OPENING: Chicago Premiere of YEN at Raven Theatre March 21 – May 5, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar
Chicago Premiere!

Raven Theatre Presents

YEN

By Anna Jordan

Directed by Elly Green

March 21 – May 5, 2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Artwork by Jake Fruend.

I'll be out for the press opening March 25th so check back soon for my full review. 

Raven Theatre is pleased to continue its 2018-19 season with the Chicago premiere of Anna Jordan’s drama YEN directed by Elly Green. This savage, unrelenting play about growing up, opening the windows and letting in the light will play March 21 – May 5, 2019 on Raven’s intimate 55-seat West Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177. 

YEN will feature Jesse Aaronson, Tiffany Bedwell, Reed Lancaster and Netta Walker.

London, right now. Two practically feral teenage brothers live alone in their filthy flat with a dog named Taliban, perpetually bathed in the blue glow of their screens: playing video games, watching porn, waiting for the occasional visit from their detached mother, and surviving. But when a strange neighbor girl barges through the door, the boys’ little blue world begins to change color.

Comments Artistic Director Cody Estle, “Anna Jordan’s YEN has had successful productions in both London and New York. It is an intense drama of a dysfunctional family which explores the consequences of two teenage boys being forced to grow up on their own in a childhood essentially without boundaries. I’m looking forward to introducing Jordan’s writing to our audience and the overall Chicago theatre community. I think this will be a memorable production in our 2018-2019 season.”

The production team for YEN includes: Joe Schermoly (scenic design), Alexis Chaney (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Aaron Stephenson (sound design), Leah Hummel (props design) Sam Hubbard (fight choreographer), Eva Breneman (dialect coach), Giulianna Marchese (dramaturg), Lynn Baber (casting director), A.J. Roy (assistant director), Cole von Glahn (production manager), Jeremiah Barr (technical director), Jessie Howe (scenic artist), Alex Beal (master electrician), Alex Meyer (stage manager) andAlyssa Maldonado (assistant stage manager).

Cast (in alphabetical order): Jesse Aaronson (Bobbie), Tiffany Bedwell (Maggie), Reed Lancaster (Hench) and Netta Walker (Jennifer).

Understudies: Lizzie Bourne, Nate Elfant, Anastacia Narrajos and Brandon Nelson.

Location: Raven Theatre West Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville), Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, March 21 at 8 pm, Friday, March 22 at 8 pm, Saturday, March 23 at 8 pm and Sunday, March 24 at 3:30 pm
Press performances: Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Friday, March 29 – Sunday, May 5, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3:30 pm.

Tickets: Previews $32 ($29 if purchased online). Regular run $46 ($43 if purchased online). Seniors/teachers $41 ($38 if purchased online). Students/active military and veterans $15. Every Thursday is “Under 30 Thursday,” when patrons under age 30 can purchase tickets for $15. Single tickets and subscriptions for the 2018-19 Season are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.

Touch Tour/Open Captioned performance: Sunday, April 21 at 3:30 pm. Touch tour begins at 2:15 pm.

Group tickets: Groups of 10 or more are $30 per person for Thursday and Friday performances and $35 per person for Saturday and Sunday performances. Student groups are $15 per person.

Plan Your Visit:

Free parking is provided in a lot adjacent to the theatre – additional street parking is available. Nearest El station: Granville Red Line. Buses: #22 (Clark), #36 (Broadway), #151 (Sheridan), #155 (Devon), #84 (Peterson).

About the Artists:

Anna Jordan (Playwright) is a London-based playwright, director and acting coach. Awards include the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2013 for YEN, Shortlist of Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for YEN, Best Fringe Production for Chicken Shop at Park Theatre (West End Frame Awards) and Overall Winner / Audience Choice Award for Closer To God (Off Cut Festival). Writing credits include: We Anchor In Hope (Royal Court Theatre – Beyond the Court), A Serious Case of the Fuckits (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama), YEN (Royal Exchange / Royal Court), Chicken Shop (Park Theatre London), Freak (Assembly Studios / Theatre503), Stay Happy Keep Smiling (Soho Theatre), Bender (Old Red Lion) and Fragments (Riverside Studios). Her plays have also been performed internationally. Anna is Artistic Director of Without a Paddle Theatre. As a director she has worked at the National Theatre on NT Connections play Tomorrow I’ll Be Happy, as well as directing numerous productions at new writing powerhouse Theatre503. She also directed Crystal Springs at Eureka Theatre in San Francisco. She works frequently at London drama schools including RADA, LAMDA, Central, Arts Ed and Italia Conti. Anna is currently working with Headlong, The Royal Exchange, The Royal Court and Frantic Assembly.

Elly Green’s (Director) is a Chicago-based director, originally from the UK. She recently directed In the Canyon by Calamity West for Jackalope Theatre and You for Me for You by Mia Chung for Sideshow Theatre. Other credits include: The Woyzeck Experiment (Goodman Playwrights Unit), Pillars of the Community, The Night Season, After Miss Julie (Strawdog), The Woman in Black (Wildclaw), No More Sad Things (Sideshow), The Distance (Haven), The Woman Before (Trap Door), Happy (Redtwist) and Rabbit (Stage Left), Unwilling and Hostile Instruments (Theatre Seven) and The Tomkat Project (Playground & NY Fringe). Her Assistant Director credits include: Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Proof (Court Theatre), Oedipus, Mrs Affleck, Her Naked Skin (Royal National Theatre, London). She is an ensemble member with Sideshow Theatre and Strawdog Theatre, and an Associate Artist with Stage Left Theatre. Elly trained in the UK at Birkbeck College, LAMDA and the National Theatre Studio. More info at www.ellygreendirector.com

About Raven Theatre

Raven Theatre tells stories of today and the past that connect us to our cultural landscape. Through its plays as well as its educational programming, Raven is committed to serving our communities’ needs through the arts.

Raven Theatre Company is funded in part by the Alphawood Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, Polk Bros Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation,S&C Electric Company Fund, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

SAVE THE DATES: Jackalope Theatre SEASON 11

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

SEASON 11 IS HERE!

We're coming at you in 2018/2019 with the fresh and exciting work you've come to expect from Jackalope Theatre. Don't miss a minute of it with our Season Pass. This year is going to blow you away.

Welcome to Jackalope's 11th Season.

See it. Believe it.

In The Canyon
by Calamity West
directed by Elly Green
In The Canyon is a new American saga by Calamity West spanning 2007 to 2067. In an exploration on the present attack on abortion, a time in which Roe v. Wade is overturned, this world-premiere imagines a broken society rapidly declining into a future world set in the rocks and walls of a canyon, where a story of resistance is birthed.
(World Premiere)
October 16 – November 24, 2018

Dutch Masters
by Greg Keller
directed by Wardell Julius Clark
New York City, 1992. Summer. In NYC's hazy pre-Giuliani, pre-cellphone, pre-Metrocard days, a black kid and a white kid meet in a chance encounter on an uptown D train. Over the course of one afternoon, fear, guilt, and longing allow one kid to take the other to a place neither even imagined possible. 
(Midwest Premiere)
February 25 – May 6, 2019



Life On Paper
by Kenneth Lin
directed by Jackalope Artistic Director, Gus Menary
After his proof for the Riemanm Hypothesis (one of the world's last great math puzzles) disastrously flames out, Mitch Bloom, a brilliant mathematician finds himself working as a consultant using complex algorithms to set the value of human lives in wrongful death cases. His knack for devaluing lives has made him the darling of the insurance companies, but what will he do when the wrongful death of a billionaire philanthropist crosses his desk, and the future of a small town hangs in the balance?
(World Premiere)
May 13 – June 22, 2019

In addition to the Mainstage Season at Broadway Armory Park, Jackalope will present a fully curated season of work in The Frontier, 1106 W Thorndale. Slated for The Frontier during the 2018/19 Season is a the Circle Up! Reading Series in collaboration with The Chicago Inclusion Project, the launch of Jackalope’s GroundWorks Series for new work, and The 10th Annual Living Newspapers Festival.

The 2018/19 Season Pass is available for purchase via www.jackalopetheatre.org, which gives patrons access to the Mainstage Season in Broadway Armory Park, discounted access to the lineup of programming in The Frontier, and invitations to opening nights and special events..

OPENING: Rare IBSEN Thriller PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY Via Strawdog Theatre Through 3/3/18

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS 

HENRIK IBSEN’S 

PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY, 

ADAPTED BY SAMUEL ADAMSON AND 

DIRECTED BY ENSEMBLE MEMBER ELLY GREEN

Photo by Jon Cole Media

JANUARY 19 - MARCH 3, 2018

The Rarely Performed Ibsen Thriller is the First Strawdog Production in its new home at 1802 W. Berenice 

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Directors Michael Dailey, Heath Hays and Anderson Lawfer are proud to announce the cast and creative team for the second production in the 2017 – 2018 season, Henrik Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community by Samuel Adamson, January 19 - March 3, 2018 with direction by Strawdog ensemble member Elly Green. 

Previews are Friday Jan. 19 and 25, Saturday, Jan. 20 and 27, Thursday,  Jan. 25  at 8 p.m. and Sunday January 21 and 28 at 4 p.m. Opening Night is Monday, Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. The Access Performance, featuring audio description and open captioning is Sunday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m., with a pre-show Touch Tour at 2:45 p.m. Industry Night is Monday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. 

Regular run performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Preview tickets are $18 and regular run tickets are $35-$40. Tickets to performances of Pillars of the Community are currently available at www.strawdog.org.

Adamson’s acclaimed adaptation of the 1877 Ibsen play tells the story of the return of a fugitive brother  that puts the future of wealthy businessman Karsten Bernick in peril. Details of a long-buried sex scandal and embezzlement come to the surface and force Bernick to face his family, his community and his demons. Adamson's version was first produced at the National Theatre and starred Damien Lewis. Strawdog’s 2018 version is the inaugural production in its new home on Berenice and includes the return of Elly Green who previously directed After Miss Julie and The Night Season at Strawdog.

The Pillars of the Community cast includes Strawdog Ensemble Members Nicole Bloomsmith, Kamille Dawkins, Carmine Grisolia, Michaela Petro, and John Henry Roberts with guest artists Kroydell Galima, Michael Kingston, Asia Jackson, Patrick TJ Kelly, Robert Koon, Allison Latta, Dan McGeehan, Priya Mohanty, Morayo Orija, Londen Shannon, Gage Wallaceand Schanora Wimpie.

The Pillars of the Community design team includes Strawdog Ensemble Members Elly Green, director and John Kelly, lighting designerwith guest artists Arianna Soloway, assistant director; John Wilson, set designer; Uriel Gomez, costumer designer; Morgan Lake, sound designer and Leah Hummel, props designer.

ABOUT ELLY GREEN, DIRECTOR
Elly Green previously directed The Night Season and After Miss Julie for Strawdog, and recently joined the company as an ensemble member. In 2018, she will also be directing You for Me for You by Mia Chung, for Sideshow Theatre.  Other directing credits include: The Woman in Black (Wildclaw), The Distance (Haven), No More Sad Things (Sideshow), The Woman Before (Trap Door), Rabbit (Stage Left), Happy (Redtwist), Unwilling and Hostile Instruments (Theatre Seven) and The Tomkat Project (Playground & NY Fringe).  Green trained in London and her United Kingdom credits include: Our Country’s Good, My Balloon Beats Your Astronaut, Beyond Therapy, About Tommy, Copenhagen, Skylight, The Beach and The Zoo Story. She is also an artistic associate with Stage Left and Sideshow Theatre.

ABOUT SAMUEL ADAMSON, PLAYWRIGHT
Samuel Adamson’s work in theatre includes book and lyrics for The Light Princess (music by Tori Amos), Southwark Fair, a new version of Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community and Mrs Affleck (from Ibsen’s Little Eyolf) all at the National Theatre, as well as Frank & Ferdinand for NT Connections. He is artistic associate on the Tony award-winning stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse (Lincoln Center Theater, New York; Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto; US tour; Australian tour; United Kingdom tour). Other plays and adaptations include: Gabriel (Shakespeare’s Globe), Fish and Company (Soho Theatre/National Youth Theatre), Clocks and Whistles (Bush Theatre and New York, Time Out award), Drink, Dance, Laugh and Lie (Bush/Channel 4), Grace Note (Peter Hall Company/Old Vic), Some Kind of Bliss (Trafalgar Studios and Brits Off Broadway, New York), Tomorrow Week (BBC Radio 3), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (from Truman Capote’s novella; Theatre Royal, Haymarket), Running Wild (Chichester Festival Theatre); as well as original contributions to Hoard Festival (New Vic, Stoke), 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic), A Chain Play (Almeida), Urban Scrawl (Theatre 503/TheatreVoice) and Decade (Headlong). His play of All About My Mother (from Pedro Almodóvar’s film; Old Vic Theatre; 2008 Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Best New Play) has been translated into many languages and is performed regularly around the world. Versions include: Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Cherry Orchard (Oxford Stage Company/Riverside Studios), Three Sisters (OSC tour and West End), Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (Southwark Playhouse, Northcott Theatre Exeter and Dundee Rep), Schnitzler’s Professor Bernhardi (Dumbfounded/Arcola Theatre; also adapted for BBC Radio 3), Bernhard Studlar’s Transdanubia Dreaming (National Theatre Studio) and Ostrovsky’s Larisa and the Merchants (InSite Performance/Arcola Theatre). As textual advisor/dramaturg, productions include The Alchemist, Saint Joan and All’s Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre, Heartbreak House at Watford Palace Theatre and The Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe. Current work includes book and lyrics for a new musical with music by Adrian Sutton. Film includes “Running for River”(Directional Studios/Krug), and, currently, the screenplay of “The Light Princess.” Faber and Faber publish his plays. He was writer in residence at the Bush Theatre in 1997-8.

SEASON 30: IDENTITY
Who are you to you? And how far are you willing to go to edit yourself into what you want people to see? For our 30th season, we introduce Chicago to three bold works that delve deep into what it means to determine one's own identity.

ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY
Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected. 

Pillars of the Community was made possible in part by Executive Producer Daniel Cyganowski, in memory of Carol K. Cyganowski, and by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.

Strawdog Theatre Company is supported in part by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the annual support of businesses and individuals.