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...a roller coaster ride! |
History in Brief
Steeplechase Productions was born on June
13, 2001 at Liberty Deli on Alki Beach. When the resident company of
Alki’s only dinner theatre gave notice they were moving on, restaurant owner Tom
Ansart, with support and encouragement by actor extraordinaire Kady Douglas,
decided to self produce. The first show "What Happened Was..." opened
Labor Day weekend and soon after terriorists struck the World Trade Center.
It’s been a roller coaster ride ever since.
Steeplechase was incorporated as
a 501(c)(3) corporation in April of 2003. Twenty-one shows were produced
at Liberty Deli before the restaurant was forced to close in February, 2004 when
the ownership of the property changed hands. The company is known for
neo-classical productions of lesser known works by great playwrights (Ibsen,
Shaw, Sartre, Chekhov, Genet).
A strategic planning process has
lead to a goal to produce an annual festival of plays by French playwrights.
In 2007 we produced our first Playing French Seattle festival featuring plays
by Cesare Orioli and José Pliya. The 2008 festival was dedicated to the
works of José Pliya who travelled from Guadeloupe to present the keynote
address.
Playing French Seattle, the what and
the why
The fourth festival of plays under the banner of Playing
French Seattle was produced in November, 2010. Although sometimes portrayed as
a University of Washington student organization, or an arm of Steeplechase
Productions, Playing French Seattle is really a loose knit group of actors,
directors, producers and crew who love theatre and the French language and get
together periodically to stage plays in French. We have produced classics such
as Racine' Phèdre, Rostand's "Les Romanesques," and, in 2010, Molière's "Le
Médecin Malgré Lui." We have produced plays by contemporary French playwrights
like Orioli's "L'Atelier d'Ecriture," Pliya's "Nous Etions Assis sur le Rivage
du Monde" and "Les Effracteurs" and Visniec's "Le Deuxième Tilleul à Gauche" and
"Petit Boulot pour Vieux Clown." In 2010 we are hosted plays by Jean-Michel
Ribes staged by "Elles et Luis" (teachers from the Franco-American School of
Puget Sound). We have experimented with bilingual productions in Balzac's "Le
Faiseur" and Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities." Although best known for our annual
festival at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre, we have also performed for the Alliance
Française at the Good Shepherd Theatre, the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce
at Seattle Center for Bastille Day, and the at the University of Washington for
"World Languages Day." Playing French Seattle is more of a happening than an
organization or a place. We're glad that you happen to be here and welcome your
engagement.
Tom Ansart
Producer, Steeplechase Productions
Member, Playing French Seattle
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