Photo Profiles: The Week in Review

This past month, we’ve embarked on an ambitious project with photographer LaRae Lobdell of Photo Sister to capture the faces of the Intiman Festival.

Follow the images to see the full photography set and interviews with the artists.

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Interview with an Actor: Michael Place

MICHAEL PLACE

Roles: Mercutio in R&J, Lovborg in Hedda Gabler, and Less Old Queen in Miracle!

WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU WERE ASKED TO DO THE FESTIVAL?

After I found out the details, I got off the phone, maintaining calm as much […]

Timothy McCuen Piggee for Photo Sister

This is the first installment of photo profiles featuring the hardworking folks involved in the Intiman Theatre Festival, brought to you by the lovely and talented LaRae Lobdell of PhotoSister.com. Check back to see actors, technicians, administrators, directors, and everyone in between featured daily!

1 of 33 of the Intiman Theatre Festival
By LaRae Lobdell of PhotoSister.com

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Intiman Theatre Festival Video Trailer

Do you accept the challenge before you?

Experience the live entertainment event of the summer.

July 11-August 26, 2012
www.intiman.org

A New Perspective

Gavin Reub,
Assistant Director, Dirty Story

We have been given a fresh opportunity.  This is the summer where we get to be a part of something new; a fresh breath into a stale system, a new fire in the belly of the repertory beast:  a new model, a new perspective, a new Intiman.

The first rehearsal for Dirty Story was full of heavy energy.  The script had only been in our heads a short period of time, due to a last minute rights issue, and had only lived in our mouths for one brief read-through.  The opportunity was there, however, not just to fire Intiman’s season off with a dirty bang, but to find authenticity in our tale.  History, after all, is the victors yarn, and our energy was geared toward strength.

Our battle, wasn’t fought entirely through the script’s prime metaphor, but rather aimed toward the root of the problem.  Story.  There is no greater story-teller in Seattle than our director, Valerie Curtis-Newton,  and once the story is told, and the relationship is full and fleshed, then the stage lives, and the monster breathes. […]

Talk-back at Tonight’s Reading of Dustin Lance Black’s “8”

Today we open our doors for the reading of “8”.  It’s our first public event since moving ahead with this year’s festival and we thank the community again for making it all possible. Intiman Theatre has a deep tradition of shining a light on important social issues and tonight’s reading embodies that spirit as Washington State continues to debate the issue of marriage equality. To spark dialogue and debate, we asked an actor, a human rights activist, and a writer and media figure to share their stories and opinions on the issue.

Jon Lutyens, actor

My father is not “on our side” on the issue of marriage equality.  He’s a very well-meaning Catholic man, retired from the military, who often gets pulled toward the political right very deftly by media pundits.  I have discussed the issue at length with him, trying to keep emotion at bay and sticking to rational reasoning (and sometimes failing).  I explained that marriage to me is much more about dedication, partnership, and love than physical sexuality.  We talked about his experience in the 1960’s, being the only one at his Texas college who would agree to share a room with an African-American student.  I told him the heartbreaking story of Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond, asking what he would do if he were told that my mom was in the next room with very little time left, and the hospital told him that he couldn’t be with her. His answer was the very straightforward and valiant: “They would probably have to shoot me.

Even after all of that, he maintained that marriage shouldn’t include same-sex couples.  But the truest thing I know about him is that he is a good man who loves his children above all else.  After a few weeks of discussion, I finally said, “It is important to me that you come to this reading.”  He agreed to come.  It is also important to me that we don’t put our work into “preaching to the choir”, especially this election cycle in our state.  It is easy to fill a theatre in Seattle with people who agree with marriage equality, but would that actually be helping anyone’s mind open up to hearing the stories of these brave couples who put the most intimate relationships in their lives on trial?  I need to know that at least one person might look at the issue differently after the evening was through. […]

2012 Festival Tickets on Sale Now!

We’ve been rehearsing for weeks, the set is built, and we’re a month away from our first performance. Get ready for the theatre event of the summer.

Now, the best part: tickets are on sale!

Tickets are on sale now for the […]

Interview with an Actor: 15 Minutes with Shawn Law

When you were first approached to do the festival, what went through your head?

“Wow” was probably the first thing. I was pretty excited, because I’ve never done anything in repertory before as an actor. It’s an old way of doing theatre that doesn’t really exist in the country anymore. Where your focus is on not just different plays and parts, but absolutely different styles. From Shakespeare to Shanley, it forces you to focus more. It’s exhausting, but it’s a good exhaustion. I was excited about the attempt to pull it off.

What excites you about the festival?

The audacity. The audacity to attempt it. To try. These are not four easy plays. This is not for the faint, not for people who don’t have the willingness… It takes a lot of courage. It’s hard enough to do theatre in America with one show and hope they’ll come. But to do four shows and hope they’ll come to all four, now that is a serious cup of tea right there.

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Don’t Get Too Comfortable

Andrew Russell

Intiman turns 40 this summer and we’re celebrating by launching our new summer theatre festival devoted to the artists you’ve grown to love. We’re proud to welcome you aboard our maiden voyage, and thank you for your patience as we prepare for this journey. We have been busy!

Skipping from Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shanley to Savage, we’ve programmed work that warns: don’t get too comfortable. From the political to the personal, the festival explores the rumblings beneath the surface, the unoccupied life, and the voices of those yet unheard. With the integration of dance, music and drag performance, we’re re-imagining classics and launching epic new spectacles, in the way you’ve come to expect from Intiman. […]

Give Big

Give Big 2012 – Intiman Theatre