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The UW Playhouse:
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The School of Drama’s Playhouse Theatre is one of the nation’s oldest historic theatre buildings in continuous use. Originally a warehouse, the building was remodeled into a theatre space in 1930 by Florence and Burton James, co-founders of the Seattle Repertory Playhouse theatre company. Renowned Seattle architect Arthur Loveless created an “English Rambler” style design for the proscenium theatre. The building also contains small mosaics by famed Seattle artist Mark Tobey. |
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The Playhouse participated in many of the political and cultural transformations of the twentieth century. A history of the United States could be told by the story of this red-brick theatre. In 1936, as part of the WPA’s (Works Progress Administration) Federal Theatre Project, the Playhouse housed one of the few “Negro Units” in the country. The Company was regarded by Project National Director Hallie Flanagan as the finest of the national troupes and the Seattle Company’s plays (some of which were written by black playwrights) were known for regularly attacking existing racial stereotypes. This, coupled with an integrated cast production of the pro-union play Stevedore during a Longshoreman’s strike, and an interest in Russian theatre, caused Playhouse founders Albert Ottenheimer and the James’ to be investigated for un-American activities by the Canwell Committee in 1948—an investigation that ultimately doomed the Seattle Repertory Playhouse.
The Seattle Repertory Playhouse was considered a “civic” theatre that “kept in direct contact with all the activities and needs of a people.” Plays by Scandinavian authors were presented every season for Seattle audiences, and new dramas by Northwest playwrights were regularly produced. Additionally, the artistic statement of the theatre company encouraged fully modern productions that ranged from the more “scientific” methods of Stanislavsky to the more symbolic style of Peer Gynt. The Seattle Repertory Playhouse was also known for its children’s puppet plays presented in coordination with Seattle’s Junior League, and it had the largest theatre education program in the United States, ultimately touring plays by Shakespeare to over 70,000 high school students throughout the state.
 Playhouse 2001 |
The Playhouse was acquired by the University in 1950 to address a need for an experimental laboratory theatre. By the time of its transfer, the Playhouse had housed 2500 performances of 167 plays in its 20-year existence, and the company had employed a total of 876 actors and 124 technicians and enjoyed a subscription base that ultimately exceeded 5,000 patrons. The Playhouse continues to play a critical role in training top-notch theatre artists at the School of Drama. Founders and artistic directors of many of Seattle’s leading theatres were first students or faculty at the School, including Greg Falls, Duncan Ross, Linda Hartzel, and M. Burke Walker. |
