Seattle Shakespeare Adjusts Their 2022-2023 Season

Who: Seattle Shakespeare Company

What: Announcement of updates to Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2022-2023 season of plays

When: October 2022-May 2023

Seattle, WA - On Tuesday, Seattle Shakespeare Company shared changes to their previously announced 2022-2023 season, swapping out the first two shows. While making changes to a season after it has been announced is reasonably common in the theatre world, Seattle Shakespeare has had to do so less than a handful of times in the past two decades. “It is always our hope and goal never to need to make such a large programming change,” Seattle Shakespeare’s Artistic Director George Mount said, “but in this new world, we are recognizing that we need to be a bit more flexible than before the pandemic started.”
 
The 2022-2023 season now launches with William Shakespeare’s Macbeth directed by ACT’s Artistic Director John Langs. The show will star Reginald André Jackson (who was slated to direct the previously-scheduled Othello) and Alexandra Tavares. After three mysterious witches prophecy a loyal military general will become King of Scotland, he sets down a path of destruction and devastation from which there is no return. Macbeth examines how devotion and pride can quickly turn into vanity and murder. Macbeth will run October 25-November 20, 2022.
 
“I’ve been in talks with Reggie Jackson to direct Othello for some time now,” said Mount. “We had planned to perform it this season but when we had a scheduling conflict with our lead actor we knew that it was better for the show to delay by a season rather than try to re-cast. I’m glad that we were able to keep Reggie with us this season as the titular Scot.” Othello will now be part of Seattle Shakespeare’s 2023-2024 season and will still be directed by Jackson. He has appeared in Macbeth several times as an actor and is the artist who has most frequently appeared on Seattle Shakespeare’s stages.
 
“As we considered the shape of our season, and our organizational capacity, it became clear that returning to four full-cast shows was not yet the right choice for us,” Mount expressed. With that in mind, Seattle Shakespeare has replaced Volpone with a one-person autobiographical show called The World’s a Stage: Becoming Othello, A Black Girl’s Journey. Written and performed by Harlem Shakespeare Festival Founding Artistic Director Debra Ann Byrd, and directed by Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer, Becoming Othello is a tour-de-force living memoir of her trials and triumphs. Through verses from Othello and dynamic multimedia elements, she chronicles her youth growing up in Harlem, her tumultuous teen years, and navigating race in classics as a gender-flipped Othello. Mount added, “at Seattle Shakespeare, we are exploring what Shakespeare’s texts are and can be, including contemporary interpretations that engage with his work in a different way than our community might be used to.”
 
Becoming Othello will run January 3-29, 2023.
 
Season ticket packages are on sale now and range from $92 to $184 for all four indoor productions. Season ticket packages can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 206.733.8222 or online at www.seattleshakespeare.org. Content advisories for each show are available on the show pages. Single tickets will go on sale August 16 for all productions.

2022-2023 Indoor Season
 
Macbeth
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by John Langs
October 25-November 20, 2022
Performed at the Center Theatre
 
After three mysterious witches prophecy a loyal military general will become King of Scotland, he sets down a path of destruction and devastation from which there is no return.
 
The World’s a Stage: Becoming Othello, A Black Girl’s Journey
Written & Performed by Debra Ann Byrd
Directed by Tina Packer
January 3-29, 2023
Performed at the Center Theatre
 
This autobiographical solo show from classical actor Debra Ann Byrd is a tour-de-force living memoir of her life’s trials and triumphs. Through verses from Othello and dynamic multimedia elements, she chronicles her youth growing up in Harlem, her tumultuous teen years, and navigating race in classics as a gender-flipped Othello.
 
Drum and Colours: Henry IV
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Sophie Franco
March 14-April 9, 2023
Performed at the Center Theatre
 
Featuring an all-BIPOC company, this epic tale of a polarized nation puts family drama and political intrigue front and center. As unrest grows and conflict bubbles, England dares to ask: who has the right to wear the crown?
 
Twelfth Night
A musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub
Music and lyrics by Shaina Taub
Directed by Ruben Van Kempen
April 25-May 21, 2023
Performed at the Center Theatre
 
Shakespeare’s romantic comedy of mistaken identity and self-discovery is given a rousing musical adaptation as love and shenanigans unfold.