Intiman pulled off its summer comeback of 2012 with four plays and a single team of actors and designers. The question afterwards: Was that experiment successful enough to replicate? The answer: Yes. Intiman just announced its 2013 summer series, built on the same model.

The shows are:

Trouble In Mind – An integrated acting company in 1957 comes together to rehearse a new play in Alice Childress' groundbreaking comedy-drama of race and representation in the American theatre. Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton (Intiman’s All My Sons and Dirty Story).

Lysistrata: Aristophanes’ story of women who withhold sex from their husbands in an effort to stop war, directed by Sheila Daniels (Intiman’s Crime and Punishment, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Abe Lincoln in Illinois).

Stu for Silverton: A new musical about the mayor of Silverton, Oregon – the unlikely and surprising story of America's first transgender mayor and his community – with book by Peter Duchan, music and lyrics by Breedlove, directed by Artistic Director Andrew Russell.

We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! – Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo at his funniest and most socially relevant in this laugh out loud farce about money, class, and the resiliency of the human spirit. Directed by the queen of clowning and physical theatre, Jane Nichols.

I remember talking to Russell when he was gearing up for the 2012 summer, but just about to go to NYC for a workshop/reading of Stu for Silverton. He was blown away by the story of a 2.7 square-mile town, which wasn't especially known for being cosmopolitan, rallying behind its hometown trans mayor—and one time chasing Fred Phelps's Westboro hate-rodeo out of their community. Apparently, the pro-mayor counter-rally featured families and local guys wearing skirts with their boots. (Silverton is also home to the heroic Bobby the Wonder Dog, who walked from Indiana back to his family's house in Oregon after they got separated on a road trip. It sounds like a hell of a town.)

In other theater news, Hannah Victoria Franklin (who was part of Intiman's summer ensemble) has been anointed as the first managing director of Washington Ensemble Theater. She used to be their administrative director but it sounds like she'll now be responsible for more big-picture finance and fundraising stuff. From their press release:

“The Board and I are delighted to have Hannah as our first Managing Director; during her tenure as Administrative Director, Hannah has been instrumental in strengthening the company, implementing improvements to our ticketing process, bookkeeping procedures, and supporter records, as well as being the company’s main contact with the community. As we move towards our new home in Capitol Hill Housing’s 12th Avenue Arts Building, Hannah’s skills, enthusiasm and dedication to the company will be invaluable,” said Susan Davis, Board President.

Congratulations to Intiman and Hannah. Onward and upward.