Works by Joe Orton and Patrick Marber and two premieres are featured in the 1998-99 season at the Empty Space Theatre in Seattle, WA. The Orton begins the roster. The play is the English dramatist's fastest farce, What the Butler Saw (Oct. 9-Nov. 14, 1998), about the chaotic goings-on in a psychiatric hospital. Rod Ceballos will direct.

Cabellos will also stage the premiere of Barbara Lebow's The Empress of Eden (Feb. 26-Mar. 27, 1999). The play is based on a true story about a German naturalist and his companion who set out in the '30s to create a paradise in the Galapagos Islands. Lebow's other works include A Shayna Maidel.

Empty Space Artistic Director Eddie Levi Lee will mount two production in the coming season, including an as-yet-unnamed collaboration with the Unidentified Moving Objects ensemble. UMO's work in the past has been marked by great physicality and virtuoso musicianship. The project will play Jan. 15-Feb. 13, 1999. Lee will also direct a return engagement of Empty Space's 1997 hit Wuthering! Heights! The! Musical! (Nov. 30, 1998-Jan. 2, 1999). Lee also wrote the book and lyrics to this musical about a Georgia socialite named Cooka Pippin who decides to write a play based on the Bronte novel for the upcoming high school reunion. Edd Key composed the music.

The season's next-to-last offering will be with Patrick Marber's Dealer's Choice (Apr. 9-May 8, 1999). The English playwright's work centers around a restaurant staff's weekly poker game. A final play is yet to be announced.

For information on the Empty Space season, call (206) 547-7500. -- By Robert Simonson