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ACT Contemporary Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company announce possible merger

The two local theatre companies both unanimously approved the exploration of a merger — here’s what we know.

The corner of the historic Eagles building downtown features a long, rectangular sign on the corner reading "A C T Theatre" and a tall high rise building extends up into the sky in the background.

Home of ACT Contemporary Theatre, the Eagles Auditorium Building hosted many 1950s R&B performances, late-60s rock concerts, and 1980s punk shows.

Photo by SEAtoday staff

*Enter stage right*

Two prominent local theatre companies recently announced a possible merger. The ACT Contemporary Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company (SSC) are looking at joining forces, with the potential to operate within ACT’s current home in the Eagles Auditorium Building at 700 Union St.

The merger was unanimously approved by the ACT and SSC Boards, both of which will serve as the stewards of the transition as a legal agreement is drafted.

Here are the main goals behind the merger:

  • Assist in the revitalization of downtown
  • Strengthen their community impact and individual missions (ACT’s being to unite artistic ambition + SSC’s to make arts accessible)
  • Combine resources to address production costs and uncertain subscriber numbers

The full merger is still “around a year in the making” with an exact title for the resulting org yet to be revealed.

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