ACT OUT OPENING: In the Company of Men at Profiles Theatre TONIGHT Through June 30th

Profiles Theatre to open the World premiere

 of Neil LaBute’s revised stage version of 

 In the Company of Men

Profiles Theatre Artistic Directors Darrell W. Cox and Joe Jahraus announce the World premiere of Resident Artist Neil LaBute’s revised stage version of In the Company of Men, opening at The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway on May 19, 2013. 

We first gave you the heads up about In the Company of Men, back in January and it's finally here.   This one's high on our must see list.   We have 2 other events conflicting with the press opening tonight, so we won't have a review for you just yet, but we hope to get there soon.

Tickets for this limited run of In the Company of Men are $35 for Thursdays, $40 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Students and Senior Citizens receive a $5 discount on all performances; Tickets are available by phone, (773) 549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org . Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 7:00 p.m.

May 16 – June 30, 2013

Schedule:  Thurs., Fri.: 8:00 p.m.  

Saturday: 5:00 p.m. and 8:00p.m. (no 5pm show during previews)

Sunday: 7:00 p.m. 

Location: Profiles Theatre, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway

Parking is available for $10 - $12 at 4100 N. Clarendon

(One block east of the theatre at the corner of Clarendon and Belle Plaine) 

In the Company of Men, directed by Profiles Resident Artist and Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder, runs through June 30, 2013.   The previously announced production of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon will be performed at a later date.

Profiles Theatre presents the professional debut production of Neil LaBute’s revised stage play, In the Company of Men. The script, performed in various incarnations as a play at earlier stages of LaBute’s writing career as both a student and otherwise, was eventually made into the acclaimed film released in 1997 launching the careers of star Aaron Eckhart and Neil LaBute as a filmmaker and playwright. When it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, In the Company of Men created a firestorm of controversy with wildly divergent yet passionate opinions. It received the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, the Filmmaker's Trophy at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and The New York Film Critics Award for Best First Feature.

Two frustrated young executives vent their pent-up rage via a childish prank and end up paying a price in the psychological dark comedy, In the Company of Men. Former college buddies Chad and Howard, now in their late 20s, work for the same company. When the two begin expressing their mutual frustration regarding their lack of rapid advancement at work and their recent bad luck with women, they hatch a nasty scheme: Find a vulnerable young woman to court, slather with affection, and then callously dump. They choose a lovely, hearing-impaired typist named Christine, but soon their scheme creates escalating tension and psychological games not only with hapless Christine, but also with each other.

Resident Artist and Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder directs the World premiere production of the revised script of In the Company of Men following his acclaimed Profiles productions of A Behanding in Spokane, reasons to be pretty and the Jeff Award-winning Killer Joe (Production, Director, Principal Actor). Guest Artists include Jordan Brown as Chad, Brennan Roche as Howard and Jessica Carleton as Christine. Appearing in ensemble roles are Dennis Bisto, Alex Fisher, Kroydell Galima, Shelby Garrett, Poppy Golland, Sarah Herndon, Joseph W. Moore III and Laura Leonardo Ownby.

"I'm so excited to be putting this early work of mine into the hands of my trusted collaborators over at Profiles Theatre,” says playwright Neil LaBute. “The film was a fantastic experience for me personally, but I've always hoped that the script would make its way back to the stage. I’ve truly enjoyed the creative process of adapting the original play for the screen and now turning it back into a play again. I think it's in perfect hands with Joe, Darrell and Rick. I feel that these characters will still resonate with audiences and I know that Profiles will take In the Company of Men for the ride that it deserves--they never pull punches at Profiles and I love the artistic relationship that we have fostered together over the past few seasons. I consider myself a lucky man to still get work done regularly in Chicago and I believe I have a genuine home for that work at Profiles."

Profiles Theatre began its relationship with Neil LaBute in 2006 with the Midwest premiere of autobahn, followed by their long-running hit, Fat Pig. In 2007, Profiles devoted an entire season to the works of LaBute that included the Midwest premieres of In a Dark Dark House, Some Girl(s), This is How it Goes, and a collection of short works entitled Things We Said Today followed by the Midwest premiere of The Mercy Seat in 2009 and the Chicago premiere of reasons to be pretty in 2011. Last season, Profiles produced the American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep as the inaugural production of their newest venue, The Main Stage. The playwright twice participated in benefit evenings of readings and conversation to support the theatre’s productions.

The stage version of In The Company of Men is produced by special arrangement with LaBute’s longtime collaborator and one of the film’s original producers, Stephen Pevner of Stephen Pevner, Inc and Company One Productions.  

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

NEIL LABUTE (Playwright) is a Resident Artist at Profiles Theatre and has been working with them since their 2006 production of Autobahn. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London and also attended the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Lab. His films include: In the Company of Men (New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmakers’ Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friend and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral. His plays include Bash: Latter-Day Plays, The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Autobahn, Fat Pig, Wrecks, Some Girl(s), This is How it Goes, In a Dark Dark House, The Break of Noon and In a Forest, Dark and Deep. Reasons to be Happy, a follow-up to his acclaimed play reasons to be pretty, opens at MCC in May 2013. reasons to be pretty premiered off-Broadway in 2008, receiving three Drama Desk Award nominations including Outstanding Play. It became Neil LaBute’s first play ever to be staged on Broadway when it opened in 2009 and was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play. LaBute is also the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in “The New York Times,” “The New York Times Magazine,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” and “Playboy” among others. “Sec-onds of Pleasure,” a collection of his short stories, was published by Grove Atlantic.

RICK SNYDER (Director) is a Resident Artist at Profiles and a Steppenwolf ensemble member. He returns to Profiles after directing their hit productions of A Behanding in Spokane, reasons to be pretty and the award-winning Killer Joe (2010 Jeff Awards for Outstanding Production, Director and Actor). Other recent directing credits include God of Carnage at the Goodman Theatre, Oleanna and Speed-the-Plow at American Theatre Company, Mauritius at Northlight Theatre, The Lion in Winter and Bus Stop at Writers’ Theatre, Aristocrats at Strawdog Theatre, St. Scarlet at ATC, and The Actor, Jolly and The Disappearance of the Jews at the Goodman Theatre. His directing credits at Steppenwolf include Art, Betrayal, Last of the Boys, Tavern Story, Things Being What They Are, Orange Flower Water (which traveled to the Galway Arts Festival), and The Fall to Earth. As an actor, Rick appeared in August: Osage County, The Unmentionables, Man From Nebraska and I Never Sang For My Father at Steppenwolf. He has appeared at the Goodman Theatre in As You Like It, Down the Shore and as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Rick’s film credits include The Tuskegee Airmen, The Net starring Sandra Bullock, Whiteboys, The Human Stain, Soul Survivors and U.S. Marshals. Rick has taught acting classes at Northwestern University and DePaul and currently teaches Directing 1 at Columbia College in Chicago. Rick has been a member of the Steppenwolf ensemble since 1983, and an instructor for The School at Steppenwolf and Associate Artist at Steppenwolf for the last twelve years.

DENNIS BISTO (Ensemble) was most recently seen in Profiles' 20th Anniversary Production of Hellcab. Dennis is a Saint Louis native who moved to Chicago last year after a brief stint in Boston where he performed in the World Premiere of The First Annual Northern Maine Arts Festival.

JORDAN BROWN (Chad) is making his Profiles Theatre debut. His New York credits include River Valley Rep's The Light in the Piazza, Oberon Theatre Ensemble's Much Ado About Nothing, and an episode of As The World Turns for CBS Television Studios. His regional credits include A Skull in Connemara at Centerstage Theatre in Baltimore and West Side Story at Ravinia. Other Chicago credits include Sense and Sensibility at Northlight Theatre, The Pitmen Painters at Timeline Theatre Company, A Christmas Carol at The Goodman Theatre and Congo Square Theatre’s production of The Fall of Heaven by Walter Mosley. Jordan is a graduate of The North Carolina School of the Arts. 

JESSICA HONOR CARLETON (Christine) is making her debut at Profiles Theatre. Her Chicago credits include Mick Kelly in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chekov's Emerging Women at Piven Theatre, and Crippled Sisters in the New Stages Series at Goodman Theatre. Jessica is an original ensemble member, head writer, and puppet/makeup designer on the national children’s TV show Green Screen Adventures (MeTV/WCIU). Last year, she won a National Daytime Creative Arts Emmy. Jessica graduated from Northwestern University in Theatre and Creative Writing for the Media. She began learning American Sign Language when she was 12-years-old, and brings her respect for Deaf culture to this process. 

ALEX FISHER (Ensemble) was most recently appeared in Profiles Theatre’s 20th anniversary production of Hellcab.  Her recent credits include The Lion in Winter with Idle Muse Theatre and Peer Gynt directed by Jeremy Wechsler with Polarity Ensemble Theatre.  Alex is a graduate of Lake Forest College.

KROYDELL GALIMA (Ensemble) is working with Profiles Theatre for the first time. Recently, he appeared with TimeLine Theatre in their production of Concerning Strange Devices From The Distant West directed by Lisa Portes and In The Small Dark Room with Erasing The Distance. Kroydell has also worked with Proud Kate Theatre Project in their production of November at The Greenhouse Theatre, Theatre Seven of Chicago in The Chicago Landmark Project, Adventure Stage Chicago’s The Giver and Ghosts of Treasure. He appeared in the Ignition Festival 2010 at Victory Gardens and The Pathetic, a web series. He is a BFA graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University.

SHELBY GARRETT (Ensemble) is making her Profiles debut with In the Company of Men. Shelby just recently finished her year long run as Sharon in Chicago's debut of Girl's Night: The Musical. Other Chicago credits include Chicago Kid's Company's Chicken Little and Metropolis Performing Arts Center's A Christmas Carol. She has also studied at Improv Olympics and Profiles Theatre. Shelby’s regional credits include Prairie Fire Children's Theater, Shadowbox LIVE, & Zipper Theater in New York. Shelby is a graduate of Wright State University.

POPPY GOLLAND (Female Ensemble) is excited to be appearing with Profiles for the first time. She is from the Bay Area in California, and has most recently worked with Baby Crow Productions in their gender blind production of True West directed by Remy Ortiz, Back Room Shakespeare Project’s Back Room Chekhov, as well as having played Julie in Vintage Theater Collective’s Miss Julie, directed by Jason Economus. Poppy recently traveled to Los Angeles during the winter to film her first feature length film About Ashley directed by Stefan Pavlovic. 

SARAH HERNDON (Ensemble) is appearing with Profiles for the first time. Regional acting work includes multiple credits with the Theatre of Western Springs in Western Springs, IL. Roles at TWS include Mina in Dracula directed by Rick Snyder, Nina in The Quick Change Room, and Nellie Ewell in Summer and Smoke. In addition to acting, Sarah has also written two produced plays, The Real Mrs Jones and Spurse Change. Sarah holds a degree in Theatre Performance from the University of Evansville, IN.

JOSEPH W. MOORE III (Ensemble) was last seen at Profiles in their 20th Anniversay production of Hellcab by Will Kern. He is currently attending Columbia College Chicago where he appeared in Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet,The Shipment, Love SongVignettes and A Raisin in the Sun. He is also a collective member of For Youth Inquiry.

LAURA LEONARDO OWNBY (Ensemble) is making her Profiles debut with In the Company of Men. Regionally, Laura has appeared in Noises Off! with Theatre at the Center. Locally, she has worked with First Folio Theatre on Unnecessary Farce as an understudy, Ghost in the Machine, where she was first directed by Rick Snyder, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Summer and Smoke at the Theatre of Western Springs, and A Voice of my Own and Arrow of Love with Evergreen Theatre. 

BRENNAN ROCHE (Howard) retuns to Profiles after appearing in their 20th Anniversary production of Hellcab and understudying the role of Steve in The Dream of the Burning Boy. He is a Chicago native and has studied at Piven Theatre Workshop where he was a part of the Young People's Company. He graduated from Loyola Marymount University with credits including The Shape of Things, Proof, and The Odd Couple.

ABOUT PROFILES THEATRE

Profiles Theatre, founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, joined shortly thereafter by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, was formed as an actor-driven theatre ensemble dedicated to creating provocative and emotionally truthful productions. Passionate about shaping an original vision for new works, they focused on performing World, American and Midwest premieres as well as rarely performed plays. Critically acclaimed hits, such as BLACKBIRD, FAT PIG, GRACELAND and the multiple Jeff Award-winning KILLER JOE, established Profiles as a destination for challenging and edgy theatre. Their unique collaboration with playwright Neil LaBute led the ensemble to perform an entire season of his plays in 2007-2008. Now a Resident Artist at Profiles, LaBute remains an unequivocal artistic influence on the ensemble.

After performing at 4147 North Broadway for more than two decades, Profiles acquired an adjacent theatre at 4139 North Broadway in 2012. Profiles’ new theatre, The Main Stage, with its larger seating capacity, increased performance space and higher ceilings, accommodates more ambitious and technically demanding productions. Their long-time venue, renamed The Alley Stage, continues as the home for plays strengthened by a more intimate staging. Driven by an undiminished appetite for creating honest and resonant theatre, Profiles still seeks to present work that illuminates the determination and resiliency of the human spirit.