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Showing posts with label Goodman Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goodman Theatre. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2024

EXTENDED: Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Play, English Now Playing at Goodman Theatre Through June 16, 2024

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING 

ENGLISH


By Sanaz Toossi


Directed by Hamid Dehghani


May 10 – June 16, 2024
 

OPENS TONIGHT AND EXTENDS BY POPULAR DEMAND

(In front) Shadee Vossoughi and (in back) Roxanna Hope Radja.

All Production Photos by Liz Lauren


Here at ChiIL Live Shows and ChiIL Mama we love to see the influx of immigrant stories and first generation dramas on Chicago's stages. I'm the daughter of an ESL teacher, and our home was always filled with students and families from all over the world. It gave me an early and lasting appreciation for diversity and multiculturalism. Theatre is an excellent vehicle for transporting audiences into realities far different from our own. Catch a show. It might not just entertain, but expand your empathy and understanding as well.

Tonight, Goodman Theatre opens Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play English in a co-production with Guthrie Theater—and adds five performances due to high demand for tickets. The cast of Iranian director Hamid Dehghani‘s Chicago-premiere production features Sahar Bibiyan, Nikki Massoud, Roxanna Hope Radja, Pej Vahdat and Shadee Vossoughi. 

(L-R) Nikki Massoud, Shadee Vossoughi, Pej Vahdat and Roxanna Hope Radja.

“English only” is the governing mantra in a classroom of four Iranian adults studying to take a language exam—one of the many barriers standing in the way of the next chapter of their lives. Chasing fluency through a maze of word games, listening exercises and show-and-tell sessions, the four students soon realize that learning a new language can lead to the unraveling of their sense of identity. 

(L-R) Pej Vahdat and Roxanna Hope Radja.

Sahar Bibiyan

A co-production with Guthrie Theatre, English appears through June 16 with five performances just added on June 13 at 7:30pm, June 14 at 7:30pm, June 15 at 2pm and 7:30pm and June 16 at 2pm. Tickets ($15 - $55; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/English or by phone at 312.443.3800. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of ITW (Corporate Sponsor Partner), Jenner & Block LLP (Contributing Sponsor), Image Star (Technology Sponsor), and The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Funder of IDEAA Programming).

Roxanna Hope Radja

“The reason I wanted to direct this show is because I know these characters, I know that room and that experience,” said director Hamid Dehghani, who earned an MA from Northwestern University after receiving degrees from theater school at Tehran University of Art. “It’s about rediscovering the world based on our shared culture and lived experiences—and feels like a reunion not just with fellow Iranian artists but with my very identity as a theater director. I am excited to invite our audience into this world, to let them feel Iran, think about language and identity and consider what it’s like learning English through the lens of many immigrants in this country.”

(L-R) Shadee Vossoughi, Pej Vahdat, Nikki Massoud and Roxanna Hope Radja.

Four adult students in Karaj, Iran are studying for the Test of English as a Foreign Language—the key to their green card, medical school admission or family reunification. As they gather and support one another in their quest for fluency, adamant that English will make them whole, they soon learn that it might be splitting them each in half.

Full Company of English (in alphabetical order)

By Sanaz Toossi

Directed by Hamid Dehghani


Sahar Bibiyan…..Roya

Nikki Massoud……Elham

Roxanna Hope Radja…..Marjan

Pej Vahdat……Omid

Shadee Vossoughi……Goli


Creative Team

Set Designer…..Courtney O’Neill

Costume Designer ……Shahrzad Mazaheri

Lighting Designer…..Jason Lynch

Sound Designer ….Mikaal Sulaiman

Assistant Lighting Designer…..Andrew Vance

Assistant Director….Jamal Howard

Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel is the Dramaturg. Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.

Nikki Massoud and Shadee Vossoughi.

***ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDE FARSI- AND SPANISH- SUBTITLED, ASL-INTERPRETED, AUDIO-DESCRIBED (WITH TOUCH TOUR) AND OPEN-CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES*** 

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AT GOODMAN THEATRE

Farsi-Subtitled Performance: June 7 at 7:30pm – An LED sign presents Farsi-translated dialogue in sync with the performance.

ASL-Interpreted Performance: June 7 at 7:30pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Touch Tour* and Audio-Described Performance: June 8, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset.

Spanish-Subtitled Performance: June 8 at 7:30pm – An LED sign presents Spanish-translated dialogue in sync with the performance.

Open-Captioned Performance: June 9 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.

Visit Goodman theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.


(L-R) Pej Vahdat, Sahar Bibiyan and Roxanna Hopen Radja.

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades.

The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was built on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten—and remains home to many Native peoples today. While we believe that our city’s vast diversity should be reflected on the stages of its largest theater, we acknowledge that our efforts have largely overlooked the voices of our Native peoples. This omission has added to the isolation, erasure and harm that Indigenous communities have faced for hundreds of years. We have begun a more deliberate journey towards celebrating Native American stories and welcoming Indigenous communities.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

(L-R) Pej Vahdat, Sahar Bibiyan, Roxanna Hope Radja, Nikki Massoud and Shadee Vossoughi.

Friday, November 17, 2023

World Premiere of Thriller Highway Patrol at Goodman Theatre January 20 – February 18, 2024

 DANA DELANY, DOT-MARIE JONES AND 

THOMAS MURPHY MOLONY CAST IN 

HIGHWAY PATROL 

A GROUND-BREAKING NEW THRILLER CREATED FROM HUNDREDS OF DELANY’S TWEETS AND DIRECT MESSAGES

**CO-CREATED WITH AWARD-WINNING ARTISTS JEN SILVERMAN, DANE LAFFREY AND DIRECTOR MIKE DONAHUE, THE WORLD-PREMIERE PRODUCTION APPEARS 

AT THE GOODMAN JANUARY 20 – FEBRUARY 18, 2024**

***TICKETS ON SALE TODAY!***


Part love story part ghost story—all true story. Emmy Award-winning actor Dana Delany (China Beach, Desperate Housewives) stars in her new thriller at Goodman Theatre this winter, appearing alongside three-time Emmy Award nominee Dot-Marie Jones (Glee’s Coach Beiste) and emerging Chicago actor Thomas Murphy Molony (A Christmas Story, The Musical at Marriott Theatre and Fun Home at Paramount) in the world-premiere production. Using Delany’s digital archives of hundreds of tweets and direct messages, co-creator Jen Silverman arranges and curates the text of the play from exchanges over Twitter—in collaboration with co-creators Dane Laffrey and Mike Donahue, who also directs. Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. Highway Patrol appears in the 856-seat Albert Theatre January 20 – February 18, 2024. Tickets ($25 – 90; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Highway or by phone at 312.443.3800.

“We live in an age where a whole lot of people have more meaningful relationships online than they do ‘IRL’. Dana’s brave, extraordinary new piece, which arrives 10 years after her remarkable lived experience, delves into the expansiveness of love, and the frailty that results in our dogged desire to hope for it,” said Goodman Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. “I’m thrilled to welcome her, along with Dot-Marie Jones and Thomas Murphy Molony, to the Goodman stage for this world-premiere production from a handful of deeply talented co-creators.”

Delany met artists Jen Silverman, Mike Donahue and Dane Laffrey while appearing in Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties at MCC Theater. For the past four years, they have collectively created Highway Patrol.

“Highway Patrol is a true story about an incident in my life that happened while I was appearing in Body of Proof for ABC, who had asked me to go on Twitter to support the show. Though I initially had no interest in Twitter, it was a time when this platform was the new frontier—and I ended up loving it, meeting people I never met, forming my own little niche,” said Dana Delany. “In developing this story for the stage with Jen, Mike and Dane, I think a lot of people will relate to the play in this moment, when so many of us have online relationships and use social media every day. It’s a chance to look at them in a deeper, communal way.”

TIMESTAMP: October, 2012: “@DanaDelany, Are you married? If not, I’d marry you.” When Cam, a 13-year-old fan in a desperate medical situation captures actress Dana Delany’s attention on Twitter, she’s quickly swept into an intense, around-the-clock online friendship. But when Cam starts receiving messages from beyond, Dana is thrust into a world where unexpected revelations raise the question of how far we go to love and be loved.


ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATORS

Dana Delany (Dana) made her mark as Army nurse Colleen McMurphy on ABC-TV’s critically acclaimed series China Beach, for which she received two Emmy Awards and four nominations for Best Dramatic Actress. Over the course of her career, Delany has taken on a number of high-profile television roles, from playing a brilliant medical examiner in ABC’s Body of Proof to starring as Katherine Mayfair on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. She co-starred with Ron Perlman in the Amazon Studios drama Hand of God, played Edith Roosevelt to Aidan Quinn’s TR in The American Guest on HBO and is currently costarring with Sylvester Stallone in the new hit series, Tulsa King on Paramount +. She has also been the voice of Lois Lane on Superman:TAS, The Batman and Justice League. On film she was the voice of Andrea Beaumont in the cult favorite Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and appeared in several features including Light Sleeper, Housesitter, Tombstone and Fly Away Home to name a few. Following her graduation from Wesleyan University, Delany went to New York where she soon debuted on Broadway in Hugh Leonard’s A Life. Critical acclaim in a number of off-Broadway productions including Nicholas Kazan’s Blood Moon led to her arrival in Los Angeles for the west coast production of the controversial drama. Additional theater credits include Translations (Broadway), Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Globe Theatre and the Pulitzer prize-winning play Dinner With Friends, alternating roles in NY, LA and Boston. Delany also starred in the premiere of The Parisian Woman at South Coast Repertory, The Night of the Iguana at A.R.T. and most recently, the premiere of Good Night Nobody at the McCarter Theater.

Dot-Marie Jones (Andi) has received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations (2011, 2012, 2013) for her role as football coach ‘Shannon Beiste’ on FOX’s megahit television show Glee. In its third season, the show received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. With an expansive list of diverse film and television credits, Jones is known for her poignant roles including Universal's Bros and Peacock's Killing It.

Thomas Murphy Molony, he/him (Cam) is honored to make his Goodman Theatre debut. Chicago credits include A Christmas Story! (Marriott Theatre) and Fun Home (Paramount Theatre). Television credits include American Rust (Showtime).

Jen Silverman, they/them (Creator and Text Arrangement and Curation) is a playwright, novelist and screenwriter. Plays include Spain (Second Stage Theater); The Moors (Yale Rep, Playwrights Realm); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth, MCC Theater, Southwark Playhouse London); The Roommate (Humana Festival, Williamstown, Steppenwolf, etc); Witch (Writer’s Theatre, Geffen, Huntington) and Highway Patrol (Goodman). Books include the debut novel We Play Ourselves (named one of the best books of the year by Buzzfeed; a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award), story collection The Island Dwellers (finalist for a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize), and poetry chapbook Bath (selected by Traci Brimhall for Driftwood Press). Silverman is a three-time MacDowell Fellow, a member of New Dramatists and a Scholar of Note at the American Library in Paris. They wrote The Miranda Obsession as a narrative podcast for Audible, starring Rachel Brosnahan. They also write for television and film, including Tales of the City (Netflix) and Tokyo Vice (HBO/Max). Honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim. Silverman's new novel There’s Going to be Trouble is upcoming from Random House in April 2024. 

Mike Donahue (Creator and Director)’s OSCAR® qualifying debut short film, Troy, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and has gone on to screen at another 70 festivals internationally, including the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It has won numerous awards, including the Jury Award for Best Comedy at Aspen Shortfest 2023, the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short at Outfest 2022 and the Vimeo 'Unofficial Award' for Best US Narrative Short at Sundance. Troy is featured online in The New Yorker’s Screening Room. Donahue and writer Jen Silverman are currently working on their first feature, with Pacific Electric producing. For the past decade, Mike has worked as a theater director, primarily in New York and Los Angeles. Select credits include: the LA premiere of Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse); Little Shop of Horrors with MJ Rodriguez, George Salazar and Amber Riley (Pasadena Playhouse); and the World Premieres of Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride (MCC, The Geffen, Denver Center), Silverman’s Collective Rage (MCC, Woolly Mammoth), and Ana Nogueira’s Which Way To The Stage (MCC).

Dane Laffrey (Creator) is a designer and creative based in New York. On Broadway, his credits include last season’s Parade (2023 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical) and A Christmas Carol, which he co-conceived with Michael Arden as well as designing set and costumes. Other Broadway credits include the 2018 Tony-winning revival of Once on this Island, Deaf West’s Spring Awakening and Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love. Dane also designs the set for Disney’s Hercules (The Public, Paper Mill and upcoming in Hamburg). Laffrey’s work with Jen Silverman and Mike Donahue includes Collective Rage…, Wink, The Moors, The Roommate and Troy, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and screened at Sundance 2023 as well as 70 other festivals. Laffrey won a 2017 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Set and Costume design and has been nominated for 2 Tony Awards, 2 Drama Desk Awards, 9 American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, 4 Ovation Awards (LA) and a Sydney Theatre Award (Australia), as well as numerous regional accolades. danelaffrey.com 


ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large-scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was built on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten—and remains home to many Native peoples today. While we believe that our city’s vast diversity should be reflected on the stages of its largest theater, we acknowledge that our efforts have largely overlooked the voices of our Native peoples. This omission has added to the isolation, erasure and harm that Indigenous communities have faced for hundreds of years. We have begun a more deliberate journey towards celebrating Native American stories and welcoming Indigenous communities.

The Goodman was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.


Friday, September 15, 2023

Goodman's THE NACIREMA SOCIETY To Kick Off Citywide “PEARL CLEAGE FESTIVAL” Starting September 16th, 2023


ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

THE NACIREMA SOCIETY 



STARTS TOMORROW, KICKS OFF CITYWIDE “PEARL CLEAGE FESTIVAL” 

AND LAUNCHES SUSAN V. BOOTH’S FIRST SEASON AS 

GOODMAN THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

***LILI-ANNE BROWN DIRECTS THE CHICAGO-PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF MS. CLEAGE’S ROMANTIC COMEDY***

I'll be out to review at the press opening for The Nacirema Society on September 26th, so check back soon for my full review. I'm also eager to review Remy Bumppo Theatre Company's Blues for an Alabama Sky on September 18th at Theater Wit. 

Artistic Director Susan V. Booth launches her first curated Goodman Theatre season with Pearl Cleage’s The Nacirema Society. The season-opening production directed by Lili-Anne Brown kicks off the month-long celebration honoring the prolific playwright’s distinguished career, which spans 40 years and more than 30 plays, novels, poems and essays. The festival, conceived by Booth, curated by Goodman Theatre BOLD Artistic Producer Malkia Stampley and produced in partnership with Chicago’s famed Off-Loop companies, features the following 10 works by Ms. Cleage:

The Nacirema Society (Goodman Theatre)

Blues for an Alabama Sky (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company)

Mad at Miles featuring music by Chicago West Community Music Center (Black Ensemble Theater)

Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous (Congo Square Theatre)

A Song for Coretta (Definition Theatre)

Chain (eta Creative Arts Foundation)

Bourbon at the Border (MPAACT)

Letters, Potions and Promises (Remy Bumppo and American Writers Museum)

Pointing at the Moon (Goodman Theatre)

What I Learned in Paris (Goodman Theatre)

Pearl Cleage is currently the Distinguished Artist in Residence at Atlanta’s Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre. Her new play Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous, had its world premiere as a part of the theatre’s 50th anniversary season in 2019 and recently completed a successful run at Hartford Stage. Both productions were directed by Susan V. Booth. Her other plays premiered at the Alliance include What I Learned in Paris, Blues for an Alabama Sky, and Flyin’ West. Cleage’s latest play Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard was commissioned by Ford Theatre’s Lincoln Legacy Project and will premiere at Ford’s Theatre this fall—September 22 – October 15. Her first of eight novels, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, was an Oprah Book Club pick and spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Ms. Cleage currently serves as Atlanta’s first Poet Laureate.


THE 2023 “PEARL CLEAGE FESTIVAL”

PRODUCTIONS, READINGS, WORKSHOPS, EVENTS AND CONVERSATIONS

SEPTEMBER 14 – OCTOBER 15, 2023

For tickets and more information about each event, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Pearl


PRODUCTIONS

Blues for an Alabama Sky

Directed by Mikael Burke

Through October 15

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont)


It’s Summer 1930 in Harlem, and jazz singer Angel has just been fired from The Cotton Club. As she hopes for her next big break, her flatmate friends pursue their own dreams amidst daily realities: costume designer Guy imagines sewing dresses in Paris while Delia brings family planning centers to the community. But sparks fly when Angel encounters Alabama-transplant Leland, tossing all of their aspirations into jeopardy. The Harlem Renaissance is the backdrop of Pearl Cleage’s poignant drama, and though “the Great Depression has crashed the party, the creative spirit is not easily quelled” (Los Angeles Times).


The Nacirema Society

Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

September 16 - October 15

Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


It’s 1964 Montgomery, Alabama, and the Nacirema Society prepares for its annual introduction of six elegant African-American debutantes to a world of prosperity, privilege and social responsibility. This centennial year, the Society’s grande dame, Grace Dunbar, will have nothing less than perfection for her granddaughter Gracie’s debut. And with young love brewing, old family skeletons rattling, national media attention abounding and a blackmail plot bubbling…what would dare go awry? The Goodman is grateful for the support of JP Morgan Chase & Co. (Lead Corporate Sponsor) and Allstate (Major Corporate Sponsor). For images, bios and additional information about the artists, visit the Play Detail Page


STAGED READINGS


Bourbon at the Border

Directed by Lauren Wells-Mann

September 19 at 7:30pm

MPAACT at the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N. Lincoln)


When May and Charles join hundreds of Americans in a massive voter registration drive in 1964 Mississippi, they could not imagine the violence that would meet them there. Years later, they are still searching for healing after that "Freedom Summer." Bourbon at the Border remembers the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement and honors the sacrifice and price they paid.


Pointing at the Moon

Directed by Lydia R. Diamond

September 28 at 7pm

Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


Jenny Anderson is a well-respected 50-something scholar, literary critic and tenured college faculty member who finds herself reluctantly drawn into the swirl of change post-2016 American Presidential election. Despite best intentions to stay above the fray, she suddenly finds everything she’s worked for threatened by efforts to censor and suppress creative work—including her own. Late one night, a young activist shows up on her doorstep with an urgent request for help, and Jenny must choose between her own comfort and her deeply held beliefs about the nature of freedom.


Mad at Miles

Directed by Daryl D. Brooks

October 2 at 6pm (cocktail reception, cash bar) 7pm performance featuring Chicago West Community Music Center

Black Ensemble Theater (4450 N. Clark)


Distinguished performer, playwright and producer Jackie Taylor stars in a reading of Cleage’s Mad at Miles—a moving choreopoem that gives voice to the difficult subject of women abuse and empowerment—with appearances from other Chicago spoken-word artists and featuring music by Chicago West Community Music Center, led by Darlene Sandifer and Howard Sandifer.


Chain

Reading + Art Exhibit

Directed by Ted Williams III

October 6 at 7pm

eta Creative Arts Foundation (7558 S. South Chicago)


Rosa Jenkins is 16-years-old, foul-mouthed and addicted to crack–and currently chained to a radiator, in a desperate intervention attempt from her parents. Inspired by real-life events, Chain presents the realities of addiction from a clear-eyed, unsentimental and startlingly humorous perspective. Following the staged reading, stay for a discussion and the opportunity to browse artwork in the gallery. Content Advisory: Adult language and frank descriptions of drug abuse, sexual content and abusive relationships between parents and children.


Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous

Directed by Ericka Ratcliff

October 8 at 2pm

Congo Square Theatre (Location TBA)


Following a 25-year self-imposed exile, actress Anna Campbell returns to the U.S. when her ground-breaking Black feminist theater piece—monologues performed in the nude—is announced for a major revival. But what promises to be a triumphant homecoming goes sideways when the diva discovers that a younger actress (and adult entertainer) has been cast to recreate her legendary performance. In this bold and funny story of ambition, post-feminism and who has a right to tell our stories, two women of different generations must confront assumptions about each other, and themselves, in time for opening night.


A Song for Coretta

Directed by Malkia Stampley

Definition Theatre (Location TBA)


It’s close to midnight as five determined, disparate Black women at the end of a long line of mourners at Ebenezer Baptist Church share stories while waiting to pay respect to the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. An inspiring tribute to Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006), “Pearl Cleage’s lovely, image-soaked testament to the civil rights icon brims with wit, personality and life-affirming energy” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).


What I Learned in Paris

Directed by TaRon Patton

October 14 at 6pm

Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


Pearl Cleage’s funny and insightful tangled web of romantic intrigue is set against the backdrop of Maynard Jackson’s historic win as Atlanta’s first African American mayor. Lawyer J.P. Madison is riding high after his hard-fought election victory, celebrating with his new wife, his stalwart campaign manager and his junior partner. But when his ex-wife sweeps back into town, bringing with her the temptation of knowledge from far-flung corners of the world, each character must confront their expectations, obligations and human emotions—with the pull and tug that destiny has on our lives.


WORKSHOPS, EVENTS AND CONVERSATIONS


“Chicago’s Black Jewels”

Pre-Show Affinity Space and Reception

September 16 at 6pm

Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


Pearl Cleage’s body of work offers roles and opportunities of all genres for Black actresses. Hosted by artist Kelcey Anya, the Goodman invites these talented women–Chicago’s jewels–to gather, uplift and celebrate prior to the first preview of The Nacirema Society. Light appetizers and drinks will be served. The reception is free with RSVP (space is limited) and discounted $30 tickets to the performance are available for purchase.


Divine 9 Night

Pre-Show Reception and Performance

September 23 at 6pm followed by The Nacirema Society at 7:30pm

$50 (Reception and Performance)

Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


Celebrate the dynamic culture and legacy of the Black Greek Letter Organizations of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, collectively known as The Divine 9. Represent in your organization’s apparel while you mingle with other sororities and fraternities at a pre-show reception, including complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks, followed by the performance.


Behind the Curtain: The Nacirema Society

Presented by Goodman Theatre

September 24 at 5pm

Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


Join the creative forces behind The Nacirema Society for a lively, wide-ranging discussion about this Chicago-premiere production’s journey to the stage, and the enduring relevance of Pearl Cleage’s work in our city and beyond.


In Conversation with Pearl Cleage: Playwright, Poet, and Author

A Zoom Discussion

Presented by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and American Writers Museum

September 26 at 6pm


In partnership with the American Writers Museum, Remy Bumppo hosts a conversation with Pearl Cleage over Zoom. Artistic Director Marti Lyons sits down with Ms. Cleage for a chat about her career and impact.


Between the Lines

A lecture presented by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

October 1 at 1:30pm

Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont)


Dr. Martine Kei Green-Rogers, dramaturg for Blues for an Alabama Sky, presents a lecture on the themes related to the play, and participates in a talkback with artists and audience following the performance.


Letters, Potions and Promises

A Writing Workshop presented by Goodman Theatre and Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

Led by Dr. Martine Kei Green-Rogers and Lachrisa Grandberry

October 3 and 7 at 6pm at Remy Bumppo (3759 N. Ravenswood)

October 10 at 6pm at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn)


Twelve early-career and emerging women and femme BIPOC writers are invited to a three-day deep-dive into the work of Pearl Cleage, with each day led by a different facilitator. Apply now to join this affinity space for writers of all disciplines to find community, inspiration and discover new ways of approaching work through the lineage of a Black American writer.


From Delia’s Clinic to CARLA: The Fight for Reproductive Rights

A panel discussion presented by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

October 14 at 5pm

Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont)


Journalist Natalie Moore and members of the Chicago Abortion Fund join Remy Bumppo Creative Producer Christina Casano for a discussion, delving into Blues for an Alabama Sky, the history of reproductive rights and the work currently being done in Illinois and beyond.


ABOUT THE PEARL CLEAGE FESTIVAL PARTNERS

As one of the most unique Chicago museums downtown, the American Writers Museum’s mission is to celebrate the enduring influence of American writers on our history, identity, culture, and daily lives. As the only museum devoted to American writers and their works, AWM connects visitors with their favorite authors and writings from more than five centuries, while inspiring the discovery of new works of every type – poetry, lyrics, speeches, drama, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, and more.

Black Ensemble Theater (BET), founded in 1976 by the phenomenal actress, producer, and playwright Jackie Taylor, has grown from a small community arts organization to a vibrant nationally and internationally renowned arts institution. A leader and innovator in the African-American and mainstream arts communities, Black Ensemble Theater is recognized as one of the most diverse theaters in the country, producing excellent musical theater.

Chicago West Community Music Center, a 501c3 non-profit organization located in East Garfield Park, provides music education and performance opportunities to children and families in underserved communities in Chicago and the Western Suburbs. The mission of CWCMC is to "Enhance Lives and Community Through Music." Our goal is to reduce the music related achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students and between economically disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers. 

Congo Square Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to producing transformative work rooted in the African Diaspora. Congo Square is a haven for artists of color to challenge and redefine the theatrical canon by amplifying and creating stories that reflect the reach and complexities of Black Culture and is one of only two African American Actors’ Equity theater companies in Chicago. Founded in 1999 with a mission to provide a platform for Black artists to present work that exemplified the majesty, diversity, and intersectionality of stories from the African Diaspora, Congo Square’s guiding principles are radical generosity, radical community, and radical expansion.

eta Creative Arts Foundation was incorporated in 1971 as a non-profit, tax exempt organization to provide training and performance opportunities for youth and adults.  In the past 52 years, eta has evolved to become a recognized cultural treasure not only in the city of Chicago, but nationally and internationally. The organization has a commitment to the production of new works that “tell our story” in the first voice. eta houses a 200-seat theater, art studio and event space with stage.  Our annual programming features five plays, 8-week Summer Arts camp for the youth, Multiple pop-up workshops, acting, dance and playwriting classes for young adults and a host of community events and performances.

The Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theater (MPAACT) is a professional, not-for-profit theater association founded in 1990. Our mission is to develop, nurture, and sustain original Afrikan Centered Theater (ACT) as a multi-disciplinary art form of American Theater. ACT is a genre of artistic expression grounded in the many cultures and traditions of the Afrikan continent and its diaspora. With a vision focused upon new works and collaborative art, MPAACT shall produce and educate with the goal of bringing forth an understanding and appreciation of Afrikan Centered Theater and its inter-related disciplines.

Definition Theatre celebrates stories created with, inspired by, and intended for people and communities of color. Through the act of making, Definition expands perspectives, stewards resources, and bridges the possibility found at the intersection of art, innovation, and education.

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches our community’s view of the world, and our own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. Our critically and publicly respected reputation is built on our consistent, high-quality presentations of the works of seminal playwrights, staged intimately and with the focus on expressing complex ideas in a clear, entertaining and moving manner. An ensemble theatre founded in 1996, we author a more humane culture as we listen to, and seek to understand, the voices, the ideas, and the stories of one another.

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was built on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten—and remains home to many Native peoples today. While we believe that our city’s vast diversity should be reflected on the stages of its largest theater, we acknowledge that our efforts have largely overlooked the voices of our Native peoples. This omission has added to the isolation, erasure and harm that Indigenous communities have faced for hundreds of years. We have begun a more deliberate journey towards celebrating Native American stories and welcoming Indigenous communities.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000. Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.


Friday, April 21, 2023

Chicago Premiere of ANTONIO’S SONG/I WAS DREAMING OF A SON at Goodman's Owen Stage April 28 – May 28, 2023

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ANTONIO EDWARDS SUAREZ STARS IN 

ANTONIO’S SONG/

I WAS DREAMING OF A SON

HIS TOUR-DE-FORCE SOLO WORK, CO-WRITTEN WITH PULTIZER PRIZE FINALIST DAEL ORLANDERSMITH

***MARK CLEMENTS DIRECTS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF THIS “DEEP AND PERSONAL DIVE INTO THE FORMATION OF A MAN” (MILKWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL) IN THE OWEN THEATRE, APRIL 28 – MAY 28***

Poetry, music and movement unite on the Owen Stage to bring an “honest and empathetic look at fatherhood” amidst the implications of identity, art and culture in Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez’s Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son, directed by Mark Clements. Following an accomplished run at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the acclaimed solo piece makes its Chicago debut and features Antonio Edwards Suarez as he considers—using his own lived experiences—the immense weight of raising a son in a world rife with ethnic and gender stereotypes. Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son appears April 28 – May 28, 2023 in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre.

I'll be out for opening night, Monday, May 8th, so check back shortly after for my full review. Tickets ($15 –$50, subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Antonio or by phone at 312-443-3800. The Goodman is grateful for the support of The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Funder of IDEAA Programming).

“Having my son, I thought to myself, 'this is going to be tough, raising a boy in today’s world'," said Antonio Edwards Suarez.  “So much of what is shown on television and the news are boys and men struggling and acting out many of those struggles in destructive ways. My son’s birth also made me start to reflect and examine how I was raised, my mother and father’s hopes and dreams, how were they raised, the boys, girls, men and women who influenced me and the generations of neighborhoods we all grew up in. Am I going to pass some of the destructive behaviors I experienced on to my son? Will he, my son, go through what I went through?”

Dael Orlandersmith, Goodman Artistic Associate and Alice Center Resident Artist who co-wrote the piece with Suarez, said, “We rarely see men portrayed vulnerably. We rarely see men question themselves and grapple with parenting the way this character does—recognizing how he must break the chains of the past.”

From Brooklyn to Massachusetts to Russia, Antonio struggles to reconcile multiple ethnic identities. He wrestles with the legacy of stereotypes of masculinity while discovering there is beauty in manhood and becoming a father. Powerful poetry intermixed with original movement, music and projected imagery creates an evocative, wholly unique performance. The creative team includes Luciana Stecconi (Set Design); Peggy McKowen (Costume Design); John Ambrosone (Lighting Design); Andre Pluess (Sound Design); Jared Mazzocchi (Projection Design); Alexandra Beller (Movement Direction). Malkia Stampley is the Line Producer and Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.

Dael Orlandersmith’s plays include Stoop Stories, Black n’ Blue Boys/Broken Men, Horsedreams, Bones, The Blue Album, Yellowman, The Gimmick, Monster and Forever. Orlandersmith was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for Yellowman and the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Gimmick. Dael is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim, along with several other awards and honors. Her play, FOREVER, was commissioned and performed at the Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Fall 2014, followed by performances at the Long Wharf Theatre in Winter 2014/15, New York Theatre Workshop in Spring 2015 and at Portland Center Stage in Winter 2016. Her play Until the Flood appeared at St Louis Repertory in Fall 2016, Rattlestick Theatre in 2018, Milwaukee Rep in 2019, Portland Center Stage, ACT Seattle, the Arcola Theatre in London, the Galway Arts Festival at the Druid Theatre and the Traverse at Edinburgh Festival. The play was performed in Berlin at the Schaubuhne Theatre in April 2022 and at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC in June 2022. Ms. Orlandersmith is working on a commission for Rattlestick Theatre called Watching the Watcher and had two plays opening at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in 2022: New Age directed by Jade King Carroll and Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son, directed by Mark Clements. Orlandersmith‘s new play Spiritus/Virgin’s Dance, commissioned by Merrimack Theater in Massachusetts will be appear at CATF Theatre in West Virginia in Summer 2023 and Rattlestick and Merrimack Theaters in 2024. Orlandersmith is currently working with writer/performer David Cale and director Robert Falls on a play called You Don’t Know the Lonely One. Ms. Orlandersmith received a Doris Duke Award in 2020. She is currently working on two commissions for Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.

Antonio Edwards Suarez’ Broadway credits include American Buffalo, directed by Robert Falls. New York credits include Chaucer in Rome (Lincoln Center Theater), directed by Nicholas Martin; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth; The Trial (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble); This One Girl’s Story (New York Musical Theatre Festival, Award for Best Ensemble); Points of Departure (INTAR) and Richard III (National Black Theatre). Other credits include Food Acts (Lions Theatre); The Hamlet Project (Mac Wellman Theater); Trespass (Producers Club II); Fuente (Cherry Lane Alternative); Waiting for Godot (Chashama) and Mother (La MaMa E.T.C.). International and regional credits include Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son (Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Contemporary American Theater Festival); Leandro in the international tour of The King Stag (directed by Andrei Serban, choreographed by Julie Taymor); The Night is a Child (Milwaukee Rep); A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Taming of the Shrew; The Tempest; Julius Caesar (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); Havana is Waiting (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); Spinning into Butter (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis) and Idiots Karamazov (American Repertory Theater). Film and television credits include The EndGame; The Tested; Elementary; several episodes of Law & Order; The Good Wife; Rookie Blue; Person of Interest; One Life to Live; As the World Turns; Flight of the Conchords (HBO); Curb Your Enthusiasm and Stan the Orderly (recurring) on Royal Pains (USA Network).

Mark Clements is a multi-award-winning international theater director whose work has appeared in over 100 major theaters throughout Europe and the United States. He began his tenure as artistic director of Milwaukee Rep, with the 2010/11 season, by bringing musicals to the mainstage and introducing the John Jack D. Lewis New Play Development Program, a vibrant and eclectic new works initiative that seeks to produce one new work in each of the Rep’s three performance spaces per season. This includes Antonio’s Song, which he developed in collaboration with Contemporary American Theatre Festival. Milwaukee Rep directing credits include the world premieres of One House Over; his own adaptation of the current A Christmas Carol in the Pabst Theatre; Five Presidents and American Song; Things I Know To Be True; Junk; The Glass Menagerie; Of Mice and Men; Othello; Death of a Salesman; The History of Invulnerability; End of the Rainbow; Clybourne Park and Bombshells. Select New York and international work includes Speaking in Tongues for Roundabout Theatre Company and Hampstead Theatre in London; The Milliner; Blunt Speaking; Obie Award winning musical The Thing About Men, in addition to creating and directing the West End and UK National Tours of Soul Train. Prior to joining Milwaukee Rep, Mark served as an associate artistic director for several UK theater companies, but most notably, as artistic director for the award-winning Derby Playhouse in the UK from 1992-2002, where he directed over 40 productions. He has been nominated for an Olivier Award and several UK Theater Awards, and has won three Barrymore Awards from his time at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Mark is currently working with Ayad Akhtar on adapting his critically acclaimed novel American Dervish for the stage to make its world premiere at Milwaukee Rep in an upcoming season, along with Run Bambi Run, an original new rock musical penned by Eric Simonson and Gordon Gano from the Violent Femmes.


THE COMPANY OF Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son 

Antonio ……Antonio Edwards Suarez

Set Design by Luciana Stecconi

Costume Design by Peggy McKowen

Lighting Design by John Ambrosone

Sound Design by Andre Pluess

Projection Design by Jared Mazzocchi

Movement Direction by Alexandra Beller

Line Production by Malkia Stampley

Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.


ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES

Visit Goodmantheatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance: Sunday, May 21, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset. NOTE: Touch Tours for the 2022/2023 Season will not have access to the stage due to current health and safety protocols, but will feature alternate pre-show sensory introductions.

ASL-Interpreted: Saturday, May 27 at 2pm – An American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Spanish Subtitles: Saturday May 27 at 8pm.

Open-Captioned: Sunday, May 28 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.


ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. The theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre is led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer. Theater leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmith, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

FREE THEATRE: Goodman Theatre’s 18th annual New Stages Festival On Stage Now Through December 18, 2022

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18TH ANNUAL NEW STAGES FESTIVAL 

IS UNDERWAY, CONTINUES THROUGH DECEMBER 18th  

FREE OF CHARGE WITH RSVP

Goodman Theatre’s 18th annual New Stages Festival, a celebration of innovative new work offered entirely free of charge and curated by Director of New Works Jonathan L. Green, is on stage now. Two fully staged developmental productions include This Happened Once at the Romance Depot off the I-87 in Westchester by Gina Femia, directed by Kimberly Senior and Rust by Nancy García Loza, directed by Laura Alcalá Baker.

In addition, four script-in-hand staged readings are presented during the last weekend of the festival, December 18-19: White Monkey by Charlie Oh, directed by Eric Ting (Saturday, December 17 at 10:30am); Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction) by Jeffrey Lieber (co-creator of TV’s Lost), directed by Susan V. Booth (Saturday, December 17 at 2pm); Modern Women by Omer Abbas Salem, directed by Lavina Jadhwani (Sunday, December 18 at 10:30am); and What Will Happen to All That Beauty? by Donja R. Love, directed by Malika Oyetimein (Sunday, December 18 at 1:30pm). 

The New Stages Festival appears through December 18 in the 350-seat Owen Theatre; free tickets (reservations required) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/NewStages or by phone at 312.443.3800 (12noon – 5pm, daily).

More than 100 plays have appeared in the New Stages Festival since its inception in 2004, the majority of which have gone on to premiere at the Goodman and its peer theaters across the country. Each year, the Festival’s final weekend draws national theater industry professionals to Chicago for the opportunity to view all of the plays.

The New Stages Festival is made possible by The Joyce Foundation, which provides Major Support for Diverse Artistic and Professional Development, and BMO is the Next Generation Artists Sponsor. The Goodman is grateful for the generosity of its New Work sponsors, including: Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Major Support of New Work; Ruth D. and Ken M. Davee New Works Fund, Major Support of New Play Development; The Glasser and Rosenthal Family, Mayer Brown LLP, and Shaw Family Supporting Organization, Support of New Work.


ABOUT ROMANCE DEPOT AND RUST

The cast for Gina Femia’s This Happened Once at the Romance Depot off the I-87 in Westchester, directed by Kimberly Senior, includes Satya Chávez (Janice/Amy), Sandra Delgado (Beth), Raymond Fox (Tom/Walt) and Eric Slater (Kevin). Kevin’s days are full of monotony, selling bondage gear and sex toys to ordinary customers.  But when schoolteacher Beth blows into Kevin's store in desperate search of a vibrator, it sparks an unlikely relationship that forces them both to confront what they think they know about love, romance and sex. Revealing that nothing, and no one, are what they seem, Gina Femia’s hilarious and intimate new play asks us to re-examine ourselves, our fears and our dreams. 

The cast for Nancy García Loza’s Rust, directed by Laura Alcalá Baker, includes Eduardo Xavier Curley-Carrillo (Fer), Arash Fakhrabadi (Papi), Molly Hernández (Yo), René L. Moreno (Abuelo), Daniella Pereira (Mami), Brandon Rivera (Pablo) and Jocelyn Zamudio (Güera). Güera, a young pocha, is trying very hard to be a perfect Mexican daughter and contain her glaring imperfections. The hot Chicago summer has her climbing trees, fighting with her brothers, and melting like a paleta under her parents’ searing gaze. Suddenly, when Abuelo moves in, Güera begins to wonder if she really has to be perfect at all. Why be perfect when you can be free? 

The design teams include Kevin Depinet (Original Set Design), Ryan Emens (Sets), Evelyn Danner (Costumes for Romance Depot) and Uriel Gomez (Costumes for Rust), Heather Gilbert (Lights), Stephanie Farina (Sound for Romance Depot and Co-Sound Design for Rust), Mike Przygoda (Composition for Rust) and Claudette Przygoda (Co-Sound Design for Rust).


ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. The theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre is led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.


Tuesday, September 20, 2022

REVIEW: Pulitzer Winning Playwright Lynn Nottage's Clyde's at Goodman Theatre Through October 9, 2022

In food and in life, we truly are all stronger together 

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TWO-TIME PULITZER PRIZE WINNER LYNN NOTTAGE RETURNS TO GOODMAN THEATRE THIS FALL WITH 

CLYDE’S 

STARRING DE’ADRE AZIZA, KEVIN KENERLY, REZA SALAZAR, NEDRA SNIPES AND GARRETT YOUNG

***KATE WHORISKEY DIRECTS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF THE BROADWAY TRIUMPH, SEPTEMBER 10 – OCTOBER 9***

Photo Credit for all: Liz Lauren


REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

A battered, old-school diner sign hangs by a small window. As the lights dim, the window expands into a stage-wide trapezoid, rimmed in a pop of color, reminiscent of neon. The audience is treated to a fly on the wall view of a kitchen crew, made up of the formerly incarcerated. It's intriguing peering through the window into their fast paced workspace, as they reassemble their post prison lives, while assembling sandwiches at a truck stop dive. The boss woman, Clyde, is fierce and borderline abusive, with her own past history and sketchy overlords she's beholden to. She reigns over her queendom of the desperate with an iron fist, yet gives her workers a fair chance at a living wage and a second chance. Despite the odds stacked against these sandwich stackers, their tale is told with empathy, humor, and a full plate of the universal struggles of being human.

Much like this intrepid band of former inmates, two potted herbs flourish and grow in a beam of sun, despite the dismal surroundings. As the coworkers' hostility and defenses are broken down, friendships and even romance blooms. Preconceptions are blown apart as the kitchen staff slowly grows to trust one another and share glimpses into their current life situations, struggles, and backstories. It's heartbreaking to hear that prison came as a result of an innocent brother's altruistic gesture, the desperation of an uninsured mother with a sick child, and an all too human backlash at scabs taking away factory jobs during a strike. First impressions of racist tattoos and other surface looks are dispelled, as this motley band of humans bond and learn to trust again. 

I particularly loved the mouthwatering games of dream sandwich invention, showing creativity, intelligence, collective input, and a longing to improve on the present. In life lessons through lunch, the kitchen crew moves through trying too hard, taking risks, speaking up, trusting themselves, and finally collaboration. Ultimately, though each creates decent solo efforts, it's one final, collective sandwich that makes the magic happen. In food and in life, we truly are all stronger together. 

Shout out to Takeshi Kata for the playful set design with an oasis of a walk-in fridge that looks like a vacation destination, dynamic and appealing. I also love the brilliant pops of fire bookending the production's beginning and end. 

It's rare to see an understudy on opening night, but boss bitch, Danielle Davis nailed it as Clyde. De'Adre Aziza is currently out with a non-Covid-related illness. Davis has been standing in as Ms. Aziza’s understudy for the last five performances, and will continue playing Clyde until the principal fully recovers. Director Kate Whoriskey states “While we were met with the challenge of having to make the show without our principal actor, we want to celebrate the work of our understudy.”

Playwright and screenwriter, Lynn Nottage has long been one of our favorites. She is the first woman in history to win two well deserved Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her way with words and gritty, unwavering look at the working class wronged is always a treat to see on stage! Kudos to Goodman Theatre for holding space for these life experiences, and bringing together that unique amalgamation of talent and tech to make this storytelling shine! Highly recommended. Four out of four stars. ★★★★

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, videographer, actress, artist, and Mama. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly). 


About Clyde’s 

A “flavor-bomb of a new comedy about survival, second chances and digesting whatever life serves up” (Variety), Clyde’s earned five Tony Award nominations in its Broadway run, directed by Ms. Nottage’s longtime creative collaborator, Kate Whoriskey. Creating the perfect sandwich is the shared quest of the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of Clyde’s, a truck stop cafe. Even as the shop’s mischievous owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the staffers are given purpose and permission to dream—finding that “sometimes a hero is more than a sandwich” (New York Times). This stirring, masterful play kicks off Goodman Theatre’s new 2022/2023 Season.

Celebrated creative collaborators over two decades, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey return to Goodman Theatre with their latest Broadway production, Clyde’s, launching the Goodman’s 2022/2023 Season. The cast of the Chicago premiere features Tony Award-nominated actress De’Adre Aziza as the hot-tempered Clyde, whose eponymous truck stop café’s kitchen staff of formerly incarcerated people—Kevin Kenerly (Montrellous), Reza Salazar (Rafael), Nedra Snipes (Letitia) and Garrett Young (Jason)—dreams of creating the perfect sandwich. Clyde’s appears September 10 – October 9 in the 856-seat Albert Theatre.

Tickets ($25 –$80, subject to change) are now available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Clydes or by phone at 312-443-3800. 

The Goodman is grateful for the support of JP Morgan Chase & Co. (Lead Corporate Sponsor) and Winston & Strawn LLP (Corporate Sponsor Partner). Clyde’s is a co-production with Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, where it will appear November 15 – December 18, 2022.

“I am beyond thrilled to be returning to the Goodman Theatre, which has been so instrumental in nurturing me a theater artist,” said playwright Lynn Nottage, whose works at the Goodman include Sweat (2019), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2013), Ruined (her Pulitzer Prize-winning world-premiere Goodman commission and co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club, 2008) and Crumbs from the Table of Joy (2006). “I can’t wait to share Clyde’s with the Chicago community, and with audiences in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group later this fall.”

Director Kate Whoriskey, whose world-premiere collaborations with Ms. Nottage include Sweat (2015), Ruined (at the Goodman, 2008), Fabulation or The Re-Education of Undine (2004) and Intimate Apparel (2003) said, “I’m thrilled to work with Tony Award nominee De’Adre Aziza, Nedra Snipes and Garrett Young—as well as to continue developing this play with our original collaborators Reza Salazar and Kevin Kenerly.”

Chicago audiences are first to experience Clyde’s following its Broadway run, where it earned five Tony Award nominations and was critically hailed as a “delightful new play” (New York Times) with “feisty comedy on the menu” (Washington Post), a “winning recipe” (Deadline) with “brilliant writing” (Daily Beast), and a “flavor-bomb of a new comedy about survival, second chances and digesting whatever life serves up” (Variety).

“It’s enormously exciting to welcome audiences to our new season with a sensational new work from one of the Goodman’s most-produced playwrights,” said Robert Falls. “We’re also thrilled to welcome back Lynn’s longtime artistic partner, director Kate Whoriskey, and to collaborate with our friends at Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group to extend the life of this wonderful production.”

Added Center Theatre Group Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman, “Clyde’s was a highlight of last year's Broadway season, and our partnership with Goodman Theatre allows us to bring this outstanding production to Los Angeles. Clyde's will be the second time we have produced Lynn's work in Los Angeles, and we are thrilled to bring this bold, engaging, and entertaining play to our audiences for its West Coast premiere.”

Understudies for this production include Danielle Davis (Clyde), Lewon Johns (Montrellous), Maya Vinice Prentiss (Letitia), Arik Vega (Rafael) and Gage Wallace (Jason). The creative team includes Takeshi Kata (Set Design); Jennifer Moeller (Costume Design); Christopher Akerlind (Lighting Design); Justin Ellington (Sound Design); and Justin Hicks (Composition). Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA and Rachael Jimenez, CSA, and Nikki Blue is the Production Stage Manager.

A playwright and a screenwriter, Lynn Nottage is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Chicago credits include Ruined (Goodman Theatre); Sweat (Goodman Theatre); By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Goodman Theatre); Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Goodman Theatre; Steppenwolf) and Intimate Apparel (Steppenwolf). Broadway credits include her plays Clyde’s (2ST) and Sweat, and the libretto for the musical MJ. Other work includes the libretto for the opera Intimate Apparel (Lincoln Center Theater); co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theater); the libretto for the musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees; as well as her plays Mlima's Tale; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers and POOF!. She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, among other awards, is an associate professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Kate Whoriskey is a New York-based theater and opera director. On Broadway, she has directed Clyde’s, Sweat and The Miracle Worker. Off-Broadway credits include All the Natalie Portmans at MCC; Sweat, Manhatta and Ping Pong at The Public; Aubergine, Inked Baby and Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons; Her Requiem at Lincoln Center; How I Learned to Drive and Cardinal at Second Stage; Oroonoko at Theatre for a New Audience; and Ruined and Tales from Red Vienna at Manhattan Theatre Club. Regionally, she has worked at the Goodman, A.R.T, the Guthrie, the Huntington, the Geffen, South Coast Rep, Sundance Theatre Lab, New York Stage and Film among others. Internationally, her work has been seen at the Chatelet in Paris and Theatro Municipal Opera in Rio de Janeiro and Carriage Works in Sydney. She also directed Turn of the Screw at Mannis. Teaching experience includes Princeton, NYU and UC Davis. She was recently awarded Best Director from the Drama League for her production of Clyde’s.

THE COMPANY OF CLYDE’S

Clyde………...............De’Adre Aziza 

Montrellous…………Kevin Kenerly 

Rafael…………………Reza Salazar

Letitia……………….. Nedra Snipes

Jason………………..Garrett Young

Understudies for this production include Danielle Davis (Clyde), Lewon Johns (Montrellous), Maya Vinice Prentiss (Letitia), Arik Vega (Rafael) and Gage Wallace (Jason).

Set Design by Takeshi Kata

Costume Design by Jennifer Moeller

Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind

Sound Design by Justin Ellington

Composition by Justin Hicks

Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA and Rachael Jimenez, CSA. Nikki Blue is the Production Stage Manager.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

6PM | RECEPTION IN CLUB MEZZ (THE 2ND FLOOR THEATRE LOBBY) - FOOD INCLUDED!

7:30PM | PERFORMANCE IN THE ALBERT THEATRE

Join your fellow theater-loving college students for pizza and a play! A $10 ticket for Clyde’s college night includes a pre-show reception with all-you-can-eat pizza, soda, and a discussion with a featured cast member.

Use code COLLEGE to unlock $10 tickets for this event.* 


ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES

Visit Goodman theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, October 8, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset. NOTE: Touch Tours for the 2022/2023 Season will not have access to the stage due to current health and safety protocols, but will feature alternate pre-show sensory introductions.

ASL-Interpreted: Friday, October 7 at 8pm – An American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Spanish Subtitles: Saturday October 8 at 8pm.

Open-Captioned: Sunday, October 9 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.



Please note: Our current Health and Safety Protocols require masks while in the theater. These protocols are subject to change and patrons will be notified in advance of their performance of any shift in our policies. Review our current policy at GoodmanTheatre.org/Protocols.


ABOUT THE CO-PRODUCING THEATERS

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, and in collaboration with the five Associate Artistic Directors, Luis Alfaro, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller, Kelley Kirkpatrick, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstance to serve Los Angeles. centertheatregroup.org

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. The theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre is led by Artistic Director Robert Falls (Susan Booth will assume that role this fall) and Executive Director Roche Schulfer. Theater leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmith, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

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