An historic collaboration of world-class artists, this world premiere piece of music, theatre, and movement will be a rare opportunity for Seattle audiences to experience an international theatrical event.

Commissioned by ACT, internationally- renowned composer Philip Glass has created a spellbinding and stirring original score for string quintet. Based on one of Kafka’s masterpieces, In the Penal Colony is a heart-stopping tale about the dehumanization of the individual. Using Kafka’s resounding voice as a starting platform, Glass and director >oAnne Akalaitis, collaborating with a brilliant design team including >ohn Conklin, Susan Hilferty, and Jennifer Tipton, and choreography by Pat Graney, complete an approach to theatre that will stretch the boundaries of conventional storytelling.

ACT’s production of In the Penal Colony combines one of the greatest works of literature of the early 20th century with one of the greatest American composers’ first work of the 21st century, creating a hypnotic, beautifully realized, and thrilling way for us to learn from the past and imagine the future.