OPENING: About Face Theatre and Theater Wit Present The Midwest Premiere of SIGNIFICANT OTHER 11/3-12/9

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Midwest Premiere!

About Face Theatre and Theater Wit Present

SIGNIFICANT OTHER

By Joshua Harmon

Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm

November 3 – December 9, 2017 at Theater Wit

The cast of About Face Theatre and Theater Wit’s Chicago premiere of SIGNIFICANT OTHER (top, l to r) AFT Artistic Associates Benjamin Sprunger and Alex Weisman with Ninos Baba (bottom, l to r) Amanda Drinkall, Tiffany Oglesby, Cassidy Slaughter-Mason and Ann Whitney.

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we can't wait to catch Significant Other. It's the last chance for Chicago audiences to see Alex Weisman as a local, albeit playing a New Yorker, before he actually heads out to New York and dons Hogwarts Robes for his new gig on Broadway! We also enjoyed playwright Joshua Harmon's acclaimed comedy, Bad Jews, and caught it several times, so we're interested to see more of his work hit the Theater Wit stage. Save the dates and get your tickets early. Previews start November 3rd. 

About Face Theatre and Theater Wit are pleased to present the Midwest premiere of the romantic comedy SIGNIFICANT OTHER by Joshua Harmon, playwright of the hit comedy Bad Jews. Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm, SIGNIFICANT OTHER will play November 3 – December 9, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently on sale at aboutfacetheatre.com or theaterwit.org, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. 

SIGNIFICANT OTHER will feature AFT Artistic Associates Benjamin Sprunger and Alex Weisman with Ninos Baba, Amanda Drinkall, Tiffany Oglesby, Cassidy Slaughter-Mason and Ann Whitney.

Jordan Berman is a single gay man in New York City. Mr. Right is nowhere on his horizons. As he's nearing his 30s, his close group of girlfriends begin getting married en masse. What happens when you feel like life is leaving you behind but you're still expected to be at the forefront cheering on your friends on their perfect wedding day? Significant Other is a bittersweet comedy about friendship, single-hood and hoping you're not the one choking on car exhaust as the "Just Married" sign disappears from view. 

In 2015, Joshua Harmon's play Bad Jews hit Theater Wit and performed to capacity crowds for eight months. A breakaway playwright of his generation, Harmon's work offered a unique and searingly funny look at a new generation of American Jews. Now, with Significant Other he turns his compassion and considerable wit to marriage.

"This feels like the perfect moment to be bringing Significant Other to the stage," comments Director Keira Fromm. "On the surface, Significant Other is a very funny play about single-hood and friendship. On a deeper level, our protagonist, Jordan, is enduring an existential crisis. On the brink of turning 30 and recognizing that being gay today no longer means you're immune to expectations of marriage, Jordan is failing at the task of finding his soulmate. He begins to feel that life is passing him by and finding his way in the world starts to feel like a gargantuan undertaking. In our increasingly alienating world, I find that quest intensely moving and relatable.” 

"I am very excited to join About Face Theatre in presenting the Midwest premiere of Joshua Harmon’s newest work,” comments Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler. “I think Josh is a remarkably original writer with a gift for showing us the utterly real and utterly unexpected. His plays are always about deeply human characters with a writerly perspective we've not seen previously dramatized, and Significant Other is no exception. Bad Jews was a legitimate theatrical event of 2015 – and Significant Other promises, in its writing and casting, to be another for 2017."

The production team for SIGNIFICANT OTHER includes Jeff Kmiec (scenic design), Noël Huntzinger (costume design), John Kelly (lighting design), Christopher Kriz (sound design), Pauline Oleksy (props design), Catherine Allen (production manager) and Helen Lattyak (stage manager).

Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, November 3 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, November 5 at 7 pm and Tuesday, November 7 at 7 pm.
Press opening: Wednesday, November at 8 at 7 pm
Regular run: Friday, November 10 – Saturday, December 9, 2017
Curtain Times: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, November 9 or Thursday, November 23 (Thanksgiving); there are added performances on Wednesday, November 15 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, Saturday, November 25 at 3 pm and Sunday, November 26 at 7 pm and Saturday, December 9 at 3 pm.

Tickets: Previews: $15. Regular run: $20-$38. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets are currently on sale at aboutfacetheatre.com or theaterwit.org, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at Theater Wit Box Office.

Artist Biographies
Joshua Harmon’s (Playwright) play Bad Jews received its world premiere at Roundabout Underground and was the first production to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play). It became the third most-produced play in the U.S. during the 2014-15 season and transferred to London’s West End after sell-out runs at Theatre Royal Bath and the St. James Theatre. His newest play, Significant Other, opened at Roundabout this summer. His work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor's Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation. Joshua is a recent graduate of Juilliard and at work on commissions for Roundabout Theatre Company and Lincoln Center Theater.

Keira Fromm (Director) is a Jeff Award nominated director, a casting director and a teacher based out of Chicago. Favorite recent directing credits include: Bright Half Life (About Face Theatre), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital of New York City (Route 66 Theatre Company) The Columnist (American Blues Theater), How the World Began (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), A Kid Like Jake (About Face Theatre), Luce (Next Theatre), Charles Ives Take Me Home (Strawdog), The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre), Broadsword (Gift Theatre) and Fallow (Steep Theatre). Keira is a proud Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre. She received her MFA from DePaul University and her BFA from Boston University. She is a member of SDC, as well as the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Keira is a frequent guest director at DePaul, as well as Roosevelt University. 

SIGNIFICANT OTHER was developed during a residency the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference in 2013. Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director.

About The Theatres 
About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative, and adventurous theatre and educational programming that advances the national dialogue on sexual and gender identity, and challenges and entertains audiences in Chicago and beyond.

Theater Wit, Chicago’s “smart art” theater, is a major hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene, where audiences enjoy a smorgasbord of excellent productions in three, 99-seat spaces, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago. 

“A thrilling addition to Chicago’s roster of theaters” (Chicago Tribune) and “a terrific place to see a show” (New City), Theater Wit is now in its seventh season at its home at 1229 N. Belmont, in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. The company’s most recent hits include 10 Out of 12 and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Naperville by Mat Smart, The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, and Completeness and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses. 

In 2014, Theater Wit was awarded the National Theatre Award by the American Theatre Wing for strengthening the quality, diversity and dynamism of American theater. Theater Wit also brings together Chicago’s best storefront companies at its Lakeview home, including 2017-18 resident companies About Face, Kokandy Productions and Shattered Globe. 

OPENING: The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence at Theater Wit

Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar

Directed by Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler

Featuring Joe Dempsey, Joe Foust and Kristina Valada-Viars

We can't wait to review on opening night, Sunday, October 4 at 7 p.m. ChiiL Live Shows will be there... will YOU?! Playwright Madeleine George and Chicago's Theater Wit are excited to premiere a brand new version of George's stunning 2014 Pulitzer Award finalist to launch Wit's fall season with a time-hopping, comic homage to the people - and machines - upon which we all depend.

Don't miss Madeleine George's time-traveling, Pulitzer-nominated 

The (curious case of the) 

Watson Intelligence, 

September 17-November 14

Chicago A-listers Joe Dempsey, Joe Foust and Kristina Valada-Viars star in George's smart, funny, dizzying trip with four Watsons and eight million human hearts. Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler will stage George's comic meditation on technology, love and communication over the last 150 years.

George, one of Theater Wit's favorite writers, authored the company's 2013 smash hit Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England. Her new play The Watson Intelligence premiered at Playwrights Horizons in New York in 2013, was nominated for a 2014 Pulitzer Prize, and won the 2014 Outer Critics Circle John Glassner Playwriting Award. 

George participated in a subsequent workshop of the script this summer at Theater Wit, which looks forward to introducing Chicago to a work already hailed "refreshingly whimsical...a sweet and twisty time-tripping fantasy that keeps the seriocomic juices flowing" (Time Out New York).

Previews of The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence are September 17 through October 3: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 7 p.m. There is an added Industry Night, Wednesday, October 30 at 8 p.m. No show Saturday, October. 3. 

Press opening is Sunday, October 4 at 7 p.m. 

Regular performances continue through November 14: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $12-$36. Theater Wit is located at 1229 N. Belmont, in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. To purchase single tickets, a Theater Wit Membership or Flex Pass, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150.
                                                                          

More about The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence

Theater Wit first introduced its audience to playwright Madeleine George with its 2014 hit Chicago premiere of Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England. The Chicago Tribune hailed Mammoths "an exceedingly funny play. I snickered and chortled all night long." The Chicago Sun-Times agreed Wit's Mammoths was "the smartest, funniest, most poignant play to arrive on a Chicago stage in a very long time."

In her new work The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, four constant companions become one for a brilliantly witty, time-jumping, loving tribute (and cautionary tale) dedicated to the people - and machines - upon which we all depend. Here's the itinerary:

February, 2011. A techno-dweeb programmer looking for love perfects her new AI as IBM's Watson wins its first Jeopardy tournament.

March, 1891. Dr. Watson takes on his first solo case without Sherlock Holmes at his side.

March, 1876. The first voice communication by wire.

March, 1931. Thomas A. Watson is interviewed at Bell Labs about the famous quote. 

New York magazine called this seriocomic journey "marvelous and filled with marvels. In the Stoppardian world of The Watson Intelligence, George's human, dramatic play takes surprising turns." Her other plays include Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Susan Smith Blackburn finalist), Precious Little and The Zero Hour (Jane Chambers Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist). She's a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a founding member of the Obie-Award-winning playwrights' collective 13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc.).

Joe Dempsey makes his Theatre Wit debut in The Watson Intelligence. He recently appeared in Graveyard of Empires at 16th St., Samsara at Victory Gardens, The Mousetrap at Northlight, Native Son at Court, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Drury Lane Oak Brook (Jeff Nomination). Around Chicago Dempsey has acted at Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, Lookingglass, Remy Bumppo, many others, and regionally at Milwaukee Rep, St. Louis Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Centerstage Baltimore, and City Theatre Pittsburgh. TV credits include E.R., Early Edition, What about Joan? and Chicago Fire. Dempsey is also a member of the Neo-Futurists, writing and performing in their 25-year signature late night show, Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.

Joe Foust returns to Theatre Wit having appeared in Spin and The Santaland Diaries. Chicago credits include Measure for Measure, A Christmas Carol (Goodman), What the Butler Saw, Endgame (Court), Mother Courage and Her Children (Steppenwolf), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Unnecessary Farce, Making God Laugh, The Woman in Black (First Folio), Kabuki Medea (Wisdom Bridge), The Seagull, Major Barbara (Remy Bumppo), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Next), Sideman (American Blues), 14 productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and three seasons with Oak Park Festival Theatre. Regional credits include playing Hamlet at Nevermore Theatre, The 39 Steps, Around the World in 80 Days, (Cleveland Playhouse), five productions with Milwaukee Shakespeare, Kabuki Achilles (People's Light and Theatre Co), The Winter's Tale (Missouri Rep), Romeo and Juliet (River Styx, London) and 16 seasons acting, writing and directing with Peninsula Players. Foust is a founding member of Defiant Theatre, where credits include directing and co-writing Action Movie: the Play and Ubu Raw. He dedicates his performance to the memory of his beloved wife, Molly Glynn.

Kristina Valada-Viars was previously seen at Theater Wit in Completeness by Itamar Moses and served as assistant to the director on Madeline George's Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England. Other credits include The Diary of Anne Frank (Writers Theatre), The Great God Pan (Next), Time Stands Still (Jeff Award nomination, Steppenwolf), August: Osage County (understudy, Broadway), Monstrosity (13P), Love Drunk (Abingdon Theatre Company), The Music Teacher (New Group) and 516 (New York International Fringe Festival). Film and television credits include Molly's Girl (Best Actress in a Feature, Iris Prize Film Festival), The Door in the Floor, BlackBox, Shameless, Law & Order: CI and Animal Husbandry.

Jeremy Wechsler (director) most recently staged Theater Wit's hits Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Madeline George's Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, and that show's summer remount at Art Square Theatre in Las Vegas. Wechsler also staged Wit's acclaimed Completeness and The Four of Us (Itamar Moses), Tigers Be Still (Kim Rosenstock), This (Melissa James Gibson), Spin (Penny Penniston), Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries. His productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work.


More about Theater Wit's 2015-16 season

Less than a week after The Watson Intelligence closes, Theater Wit will re-gift Chicago with its 12th annual staging of The Santaland Diaries, adapted by Joe Mantello, based on David Sedaris' true comic tale of his hilarious stint as one of Santa's elves at Macy's Department Store. Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler directs, and Mitchell Fain will star in his eighth consecutive outing as Santa's snarkiest elf, the always-irreverent Crumpet. Press opening is Friday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m. The Santaland Diaries runs through December 27. Purchase tickets early, as this production always sells out. Here at ChiIL Live Shows, this is one of our annual favorites. Fain's take on Sedaris' classic is a perfect antidote to too much saccharine sweet holiday cheer!

Next spring, Theater Wit will introduce Chicago to one of the nation's top young contemporary women playwrights with its Midwest premiere of Alena Smith's The New Sincerity, a comedy about love, sex and protest, and perhaps the first drama to deal with the idealism of the Occupy Movement. Previews start February 25. Press opening is Monday, March 7 at 7 p.m. Performances run through April 17.

Theater Wit membership card

The best way to secure seats to Theater Wit's 2015-16 season is by signing up for a Theater Wit Membership. Wit's Netflix-like "all the theater you can eat" membership deal lets members see as many plays at they want at any of Theater Wit's three spaces for one low monthly fee of $36/$22 for students, along with many exclusive member perks. Wit also offers a 10-play Flex Pass for $215 to anything presented in the building, a savings of up to 40%. Single tickets for Wit's 2015-16 productions start at $12, and will go on sale approximately two months before the first preview of each production.


Meanwhile, over at the Royal George...

In addition to its three-play season on Belmont Avenue, Theater Wit's wildly acclaimed Bad Jews, Joshua Harmon's smart, funny new play about 20something Jews grappling with faith, family and identity, has reopened at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St., in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, where it's just been extended yet again, till November 1st! We'll say it yet again. Don't miss THIS! If you haven't gone, go already. If you have, go again.

This is another highly recommended favorite our ours here at ChiIL Live Shows. We caught both opening nights at Theater Wit and Royal George and the show is a must see. The intimate staging of a small theatre space adds to the "fly on the wall" effect for the audience. This makes the family conflict more intense and the layers of relationship humor and pain more poignant. 

We enjoyed the fast paced banter from the original opening on, but the production has become even stronger over the months. The familiarity between characters has not only bred contempt, but compassion, and delicious down time between the bickering. The timing is better and the show is now not so much a full on verbal assault, but an unfolding game of chess, with plenty of non verbals and predatory pauses. The crowning highpoint remains the final stunning scene. No spoilers.  

Wit's Chicago premiere of Bad Jews debuted last May to critical acclaim, sold out houses, wait lists, and naturally, a few complaints about its title. Regardless, Bad Jews quickly became a Chicago storefront sensation, transferred for a successful summer run at the North Shore in Skokie, and transferred again for another fall run at Chicago's Royal George. For tickets and information, call the Royal George box office, 312.988.9000 or visit badjewschicago.com.


About Theater Wit

Theater Wit - "a thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters" (Chicago Tribune) and "a terrific place to see a show" (New City) - is launching its fifth season in its home at 
1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit's mission is to explore contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres. As a production company, Theater Wit is Chicago's premier smart art theater, producing humorous, challenging and intelligent plays that speak with a vibrant and contemporary theatrical voice. As an institution, Wit seeks to be the hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene. 

In its three spaces, Theater Wit brings together Chicago's best storefront companies, including 2015-16 resident companies Stage Left, About Face, Shattered Globe and Kokandy Productions. Here audiences find a smorgasbord of excellent productions, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago.

In 2014, Theater Wit was awarded the National Theatre Award by the American Theatre Wing for strengthening the quality, diversity and dynamism of American theater.

For more information, call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150, or visit  TheaterWit.org.

REOPENING TONIGHT AT ROYAL GEORGE: Great News For Bad Jews- Fifth Extension!

FIFTH EXTENSION!

Now at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N Halsted

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we caught Bad Jews' original opening at Theater Wit last spring, and we'll be back again tonight to catch their 5th extension and 3rd home since this production opened on the Chicago scene. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? Go already! 

Bad Jews is a high energy, fast paced throw down between cousins. These characters are passionate about making a point and nothing is sacred. Religion, wealth, family relations, misogyny and cultural heritage are all ammunition in this hilariously cringe worthy creation. Bad Jews has a wicked wit and surprising depth. Highly recommended.

Nothing brings out the worst in a family like a funeral. Daphna is the most devout Jew in the Feygenbaum family. (Just ask her.) Her cousin Liam is the most deserving first-born. (Just ask him.) Don't ask Liam's brother Jonah anything. In this savagely funny comedy, long standing (and not-so-buried) antipathies boil up in a battle between two cousins over a treasured family heirloom. Stir in the identity curation and you get one of the funniest, wisest, most excruciating plays you'll see this year.

★★★ 1/2 STARS! Savagely fearless, hilarious comedy! It's a perilous arena, these matters of race and appearance, but if people are laughing, there are real opportunities for the fearless. And this hilarious staging of "Bad Jews" grabs its chance and squeezes hard.

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune [Full review]

★★★★ Nuanced questions about cultural identity and assimilation anda lot of nervous laughter! Tremendously disquieting.

Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago

Witty and ruthless! Laura Lapidus makes Daphna utterly mesmerizingas she dances through Jonah's apartment, performing a kind of scorched-earth psychic ballet.

Tony Adler, Chicago Reader

★★★★ The most extraordinary acting I’ve seen on a Chicago stage! The audience is sent out of the theater dazzled.

CTR 

A stellar piece of emotional bloodsport, courtesy of director Jeremy Wechsler and a game, jugular-slashing cast. But Bad Jews isn’t cheap. It is a heartfelt, almost rabbinical debate about what it means to be Jewish. It’s interested in cultural memory, institutional religion, and the tug-of-war between progress and tradition.

New City 

OPENING: CHICAGO DEBUT OF JOSHUA HARMON'S BAD JEWS, APRIL 24 - JUNE 7, 2015 AT THEATER WIT

THEATER WIT ANNOUNCES 

CAST AND CREW FOR CHICAGO DEBUT OF JOSHUA HARMON'S  

BAD JEWS, 

APRIL 24 - JUNE 7, 2015

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're looking forward to Theater Wit's Chicago premiere of Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews, a smart, savage comedy about the holy and holier-than-thou, which closes Wit's 2014-15 season April 24-June 7, 2015. 

Hailed by Charles Isherwood of The New York Times in 2013 as "the best comedy of the season," Harmon's critically acclaimed play asks questions about what you choose to believe, when you're chosen.

Bad Jews tells the story of Daphna Feygenbaum, a "Real Jew" with an Israeli boyfriend. When Daphna's cousin Liam brings home his shiksa girlfriend Melody and declares ownership of their grandfather's Chai necklace, a vicious and hilarious brawl over family, faith and legacy ensues. Stir in the identity curation of the Facebook generation and Theater Wit's Chicago premiere of Bad Jews, directed by artistic director Jeremy Wechsler, promises to be one of the funniest, wisest, most excruciating comedies on a Chicago stage this year.

Wechsler's cast for Bad Jews features Erica Bittner as Melody (credits include The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe for First Folio, Peer Gynt at DCA Storefront Theatre, and seven productions for Redmoon), Ian Paul Custer as Liam (national tour of Peter Pan; Annie Bosch is Missing at Steppenwolf; High Holidays at the Goodman; To Master the Art and 33 Variations for TimeLine; Fiddler on the Roof at Paramount), Cory Kahane as Josh (The Romans: Episode Quartus for Lincoln Square Theatre; A Midsummer Night's Dream at The James Dowling Theatre) and Laura Lapidus as Daphna (Women Beware Women for Two Pence Theatre at The Den Theatre; Griffin Theatre's Golden Boy and Balm in Gilead; Pavement Group's breaks & bikes; Pains of Youth for Odradeck Theater w/Oracle Theatre).

The Bad Jews design team includes Adam Veness (set), Kristof Janezic (lights), Janice Pytel (costumes), Cassy Schillo (props) and Michael Stanfill (lighting). Sarah Luse is stage manager.

Bad Jews:  Dates, Times and Ticket Prices

Tickets to Bad Jews are on sale now. Previews are April 24-May 3: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Previews are $12-$18. Press opening is Monday, May 4 at 7 p.m. Regular performances run through June 7: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. No shows Thursday, May 7 or 14. Regular run tickets are $20-$36. 

Theater Wit is located at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District. For tickets and information, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150.
                                                                                                                   

Bad Jews:  Behind the scenes
Joshua Harmon's play Bad Jews received its world premiere at Roundabout Underground and was the first production there to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play). Bad Jews opened in London at the St. James Theatre in January 2015 following an acclaimed run at Theatre Royal Bath. Harmon wrote the book for Radio City Music Hall's upcoming original show, the "New York Spring Spectacular." His work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor's Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation.  Harmon is currently in the Playwrights Program at Juilliard and is under commission from Roundabout Theatre Company and Lincoln Center Theater.

Jeremy Wechsler, artistic director of Theater Wit, most recently staged Theater Wit's current smash hit, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, the hit Midwest premiere of Madeline George's Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, and that show's subsequent summer remount at Art Square Theatre in Las Vegas. Wechsler also staged Wit's acclaimed productions of Completeness and The Four of Us (Itamar Moses), Tigers Be Still (Kim Rosenstock), This (Melissa James Gibson), Spin (Penny Penniston), Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries. Wechsler's productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres.

About Theater Wit

"A thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters" (Chicago Tribune) and "a terrific place to see a show" (New City), Theater Wit is in its fourth season in its home at 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Gone But Not Forgotten:

Here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows, we adored Theater Wit's smash hit, Chicago debut of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. We're already chomping at the bit for a remount! It was one of our favorites of the season for sure! The Simpsons is already such a fabulous amalgam of pop culture references, psychology, and the best and worst of humanity, encased in the hilarious that we can't think of a better mythology for a post plague and nuclear meltdown society to follow. Mr. Burns, a post-electric play is wickedly witty and scary insightful. And Theater Wit's casting was stellar! 

Anne Washburn's meta-apocalyptic comedy/drama/musical about America rebuilding itself from the ashes of an apocalypse, and the enduring power of Bart Simpson, was rewarded a 3.5 star review from the Chicago Tribune, which called it "an intellectual rush" and "very funny." Time Out Chicago agreed Mr. Burns is "wonderfully weird... brilliant...trippy...4 out of 5 stars." 

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit's mission is to explore contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres. As a production company, Theater Wit is Chicago's premier smart art theater, producing humorous, challenging and intelligent plays that speak with a vibrant and contemporary theatrical voice.  As an institution, Wit seeks to be the hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene. 

In its three spaces, Theater Wit brings together Chicago's best storefront companies. Here audiences find a smorgasbord of excellent productions, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago. 

In 2014, Theater Wit was awarded the National Theatre Award by the American Theatre Wing for strengthening the quality, diversity and dynamism of American theater.

Theater Wit also offers a Flex Pass: 10 admissions for $215 to literally anything presented in the building, a savings of up to 40%. 

To purchase tickets to Bad Jews, Mr. Burns, any resident production, a Membership Program, Flex Pass, single tickets or for information about any production at Theater Wit, call 773.975.8150 or visit  TheaterWit.org.