Seattle Children's Theatre: Six Plays for Young Audiences

Still Life with Iris by Steven Dietz, Great Expectations by Barbara Field, The Book of Ruth by Deborah Lynn Frockt, Cyranno by Jo Roets, The King of Ireland's Son by Paula Wing and The Taste of Sunrise: Tuc's Story by Suzan Zeder Seattle Children's Theatre is a national leader in the field of theatre for young audiences. Celebrating its 25th year of professional thatre for young and family audiences, SCT has premiered over sixty new plays, many of which have gone on to future audiences, SCT has premeired over sixty new plays, many of which have gone on to future productions throughout the U.S. SCT has commissioned and produced plays by nationally recognized playwrights like Constance Congdon, Steven Dietz, Barbara Field, Len Jenkin, Jon Klein, Kevin Kling OyamO, Joe Rivera, Y York and Suzan Zeder (several of whom are represented are represented in this anthology). SCT has also had collaborations with some of Europe's leading theatres for young audiences including Blauw Vier and Speeltheater-Holland. SCT has garnered numerous awards and grants, many of which had never previously been given to a theatre for young audiences. These include the At&T Onstage Award, The Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, The Pew Charitable Trust/Theatre Communications Award, and the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Award. The plays contained in SCT's second Smith and Kraus anthology are appropriate for professional and non-professional companies. Though all SCT productions feature adult Equity actors, community and school groups across the company have found these plays excellent choices for young actors. The anthology contains four original stories for the stage as well as re-imaginings of two classic pieces of literature. The collection represents a variety of styles and themes; but the thread that ties the anthology together is the high quality of writing, so well deserved by young audiences. Deborah Lynn Frockt is in her sixth season as resident dramaturg and literary manager at Seattle Children's Theatre. Three of her plays have premiered at SCT: Winnie-the-Pooh, Alice's Adventures in wonderland, and The Book of Ruth, which was the recipient of a 1999 AT&T OnStage Award. Her plays have also been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Ms. Frockt was the literary associate at Actors Theatre of Louisville where she was a dramaturg for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She has been the dramaturg for three dozen new plays and her freelance work includes work at A Contemporary Theatre and the Empty Space Theatre. She holds masters degrees from Stanford University and the University of London.