Union Arts Center seems to be settling into its new skin. The Seattle theater, which formed when ACT and Seattle Shakespeare Company joined forces, just named Yuvika Tolani as its first permanent artistic director.

Tolani is moving over from The Public Theater in New York, where she spent seven years on staff. She won’t officially start the job until May 4, but her hiring marks the end of a national search to find someone to lead the combined organization.

In the meantime, the theater has two more shows to round out their current season. First up is “The Aves” by Jiehae Park, directed by Sheila Daniels. It’s a Seattle premiere that starts with a couple on a park bench talking about birds and rain, though the story eventually shifts into something more surreal regarding memory and forgiveness. “The Aves” opens in previews on April 18 and runs through May 3.

After that, the center will stage “Frida… A Self-Portrait,” a solo show focused on, you guessed it, the life of Frida Kahlo.

New Season

Union Arts Center also recently teased out their 2026/2027 season, which officially starts in September. The five-show lineup is built around the idea that “nothing is what it seems,” mixing Shakespeare with newer scripts.

The fall kicks off with “Hamlet” at the Allen Theatre, running from September 19 to October 11. That will be followed by Douglas Lyons’ “Table 17” in the Falls Theatre, a comedy about two exes meeting for dinner two years after a breakup.

After the New Year, the schedule picks back up in February with Steve Martin’s “Meteor Shower,” a play about a double date that goes off the rails during an astronomical event. In March, the theater returns to the Allen for “Much Ado About Nothing,” focusing on the famous back-and-forth between Beatrice and Benedick.

The season wraps up in May 2027 with “The River Bride” by Marisela Treviño Orta. It’s a fable set in a Brazilian village on the Amazon River, involving a mysterious stranger who appears just before a wedding.