: “Life goes on. It goes on and then it stops. You can’t worry about the stopping; you have to worry about the going on.”
“After they had explored all the suns in the universe, and all the planets of all the suns, they realised that there was no other life in the universe, and that they were alone. And they were very happy, because then they knew it was up to them to become all the things they had imagined they would find.” - Lanford Wilson, Fifth of July
Adapted from The Café Plays by Charles L. Mee, Jr.
Directed by Anne Bogart
Created and performed by SITI Comapny
November 14-16
Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse
Café Variations weaves longing, lust, lost love, found love, and budding romantic adventure through dance, music and theatre within a social arena where anything can happen: a café. The music is from the Great American Songbook and the text is constructed from fragments of many plays by SITI Company playwright Charles Mee. Presented in collaboration with UW World Series.
On October 28, Theatre Puget Sound presented the 5th annual Gregory Awards, honoring the outstanding achievements of theatre artists in Washington State. 13 UW alumni received nominations, with two taking home awards. Holly Arsenault (BA '01) won Outstanding New Play for Undo and Jennifer Zeyl (MFA '03) won Outstanding Scenic Design for The Trial (picture at left).
Other alums making news this month include Scott Ward Abernathy (PATP '12) who will be starring in Jesus' Son, opening at Book-It tomorrow, and Andy McGinn (MFA, '13) and Hana Lass (BA, '01) both star in Hound of the Baskervilles at Seattle Rep opening November 15.
November 8-10
Cowboy Mouth
November 13-24
Fifth of July
November 14
Arts Dawgs at Fifth of July
Pre-show wine and appetizer reception with director Valerie Curtis-Newton
November 14-16
SITI Company: Café Variations
November 21-December 8
Undergraduate Theater Society: Woyzeck
For a full list of upcoming shows and events, visit drama.uw.edu