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THE BIG SLAM Here are two articles about Bill Corbett's THE BIG SLAM, taken from Playbill Magazine. These articles are reprinted without permission. The first article is the announcement of the 1997 Seattle presentation of THE BIG SLAM: Just announced is the sixth and final show of Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre's 1996-97 season, "The Big Slam", directed by Woolly Mammoth company artistic director, Howard Shalwitz. A satirical look at get-rich-quick schemes, "Slam" follows four yuppies joining forces to market a bizarre new product. Bill Corbett's comedy premiered in 1995 as a production by the Eye of the Storm company at the Loring Playhouse. (The show also played at Woolly Mammoth in January, though it was directed by Casey Stangl there, rather than Shalwitz.) Satire is something of a Corbett specialty; he's a contributing writer on cable TV's "Mystery Science Theatre 3000." Said Corbett in a statement about the play, "I was interested in doing something about how the world of business has developed its own vocabulary to make naked ambition seem morally virtuous. Pure greed packaged in the language of self-help and spiritual renewal." "The Big Slam" begins previews Oct. 16, opens Oct. 21, and ends Nov. 16. Founded in 1965 by Gregory A. Falls, A Contemporary Theatre now has two stages, the Falls Thrust Stage and the Allen Arena, where "St. Ives" plays. Coming up this season: Pearl Cleage's "Blues For An Alabama Sky", which begins previews Aug. 7, opens Aug. 12 and runs to Sept. 7; and Jon Marans' "Old Wicked Songs", which begins previews Sept. 11, opens Sept. 16 and runs to Oct. 12. Director Swackhamer is serving as interim artistic director of ACT; the announcement of a permanent head is expected at the end of the summer. For tickets and information on productions at A Contemporary Theatre on Union Street in Seattle, call (206) 292-7676. --By David Lefkowitz The second article covers an earlier production of THE BIG SLAM at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC: "The Big Slam", Bill Corbett's satirical comedy about big business, is playing at Washington DC's Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company through Feb. 9. "Business has developed its own vocabulary to make naked ambition seem morally virtuous," Corbett said, " . . . pure greed packaged in the language of self-help and spiritual renewal." In "Slam", a shy graduate student gets sucked into a frivolous money making enterpise by two manipulative friends. Things go awry when an alluring UPS driver entices them into sexual entanglements. Appearing in the Mammoth cast are Christopher Lane, Carol Monda, John Kirkman and Rhea Seehorn. Sets are by Tony Cisek, sound by Daniel Schrader, props by Linda S. Evans, lighting by Dan Covey and costumes by Brooke Edwards. The play premiered at Minneapolis' Eye Of The Storm Theatre in 1995 and was directed by Casey Stangl, who will also direct this production. Corbett, a former Jerome Playwriting Fellow-in-Residence (Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis) has written "Motorcade" and "The Dead Book" and contributed to TV's "Mystery Science Theatre 3000." For tickets ($12-$27) and information on "The Big Slam", which begins previews Jan. 13 and runs to Feb. 9 at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre on Church Street NW, call (202) 393-3939. --By David Lefkowitz