Full cast and crew have been announced for Invictus Theatre’s upcoming production of Suzan Lori-Parks’s TOPDOG/UNDERDOG, its first at the Windy City Playhouse, the company’s new home. Parks’s drama is a darkly comic fable of brotherly love, family identity and the way we are defined by history. Lincoln and Booth are two African American adult brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Aaron Reese Boseman (director of Invictus’s productions of THE MOUNTAINTOP and A RAISIN IN THE SUN) will direct the two-hander. His cast will include Mikha’el Amin (previously seen at Invictus as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in THE MOUNTAINTOP, Marc Antony in JULIUS CAESAR, Laertes in HAMLET, and Walter Lee Younger in A RAISIN IN THE SUN) as Lincoln, and DeMorris Burrows (of 1919 at Steppenwolf and the BET feature film INFIDELITY) as Booth. Understudies are Stanley King (u/s/ Lincoln) and Aaron McCloud (u/s Booth). TOPDOG/UNDERDOG will be performed at the Windy City Playhouse at 3014 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago.
Top row (l-r): Mikha'el Amin, DeMorris Burrows
Second row (l-r):Stanley King, Aaron McCloud
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG’S Lincoln and Booth cope with poverty, racism, work, women, and their troubled upbringings. Haunted by the past, the brothers are forced to confront the shattering reality of their future. TOPDOG/UNDERDOG premiered off-Broadway at New York’s Public Theatre in a production directed by George C. Wolfe and starred Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright. It won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play and moved to Broadway the following year. Its 2022 Broadway revival won the Tony® Award for Best Revival of a Play.
Invictus Theatre Company has been one of the most notable success stories among Chicago’s storefront theatres in spite of the challenges facing the theater community in recent years. When the pandemic shut down in-person performances just three years after the company’s founding, they responded with a thrillingly intimate Zoom production of ‘NIGHT, MOTHER. They returned from the pandemic by acquiring their own space – the former Jackalope Frontier Theater – which they renamed in honor of the late founding company member Reginald Vaughn. In that space, they continued to build a reputation for intimate and honest interpretations of classics with fidelity to the original texts and close attention to character development. The company’s extraordinarily successful 2021-22 season netted the company five Jeff Awards for its 13 nominations.
The company continued its upward trajectory during its 2022-23 season. That season began with intimate, yet full-scale stagings of the epics JULIUS CAESAR and THE CRUCIBLE along with the two-hander THE MOUNTAINTOP. BUZZ CENTER STAGE’s Wesley David said in reviewing JULIUS CAESAR that “Invictus Theatre Company is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in Chicago” and of THE MOUNTAINTOP said “They constantly exceed their reach. I have to remind myself this is a storefront theatre.” The CHICAGO READER’S Jack Helbig said of THE CRUCIBLE “This is a production that grabs an audience in the first seconds, pulls us in, and doesn’t let go until the final lights go out.”
Tickets for TOPDOG/UNDERDOG and the rest of Invictus's 2024 season will be available soon at www.invictustheatreco.com
February 13 – March 31, 2024
Previews: Tuesday 2/13/24, Friday 2/16/24, Saturday 2/17/24 at 7 p.m. Saturday 2/17/24 and Sunday 2/18/24 at 2 p.m.
Press Opening Monday 2/19/24 at 7 p.m.
Regular performances Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays at 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Performances at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago
Ticket prices: Previews $25. Monday $25. Friday through Sunday $45. Season subscriptions available. www.invictustheatreco.com
A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity and the way we are defined by history. Lincoln and Booth are two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Haunted by the past, the brothers are forced to confront the shattering reality of their future.
BIOS
Charles Askenaizer (Artistic Director) is the Founding Artistic Director of Invictus Theatre. He won the 2023 Jeff Award (Non-Equity Wing) for his direction of the company’s WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, which also won Jeff Awards for Production of a Play, Scenic Design (Kevin Rolfs), and Performer in a Supporting Role – Play (Rachel Livingston). Other recent directing credits include THE CRUCIBLE, JULIUS CAESAR, and HAMLET (Invictus Theatre), readings with Chicago Dramatists, 'NIGHT, MOTHER (Associate Director-Invictus Theatre), THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (Invictus Theatre), OTHELLO: THE MOOR OF VENICE (Invictus Theatre), TITUS ANDRONICUS (Bare Knuckles Theater), JULIUS CAESAR (Associate Director- Brown Paper Box), TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (Reutan Collective), and THE DIFFERENCE (Reading-Piccolo Theatre). Charles has worked with Citadel Theatre, Teatro Vista, the Artistic Home, City Lit, Raven, Brown Paper Box, Chicago Dramatists, the Side Project and many more. Charles graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Theatre and Communications. In 2024, Charles was named one of Newcity Magazine’s “Players 50 2024: The Rising Stars and Storefront Stalwarts.”
Aaron Reese Boseman (Director) is a Chicago native and a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Direction and Acting. He directed Invictus’s acclaimed productions of THE MOUNTAINTOP and A RAISIN IN THE SUN and is a Jeff Award nominated actor, Black Excellence Award and Black Theatre Alliance Award nominated director and designer. He is also co-founder and artistic director of PULSE Theatre Chicago, where his directing credits include the critically acclaimed, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, IN THE BLOOD, THE COLORED MUSEUM, FABULATION, OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE, and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Other directing credits include THE TIGER WHO WORE WHITE GLOVES (eta Creative Arts Foundation), THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, S'KIN, THE PHILADELPHIA (Columbia College Chicago), AMERICAN SON (Ghostlight Theatre), NETWORTH, ROOM FOR MORE (Film Series) and DETROIT '67 (Columbia College Chicago-Mainstage). Upcoming: THE MUSIC MAN (Metropolis Performing Arts) and FAIRVIEW (Theatre at Cedar Rapids). Recent Acting Credits include BLUE HEAVEN (Black Ensemble Theater), RAGTIME (Metropolis Performing Arts), RUINED (Invictus Theatre), BIG RIVER (TATC), SHREK THE MUSICAL (Windy City Performs), IN THE HEIGHTS (The Miracle Center, Slate), VIOLET, BALM IN GILEAD (Griffin Theatre and Loyola University), GOLDEN BOY, DO RE MI (Porchlight Music Theatre), RENT (CCC), and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Skylight Music Theatre and Citadel Theatre).
ABOUT INVICTUS THEATRE COMPANY
At Invictus Theatre Company, our mission is to create theatre that promotes a better understanding of language: its poetry, its rhythm, its resonance; through diverse works by diverse artists. We respect the power of heightened language: spoken, written, sung; to express the breadth of the human condition. We work to harness the power of language: to promote diversity, to engender respect, to foster collaboration; and to empower our communities to share their voices.
Invictus Theatre Company incorporated in January 2017 and received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in February 2017. A diverse group of Chicago actors and directors founded Invictus with the vision to empower their communities through theatrical productions of heightened language. We are committed to the idea that our productions should reflect the communities we represent, and, to that end, we are committed to non-discriminatory hiring practices. In working with local artists, designers, and production teams, Invictus Theatre Company does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, nationality, citizenship, religion, or any other status protected by law.
Invictus Theatre Company's 2024 season is generously sponsored by Michael and Mona Heath of The Heath Fund, with additional support from The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Untouchable Times Tours, Inc., and the Illinois Arts Council.
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