Caught in the ACT: BEING SEEN by Sonya Lea

TheFilmSchool, in partnership with the Central Heating Lab at ACT Theatre, presents:

BEING SEEN

Caught in the ACT, a free script reading series featuring extraordinary work from alumni of TheFilmSchool, directed and perfomed by some of Seattle’s best professional directors and actors.

written by Sonya Lea

directed by Warren Etheredge

starring: Abby Brammell (LIKE DANDELION DUST; The Unit), Trina Willard (HUMPDAY), Todd Licea (ALIENS VS. PREDATOR 2) and Beth DeVries (The King & I)

BEING SEEN is based on an actual event and was first published as an essay in The Southern Review, for which Sonya Lea received an Artist Trust Award. Oprah Book Club author Bret Lott said this story “is strong and strange and haunting and moving all at once…(Sonya) has a voice and tone that are so truthful and authentic.”

BEING SEEN is a dramatic story about photographer Soph Newman, who is married to the magnetic physician Jack, and living a comfortable yet lackluster life when her husband is sideswiped in a terrible car accident. Soph is coping with his traumatic brain injury, when she discovers that her husband has forgotten everything he knew about becoming a lover; he has lost his remembrance of sex. Only her best friend Jules, the witty chef of the Dalai Mama Café, and Soph’s trusted confidante, can help her decide what is essential to preserve, and what’s worth leaving behind. It’s a tumultuous triangle that reaches its apex at Soph’s exhibit premiere, and takes a turn that no one, especially Soph, could have expected.

Sonya Lea has written three films and a television series, including an adaptation of Sandra Brown‘s New York Times best-selling thriller.  Lea has also won several screenwriting awards, including the Nicholl Fellowship (QF), has completed work with UCLA’s School of Film & Television, as well as at TheFilmSchool in Seattle, where Lea took this story to ‘workshop’ with writer/producer Warren Etheredge. Said Etheredge,  “Sonya is one of the few writers I’ve encountered whose brilliance transcends form; so whether crafting an essay, a script or a short story, her talent shines. It is just a matter of time till her work is regarded as highly as that of Francine Prose, Joan Didion and Melissa Mathison.”