Washington Ensemble Theatre Announces 2019/2020 Season: “The Divine”

Washington Ensemble Theatre has announced its 2019/2020 Season, a magical lineup of plays that revels in the beauty of ritual and rite, histories and futures, and the sacred and mystic. Centered around the theme "The Divine," WET will celebrate the magnificent and transcendent forces of nature that change the way we live. The season includes the quasi-fable Is God Is by Alesha Harris, the razor-sharp preteen energy-filled play Dance Nation by Clare Barron, Raja Feather Kelly's UGLY (Black Queer Zoo), which is the second installment of its GUSH Series, and an examination of the cosmic duality of good and evil in a new collaboration with the beloved Cherdonna Shinatra, The Strange Case of Dr. Cher and Mr. Donna. WET will continue to produce as a resident company at 12th Avenue Arts in Capitol Hill. Subscriptions start at $60 and are on sale now at www.washingtonensemble.org.

"This season is made up of stories about those who unleash themselves from the confines of a uniform worldview and embrace an expansive and intimate cosmic power, demanding a culture shift," said WET's Artistic Director Samie Spring Detzer. "We call this an act of the Divine. How do you find the strength to disrupt the story, to right the wrongs, to alter the course of history? We are presenting a season of plays about commandeering and liberating your own narrative, a season about elusive transformations, divine interventions, and glorious metamorphosis. WET is so excited to celebrate stories about characters who rewrite their history and take no prisoners."

WET's season begins with the West Coast premiere of Is God Is (September 6 - 23, 2019), directed by Portland-based Lava Alapai in her Seattle debut. Is God Is is Aleshea Harris's quasi-fable that embraces the indomitable power of women scorned. Inspired by Spaghetti Westerns and Afro-punk, this electrifying play follows twin sisters who go on a killing spree to exact revenge on their creator. WET will produce with the support of The Hansberry Project. Called "a rich, funny, unnerving, exhilarating gold mine" by New York Magazine, Is God Is had its world premiere at the Soho Rep in 2018 and was a New York Times Critic's Pick.

Is God Is is followed by Dance Nation (January 17 - February 3, 2020), Clare Barron's Pulitzer-nominated play that The New York Times called "blazingly original" and a "glorious new work." Dance Nation explores the cutthroat world of a preteen competitive dance team on the brink of having it all. Dance Teacher Pat will bring his army of ferocious youth performers all the way to nationals but only if they can harness their immense potential first. This razor-sharp story is a celebration of the unsettling and at times terrifying power of young women as they navigate their own monumental ambition. Sparkles, fangs, and intense feminine energy: what more could you want? WET's Associate Artistic Director Bobbin Ramsey (Feathers and Teeth, The Nether, Revolt. She said. Revolt again.) will direct.

The second theatrical work to be brought to WET's mainstage as part of its GUSH Series is the West Coast premiere of UGLY (Black Queer Zoo) (March 5 - 16, 2020), which is written, directed, and performed by the internationally recognized choreographer Raja Feather Kelly. Part dance theater and part pop culture collage, UGLY (Black Queer Zoo), which had its world premiere in 2018 at Brooklyn's Bushwick Starr, is about black queer subjectivity in the mainstream and how to dismantle social erasure. GUSH is WET's series that presents contemporary theatrical works from artists outside of Seattle that are curated by the Ensemble.

She's baaaaack! The season concludes with an almost-too-sensational-to-handle collaboration with the beloved Cherdonna Shinatra for the world premiere of The Strange Case of Dr. Cher and Mr. Donna (May 1 - 18, 2020). Stranger Genius Award winner bio drag queen Cherdonna Shinatra will join forces with WET for a second time to deconstruct and demolish a classic tale: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Unleashing good and evil, Cherdonna will explore her darker side and the necessary dismantling of being good for goodness sake. WET previously collaborated with Cherdonna in 2017 to produce Cherdonna's Doll's House, the critically acclaimed contemporary mashup of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House that was called "an absurd and poignant satire of femininity" and "a compelling Frankenstein's monster that's classical theater, drag, and a critique of limitations in drag culture all at the same time" by The Seattle Times. WET's Literary Manager and Resident Dramaturg Maggie Rogers (Everything You Touch) will direct this not to be missed theatrical event.

Through collaborative artistic leadership, Washington Ensemble Theatre fearlessly creates audacious stories for adventurous Seattle audiences. A resident company at 12th Avenue Arts in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, WET is committed to maintaining an environment wherein its members, as well as artists from the community, are challenged to grow through its work as an ensemble. For more information about Washington Ensemble Theatre, please visit washingtonensemble.org.

Washington Ensemble Theatre is Samie Spring Detzer, Jeffrey Azevedo, Maria Manness, Rachel Liuzzi, Bobbin Ramsey, Tristan Roberson, Joceline Wynn, Jenn Oaster, Ryan Dunn, Erika Bailey, Maggie Rogers, Sophie Franco, Rachel Guyer-Mafune, and Erin Bednarz.