On Sale Now! The Williams Project’s
Thought-Provoking New Production of Tony Kushner’s
A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY
October 25 – November 18 at Hillman City CollaboratoryA story about the struggle between conscience and comfort – how much are you willing to sacrifice for your beliefs? All tickets pay-what-you-can and available now.
Seattle, WASH. (September 5, 2018) – The Williams Project today announced that single tickets to its production of Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day, directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell, are on sale now. Set in Germany in the early 1930s, during Hitler’s rise to power, A Bright Room Called Day follows a group of ordinary Berliners. This circle of friends, all artists and activists, resembles Seattle today: diverse, theoretically progressive but largely comfortable, unsure how bad things will get, struggling between practicality and militancy, idealism and realpolitik. As their story unfolds amidst a gathering national storm, Kushner’s prescient work tackles questions of community and civic responsibility that will sound eerily relevant in our time and place. How should everyday people engage with politics in a dangerous time? How do we know what tactics to use? How do we build coalitions, despite our differences? The Williams Project’s A Bright Room Called Day will run October 26 – November 18, 2018 at the Hillman City Collaboratory in South Seattle – all tickets are pay-what-you-can and available now at TheWilliamsProject.org.
“It’s a play about politics, and creeping fascism, so of course everyone will say it’s about Trump,” says Artistic Director Ryan Guzzo Purcell. “And, I guess it kind of is. But this play is amazing because it was written thirty years ago. Tony Kushner predicted our present political moment not because he knew Trump was coming but because he understood how the stories Americans tell themselves might someday clear the way for someone like Trump. And so, the play becomes about us. About Seattleites, in 2018, and what we need to do to change ourselves, our city, and our country. And because it’s Kushner, this play finds a way to rigorously engage that debate and still be funny and sexy and theatrical and human.”
Building upon The Williams Project’s commitment to making theatre that sparks civic discourse and connects communities, performancesof A Bright Room Called Day will feature partnerships with other local nonprofits and advocacy organizations, highlighting for audiences ways of becoming more civically engaged. After specially-designated performances, stay to talk with representatives from partner organizations about how their work makes a difference in Seattle communities and how you can get involved. Look for updates on these non-profit partnerships in the coming weeks at TheWilliamsProject.org.
About the Venue
The Hillman City Collaboratory is a social change incubator, where community forms across boundaries and visionaries bring their dreams to life. The Collab is a cooperative, multi-purpose space shared by grassroots organizations and individuals who care about social justice, creative expression, and community building. The Collab strive to be an instrument of transformation, providing a built environment and programming that supports community and equips change-makers. Learn more at hillmancitycollaboratory.org.
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS
WHAT:
A Bright Room Called Day
By Tony Kushner
Directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell
A new president has just come to power by the slimmest of margins. Though his rhetoric is alarming, democratic institutions are strong and the opposition is looking good heading into the next election. This is Berlin, in 1932. In Agnes Eggling’s apartment, a group of artists and activists struggle between their conscience and their comfort, trying to decide how much they are willing to sacrifice for their beliefs. First produced in 1985, this prophetic play by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner is a wake-up call and warning for contemporary America, posing timely questions about citizenship, resistance, and complicity. In Williams Project fashion, this production will partner with local nonprofits and activist organizations to connect audiences with new avenues for civic engagement in their communities. All tickets are pay-what-you-can and available now at TheWilliamsProject.org.
WHERE:
Hillman City Collaboratory
WHEN:
October 25 – November 18, 2018
Thursday-Sunday (with two exceptions, there is no performance on Thursday, October 8, and instead there is a performance on Monday, October 12).
Show begins at 7:30 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 p.m.)
Opening Night is Friday, November 26, 2018. Media Invite to come.
All seating is general admission. Learn more about The Williams Project’s inclusive approach to ticket pricing here: http://www.thewilliamsproject.
SOCIAL:
Facebook – /TheWilliamsProject
Instagram – @TheWilliamsProject
About The Williams Project
The Williams Project is a theatre ensemble that strives to make theatrical excellence accessible to diverse and engaged audiences, while paying our artists a living wage. The writing of Tennessee Williams shapes our vision of theatrical excellence, so we strive, like him, to create theatre that is:
- Entertaining enough to make everyone feel welcome and a part of the community;
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Ambitious enough to risk humiliating failure;
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Powerful enough to move people to love each other more, even in the face of the temporary nature of theatre and life.
The Williams Project strives to make theatre in a manner consistent with our belief that professional artists are vital to our culture, and that such artists deserve to be compensated in a way that recognizes their value. Great theatre artists sacrifice greatly to make important work, and we pay our artists a living wage in order to support that work.
This production of A Bright Room Called Day is supported, in part, by grants from 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Show Sponsor for A Bright Room Called Day is Verity Credit Union. KUOW is this production’s Media Sponsor.
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