Profiles Theatre extends World premiere
of Neil LaBute’s revised stage version of
In the Company of Men
Profiles Theatre announces an extended run for the World premiere of Resident Artist Neil LaBute’s revised stage version of In the Company of Men, now playing at The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway. Directed by Profiles Resident Artist and Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder, In the Company of Men opened May 16 to critical acclaim and has been extended for another four weeks through July 28, 2013.
Two frustrated young executives vent their pent-up rage via a childish prank and end up paying a price in the psychological dark comedy, In the Company of Men. Former college buddies Chad and Howard, now in their late 20s, work for the same company. When the two begin expressing their mutual frustration regarding their lack of rapid advancement at work and their recent bad luck with women, they hatch a nasty scheme: Find a vulnerable young woman to court, slather with affection, and then callously dump. They choose a lovely, hearing-impaired typist named Christine, but soon their scheme creates escalating tension and psychological games not only with hapless Christine, but also with each other.
Continuing their roles through the extension are Guest Artists Jordan Brown as Chad, Brennan Roche as Howard and Jessica Carleton as Christine. Appearing in ensemble roles are Dennis Bisto, Alex Fisher, Shelby Garrett, Poppy Golland, Joseph W. Moore III and Laura Leonardo Ownby.
Profiles Theatre opens its 25th Anniversary season on August 29, 2013 with the Midwest premiere of In God’s Hat by Rhett Rossi.
FACTS
Title: In the Company of Men
Playwright: by Neil LaBute
Directed by: Rick Snyder
Dates: Extended Run: Now Playing through July 28, 2013
(No performance on Thursday, July 4)
Schedule: Thurs., Fri.: 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 5:00 p.m. and 8:00p.m.
Sunday: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Profiles Theatre, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway
Parking is available for $12 - $14 at 4100 N. Clarendon
(One block east of the theatre at the corner of Clarendon and Belle Plaine)
Ticket prices: Thursdays are $35, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are $40; Students and Senior Citizens receive a $5 discount on all performances; Group rates are available.
Box Office: Buy online at www.profilestheatre.org
or call (773) 549-1815
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
NEIL LABUTE (Playwright) is a Resident Artist at Profiles Theatre and has been working with them since their 2006 production of Autobahn. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London and also attended the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Lab. His films include: In the Company of Men (New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmakers’ Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friend and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral. His plays include Bash: Latter-Day Plays, The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Autobahn, Fat Pig, Wrecks, Some Girl(s), This is How it Goes, In a Dark Dark House, The Break of Noon and In a Forest, Dark and Deep. Reasons to be Happy, a follow-up to his acclaimed play reasons to be pretty, opens at MCC in May 2013. reasons to be pretty premiered off-Broadway in 2008, receiving three Drama Desk Award nominations including Outstanding Play. It became Neil LaBute’s first play ever to be staged on Broadway when it opened in 2009 and was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play. LaBute is also the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in “The New York Times,” “The New York Times Magazine,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” and “Playboy” among others. “Sec-onds of Pleasure,” a collection of his short stories, was published by Grove Atlantic.
RICK SNYDER (Director) is a Resident Artist at Profiles and a Steppenwolf ensemble member. He returns to Profiles after directing their hit productions of A Behanding in Spokane, reasons to be pretty and the award-winning Killer Joe (2010 Jeff Awards for Outstanding Production, Director and Actor). Other recent directing credits include God of Carnage at the Goodman Theatre, Oleanna and Speed-the-Plow at American Theatre Company, Mauritius at Northlight Theatre, The Lion in Winter and Bus Stop at Writers’ Theatre, Aristocrats at Strawdog Theatre, St. Scarlet at ATC, and The Actor, Jolly and The Disappearance of the Jews at the Goodman Theatre. His directing credits at Steppenwolf include Art, Betrayal, Last of the Boys, Tavern Story, Things Being What They Are, Orange Flower Water (which traveled to the Galway Arts Festival), and The Fall to Earth. As an actor, Rick appeared in August: Osage County, The Unmentionables, Man From Nebraska and I Never Sang For My Father at Steppenwolf. He has appeared at the Goodman Theatre in As You Like It, Down the Shore and as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Rick’s film credits include The Tuskegee Airmen, The Net starring Sandra Bullock, Whiteboys, The Human Stain, Soul Survivors and U.S. Marshals. Rick has taught acting classes at Northwestern University and DePaul and currently teaches Directing 1 at Columbia College in Chicago. Rick has been a member of the Steppenwolf ensemble since 1983 and is Artistic Director at the Theatre of Western Springs.
DENNIS BISTO (Ensemble) was most recently seen in Profiles' 20th Anniversary Production of Hellcab. Dennis is a Saint Louis native who moved to Chicago last year after a brief stint in Boston where he performed in the World Premiere of The First Annual Northern Maine Arts Festival.
JORDAN BROWN (Chad) is making his Profiles Theatre debut. His New York credits include River Valley Rep's The Light in the Piazza, Oberon Theatre Ensemble's Much Ado About Nothing, and an episode of As The World Turns for CBS Television Studios. His regional credits include A Skull in Connemara at Centerstage Theatre in Baltimore and West Side Story at Ravinia. Other Chicago credits include Sense and Sensibility at Northlight Theatre, The Pitmen Painters at Timeline Theatre Company, A Christmas Carol at The Goodman Theatre and Congo Square Theatre’s production of The Fall of Heaven by Walter Mosley. Jordan is a graduate of The North Carolina School of the Arts.
JESSICA HONOR CARLETON (Christine) is making her debut at Profiles Theatre. Her Chicago credits include Mick Kelly in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chekov's Emerging Women at Piven Theatre, and Crippled Sisters in the New Stages Series at Goodman Theatre. Jessica is an original ensemble member, head writer, and puppet/makeup designer on the national children’s TV show Green Screen Adventures (MeTV/WCIU). Last year, she won a National Daytime Creative Arts Emmy. Jessica graduated from Northwestern University in Theatre and Creative Writing for the Media. She began learning American Sign Language when she was 12-years-old, and brings her respect for Deaf culture to this process.
ALEX FISHER (Ensemble) was most recently appeared in Profiles Theatre’s 20th anniversary production of Hellcab. Her recent credits include The Lion in Winter with Idle Muse Theatre and Peer Gynt directed by Jeremy Wechsler with Polarity Ensemble Theatre. Alex is a graduate of Lake Forest College.
SHELBY GARRETT (Ensemble) is making her Profiles debut with In the Company of Men. Shelby just recently finished her year long run as Sharon in Chicago's debut of Girl's Night: The Musical. Other Chicago credits include Chicago Kid's Company's Chicken Little and Metropolis Performing Arts Center's A Christmas Carol. She has also studied at Improv Olympics and Profiles Theatre. Shelby’s regional credits include Prairie Fire Children's Theater, Shadowbox LIVE, & Zipper Theater in New York. Shelby is a graduate of Wright State University.
POPPY GOLLAND (Female Ensemble) is excited to be appearing with Profiles for the first time. She is from the Bay Area in California, and has most recently worked with Baby Crow Productions in their gender blind production of True West directed by Remy Ortiz, Back Room Shakespeare Project’s Back Room Chekhov, as well as having played Julie in Vintage Theater Collective’s Miss Julie, directed by Jason Economus. Poppy recently traveled to Los Angeles during the winter to film her first feature length film About Ashley directed by Stefan Pavlovic.
JOSEPH W. MOORE III (Ensemble) was last seen at Profiles in their 20th Anniversay production of Hellcab by Will Kern. He is currently attending Columbia College Chicago where he appeared in Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet,The Shipment, Love SongVignettes and A Raisin in the Sun. He is also a collective member of For Youth Inquiry.
LAURA LEONARDO OWNBY (Ensemble) is making her Profiles debut with In the Company of Men. Regionally, Laura has appeared in Noises Off! with Theatre at the Center. Locally, she has worked with First Folio Theatre on Unnecessary Farce as an understudy, Ghost in the Machine, where she was first directed by Rick Snyder, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Summer and Smoke at the Theatre of Western Springs, and A Voice of my Own and Arrow of Love with Evergreen Theatre.
BRENNAN ROCHE (Howard) retuns to Profiles after appearing in their 20th Anniversary production of Hellcab and understudying the role of Steve in The Dream of the Burning Boy. He is a Chicago native and has studied at Piven Theatre Workshop where he was a part of the Young People's Company. He graduated from Loyola Marymount University with credits including The Shape of Things, Proof, and The Odd Couple.
ABOUT PROFILES THEATRE
Profiles Theatre, founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, joined shortly thereafter by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, was formed as an actor-driven theatre ensemble dedicated to creating provocative and emotionally truthful productions. Passionate about shaping an original vision for new works, they focused on performing World, American and Midwest premieres as well as rarely performed plays. Critically acclaimed hits, such as BLACKBIRD, FAT PIG, GRACELAND and the multiple Jeff Award-winning KILLER JOE, established Profiles as a destination for challenging and edgy theatre. Their unique collaboration with playwright Neil LaBute led the ensemble to perform an entire season of his plays in 2007-2008. Now a Resident Artist at Profiles, LaBute remains an unequivocal artistic influence on the ensemble.
After performing at 4147 North Broadway for more than two decades, Profiles acquired an adjacent theatre at 4139 North Broadway in 2012. Profiles’ new theatre, The Main Stage, with its larger seating capacity, increased performance space and higher ceilings, accommodates more ambitious and technically demanding productions. Their long-time venue, renamed The Alley Stage, continues as the home for plays strengthened by a more intimate staging. Driven by an undiminished appetite for creating honest and resonant theatre, Profiles still seeks to present work that illuminates the determination and resiliency of the human spirit.
After performing at 4147 North Broadway for more than two decades, Profiles acquired an adjacent theatre at 4139 North Broadway in 2012. Profiles’ new theatre, The Main Stage, with its larger seating capacity, increased performance space and higher ceilings, accommodates more ambitious and technically demanding productions. Their long-time venue, renamed The Alley Stage, continues as the home for plays strengthened by a more intimate staging. Driven by an undiminished appetite for creating honest and resonant theatre, Profiles still seeks to present work that illuminates the determination and resiliency of the human spirit.
