Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Strap Yourself in for the Ride of Your Life with the

World Premiere Comedy Becky’s New Car by Steven Dietz

Becky’s New Car

By Steven Dietz

Directed by Kurt Beattie

Previews: October 17-22, 2008

Opens: October 23, 2008

Closes: November 16, 2008

Tickets

$10/$15 (for students/people 25 and under) to $55

Pay-What-You-Will: October 19 at 7:30 p.m., October 30 at 2:00 p.m.

ACT Theatre

Ticket Office: (206) 292-7676

Group Sales (12 or more): (253) 839-4204

700 Union Street, Seattle WA 98101

www.acttheatre.org

Seattle, WA – September 16, 2008 – ACT – A Contemporary Theatre debuts the world premiere comedy Becky’s New Car by local treasure Steven Dietz, commissioned as a part of ACT’s New Works for the American Stage in honor of Benita Staadecker.

The ninth of Dietz’s plays to be produced by ACT, the playful and painful, wacky and wistful Becky’s New Car maps out a road trip that lets the audience ride shotgun in a way most plays don’t dare. Fortyish Becky Foster (Kimberly King ) has a decent job at an auto dealership, a solid husband named Joe (Charles Leggett) and a freeloading psych-major son named Chris (Benjamin Harris) living in her basement. Her life is…okay, if not sublime, but she can’t help having the nagging suspicion that she’s missed out on something. Then, at the end of a long day at work when everyone else has gone home, a delightfully daft millionaire named Walter Flood (Michael Winters) shows up looking for the perfect gift for his employees. Walter, a recent widower, falls hard for Becky at first sight, and when he jumps to the conclusion that Becky too has lost her spouse, the moment when she might correct the misunderstanding slips by and Becky finds she doesn’t really mind.

Before Becky knows it, Walter is inviting her to exclusive parties at his island estate, introducing her to his discontented daughter Kenni (Anna-Lisa Carlson) and wooing her to be the new Mrs. Flood. Without really planning to, Becky has the chance to test drive another kind of existence – if she can just keep Walter in the dark about the one she already has, and Joe in ignorance about the one she’s trying out!

“This is a delightful, life-affirming comic play about the road not often taken and the soul of a woman pulled in two directions, romantically and socially. And will either road lead to happiness?” said ACT Artistic Director Kurt Beattie. “I think it is one of Steven Dietz’s best and most delicious plays. It is an honor to work on this world premiere.”

Additional presentations in conjunction with Becky’s New Car include The “Awesome” Cycle by popular theatrical band “Awesome” (October 24-November 15, Fridays 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.) produced by The Central Heating Lab at ACT, as well as pre- and post-show discussions.

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