Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel Heads to Seattle Rep With Valerie Curtis-Newton Directing

Seattle Repertory Theater is mounting a production of Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel, with rehearsals and performances set to run from January 15 through March 21, 2027, at the Leo Kreielsheimer Theater in Seattle. Casting is underway right now, making this the moment for actors, stage managers, designers, and production crew to get on the radar. With a playwright of Nottage's stature and a director as respected on the West Coast regional circuit as Valerie Curtis-Newton, this is shaping up to be one of the more significant theatrical events in Seattle's 2026-2027 season.

Lynn Nottage needs little introduction to anyone working in serious American theater. The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright earned her first Pulitzer for Ruined in 2009 and her second for Sweat in 2017, making her one of the most decorated living dramatists in the country. Intimate Apparel, which premiered at Baltimore Center Stage in 2003 before moving to Lincoln Center Theater in New York, is widely regarded as one of her finest works. Set in 1905 Manhattan, the play centers on Esther, a Black seamstress whose meticulous handiwork and quiet dignity are tested when a long-distance romance leads to marriage and an unexpected, forbidden emotional connection with a neighbor. The material is rich with period texture, emotional complexity, and thematic weight around race, class, and women's autonomy, all of which signal meaningful design and performance opportunities across the board.

Directing is Valerie Curtis-Newton, a heavyweight in Pacific Northwest theater whose work spans decades of production at major regional houses. Curtis-Newton served as the founding Artistic Director of the Hansberry Project in Seattle, a company dedicated to the African American theatrical canon, and has directed extensively at Seattle Rep, ACT Theatre, and stages across the country. Her familiarity with Nottage's world and her deep roots in Seattle's theater community make her a natural fit for this material. The combination of Curtis-Newton's directorial sensibility and Nottage's writing is the kind of creative pairing that attracts serious design talent and committed ensemble casts. Casting Director Shawna Grajek is handling the search for actors, and anyone seeking to be considered for this production should be making that connection now.

Seattle Repertory Theater, operating under the artistic leadership of Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann, is one of the most established regional theater institutions on the West Coast. A LORT (League of Resident Theatres) house operating under an Equity agreement, Seattle Rep productions work with union actors and typically maintain strong relationships with local Seattle-area designers and technicians, though department heads for design-driven productions are often sourced regionally and nationally. Rodríguez, who took the artistic helm at Seattle Rep in 2019 after leading Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, has continued to program work that balances classic American drama with writers of contemporary significance. Nottage's play fits squarely within that vision.

The Leo Kreielsheimer Theater, Seattle Rep's main stage space, is a thrust-configured house that seats approximately 850 patrons and sits within the Seattle Center campus, making it one of the more prominent performance venues in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle has a well-developed theater infrastructure and a skilled local crew base, particularly in stage management, scenic construction, lighting, and sound. Productions at this scale and at this venue typically engage Seattle-based designers, though it is not uncommon for Seattle Rep to bring in designers from other markets for high-profile productions. With a run spanning nearly ten weeks, the production will require a full complement of production staff through both the build and the run, including scenic and costume construction, props, lighting, and sound crews. The period setting, 1905 Manhattan, will place particular demands on the costume and scenic departments, as the play's visual world is closely tied to the texture of early 20th-century urban life and the intimate domestic spaces Esther inhabits.

With a production start still well over a year out, the hiring pipeline is in its early stages, but the fact that casting is already in motion signals that the creative team is organized and moving deliberately. Designers and production staff who want to be considered should begin expressing interest now, as regional theater timelines often mean design contracts are locked well in advance of the build period. For the full production listing, including contact information, office addresses, the confirmed crew roster as it develops, and scheduling updates as they are announced, head to ProductionList.com. This is one to bookmark and watch closely as the 2027 season approaches.

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