OPENING: Neil LaBute’s Vices and Virtues at Profiles Theatre

 Profiles Theatre presents

Neil LaBute’s Vices and Virtues

two full evenings of new short works in rotating repertory

Profiles Theatre continues its 27^th season with Vices and Virtues, two full evenings featuring eleven short plays by Resident Artist Neil LaBute, performing in rotating repertory. Each evening features Midwest and World premieres of some of LaBute’s newest shorts, staged by individual directors and featuring an ensemble cast of twenty performers. Profiles’ production runs at The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway, January 14 - March 6, 2016.

Vices will play Thursdays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4pm (new time) and Sundays at 7pm.  Virtues will play Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm (new time).

An Evening of Vices. An Evening of Virtues. Running in rotating repertory, Profiles presents two full evenings of short works by Neil LaBute, each filled with many surprises, both virtuous and otherwise. Each evening features stories of lust and hate, humor and sadness, virtue and depravity. Through them all, “love” will be the dominant theme--what it is, what it's not and how far it can be stretched.

The first evening, Vices, contains the World premieres of LaBute’s "I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart" and "Totally,” as well as the Midwest premieres of "Happy Hour," “The Great War” and “Lovely Head.”

The second evening, Virtues, provides LaBute's World premiere of "Swallowing Bicycles," the Midwest premieres of "Good Luck (in Farsi)," "Romance" and "10-K," as well as the Chicago premieres of "Kandahar" and "Mulberry Bush."

“It’s so great to be working on another project with Profiles Theatre and it’s especially nice to have it be two evenings of short works,” says playwright Neil LaBute. “I love writing in this form and it’s always hard to find a home for this kind of piece. Thankfully, my collaboration with Profiles allows for this type of experimentation and creates a home for so many artists to work on this project at the same time. This is a really terrific way to start the new year!”

This marks Profiles Theatre’s thirteenth collaboration with Resident Artist Neil LaBute. Previous productions include the American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep and acclaimed Midwest premieres of Wrecks, reasons to be pretty, The Mercy Seat and Fat Pig as well as the World premiere of his revised stage version of In the Company of Men, recipient of a Joseph Jefferson Nomination for Best New Adaptation.

The directors for Vices and Virtues include Bradley Bartolo, Tara Branham, Profiles ensemble member Eric Burgher, Brianne Duncan Fiore, Profiles Artistic Associate Jeff Gamlin, Profiles Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, Miles Mabry, Kay Martinovich, Andy Root, Benjamin Thiem and Scott Wolf. The ensemble cast includes many performers returing to Profiles, including Marilyn Bass (Dream of the Burning Boy), Betsy Bowman (The Jacksonian),Tamara Chambers (Hellcab), Tim Curtis (The Jacksonian), Rob Grabowski (Hellcab), Drew Halliday (Hellcab), Nik Kourtis (Cock), Eleni Pappageorge (Cock), Brennan Roche (In the Company of Men), Steve Silver (The Other Place), Adam Soule (Bachelorette) and Laura Berner Taylor (The Jacksonian). Making their Profiles Theatre debuts are Elizabeth Birnkrant, Sarah Brooks, Patrick Gannon, Brian Goodman, Brookelyn Hebert, Tom McGregor, Sarah Ruggles and Marie Weigle.

The designers are Greg Pinsoneault (set), Mike Rathbun (lights), Brandon Reed (sound), and Uriel Gomez (costumes). Amber R. Dettmers serves as production stage manager.

Profiles’ 2015-16 season continues with the Midwest premieres of Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, opening in March and The Village Bike by Penelope Skinner.

Tickets for either evening of Vices and Virtues are $40 each. Patrons who purchase tickets to one evening may purchase a discounted ticket to the second program for $10 off regular price. Tickets are available by phone, (773) 549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org.

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. His World premiere adaptation of his original play and film In the Company of Men (New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmakers’ Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival) had its debut at Profiles in 2013 and received a Jeff Nomination for Best New Adaptation. 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 Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace, Death at a Funeral, Some Girl(s), Some Velvet Morning and Dirty Weekend. LaBute made his television debut with a new series for DirecTV entitled Full Circle. His plays include Bash: Latter-Day Plays, The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times, Autobahn, Fat Pig, Wrecks, Some Girl(s), Things We Said Today, This is How it Goes, In a Dark Dark House, The Break of Noon, In a Forest, Dark and Deep, The Money Shot, Lovely Head, Miss Julie and The Way We Get By. Reasons to be Happy, a follow-up to his acclaimed play reasons to be pretty, opened 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 including “Seconds of Pleasure,” a collection of his short stories published by Grove Atlantic.

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.