ACT Theatre (originally A Contemporary Theatre) is a regional, non-profit theatre organization in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, in the US state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997) founded ACT in 1965 and served as its first

Artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

; at the time ACT was founded he was also head of the Drama Department at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

.Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997)
''Columns'' (University of Washington alumni magazine), June 1997. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Falls was identified with the theatrical ''avant garde'' of the time,Mark Waldstein, "Evolution of Revolution", ''City Arts Seattle'', November 2009, p. 48–51. and founded ACT because he saw the Seattle Repertory Theatre as too specifically devoted to classics.

Facility

ACT is located in Kreielsheimer Place, at 700 Union Street in

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

. The building, which also includes the 44 unit, moderate-income Eagles Apartments, is the historic Eagles Auditorium Building. Previously part of the

Washington State Convention and Trade Center The Seattle Convention Center (SCC), formerly the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), is a convention center in Seattle, Washington, United States. It consists of several exhibition halls and meeting rooms in buildings along Pike Stre ...

(to which it is connected via internal tunnel), the building was remodeled into theater spaces and apartments and renamed in honor of a major gift from the Kreielsheimer Foundation.Misha Berson
Act Makes Its Move -- Theater Company Is Finally Sitting Pretty In The Heart Of Seattle
''Seattle Times'', September 1, 1996. Accessed online 2009-11-06. There are two mainstage theater spaces, each with a capacity of about 390 seats. The Gregory A. Falls Theatre, located below street level, has a rectangular

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...

. Above ground, the former Eagles Auditorium hall (now known as the Allen Theatre) is an arena or "in-the-round" venue. Complying with landmark ordinances, the Allen Theatre retains the Eagles Auditorium's gilded balcony, ornate ceiling, and crystal chandeliers, though some of this is obscured by the

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

and lighting systems. The decision to convert this famous lecture hall and performance venue from a

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

stage to theater-in-the-round was, according to Misha Berson, "the most controversial aspect of the renovation". The proscenium stage from which Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke, and on which the

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performed, "is now just a painted relic in the background." The facility also includes the Bullitt Cabaret and several other smaller spaces.

History

ACT was founded by Gregory A. Falls in 1965, providing Seattle with "a serious alternative to

summer stock In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...

theater.""Contemporary Theatre, Inc., A.", p. 107 in Don B. Wilmeth and Tice L. Miller, eds., ''Cambridge guide to American theatre'' Edition 2, Cambridge University Press, 1996, They staged their first performance July 9, 1965. ACT was originally in a 454-seat thrust-stage theater in Queen Anne Hall, now home to

On the Boards On the Boards (OtB) is a non-profit contemporary performing arts organization in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1978. Originally located at Washington Hall in the Central District, the organization moved in 1998 to their current location in Up ...

. Falls remained as artistic director until 1988, when he was succeeded by Jeff Steitzer, then in 1995 by Peggy Shannon. After a lengthy and difficult search for a larger space, ACT moved into its new Kreielsheimer Place facility in 1996, and presented its first play there on September 1 of that year. However, Shannon's productions at the new facility were not well received by the critics or the public. Shannon resigned in 1997, leaving ACT in debt for the first time in its history, and with subscriptions having fallen from 11,400 in 1996 to 9,000 in 1997.Misha Berson
The drama behind the scenes at ACT
''Seattle Times'', March 11, 2003. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Her successor,

Gordon Edelstein Gordon Edelstein is an American theatre director. He was Artistic Director of the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut from 2002 until January 2018, when he was fired following allegations of sexual misconduct. Biography He received a Bach ...

, revived the company's critical and popular reputation, bringing such noted performers as actresses

Julie Harris Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play. Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...

and

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 19 ...

and singer songwriter

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs (often with mordant or satirical lyrics), and vari ...

, as well as experimental director

Joanne Akalaitis JoAnne Akalaitis (born June 29, 1937, in Cicero, Illinois) is an avant-garde Lithuanian-American theatre director and writer. She won five Obie Awards for direction (and sustained achievement) and was founder in 1970 of the critically acclaimed M ...

and composer

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

. Several ACT premieres went on to successful runs in New York. However, costs rose accordingly, and ACT's debts mounted. In October 2002, ACT made an offer to Robert Egan, producing director at the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...

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, to become their new artistic director, but by the time the 2003 season was approaching, ACT had a US$1.7 million debt and was in no position to honor their offer. They were in serious danger of folding. Subscriptions dropped to 7,500.Misha Berson
ACT schedules five-play 2004 lineup
''Seattle Times'', November 9, 2003. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Donations (including $500,000

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chairman

Phil Condit Philip Murray Condit (born August 2, 1941) is an American engineer and businessman who was Chair and Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Boeing company from 1996 to 2003. He dramatically reshaped the company by Merger with McDonnell Douglas and re ...

), some scaling back, and a successful 2003 season under artistic director Kurt Beattie saved the day, sparing ACT the fate visited upon Seattle's comparably prominent

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in the same period. By the 2006 season, ACT was back to venturesome programming, including

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...

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'' and local writer Elizabeth Heffron's '' Mitzi's Abortion''. John Langs became the artistic director, replacing Kurt Beattie, December 2015. In 2018, Yussef El Guindi became a Core Company playwright member.

Stature

Over more than four decades, ACT has established itself as one of Seattle's leading theaters. Along with the Cornish Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre ("The Rep"), it is one of the city's three largest playhouses. ACT's Mainstage has presented many world, American, and West Coast premieres.Production history
, ACT Theatre. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Numerous productions have gone on to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.ACT History: ACT plays live beyond ACT
, ACT Theatre. Accessed online 2009-11-06. ACT is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT). It is also a member of

Theatre Puget Sound Theatre Puget Sound (TPS) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to supporting the performing arts in the Puget Sound area of Washington. It was founded in 1997. Both individuals and organizations can be members of Theatre Puget Sound. Currentl ...

and is a constituent of

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...

.Theatre Profiles: A Contemporary Theatre (ACT)
, Theatre Communications Group. Accessed online 2009-11-06. ACT is also a member of the Downtown Seattle Association, Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau and Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.Membership Directory
/ref>

Mainstage production history

Production history
ACT Theatre History. Accessed online 2016-11-04. :Source (except as noted):

Notes

External links

ACT Theatre
official site *A.C.T. Theatre (homonym) in France http://www.aparr.org/marc-feldhun https://feldhun.webnode.fr/ Pdt: Marc Feldhun (auteur, acteur, chanteur, musicien, photographe, plasticien)
ACT Theatre History
a comprehensive cross-indexed production history, with programs {{Coord, 47.6110, -122.3324, type:landmark_region:US-WA, display=title Culture of Seattle Theatres in Washington (state) Tourist attractions in Seattle Theatre company production histories