News Archive

Update July 24th:

Tickets to the Leavenworth ICICLE CREEK THEATRE FESTIVAL presentations: call 509-663-ARTS.

Tickets to Seattle ICICLE CREEK THEATRE FESTIVAL presentations: call 206-292-7676, or online at www.acttheatre.org.

All tickets $10.

“HIM” on Saturday, Aug. 15th at 8:00 PM
and Sunday, August 16th at 2:00 PM
at Icicle Creek Music Center, 7409 Icicle Road, Leavenworth, WA.

“THE JEWEL” on Saturday, Aug. 15th at 2:00 PM
and Sunday, August 16th at 8:00 PM
at Icicle Creek Music Center, 7409 Icicle Road, Leavenworth, WA.

“HIM” on Monday, Aug. 17th at 7:30 PM
at ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle.

“THE JEWEL” on Tuesday, Aug. 18th at 7:30 PM
at ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle.

We encourage all our visitors to frequent the following business websites and thank them for their support of our 3rd annual Icicle Creek Theatre Festival:

May 12, 2009 Update:

The plays to be presented in August 2009 have been selected. For details, see the PRESS, NEWS & PHOTO ARCHIVE page.

Only a few spots remain in ICTF’s One Week Theatre Conservatory, our educational program for young people interested in the theatre! Some scholarships are also still available. The Conservatory will be held the week of Aug. 2-8, 2009. More information here.

January 2009 Update:

Please see the SUBMIT A PLAY page for latest information on submissions.

ICTF is instituting an Educational Program for young students of the theatre, to be held the week of Aug. 2-8, 2009. More information here.

ICTF welcomes Educational Program Director Shana Pennington-Baird. Among other things, Ms. Pennington-Baird has been Manager of the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center, and Education Director of Seattle’s renowned Book-It Repertory Theatre.

ICTF recently announced Laura McNamara will step in as
the new Business Manager. Ms. McNamara, who recently relocated
from Santa Barbara, CA comes with over 15 years of nonprofit and fundraising
experience in music and arts and has worked with such notables musicians
as David Crosby, Neil Young, and Jackson Browne. She has also participated
in fundraising for PCPA (Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts), a
two-year Conservatory for aspiring actors and directors. Ms. McNamara is
thrilled to be a part of the Theater Festival, and looks forward to working
with local businesses, residents and foundations in helping to promote this
3-year old project.

Anna Ziegler’s “Dov & Ali” will receive its New York premiere at the Cherry Lane Theatre this spring, 2009; it received its London premiere last June. Kathleen Cahill’s “Charm” from our 2008 workshop was further developed at the Lark Theatre Co. (NYC), and is currently at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre’s PLAYFEST. It will receive a full production this fall at the Salt Lake Acting Company in Utah.

Icicle Creek Theatre Festival 2009

Following two successful prior seasons, the 2009 ICTF new play developmental workshop will take place August 8-16, 2009, again at the Icicle Creek Music Center in Leavenworth, WA. Presentations to the public of staged readings of the works will occur on the weekend of August 15th and 16th. Stage directors for 2009 are currently scheduled to be Kurt Beattie, Artistic Director of Seattle’s ACT Theatre, and ICTF Artistic Director Allen Fitzpatrick. Anita Montgomery, ACT Theatre’s Literary Manager, will act as Dramaturg.

Actor casting will take place in Seattle in May 2009, and notice will be posted on the Theatre Puget Sound website at that time. ICTF is an Equity company operating under the Actors Equity Association Periodic Performance Contract; we also employ a ratio of non-union actors.

2008 Icicle Creek Theatre Festival:
a great success.

Seven months of planning came to fruition on Aug. 9-10 when sixteen theatre-artists-in-residence collaborated to present staged readings to the public of two new plays at the Icicle Creek Music Center in Leavenworth.

“Charm” by Kathleen Cahill and “Kingdom of Dust” by Stephanie Timm had been chosen for this year’s festival; both playwrights were accomplished writers at the ideal level in their careers to benefit most from the type of workshop that ICTF offers.

The plays received much-needed development over the seven days preceding their presentations to the public; the dramaturgs, directors, actors and writers engaged in intense discussions in the process of re-working the plays. Post-show talkback sessions with the audiences lasted much longer than anticipated; viewers did not want to stop talking about what they’d seen.

In post-Festival letters to us, both playwrights expressed their feeling that the opportunities afforded them at the Festival were extraordinary. And as one of our directors, Chris Sumption, stated: “This is the most important kind of work to be doing in the American theatre right now.”

Planning for the 2009 Festival is in process. Check this website for 2009 submission information, which should be posted no later than Dec. 10.

News: Last season’s plays receive productions — “DOV & ALI” opening in London!

ICTF was created to help writers prepare their scripts for productions in regional theatres around the country, and we are delighted to announce that last year’s offerings have gone on to production in other venues. “Atomic Farmgirl” (by C. Denby Swanson) was produced Off-Broadway in New York City by The Drilling Company in December 2007, and “Dov and Ali” (by Anna Ziegler) will receive its London premiere by Theatre 503 in June.

New plays are the cornerstone of American theatre, and the Festival provides a crucial step in the development process for playwrights by giving them the rare opportunity to see how an audience responds to their new work. ICTF makes every effort to see that plays presented at the Festival are seen by those who are in a position to get those plays produced. ICTF is connected with a number of regional theaters in the Seattle area which are aware of our work, and who attend our presentations.

ICTF enjoys its collaboration with Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre (ACT)

ICTF has spent the past six months working in collaboration with ACT Theatre (http://www.acttheatre.org/) which provides assistance with casting, play solicitation, play-reading, dramaturgy, marketing, audience development, donor development, and the use of ACT’s Seattle space. ACT, established in 1965, is a renowned Seattle theater which has received dozens of awards including the Washington State Governor’s Arts Award, Seattle’s Best Theatre Award from Seattle Weekly, and grants from the NEA, Hearst Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Kennedy Center Fund.

ICTF also works with ACT to create an influx of visitors from Seattle and other cities, and to build ICTF’s national reputation. ICTF is committed to doing its part to make the Icicle Creek Music Center and Sleeping Lady a nationally-known arts destination.

A testimonial.

Last year’s playwrights felt that the opportunity the Festival afforded them was extraordinary. Ms. Ziegler wrote:

“Not only was the setting incredibly conducive to getting my work done, I also loved the people at the Festival. My cast could not have been better actors or collaborators. We became a real team, and their encouragement and feedback was invaluable. I’ve never before felt such excitement and enthusiasm from a cast, and that excitement deeply inspired me. I had a terrific experience… and I hope that playwrights will get to benefit from this experience for years to come. It is so rare to find something like this — a beautiful setting; encouraging, supportive and super-talented actors; and the time and space to really dig into a play. Thank you so much for an amazing week.”