Union Arts Center (previously A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) and ACT Contemporary Theatre) is a regional, non-profit theatre organization in Seattle, in the US state of Washington. Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997) founded ACT in 1965 and served as its first Artistic director; at the time ACT was founded he was also head of the Drama Department at the University of Washington.Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997), Columns (University of Washington alumni magazine), June 1997. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Falls was identified with the theatrical avant garde of the time,Mark Waldstein, "Evolution of Revolution", City Arts Seattle, November 2009, p. 48–51. and founded ACT because he saw the Seattle Repertory Theatre as too specifically devoted to classics. In 2025, ACT Contemporary Theatre merged with the Seattle Shakespeare Company to form the Union Arts Center.https://www.dailyuw.com/article/act-contemporary-theatre-and-seattle-shakespeare-company-merge-20250623
Facility
The Union Arts Center is located in Kreielsheimer Place, at 700 Union Street in Downtown Seattle. The building, which also includes the 44 unit, moderate-income Eagles Apartments, is the historic Eagles Auditorium Building. Previously part of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (to which it is connected via internal tunnel), the building was remodeled into theater spaces and apartments and renamed in honor of a major gift from the Kreielsheimer Foundation.Eagles Apartments at Kreielsheimer Place , housingpolicy.org. Accessed online 2009-11-06.Misha Berson, Act Makes Its Move -- Theater Company Is Finally Sitting Pretty In The Heart Of Seattle, Seattle Times, September 1, 1996. Accessed online 2009-11-06. There are two mainstage theater spaces, each with a capacity of about 390 seats. The Gregory A. Falls Theatre, located below street level, has a rectangular thrust stage. Above ground, the former Eagles Auditorium hall (now known as the Allen TheatreACT/Allen Theatre , ACT Theatre. Accessed online 2009-11-06.) is an arena or "in-the-round" venue.
Complying with landmark ordinances, the Allen Theatre retains the Eagles Auditorium's gilded balcony, ornate ceiling, and crystal chandeliers, though some of this is obscured by the HVAC and lighting systems. The decision to convert this famous lecture hall and performance venue from a proscenium stage to theater-in-the-round was, according to Misha Berson, "the most controversial aspect of the renovation". The proscenium stage from which Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke, and on which the Grateful Dead performed, "is now just a painted relic in the background."
The facility also includes the Bullitt Cabaret and several other smaller spaces.Bullitt Cabaret , ACT Theatre. Accessed online 2009-11-06.
History
ACT was founded by Gregory A. Falls in 1965, providing Seattle with "a serious alternative to summer stock theater.""Contemporary Theatre, Inc., A.", p. 107 in Don B. Wilmeth and Tice L. Miller, eds., Cambridge guide to American theatre Edition 2, Cambridge University Press, 1996, They staged their first performance July 9, 1965. ACT was originally in a 454-seat thrust-stage theaterCambridge guide to American theatre says 449 seats. in Queen Anne Hall, now home to On the Boards. Falls remained as artistic director until 1988, when he was succeeded by Jeff Steitzer, then in 1995 by Peggy Shannon.
After a lengthy and difficult search for a larger space, ACT moved into its new Kreielsheimer Place facility in 1996, and presented its first play there on September 1 of that year. However, Shannon's productions at the new facility were not well received by the critics or the public. Shannon resigned in 1997, leaving ACT in debt for the first time in its history, and with subscriptions having fallen from 11,400 in 1996 to 9,000 in 1997.Misha Berson, The drama behind the scenes at ACT, Seattle Times, March 11, 2003. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Her successor, Gordon Edelstein, revived the company's critical and popular reputation, bringing such noted performers as actresses Julie Harris and Jane Alexander and singer songwriter Randy Newman, as well as experimental director Joanne Akalaitis and composer Philip Glass. Several ACT premieres went on to successful runs in New York. However, costs rose accordingly, and ACT's debts mounted. In October 2002, ACT made an offer to Robert Egan, producing director at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles,Misha Berson, Robert Egan, ACT's new artistic director, knows Seattle well, Seattle Times, October 22, 2002. Accessed online 2009-11-06. to become their new artistic director, but by the time the 2003 season was approaching, ACT had a US$1.7 million debt and was in no position to honor their offer. They were in serious danger of folding. Subscriptions dropped to 7,500.Misha Berson, ACT schedules five-play 2004 lineup, Seattle Times, November 9, 2003. Accessed online 2009-11-06.
Donations (including $500,000 Boeing chairman Phil Condit), some scaling back, and a successful 2003 season under artistic director Kurt Beattie saved the day, sparing ACT the fate visited upon Seattle's comparably prominent Empty Space Theatre in the same period.Misha Berson, Empty Space was a survivor until last "rainstorm" , Seattle Times, November 1, 2006. Accessed online 2009-11-06. By the 2006 season, ACT was back to venturesome programming, including Martin McDonagh's black comedy The Pillowman and local writer Elizabeth Heffron's Mitzi's Abortion.Misha Berson, Provocative "Pillowman" heads up daring new ACT season, Seattle Times, March 19, 2006. Accessed online 2009-11-06.
John Langs became the artistic director, replacing Kurt Beattie, December 2015. In 2018, Yussef El Guindi became a Core Company playwright member.
In 2025, ACT Theatre signed a merger agreement with Seattle Shakespeare Company. Their inaugural merged production of Twelfth Night premiered in the Falls Theatre on June 12, 2025, with the merger officially taking effect on July 1, 2025.
Stature Over more than four decades, the Union Arts Center has established itself as one of Seattle's leading theaters.David-Edward Hughes, Seattle, Talkin' Broadway Regional Theater. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Along with the Cornish Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre ("The Rep"), it is one of the city's three largest playhouses.Misha Berson, Smaller theaters are thinking big, getting first dibs on new works , Seattle Times, April 27, 2008. Accessed online 2009-11-06. ACT's Mainstage has presented many world, American, and West Coast premieres.Production history , ACT Theatre. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Numerous productions have gone on to New York City.ACT History: ACT plays live beyond ACT , ACT Theatre. Accessed online 2009-11-06.
Union Arts Center is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT).Member Theatres, League of Resident Theatres. Accessed online 2018-01-14. It is also a member of Theatre Puget SoundTPS Member Companies, Theatre Puget Sound; accessible via dropdown, site is not designed for "deep linking". Accessed online 2009-11-06. and is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group.Theatre Profiles: A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) , Theatre Communications Group. Accessed online 2009-11-06. The Union Arts Center is also a member of the Downtown Seattle Association, Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau and Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.Membership Directory
Mainstage production history 2025 Season Playwright Notes POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive Selina Fillinger Mrs. Loman is Leaving Katie Forgette The Last Five Years Jason Robert Brown Co-Production with The 5th Avenue Theatre Golden Andrew Lee Creech Twelfth Night William Shakespeare Co-Production with Seattle Shakespeare Company, directed by Annie Lareau 2024 Season Playwright Notes Cambodian Rock Band Lauren Yee, Dengue Fever Co-production with 5th Avenue Theatre, Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre A Case for the Existence of God Samuel D. Hunter STEW Zora Howard The Lehman Trilogy Stefano Massini Adaptation by Ben Power 2023 Season Playwright Notes Choir Boy Tarrell Alvin McCraney Co-production with Denver Center for the Performing Arts and 5th Avenue Theatre History of Theatre: About, By, For, and Near Reginald André Jackson World Premiere Every Brilliant Thing Duncan Macmillian, Jonny Donahoe Wolf Play Hansol Jung 2022 Season Playwright Notes Hotter Than Egypt Yussef El Guindi World Premiere The Thin Place Lucas Hnath Sweat Lynn Nottage 2020 Season Playwright Notes Sweat Lynn Nottage Production cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic The Effect Lucy Prebble Production cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Choir Boy Tarrell Alvin McCraney Co-production with Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Production cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic The Laugh Track Wendy MacLeod World Premiere. Production cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Witch Jen Silverman Production cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2019 Season Playwright Notes Romeo + Juliet William Shakespeare Urinetown Mark Hollmann, Greg Kotis Co-production with 5th Avenue Theatre Pass Over Antoinette Nwandu The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion People of the Book Yussef El Guindi World Premiere Dracula Steven Dietz adapted from Bram Stoker New Adaptation 2018 Season Playwright Notes Ride the Cyclone Brooke Maxwell, Jacob Richmond Co-production with 5th Avenue Theatre The Wolves Sarah DeLappe Until the Flood Dael Orlandersmith Lauren Weedman Doesn't Live Here Anymore Lauren Weedman World Premiere Skylight David Hare Oslo J. T. Rogers 2017 Season Playwright Notes Tribes (play) Nina Raine Murder for Two Kellen Blair, Joe Kinosian Co-production with 5th Avenue Theatre The Legend of Georgia McBride Matthew Lopez Alex & Aris Moby Pomerance King of the Yees Lauren Yee The Crucible Arthur Miller 2016 Season Playwright Notes Assassins Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman Stupid Fucking Bird Aaron Posner The Mystery of Love and Sex Bathsheba Doran Daisy Sean Devine The Royale Marco Ramirez Dangerous Liaisons Christopher Hampton 2015 Season Playwright Notes Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Eric Blau, Jacques Brel, Mort Shuman Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Tennessee Williams Threesome Yussef El Guindi Hold These Truths Jeanna Sakata Bloomsday Steven Dietz Mr. Burns, a post-electric play Anne Washburn, Michael Friedman (score) 2014 Season Playwright Notes Little Shop of Horrors Howard Ashman, Roger Corman, Charles B. Griffith, Alan Menken Bethany Laura Marks The Price Arthur Miller An Evening of One Acts Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Sam Shepard The Invisible Hand Ayad Akhtar Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Christopher Durang 2013 Season Playwright Notes Assisted Living Katie Forgette Grey Gardens Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, Doug Wright Other Desert Cities Jon Robin Baitz Rapture, Blister, Burn Gina Gionfriddo Middletown Will Eno Sugar Daddies Alan Ayckbourn Season 2012 Playwright Notes First Date Michael Weiner, Austin Winsberg, Alan Zachary The Pitmen Painters Lee Hall One Slight Hitch Lewis Black The Pinter Festival Harold Pinter Uncle Ho to Uncle Sam Robert Egan, Trieu Tran Ramayana Yussef El Guindi, Stephanie Timm 2011 Season Playwright Notes Vanities: A New Musical Jack Heifner The Prisoner of Second Avenue Neil Simon Pilgrims in the New World Yussef El Guindi In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) Sarah Ruhl Mary Stewart Peter Oswald Double Indemnity David Pichette, R. Hamilton Wright, James M. Cain 2010 Season Playwright Notes The Trip to Bountiful Horton Foote The Female of the Species Joanna Murray-Smith Yankee Tavern Steven Dietz The Lady With All the Answers David Rambo The Lieutenant of Inishmore Martin McDonagh 2009 Season Playwright Notes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson