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Showing posts with label American Theater Company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Theater Company. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

REVIEW: Bomb Shelters and Barbecues Reign In Cold War Comedy We’re Gonna Be Okay

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

American Theater Company opens the Chicago premiere of
We’re Gonna Be Okay
Directed by Artistic Director Will Davis
Written by Basil Kreimendahl


Now playing through March 4, 2018

Review:

In a new era of bomb threats and cold war posturing in 2018, it's fascinating to see this Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy era period piece through the lens of Trump's America. We’re Gonna Be Okay is as funny as it is disturbing. I loved the unique casting choices which made the production edgy and contemporary while making the 1960's gender stereotypical roles even more glaringly apparent. This suburban dystopia is visually fun, with larger than life, playful pop art backdrops. 


The basic takeaway is, you never really know your neighbors, or yourself till you're under duress and under ground. This psychological exploration of life under the shadow of a looming missile crises, and in the close confinement of a shared shelter, is a darkly funny wake up call. The entire cast was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena), Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna), Avi Roque (Jake), Kelli Simpkins (Efran), BrittneyLove Smith (Mag) and Penelope Walker (Sul) and their portrayals of the American dream turned nightmare. The teens were particular standouts, as they  fumbled about, coming to grips with mortality, sexuality and gender identities, on the cusp of adulthood.

ATC is one of our storefront favorites, with a thought provoking, edgy lineup. They've been pushing gender identity and race assumptions in exciting, cutting edge ways, with unique casting choices. We can't wait to see what's next. 

We’re Gonna Be Okay at American Theater Company. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

American Theater Company (ATC) opens the Chicago premiere of Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay tonight, Monday, January 29. Artistic Director Will Davis directs a cast featuring Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena), Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna), Avi Roque (Jake), Kelli Simpkins (Efran), BrittneyLove Smith (Mag) and Penelope Walker (Sul).

We’re Gonna Be Okay plays now through March 4, 2018, at American Theater Company (1909 W. Byron Street, Chicago). Single tickets are $38 and are available by calling the ATC box office at 773-409-4125 or visiting www.atcweb.org.

In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy addressed the nation, “My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out... But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.” Well, Efran and Leena and Mag and Sul are thinking about doing something. Something big. Straight from Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay confronts the fears of the American middle class as two families wrestle with macrame, female empowerment and a shared property line.

Performance schedule:
Press Opening: Monday, January 29 at 7 p.m.
Regular Run: Feb. 1- March 4: Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. (except for Feb. 3) and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.

ARTIST BIOS
Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena) is an actor and writer based in Chicago. She has most recently worked with The Hypocrites, Jackalope Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and Silk Road Rising. Adithi is currently working on her one actor/multi-media ensemble driven play, Open Season, which was the inaugural project selected to pilot The Gift Theatre Company's 4802 Residency, the theater's new play research and development wing. Adithi is a proud 2015 graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, and has trained at the Second City Training Center, iO Theater, Green Shirt Studios and the Acting Studio Chicago. She has appeared on ABC's Betrayal and NBC's Chicago Med. Adithi is represented by Stewart Talent Agency.

Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna) thanks you for making the time to come see this show, her first production back at ATC since Men on Boats. Chicago theatre companies she has worked with include: The Hypocrites, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Steep Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, First Floor Theater, Emerald City Theatre Co., and even a few defunct ones, too. She is proudly represented by Gray Talent.

Avi Roque (Jake) (Gender Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs) is beyond thrilled to be returning to American Theater Company and working with Will Davis! Avi, a San Francisco native, received their B.A. in Theatre from California State University, Fullerton, and moved to Chicago to nurture their artistic spirit. Today, Avi is proud to say that they are a multi-disciplinary artist and a Latinx gender non-conforming/trans individual. Their most recent credits include: Men on Boats (American Theater Company) and The Crucible (Steppenwolf For Young Adults). They also recently worked with Damon Kiely as Assistant Director for Boy (TimeLine Theatre Company). Avi is a company member with Collaboraction, First Floor Theater and Pride Films & Plays. They are represented by Gray Talent.

Kelli Simpkins (Efran) is a company member of Tectonic Theater Project and is one of the original creator/performers of The Laramie Project directed by Moises Kaufman (Off-Broadway, Denver Center, Berkeley Rep., LaJolla Playhouse). Theater credits: Charm at MCC in NY, directed by Will Davis; T. and Men on Boats at ATC; The Secretaries, The Kid Thing (Jeff nomination: Principle Actor), Execution of Justice and Pony at About Face Theater; Cocked at Victory Gardens; Spill (dramaturg/performer) at EST and Timeline Theater; Teddy Ferrara at Goodman Theatre; In Darfur at Timeline; Late: A Cowboy Song at Piven; Celebrity Row at ATC; Fair Use, Good Boys and True and One Arm at Steppenwolf Theatre; The People’sTemple at the Guthrie, Perseverance and Berkeley Rep.; I Think I Like Girls at LaJolla and Cherry Lane. Directing credits: Good Death, an original play that she directed and co-wrote with students at Western Michigan University. Film/TV credits: Slice, Chicago Fire, Patriot, Betrayal, A League of Their Own, Chasing Amy, Law & Order: C.I. and HBO’s The Laramie Project (Emmy nomination: Ensemble Writing). Kelli is a proud recipient of a 2013 Chicago 3Arts Award.

BrittneyLove Smith (Mag) is glad to be back at ATC. BrittneyLove was most recently Prix in Eclipse Theatre's production of Breath Boom. BrittneyLove was also Jane Eyre in both the original and remounted production of the Hypocrites production of You On The Moors Now. She was Bradley in ATC's Men On Boats. She also appeared in Secretaries (About Face Theatre) and the four-time Jeff nominated production of Charm (Northlight Theatre) over at the Steppenwolf garage. BrittneyLove played Salima in the critically acclaimed and Jeff nominated production of Ruined (Eclipse Theatre company) earning her a BTAA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. She recently appeared in the new Nash Edgerton feature Film Gringo. You can hear her on the WBEZ podcast series Pleasure Town where she is a series regular.

Penelope Walker (Sul) is happy to return to ATC to work with Artistic Director Will Davis. She last worked at ATC with former Artistic Director PJ Paparelli on The Project(s), Agnes of God & Doubt. Also at ATC she did People's Temple. Recent Chicago credits include: A Christmas Carol, The Story, Crowns and Wit; The House That Will Not Stand at Victory Gardens Theatre; Love & Information at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company; Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England at Theatre Wit; Will You Stand Up? at Erasing the Distance; Laura Jacqmin’s 10 Virgins and Lydia R. Diamond’s world premiere production of Voyeurs de Venus at Chicago Dramatists; Eclipsed, Gee’s Bend and Bee-luther-Hatchee at Northlight Theatre; Life Sucks & J. Nicole Brooks’ world premiere production of Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Don DeLillo’s Love Lies Bleeding at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Kennedy Center; Omnium Gatherum at Next Theatre Company; Chris-T at MPAACT; The Clink at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble and Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery at Chicago Theatre Company. She also wrote and starred in her own solo piece, How I Jack Master Funked the Sugar in My Knee Caps! Ms. Walker has appeared regionally with the Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage and the Alley Theatre. She has appeared in national commercials and voice overs. She was in the web series Matching Pursuit; the television pilot SouthSide for Comedy Central; Chicago Justice and Chicago Fire for NBC; Showtime's Boss; the feature film Olympia: An Instruction Manual for How Things Work, Severed Ties; and the film short Something Better Somewhere Else.

Basil Kreimendahl (Playwright) is a resident playwright at New Dramatists. Their plays have won several awards, including the Rella Lossy Playwright Award and a National Science Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Kreimendahl has been commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s American Revolutions program, and by Actors Theatre of Louisville for Remix 38 (2014 Humana Festival). Their play Orange Julius was developed at the 2012 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and will have its New York premiere at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, in a co-production with P73. Kreimendahl’s plays have also been produced or developed by New York Theatre Workshop, American Theater Company, Victory Gardens Theater, The Lark, La Jolla Playhouse, and Labyrinth Theater Company. They have been a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow and McKnight Fellow, won an Art Meets Activism grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and will be a visiting writer at Williams College in 2017. Kreimendahl’s work has been published by Dramatic Publishing and HowlRound. They received their M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 2013.

Will Davis (Director) is a trans-identified director and choreographer focused on physically adventurous new work and old plays in new ways. He is also the artistic director of American Theater Company (ATC). Recent and upcoming projects include: Bobbie Clearly by Alex Lubischer for The Roundabout; Charm by Philip Dawkins for MCC; Welcome to Jesus by Janine Nabers for ATC; a queer re-imagining of Picnic by William Inge for ATC; Evita, re-conceived for the Olney Theatre Center, for which he received a Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Direction; Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus for Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks, Playwrights Horizons and ATC, for which he received a Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best Direction; Duat by Daniel Alexander Jones for Soho Rep; Mike Iveson’s SORRY ROBOT for PS122’s COIL Festival; and two productions of Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker for Mixed Blood Theater and the Olney Theatre Center, for which he won a Helen Hayes award for outstanding direction. Davis has developed, directed and performed his work with NYSF, New York Theatre Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, the New Museum, the Olney Theatre Center, the Alliance Theatre, the Playwright’s Realm, the Fusebox Festival, the Orchard Project, the Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep and the Kennedy Center. He is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, the NYTW 2050 Directing Fellowship and the BAX (Brooklyn Art Exchange) artist in residence program. He is a member of the TCG board and the Jubilee planning committee. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University and an MFA in Directing from UT Austin.

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, ArtsWork Fund, Actors’ Equity Foundation, The Pauls Foundation and Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation.

Monday, January 29, 2018

OPENING: Chicago premiere of We’re Gonna Be Okay Via American Theater Company Through 3/4/18

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

American Theater Company opens the Chicago premiere of
We’re Gonna Be Okay
Directed by Artistic Director Will Davis
Written by Basil Kreimendahl

Now playing through March 4, 2018

We’re Gonna Be Okay at American Theater Company. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Tonight I'll be ChiILin' at Chi, IL's American Theater Company, for the press opening of We’re Gonna Be Okay. ATC is one of our storefront favorites, with a thought provoking, edgy lineup. They've been pushing gender identity and race assumptions in exciting, cutting edge ways, with unique casting choices. We can't wait to see what's next. 

American Theater Company (ATC) opens the Chicago premiere of Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay tonight, Monday, January 29. Artistic Director Will Davis directs a cast featuring Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena), Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna), Avi Roque (Jake), Kelli Simpkins (Efran), BrittneyLove Smith (Mag) and Penelope Walker (Sul).

We’re Gonna Be Okay plays now through March 4, 2018, at American Theater Company (1909 W. Byron Street, Chicago). Single tickets are $38 and are available by calling the ATC box office at 773-409-4125 or visiting www.atcweb.org.

In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy addressed the nation, “My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out... But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.” Well, Efran and Leena and Mag and Sul are thinking about doing something. Something big. Straight from Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay confronts the fears of the American middle class as two families wrestle with macrame, female empowerment and a shared property line.

Performance schedule:
Press Opening: Monday, January 29 at 7 p.m.
Regular Run: Feb. 1- March 4: Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. (except for Feb. 3) and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.

ARTIST BIOS
Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena) is an actor and writer based in Chicago. She has most recently worked with The Hypocrites, Jackalope Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and Silk Road Rising. Adithi is currently working on her one actor/multi-media ensemble driven play, Open Season, which was the inaugural project selected to pilot The Gift Theatre Company's 4802 Residency, the theater's new play research and development wing. Adithi is a proud 2015 graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, and has trained at the Second City Training Center, iO Theater, Green Shirt Studios and the Acting Studio Chicago. She has appeared on ABC's Betrayal and NBC's Chicago Med. Adithi is represented by Stewart Talent Agency.

Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna) thanks you for making the time to come see this show, her first production back at ATC since Men on Boats. Chicago theatre companies she has worked with include: The Hypocrites, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Steep Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, First Floor Theater, Emerald City Theatre Co., and even a few defunct ones, too. She is proudly represented by Gray Talent.

Avi Roque (Jake) (Gender Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs) is beyond thrilled to be returning to American Theater Company and working with Will Davis! Avi, a San Francisco native, received their B.A. in Theatre from California State University, Fullerton, and moved to Chicago to nurture their artistic spirit. Today, Avi is proud to say that they are a multi-disciplinary artist and a Latinx gender non-conforming/trans individual. Their most recent credits include: Men on Boats (American Theater Company) and The Crucible (Steppenwolf For Young Adults). They also recently worked with Damon Kiely as Assistant Director for Boy (TimeLine Theatre Company). Avi is a company member with Collaboraction, First Floor Theater and Pride Films & Plays. They are represented by Gray Talent.

Kelli Simpkins (Efran) is a company member of Tectonic Theater Project and is one of the original creator/performers of The Laramie Project directed by Moises Kaufman (Off-Broadway, Denver Center, Berkeley Rep., LaJolla Playhouse). Theater credits: Charm at MCC in NY, directed by Will Davis; T. and Men on Boats at ATC; The Secretaries, The Kid Thing (Jeff nomination: Principle Actor), Execution of Justice and Pony at About Face Theater; Cocked at Victory Gardens; Spill (dramaturg/performer) at EST and Timeline Theater; Teddy Ferrara at Goodman Theatre; In Darfur at Timeline; Late: A Cowboy Song at Piven; Celebrity Row at ATC; Fair Use, Good Boys and True and One Arm at Steppenwolf Theatre; The People’sTemple at the Guthrie, Perseverance and Berkeley Rep.; I Think I Like Girls at LaJolla and Cherry Lane. Directing credits: Good Death, an original play that she directed and co-wrote with students at Western Michigan University. Film/TV credits: Slice, Chicago Fire, Patriot, Betrayal, A League of Their Own, Chasing Amy, Law & Order: C.I. and HBO’s The Laramie Project (Emmy nomination: Ensemble Writing). Kelli is a proud recipient of a 2013 Chicago 3Arts Award.

BrittneyLove Smith (Mag) is glad to be back at ATC. BrittneyLove was most recently Prix in Eclipse Theatre's production of Breath Boom. BrittneyLove was also Jane Eyre in both the original and remounted production of the Hypocrites production of You On The Moors Now. She was Bradley in ATC's Men On Boats. She also appeared in Secretaries (About Face Theatre) and the four-time Jeff nominated production of Charm (Northlight Theatre) over at the Steppenwolf garage. BrittneyLove played Salima in the critically acclaimed and Jeff nominated production of Ruined (Eclipse Theatre company) earning her a BTAA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. She recently appeared in the new Nash Edgerton feature Film Gringo. You can hear her on the WBEZ podcast series Pleasure Town where she is a series regular.

Penelope Walker (Sul) is happy to return to ATC to work with Artistic Director Will Davis. She last worked at ATC with former Artistic Director PJ Paparelli on The Project(s), Agnes of God & Doubt. Also at ATC she did People's Temple. Recent Chicago credits include: A Christmas Carol, The Story, Crowns and Wit; The House That Will Not Stand at Victory Gardens Theatre; Love & Information at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company; Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England at Theatre Wit; Will You Stand Up? at Erasing the Distance; Laura Jacqmin’s 10 Virgins and Lydia R. Diamond’s world premiere production of Voyeurs de Venus at Chicago Dramatists; Eclipsed, Gee’s Bend and Bee-luther-Hatchee at Northlight Theatre; Life Sucks & J. Nicole Brooks’ world premiere production of Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Don DeLillo’s Love Lies Bleeding at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Kennedy Center; Omnium Gatherum at Next Theatre Company; Chris-T at MPAACT; The Clink at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble and Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery at Chicago Theatre Company. She also wrote and starred in her own solo piece, How I Jack Master Funked the Sugar in My Knee Caps! Ms. Walker has appeared regionally with the Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage and the Alley Theatre. She has appeared in national commercials and voice overs. She was in the web series Matching Pursuit; the television pilot SouthSide for Comedy Central; Chicago Justice and Chicago Fire for NBC; Showtime's Boss; the feature film Olympia: An Instruction Manual for How Things Work, Severed Ties; and the film short Something Better Somewhere Else.

Basil Kreimendahl (Playwright) is a resident playwright at New Dramatists. Their plays have won several awards, including the Rella Lossy Playwright Award and a National Science Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Kreimendahl has been commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s American Revolutions program, and by Actors Theatre of Louisville for Remix 38 (2014 Humana Festival). Their play Orange Julius was developed at the 2012 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and will have its New York premiere at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, in a co-production with P73. Kreimendahl’s plays have also been produced or developed by New York Theatre Workshop, American Theater Company, Victory Gardens Theater, The Lark, La Jolla Playhouse, and Labyrinth Theater Company. They have been a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow and McKnight Fellow, won an Art Meets Activism grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and will be a visiting writer at Williams College in 2017. Kreimendahl’s work has been published by Dramatic Publishing and HowlRound. They received their M.F.A. from the University of Iowa in 2013.

Will Davis (Director) is a trans-identified director and choreographer focused on physically adventurous new work and old plays in new ways. He is also the artistic director of American Theater Company (ATC). Recent and upcoming projects include: Bobbie Clearly by Alex Lubischer for The Roundabout; Charm by Philip Dawkins for MCC; Welcome to Jesus by Janine Nabers for ATC; a queer re-imagining of Picnic by William Inge for ATC; Evita, re-conceived for the Olney Theatre Center, for which he received a Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Direction; Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus for Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks, Playwrights Horizons and ATC, for which he received a Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best Direction; Duat by Daniel Alexander Jones for Soho Rep; Mike Iveson’s SORRY ROBOT for PS122’s COIL Festival; and two productions of Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker for Mixed Blood Theater and the Olney Theatre Center, for which he won a Helen Hayes award for outstanding direction. Davis has developed, directed and performed his work with NYSF, New York Theatre Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, the New Museum, the Olney Theatre Center, the Alliance Theatre, the Playwright’s Realm, the Fusebox Festival, the Orchard Project, the Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep and the Kennedy Center. He is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, the NYTW 2050 Directing Fellowship and the BAX (Brooklyn Art Exchange) artist in residence program. He is a member of the TCG board and the Jubilee planning committee. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University and an MFA in Directing from UT Austin.

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, ArtsWork Fund, Actors’ Equity Foundation, The Pauls Foundation and Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

OPENING: Welcome to Jesus 10/26-12/3 And Full 33rd Season Casting Announced


Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY ANNOUNCES COMPLETE
CASTING FOR SEASON 33:

World premiere of Welcome to Jesus by Janine Nabers
Chicago premiere of We’re Gonna Be Okay by Basil Kreimendahl
World premiere of Diagram of a Paper Airplane by Carlos Murillo



Here at ChiIL Live Shows we're looking forward to another season of edgy, insightful productions from ATC. We'll be out to review their season opener, Welcome to Jesuson October 30th, so check back soon for our full review. 

American Theater Company (ATC) announces complete casting for Season 33 productions: Janine Nabers’ world premiere of Welcome to Jesus, directed by Artistic Director Will Davis, October 26–December 3, 2017; Basil Kreimendahl’s Chicago premiere of We’re Gonna Be Okay, January 25–March 4, 2018, directed by Davis; and Carlos Murillo’s world premiere of Diagram of a Paper Airplane, May 3–June 10, 2018, directed by Bonnie Metzgar.

“At ATC we champion theater makers who are bold and curious about what is possible on stage, which means we're thrilled to kick off the season with the world premiere of Janine Nabers Welcome to Jesus, a remarkable new work fusing fable and horror in a 21st century take on the southern gothic tradition,” says Davis. “Welcome to Jesus speaks to the power of prejudice to define our fate and will be performed in a kinetic and magical darkness, punctuated by the high theater of small town football and old-time religion. Continuing in the ATC style of expansive and fearless approaches to play-making, Welcome to Jesus will be followed by Basil Kreimendahl's We're Gonna be Okay and Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane. The Season 33 line up of artists exemplifies our commitment to equity, theatricality, and adventure, and we cannot wait to share their work with you.”


Season subscriptions are on sale now and range from $40-$114, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35. To purchase a subscription or for more information, visit

www.atcweb.org or call the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125.




World Premiere
Welcome to Jesus
Written by Janine Nabers
Directed by Will Davis
October 26–December 3, 2017


Cast: Taylor Blim (Dixie Danver), Theo Germaine (Bud Henderson), Rashaad Hall (Him), Casey Morris (Officer Mike Danver), Josh Odor (Coach Arthur Henderson), John Henry Roberts (Sheriff Paul Danver Sr.) and Stacy Stoltz (Ma Danver).

In fictional Hallelujah, TX, football reigns, and the quarterback is king. Janine Nabers’ darkly funny and powerful new play unearths the tyranny of small town life and the power of prejudice to define our fate. Staged in a field of wood chips, about a town in search of some good news, Welcome to Jesus fuses fable and horror in a twenty-first century take on the Southern Gothic tradition.



Chicago premiere
We’re Gonna Be Okay
Written by Basil Kreimendahl
Directed by Will Davis
January 25–March 4, 2018

Cast: Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena), BrittneyLove Smith (Mag), Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna), Avi Roque (Jake), Kelli Simpkins (Efran) and Penelope Walker (Sul).

In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy addressed the nation, “My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out...But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.” Well, Efran and Leena and Mag and Sul are thinking about doing something. Something big. Straight from Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay confronts the fears of the American middle class as two families wrestle with macrame, female empowerment and a shared property line.


World Premiere
Diagram of a Paper Airplane 
Written by Carlos Murillo
Directed by Bonnie Metzgar
May 3–June 10, 2018

Cast: Nicholas Bailey (Mario), David Cerda (Alvaro), Lawrence Grimm (Herman), Rebecca Spence (Valerie) and Allyce Torres (Lila).

Javier C. is dead, and in his wake are fragments and scraps of his magnum opus mailed mysteriously from New Mexico to his group of ex-friends in New York. Called "an absolutely extraordinary achievement from a writer at the height of his powers” by American Theatre Magazine, Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane is the first in a trilogy of plays that examine the capacity of friendships to withstand the unimaginable. Director Bonnie Metzgar brings life to a night of mourning and celebration that will leave them wondering if Diagram of a Paper Airplane ever existed at all.




Bringing together theater artists and audiences often separated by physical ability, gender identity and ethnicity

ATC remains committed to its partnership with Chicago Inclusion Project, whose work creates inclusive theater experiences that bring together Chicago artists and audiences normally separated by physical ability, gender identity and/or ethnic background. The two companies partner on casting, giving diverse theater artists access to roles they might traditionally have been excluded from. Together with the Chicago Inclusion Project, ATC will continue its commitment to presenting works that boldly reflect the diversity of stories and experiences in America today.

Past world premiere productions at ATC include Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play The Humans and Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced, both of which enjoyed acclaimed Broadway runs. In Season 32 ATC produced the regional premiere of Jaclyn BackhausMen On Boats, immediately following its Off Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons; reimagined classic, Pulitzer Prize winner Picnic by William Inge; and presented Dan Aibel’s world premiere of T., an exploration of the competitive ice skating saga between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.  

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, ArtsWork Fund, Lagunitas Breweing Co, Actors’ Equity Foundation,
The Pauls Foundation and Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation.


Monday, July 10, 2017

SAVE THE DATES: ATC Announces 12 New CORE Projects Throughout Season 33

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

American Theater Company’s 
Chicago Open Residency Experiment (CORE) workshops 12 new projects throughout Season 33


Public CORE performances (free/suggested $15 donation) 
throughout season from August to June

American Theater Company’s (ATC) Chicago Open Residency Experiment (CORE) program, a series of week-long residencies for artists of all disciplines, continues its second year with 25 artists workshopping 12 new projects throughout Season 33

"At ATC, we are invested in exploring unique ways of making new plays for the American theatre,” says Artistic Programs Manager Sarah Slight. “The artists who've received residencies this year are looking at new work from a variety of perspectives and approaches. On the presentation date, you might experience anything from a movement sequence to a staged reading to a guided design tour. For us, the anticipation of cutting-edge artistry is incredibly exciting. We've spread the residencies out this season to ensure that ATC’s space is filled with as many artists as possible throughout the year. Please join us in celebrating their tremendous work all season.”

CORE awards a free week of rehearsal space and a presentation of the work to groups of artists and works in progress. CORE artists will receive space to work and present, as well as basic artistic, technical and box office support. 

Tickets to CORE performances are free with a suggested donation of $15. To make a reservation, please visit http://www.atcweb.org/.  



SEASON 33 CORE PROJECTS INCLUDE:

Black Like Me – Monday, August 7, 2017
Adapted and directed by Monty Cole
Based on the book by John Howard Griffin

In 1959, John Howard Griffin--a white man from Texas--began the process of dyeing himself black. Two pills and regular sessions under a sun lamp made Griffin’s skin “black enough” to pass, and he set out on a journey through the South to discover what it was like to be a black man. His book, Black Like Me, was published in 1961 and made into a movie in 1965. Now Cole, working with an ensemble of actors, will explore the question “What does it mean to be black in America?” and, ultimately, create a script that depicts Griffin’s experience against the contemporary black experience.

Kissing – Monday, August 14, 2017
Conceived by Abigail Boucher
Co-created by Abigail Boucher and Carolyn Defrin
With Brock Alter

Kissing is a multidisciplinary piece which explores cultural customs and personal stories around kissing. It explores how this simple gesture might invigorate our current world order with more joy, love and tenderness.

About Face Theatre’s Untitled Project Inspired by James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room– Monday, August 21, 2017
by Benjamin Sprunger and Paul Oakley Stovall
Directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce

Presented in conjunction with About Face Theatre's First DrAAFT Series - a program designed to feature the artistic work of AFT's Artistic Associates - playwrights Sprunger and Stovall will workshop and present an adaptation of Baldwin's 1956 novella Giovanni's Room.

Dig – Monday, August 28, 2017
By Theodore Germaine
Directed by Gina Marie Hayes
With Avi Roque

Dig is a new work in development which explores the themes of romantic love, non-monogamy, trans identities, mental illness, and how to overall exist within, challenge, and/or fight the flawed legal system within this country. On the night after their lover's funeral - a trans-masculine person from a highly conservative and religious small-town family - 2/3rds of the remaining romantic triad sneak into their deceased partner's apartment to try to come to terms with the tragedy at hand, but the night takes another-worldly, empowering, and illegal turn as they piece together the truth around their partner's death. 

(saliva) things that i like about my partner that are not their mouth or genitals – Monday, September 18, 2017
By Jasmine Jordan and Valerie Gallucci

(saliva) is about sex, about discovering sex and sharing every detail with a best friend, about keeping score, about discretion, about bodies, about lust, about shame, about exes, about celebration. It is by two friends who don't have sex the same way or make art the same way and are figuring that out. It requires those two friends to learn how to dance, learn how to give a lecture, and learn how to work together for the first time since they were sixteen.

Untitled Project – Monday, December 11, 2017
Directed by Jess McLeod

Any of my Enemies – Monday, December 18, 2017
Molly Brennan (Lead Artist)

Through a series of performance pieces called Any of my Enemies, using a shared title, themes, and devising techniques, an assembly of performers and designers will collaborate to build a series of short performance scenes. This will be a radically inclusive project that incorporates multiple modes of accessibility.

Diagram of a Paper Airplane – Monday, March 12, 2018
By Carlos Murillo
Directed by Bonnie Metzgar

Javier C. is dead, and in his wake are fragments and scraps of his magnum opus mailed mysteriously from New Mexico to his group of ex-friends in New York. Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane is the first in a trilogy of plays that examine the capacity of friendships to withstand the unimaginable.

As part of their process leading up to production, Metzgar and Murillo will receive a CORE pre-production week to explore a key element(s) of the play.

To The Moon – Monday, March 19, 2018
Written by Beth Kander
Artistic collaborators: Allyce Torres, Amanda Long, Arian Thigpen, Sallee Murphy

To The Moon is a clear-eyed, unapologetic, fierce and tender portrayal of domestic abuse and its survivors. Knowing that such abuse impacts people from all walks of life, five diverse women collaborated to interview survivors and weave together their narratives - stories of strength and wit and loss and hope. Led by playwright Beth Kander, these collaborators' efforts yield a tough and touching true-stories-inspired stage play, which documents and dramatizes the tragic realities of domestic abuse in America.

La Ronde – Monday, March 26, 2018
A reimagining based on the play by Arthur Schnitzler
Directed by Dani Wieder
Choreography by Andy Slavin

This re-imagining explores Arthur Schnitzler's play from 1900 that, while innovative in its form, imagines intimacy as limiting us from reaching our fullest potential - a closed circle, la ronde. Through a combination of his original text and choreography by Andy Slavin, Dani Wieder and the ensemble ask how we can grow wider and become more as we move through and around the lives of others.

FARMED: The Orwell Radio – Monday, June 18, 2018
A song-setting by Trevor Bachman
Inspired by George Orwell's “Animal Farm”

FARMED is a socio-political musical by composer and singer Trevor Bachman. Inspired by the text of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, FARMED combines song, literature, and interview to examine race and class structures in America. Continuing in the tradition of artists like Liz Swados and Joe Papp, Bachman sews a soul-stirring patchwork of fabrics from a diverse and divided country.

Soot & Linen – Monday, June 25, 2018
By BrittneyLove Smith

A young black woman enters the house of a ruined tobacco plantation, as an indentured servant, two years after the Civil War. She is swept away in the world of this South Carolina grand plantation, now reduced to nothing more than a farm, and finds herself entangled in a triangle of both love and lust between herself, the misses of the house, and the misses’ husband. Soot & Linen is a historical and daring TV series that explores the prominent ways black women were desired, hated, loved and abused during slavery and in many ways still are.

Season subscriptions for Season 33 are on sale now and range from $40-$114, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35. To purchase a subscription or for more information, visit
www.atcweb.org or call the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125.

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, ArtsWork Fund, Lagunitas Breweing Co, Actors’ Equity Foundation,
The Pauls Foundation and Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation.


Tuesday, April 25, 2017

OPENING: World Premiere of T. at American Theater Company May 18 - June 25

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

American Theater Company announces casting for world premiere
of Dan Aibel’s competitive ice skating saga
T.
Directed by Margot Bordelon
May 18 - June 25, 2017


We'll be out on the 22nd for the press preview, so check back then for our full review. American Theater Company is one of our favorite Chicago storefronts and they've been pushing the boundaries this season with energetic, edgy productions, as they explore the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" We can't wait to catch the world premiere of T.



American Theater Company (ATC) concludes its Season 32 with the world premiere of Dan Aibel’s T., an exploration of the competitive ice skating saga between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. Margot Bordelon directs a cast featuring Guy Massey (Al), Leah Raidt (T.), ensemble member Tyler Ravelson (Jeff), Kelli Simpkins (Joanne) and Nate Whelden (Shawn). T. runs from May 18-June 25, 2017.

“Ice Follies” read the cover of Time Magazine on January 24, 1994, after ice skating medalist favorite Nancy Kerrigan was struck in the leg with a police baton by Shane Stant. In his darkly funny and unrelenting play, Dan Aibel explores the lengths one will go to for fame. Margot Bordelon returns to Chicago to direct this world premiere play named for Tonya Harding, the first woman ever to complete a triple axel jump in competition. Nancy Kerrigan never saw her coming.

“I have always loved Margot's work, I think she has an incredible eye for detail and a brilliant storytelling style,” says ATC Artistic Director Will Davis. “It's a pleasure to have her back in Chicago for this very new play, and I'm thrilled for audiences to see her bring those skills to this rich and complex text.”

T.’s design team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Stephanie Cluggish (costumes), Rachel Levy (lights), Miles Polaski (sound) and Mealah Heidenreich (props).  

Performance schedule
Previews: Thursday, May 18 at 8 p.m.; Friday, May 19 at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, May 21 at 2 p.m.
Press Opening: Monday, May 22 at 7 p.m.
Regular Run: May 25-June 25: Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. (with the exception of May 27) and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.

Single tickets for T. range from $20-$38 and are available by calling the ATC box office at 773-409-4125, or visiting www.atcweb.org. Season subscriptions are also on sale now and range from $40-$112.50, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35.

Guy Massey’s (Al) Chicago credits include the 2013 and 2014 productions of Smokefall as well as Blue Skies Process at the Goodman Theater, Failure:  A Love Story at Victory Gardens Theater, Tigers Be Still at Theater Wit, Of Mice and Men at Steppenwolf for Young Adults, Louis Slotin Sonata at A Red Orchid Theatre, These Shining Lives at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Jon with Collaboraction and The Strangerer with Theater Oobleck. He also appeared in Death of a Salesman at Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

Leah Raidt (T.) returns to American Theatre Company after columbinus 2.0 directed by PJ Paparelli. Credits include The Flick (Rose u/s) at Steppenwolf Theatre, Punk Rock and national tours of Letters Home with Griffin Theatre, among work with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Pavement Group, The Blind Owl, Jackalope Theatre, and Emerald City Children's Theatre. Leah holds a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University, and is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf.

Tyler Ravelson (Jeff) is an ensemble member at American Theater Company. At ATC: It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, The Original Grease, RENT, columbinus, and Sons Of The Prophet. In Chicago: Sweet Bird of Youth at The Goodman Theatre, Girls Vs. Boys and The Nutcracker at The House Theater, The Hundred Dresses at Chicago Children's Theater, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at Porchlight Music Theater, The Pajama Game at The Music Theater Company, and Talk Radio at State Theater Chicago.

Kelli Simpkins (Joanne) is a company member of Tectonic Theater Project and is one of the original creator/performers of The Laramie Project--Off-B’Way, Denver Center, Berkeley Rep., LaJolla Playhouse. Theater credits: Spill at EST in NYC and Timeline Theater; Men on Boats at ATC; The Secretaries at About Face Theater; Cocked at Victory Gardens; Teddy Ferrara at Goodman; The Kid Thing at About Face; Pony at About Face; In Darfur at Timeline; Late: A Cowbow Song at Piven; The Laramie Tour: TLP & TLP Epilogue, Celebrity Row at ATC; Fair Use, Good Boys and True and One Arm all at Steppenwolf Theatre; Execution of Justice at About Face; The People’s Temple at The Guthrie, Perseverance and Berkeley Rep.; I Think I Like Girls at LaJolla and Cherry Lane.

Nate Whelden (Shawn) was last seen in the world premiere of Carlyle at the Goodman Theatre, where he returned after performing in the New Stages workshop production the year before. Whelden is an ensemble member at Sideshow Theatre Company where he runs the new work development program The Freshness Initiative, and where his acting credits include Stupid Fucking Bird, Antigonick, Maria/Stuart, The Ugly One, and Strangerland (Chicago Fringe Festival).  Other Chicago credits include Pinkolandia (16th Street Theater), The Peacock (Jackalope Theatre Company), Common Hatred (The Ruckus at Rhino Fest) and the video performance piece Space Pursues Them (Live to Tape Festival).  

Dan Aibel's plays have been developed and/or produced by the Detroit Rep, the Sundance Institute, Syracuse Stage, the Blank Theater (Los Angeles), Flashpoint Theatre Co. (Philadelphia), the Source Theatre (Washington, D.C.) and Outsider's Inn Collective (Seattle). In New York he has worked with Page 73, Rattlestick and The New Group. His play The Meaning of Lunch was seen in Chicago at Stage Left as part of Leapfest 7. A 2014 Sundance Theatre Lab fellow, Dan's plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Playscripts. He lives in New York.

Margot Bordelon is a New York based director who specializes in new work. Recent projects include Too Heavy For Your Pocket by Jiréh Breon Holder at the Alliance, The Pen by Julianne Wick Davis and Dan Collins for Premieres NYC (NYT's Critic's pick), peerless by Jiehae Park at Marin Theatre Company and Yale Rep, A Delicate Ship by Anna Ziegler for The Playwrights Realm (NYT's Critic's pick), and Okay, Bye by Joshua Conkel at Steppenwolf Theater. In New York, she’s developed new plays with Ars Nova, Atlantic Theatre, The Bushwick Starr, Cherry Lane, Clubbed Thumb, Dodo, Juilliard, The Lark, NYTW, Primary Stages, Rattlestick, Roundabout Underground, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Target Margin, and Theater Masters, among others. She’s developed work with The Wilma Theater, Play Penn, Yale Repertory Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Perry Mansfield, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, and Portland Center Stage. She is a founding member of Theatre Seven of Chicago, where she conceived and directed We Live Here; Lies & Liars; and Yes, This Really Happened to Me (all with Cassy Sanders). She spent four seasons working at Lookingglass Theatre, where she served as Literary Manager and Company Dramaturg. In Chicago she also worked for Collaboraction, Timeline, Pavement Group, Live Bait, Around the Coyote, Bailiwick, Hell in a Handbag, and Steppenwolf Theatre where she assistant directed for both Tina Landau and Austin Pendleton. She spent three years as a storyteller for 2nd Story, and her autobiographical work has been seen numerous times on the Victory Garden’s stage, including her one-woman show You Are Here.

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, and the Shubert Foundation.




Saturday, February 25, 2017

OPENING: Picnic at American Theater Company

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Jeff Award-winner Molly Brennan to star as Hal in
American Theater Company’s
Picnic
Directed by ATC Artistic Director Will Davis
March 17 - April 23, 2017


Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're excited for ATC's next production, Picnic. We've been long time fans of Molly Brennan and Malic White's exceptional work and the cast contains many of our favorites on the Chicago scene. We can't wait to see the results of collaborating with Director, Will Davis, ATC's new Artistic Director.

American Theater Company (ATC) continues its Season 32 with William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning Picnic. ATC’s Artistic Director Will Davis directs a cast featuring Jeff Award-winner Molly Brennan (Hal), Robert Cornelius (Howard), Alexia Jasmene (Millie), Patricia Kane (Flo Owens), Laura McKenzie (Mrs. Potts/Piano Player), Jose Nateras (Alan), Michael Turrentine (Rosemary) and Malic White (Madge). Picnic runs from March 17 - April 23, 2017 (Press opening: Wednesday, March 22).  

Closeted and dogged by an acute sense of failure for most of his life until he ended it, William Inge wrote some of the great lyrical plays of the American mid-century, and Picnic was his masterpiece, his playground and, quite possibly, his fantasy. In this loving reimagining, Davis puts Inge at the center of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play and animates what is both sacred and profane about small town life against the backdrop of dust bowl hymns and love songs. Part séance, part love letter to a ghost, this Picnic explores a life lived at the periphery of one’s own desire.

“My number one goal here is to not have a conversation about what kind of body is playing the role of what kind of body,” says Davis. “I cast this show to reflect the queer longing I feel emanating from the heart of Inge's play. From my view, Inge's cannon is defined by a question about desire and his terror of it. Each of his works asks questions about heeding the call of the heart and being punished for it. I see this as a reflection of the times he lived in and his experience of homophobia both internal and external. This production will pivot between experiencing the text through the lens of queer fellowship and experiencing the text through the lens of closeted longing. As is always true what we say is not what we mean and my casting choices for this show are meant to pull that divergence into focus.”

Picnic’s design team includes Evvie Allison (choreography), Joe Schermoly (set), Melissa Ng (costumes), Rachel Levy (lights), Miles Polaski (sound) and Abigail Cain (props).

Performance schedule
Previews: Friday, March 17 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 18 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 19 at
2 p.m.
Press Opening: Wednesday, March 22 at 7 p.m.
Regular Run: March 23- April 23: Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.

Single tickets for Picnic range from $20-$38 and are available by calling the ATC box office at 773-409-4125, or visiting www.atcweb.org. Season subscriptions are also on sale now and range from $40-$112.50, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35.

Bios
Molly Brennan (Hal) is a clown, actor and theatre maker in town. In Chicago, she has performed at Lookingglass, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Neo-Futurists, About Face, Lifeline, Second City, Lyric Opera, House, Factory, and others. She has toured the U.S. extensively as well, most notably Denver Arts Center, PS 122 in NYC, the Arsht in Miami, Alliance in Atlanta, and the Kennedy Center.

Robert Cornelius (Howard) makes his ATC debut with Picnic. He was most recently seen in the Hypocrites production of WIT. Robert has performed in Chicago and around the country as an actor for over three decades at theaters including Victory Gardens, Court Theatre, The Goodman, First Folio, Drury Lane, Milwaukee Rep, Indiana Rep, Montana Rep, St Louis Black Rep, and many others. Favorite productions include Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Rivals, Takunda, Aida, You Can't Take it With You, Member of the Wedding, and Taming of the Shrew.

Alexia Jasmene (Millie) makes her ATC debut with Picnic. Past credits include Kin Folk (The New Colony), Merry Christmas, Mulch Pile (Mercy Street), Mary Shelley Sees the Future (Runaway Labs), Cathedrals (Living Canvas), Transformations (Nothing Without a Company & Living Canvas) and Temperance Vs. Tolerance (Step Up Productions). She is a trans woman that is an actor, musician, and story teller in Chicago and can be seen performing at various open mics around the city for music and poetry.

Patricia Kane (Flo Owens) makes her ATC debut with Picnic.  Past credits include The Whale, In the Next Room or the vibrator play and Hannah Free at Victory Gardens Theatre (as well as the film version of Hannah Free, starring Sharon Gless); What Once We Felt, Pulp, Seven Moves, Fascination, The Terrible Girls, Whitman, Dancer from the Dance, The Gift and Cloud Nine (About Face Theatre); Finding the Sun and Dancing at Lughnasa (Goodman Theatre); All in the Timing (Northlight Theatre); as well as productions with Collaboraction, Live Bait, Stage Left, Bailiwick, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and NYC’s Tectonic Theatre Group.  

Laura McKenzie (Mrs. Potts/Piano Player) makes her ATC debut with Picnic. Past credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author (The Hypocrites), Alice, Beer and Picked Up (Neo-Futurists) and many shows with the Factory Theater. Laura has written music and lyriacs for several shows including Hey! Dancin'! Hey! Musical! (Factory Theater) and Sparky (Lifeline Theatre). She is a company member with Barrel of Monkeys and The Factory Theater and is one half of the facemelt duo The Laura On Laura Comeback Tour.

Jose Nateras (Alan) makes his ATC debut with Picnic. Recent credits include Cymbeline (Strawdog), Reprise (Adventure Stage Chicago), The Van Gogh Cafe (Filament Theatre), The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre), Othello(u/s*) and Since I Suppose (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), My Soul's Shadow (Manual Cinema), Balm in Gilead (u/s Griffin Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (with Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival and Teatro Vista), Hit the Wall (u/s The Inconvenience); among others. He's toured with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (Hamlet, Twelfth Night) and appeared on NBC's Chicago Fire, as well as in spots for Onion Labs, Radar Studios, and others.

Michael Turrentine (Rosemary) makes his ATC debut with Picnic. Past credits include The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre), Pirandello's Henry IV (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), The Hairy Ape (Oracle Productions), La Cenerentola and The Merry Widow (The Lyric Opera), In Love and Warcraft (Halcyon Theater), How's It Going to End? (InGen Productions), as well as understudying at Chicago Children's Theater and The Hypocrites. He is also an Artistic Associate with Barrel of Monkeys.

Malic White (Madge) is a punk performer, playwright and gender warrior who has been an ensemble member at the Neo-Futurist Theater since 2012. Chicago stage credits include Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Pop Waits (Neo-Futurists), and American Idiot (the Hypocrites). Film credits include Princess Cyd, Signature Move, and The Year I Broke My Voice. Malic's original performance work has been featured at Woolly Mammoth Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, Davenport’s Piano Bar, Logan Square Auditorium, and Tour de Fat.

William Inge (Playwright, 1913-1973) was a playwright, teacher, and novelist born in Independence, Kansas, who wrote a string of successful plays throughout the 40s and 50s. His play Come Back, Little Sheba earned him the title of most promising playwright of the 1950 Broadway season. This success was followed in 1953 by Picnic (winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize) and again in 1955 by the highly-revered Bus Stop. Inge’s fame continued to grow as The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, a reworking of his first play Farther Off From Heaven opened on Broadway in 1957. The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, considered to be Inge’s finest play, is one in which he draws most directly from his own past. He spent the final years of his life writing two novels: Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff in 1970 and My Son Is a Splendid Driver in 1971. Inge committed suicide on June 10, 1973 at the age of 60.

Will Davis is a director and choreographer focused on physically adventurous new work and old plays in new ways. He is also the newly appointed artistic director of American Theater Company ( ATC). Recent projects include: Evita, re-imagined for the Olney Theatre Center, Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus for Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks, Playwrights Horizons and ATC; DUAT by Daniel Alexander Jones for Soho Rep; Orange Julius by Basil Kreimendahl; Mike Iveson’s Sorry Robot for PS122’s COIL Festival; and two productions of Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker for Mixed Blood Theater and the Olney Theatre Center, for which he won a Helen Hayes award for outstanding direction. Davis has developed, directed and performed his work with New York Theatre Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, the New Museum, the Olney Theatre Center, the Alliance Theatre, the Playwright's Realm, the Fusebox Festival, New Harmony Project, the Orchard Project, the Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, Performance Studies International at Stanford University, and the Kennedy Center. He is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, the NYTW 2050 Directing Fellowship and the BAX (Brooklyn Art Exchange) artist in residence program. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University and an MFA in Directing from UT Austin.

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, and the Shubert Foundation.


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