ACT is a theater in Seattle. It is the first theatre in this huge American city that plays contemporary works. This theatre makes history to the present day, being a promoter of contemporary plays since 1965. The ACT manifesto specifies that ACT exists for the same reason education and health systems exist – to improve the quality of life in the American civilization.

The reason ACT was created is the strong belief of those who work there in the contemporary ideas, struggles, and issues. The aim is to create an elevation of the spirit, to bring light to the consciousness, to generate self-awareness, betterment of our own person and of the relations between people.

The communion is the main way to achieve the goals ACT is setting. A deeper understanding, the creation of a philosophical view and a comparison with our human fellows and the world out there in the sense of implicating in the life of the world are purposes that animate all ACT creations. The artists working for this prestigious theater think they push excellence to its ultimate extent.

ACT is considered a reef of artistic practice, creating levels of life experience through theater performance. ACT considers that every performance represents a new possibility to gain insight into the fathomless depths of life.

The risk is, according to those who lead the ACT, essential because without it theater doesn’t fulfill its mission of leading the pack” as they so biblically put it. That is why ACT hosts all sorts of cutting edge theater experiments, and it seems to be successful at it. The theater received numerous awards: Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Fund, Washington State Guvernor’s Arts Award, Seattle’s Best Theater – Seattle Weekly, and many other.

There are six plays that were staged in New York as ACT productions: Scent of the Roses by Lisette Lecat Ross, Temporary Help by David Wiltse, In the Penal Colony by Philip Glass and three more.

A very important feature of this renowned theater is that it has a very sophisticated system of gift shops. Souvenirs we can buy here are as unusual as anything else in this establishment. There is a theatrical artisan bazaar that sells and offers as gifts products made by staff who doesn’t work on the stage anymore or who works in the auxiliary departments. Following to the letter their credo, ACT people see this artifact manufacturing as a way to explore or keep exploring similarly or complementarily to the stage performance.

What exactly can we find in this gift shop? Glass mosaics made by actor and singer Karen Skrinde, pottery made by actor Eric Newman, jewelry made of hammered metals by actor Priscilla Lauris, hand-woven scarves and shawls made by actor Marianne Owen, and many more.

The shopping time depends on the performance hours. Thus, we can buy all these beautiful memorabilia one hour prior to the inception of the ACT stage performance, during the interacts and a little bit after the play is over.

If you’re in the neighborhood, do not hesitate to go visit the gift shops and, why not, attend a play at this modern theater. It’s a cultural experiment that cannot hurt. Agree?

Washington,  DC is the capital city of a great “nation under God”, the American nation. The city was founded on July 16, 1790. At first, it was a municipality in the Columbia Territory until the act of the Congress in 1871, which effectively merged the City and the Territory of Columbia in the District of Columbia.

The Metropolitan Area of the City of Washington has a population of 5.3 million people. According to the Article One of the Constitution of the United States of America a federal district is provided to the purpose of being the capital of the country permanently.

The capital of the United  States hosts all the governmental institutions of the United States of America and very many headquarters of international institutions such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Pan American Health Organization and others. The city has a delegate in Congress without the capacity to vote. Although the district has a self-government structure, that is a mayor and a 13-member council, we must know that Congress can always overturn the decisions of the City Hall of Washington.

The city is also the place where the paramount national monuments and memorials of the country are: African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in honor of all black soldiers that died during the Civil War; Arlington National Cemetery – the biggest burial ground in the USA; DC War Memorial – a less known memorial dedicated to the soldiers originating from DC who died in the WW1; Eisenhower Memorial – dedicated to the American president Dwight Eisenhauer; George Washington Masonic Memorial – dedicated to the first president of the United States of America; Lincoln Memorial; US Navy Memorial; Smithsonian Museums and Institute.

There are monuments renowned all over the world: Washington Monument – an obelisk dedicated to the first president of the US, it is the taller building in the city; Capitol Hill, where the US Congress resides; the White House and its Oval Office where the president of the United States resides.

Every year many people come to the capital city to visit the most important city of their country. Children are being brought here to make a first hand acquaintance with the most important places and moments of their national history.

What kind of gifts can they take from the capital city for their loved ones residing all over in America and where can they find them?

To avoid wasting precious time they could access the website of DCGiftShop.com where every one can find gifts they can buy for those back home. Let’s see: for $38,00 you can purchase an Air Force One Desk Model;  for $26,00 you can buy a White House Christmas Ornament; for $17,00 you can purchase the book A Vision of Freedom; the bust of your favorite president of the United   States costs $22,00.

United States Capitol Historical Society offers you a wide range of gifts: Statues of Freedom for $36,00; Apotheosis Scarves for $86,00; Oval Office Tree Decorations, for $24,00.

The same kind of items can be purchased at the US Government’s gift shops. The Library of the Congress offers you interesting ideas for a gift from the US capital.