Holly Arsenault’s play, Underwater Weather, will be presented November 3, 2024 at ACT’s New Works Northwest festival as a special collaboration with ACT’s Young Core Company (YCC). What are the unique challenges and opportunities of writing plays for an ensemble of young artists? I want them to feel seen, and I want to ask questions that interest them, and I want to write parts that feel fun and rich for them. I don’t approach [...]
McKenna Deen, our Digital Content and Communication Manager at ACT, talked with Zora Howard about the upcoming production of STEW at ACT as well as what Howard is doing in the theatre world. Learn more about STEW here. Deen: What was your inspiration in writing STEW? Howard: I started writing STEW in the wake of the 2014 murder of Tamir Rice, a 12-year old Black boy in Cleveland, Ohio, and the subsequent grand jury decision not to [...]
McKenna Deen, our Digital Content and Communication Manager at ACT, talked with Maggie Lee about the upcoming production of The Sunless Scar — the world premiere written specifically for the Young Core Company and ACT’s Allen arena stage. Learn more about The Sunless Scar here. Deen: The Sunless Scar delves into a post-apocalyptic world where environmental damage has transformed society. What drew you to explore such a dystopian setting? Lee: I always try to [...]
McKenna Deen, our Digital Content and Communication Manager at ACT, talked with Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako about the upcoming production of STEW at ACT as well as Nako's role in the theatre world. Learn more about STEW here. Deen: You’ve been on the ACT stage in quite a few roles. How does it feel to make your directorial debut at ACT? Nako: I had a great time working with John Langs as the Associate Director [...]
Edited by McKenna Deen, Digital Content and Communications Manager As ACT continues its mission of creating bold new works, we wanted to check in with our Core Company Member playwright Yussef El Guindi. We are proud to be the company Yussef calls home and are thrilled to celebrate his success. Those who have been coming to ACT for a while will probably know that we have produced five of Yussef’s plays since 2011. Yussef’s [...]
"I have been working on how to bring my full self to a project, not just fill an assumed role, and to trust myself. I'm still figuring out what that all looks like; it's ongoing work but feels impactful to me personally."
"I think the unique nature of the Core Company consisting of passionate humans from various disciplines of Art is hyper-appealing."
"[The thing that has made the biggest impact on my creativity as an artist is] learning to let go of fear of failure but this continues to be an ongoing process."
"I love being saturated in the minds of these fellow [Core Company] artists. I enjoy the respectful dialogue and the fusion that ensues from our meetings. I am honestly so excited to learn from them and to share my art with them."
Julie Briskman is no stranger to ACT’s stages and to Seattle audiences. The versatile artist returns as Linda in Lucas Hnath’s The Thin Place. We asked Julie about her role in The Thin Place and much more. You have a brilliant career working with rich characters and classical pieces and playwrights, like Chekhov, Wilde and Shakespeare. Lucas Hnath’s writing is very contemporary. The way the play sits on the page is very different. How have [...]
