ACT Contemporary Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company will officially merge into one theater company as of July 1, the organizations announced Thursday.
The companies will merge under the legal name Union Arts Center and operate out of ACT’s current multi-theater home at the former Eagles building at 700 Union St. in downtown Seattle.
In an interview following the June 2024 announcement that a merger would be explored, outgoing artistic director John Langs said that the two companies were “finding a way to meet these industry headwinds that have been so crippling to so many organizations.”
A public-facing name has yet to be announced for the new company, which will present work honoring both SSC’s classical tradition and ACT’s contemporary legacy.
Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night,” which opens June 7 at ACT, will be the first collaboration between the two organizations. The new company’s inaugural 2025-26 season will be announced in April.
“Merging the legacies of these two extraordinary theatres will create more opportunities for artists, maximize usage of the landmark Eagles Auditorium, and ensure quality productions of both classic and contemporary plays at 7th and Union in Seattle for years to come,” ACT board chair Cynthia Huffman said in a statement.
Current SSC Executive Director John Bradshaw will join as managing director of the merged company, and seven members of each organization’s current board will comprise an initial board of trustees.
Elisabeth Farwell-Moreland, who stepped in as ACT interim producing artistic director following Langs’ departure last fall, will continue to serve in that position. A nationwide search for the new company’s artistic director will launch in the coming months.
Farwell-Moreland’s term will last until at least July 1, to avoid a leadership gap while a search is underway.
Additionally, in the coming months, Bradshaw, Farwell-Moreland and board members will work to create a staff structure and documents including a mission statement, and finalize a board executive structure for this new company.
ACT, founded in 1965, has a fiscal year 2025 operating budget of $6.8 million while SSC, founded in 1991, has a current operating budget of $2.5 million. The new company’s fiscal year 2026 budget is still in development.
Current staff numbers were not immediately available, but as of June 2024, ACT had 45 full-time staff members and nine board members. SSC had a staff of 22, including seasonal box office employees and front-of-house staffers, and 20 board members.
The companies did not provide further detail on how many existing staff members will be retained moving forward. However, according to press representative Shane Regan, both SSC and ACT have paused filling some currently open and planned future positions in an effort to reduce any potential layoffs once the merger is finalized.
“Optimal staffing for the merged organization is still under careful evaluation,” Regan said. “Intention remains to preserve as many positions as possible.”
Following the June 2024 merger announcement, both Langs and Bradshaw sounded confident that few jobs would be lost in a merger.
“The new company will be larger than the existing companies, so that creates opportunities,” Bradshaw said. “And one of our values, on both sides, is our people.”
