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.

A Red Orchid Theatre presents the Chicago premiere of The Moors January 6 – February 27, 2022

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

A RED ORCHID THEATRE WELCOMES AUDIENCES BACK WITH

THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF

THE MOORS

By JEN SILVERMAN

DIRECTED BY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR KIRSTEN FITZGERALD

January 6 – February 27, 2022

A Red Orchid Theatre presents the Chicago premiere of The Moors, written by Jen Silverman and directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald. The Moors runs January 6 – February 27, 2022 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N Wells in Chicago. Single tickets for The Moors are on sale now at www.aredorchidtheatre.org. 

On the wind-blown desolate moors two spinster sisters and their mastiff scheme to wrest their destinies from the savage land around them. When a governess is summoned and a moor-hen drops in, all three are forced to ask what price they might pay for love. Inspired (perhaps) by certain 19th-century gothic romances, and the sisters who wrote them, this savage comedy disrupts the conventions of visibility. 

The cast of The Moors includes Ensemble Members Karen Aldridge, Dado, Jennifer Engstrom and Guy Van Swearingen, with Audrey Billings and Christina Gorman.

The creative team includes Milo Bue (scenic design), Myron Elliott-Cisneros (costume design), Kaili Story (lighting design), Jeffrey Levin (sound design), Therese Ritchie (props design), Elenna Sindler (vocal/music direction), and Christina Gorman (fight/intimacy direction), and Kathleen Dickinson (stage manager).

Dates:                       

Previews: January 6-15, 2022

I'll be out for the Press Performance Saturday, January 15th, so check back soon at ChiILLiveShows.com for my full review. 

Opening: Sunday, January 16, 2022

 

Schedule:                    

Thursdays:    7:30 p.m.

Fridays:          7:30 p.m. 

Saturdays:     3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.  

Sundays:        3:00 p.m.  

                       

Location: 

A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells Ave.

Tickets: $15-$25 previews, $30-$40 regular run. ($30 Thurs, $35 Fri & Sat Matinee, $40 Sat evening &Sun matinee) 

Box Office: Located at 1531 N. Wells Ave, Chicago, (312) 943-8722; or online www.aredorchidtheatre.org

Ticket Information

FLASHPASS subscribers enjoy ticket flexibility and exchanges, additional ticket discounts, and reserved seating. The Two-show FLASHPASS is $60 and includes one ticket to each of the 2 shows in our 29th Season, excluding Opening Night.  The Preview FLASHPASS is $40 and includes one ticket to a preview performance of each of the 2 shows in our 29th season. 

FLASHPASSES and individual tickets may be purchased online at www.aredorchidtheatre.org.

A Red Orchid Theatre remains grateful for the support of our board, donors, and loyal audience who continue to champion our ambitious and powerful storytelling. And we welcome you to join our Red League, Founders Circle, or Orchid Visionary members. These philanthropic leaders foster the development of raw and relevant work—creating a platform for our talented Ensemble to reach new audiences, and ensuring that we remain a source for honest, compassionate, and aesthetically rigorous theatre. To learn more, please contact Managing Director Abigail Madden at abigail@aredorchidtheatre.org or 312-943-8722.

 

Covid 19 Policies

A Red Orchid is part of a growing coalition of more than 70 performing arts venues and producers across Chicagoland who have agreed upon Covid-19 Vaccination and Mask Requirements for audiences. This unified COVID-19 protection protocol requires audience members to provide proof of vaccination or negative test certification upon entry and to wear masks.  

These venues and their performers, backstage crew and staff will comply with vaccination requirements and testing protocols to further ensure the safety of all guests and company members. The current protocols were developed by the coalition in consultation with public health officials. They will be reviewed regularly and may include an extension or relaxation of certain provisions if the science dictates. 

All patrons will need to be masked and fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine in order to attend a performance at A Red Orchid Theatre and must show proof of vaccination and identification at their time of entry into the venue with their valid ticket. “Fully vaccinated” means the performance date must be at least 14 days after the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or at least 14 days after a single-dose vaccine. Where negative tests are accepted, guests may provide proof of a COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance start time, or a negative COVID-19 antigen test taken within 6 hours of the performance start time. This includes accommodations for children under 12 and people with a medical condition or closely held religious belief that prevents vaccination. All patrons will have to wear a mask throughout the performance and during their time in the theatre. Refreshments and all concessions will not be served this season at A Red Orchid.  

About A Red Orchid

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 29 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights, and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.  

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Dado, Mike Durst, Myron Elliott-Cisneros, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Steve Schine, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West. 

OPENING: World Premiere of Jen Silverman's Witch at Writers Theatre September 26 – December 16, 2018

Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Writers Theatre presents the World Premiere of

WITCH

Written by Jen Silverman

Inspired by The Witch of Edmonton by Rowley, Dekker & Ford

Directed by Marti Lyons

September 26 – December 16, 2018

Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we adore Jen Silverman's writing and can't wait to check out this world premiere. Silverman has transformed and updated a Jacobean classic into a modern, feminist tale of empowerment. I'll be out to see it after the official opening in early October, so check back soon for my full review.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, presents the World Premiere of Witch, written by Jen Silverman, inspired by The Witch of Edmonton by Rowley, Dekker & Ford. Witch, directed by Marti Lyons, runs September 26 – December 16, 2018 in the Gillian Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe.

Mischief is afoot in the sleepy village of Edmonton and the fate of the world is at stake in this smart modern fable. When the emotionally conflicted son of the local lord and an ambitious newcomer come into conflict, help presents itself to both of them in the same guise—as the Devil himself. But while these two young men take advantage of the Devil’s bargain to accomplish their own questionable ends, someone else in town stands her ground—Elizabeth, an outcast whom everyone believes to be a witch.

**Jen Silverman’s Witch is the most recent example of a play commissioned by Writers Theatre and developed through the Theatre’s Literary Development Initiative. It joins the ranks of other world premieres produced by Writers Theatre as a result of this program, many of which have gone on to multiple productions across the country.**

Rising playwright Jen Silverman boldly transforms this classic play by Jacobean playwrights William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford, using a contemporary lens to make the machinations of the distant past strikingly relevant to today. Directed by Marti Lyons (The Mystery of Love & Sex) in the intimate Gillian Theatre, this wickedly funny, slyly subversive play will captivate you with the question: would you know what to ask for if the Devil came knocking on your door?

“We’re tremendously excited to have Jen Silverman premiering her new play Witch at Writers Theatre,” said Artistic Director Michael Halberstam. “This project is a testament to the superb leadership of Bobby Kennedy, our Director of New Work. He and I have long held a desire reinvigorate work by the contemporaries of Shakespeare, taking otherwise well-crafted plays that were bogged down in archaic language, difficult thematic constructs or that were simply dwarfed by the majesty of Shakespeare. Witch provides us a wonderful opportunity discover one of these hidden jewels from a fresh, contemporary perspective. Bobby has guided Witch from inception to commission, into pre-production and will be using his considerable dramaturgical skills to help take the show from rehearsal into production. 

“Jen is one of the country’s most exciting and celebrated young playwrights and she will be working in collaboration with Marti Lyons, whose directorial prowess has been on display in Chicago for some years, and who is now working in some of the county’s most important regional theatres.  Jen’s re-imagining of this classic play is witty, generous, bold, exhilarating, fresh and filled with surprise, paying considerable homage to the original story while adding a vital contemporary edge in her own distinctive and compelling voice. This is very much a classic Writers Theatre project, but with a new and decidedly re-invigorating energy, and we look forward to sharing it with our audiences.” 

The cast of Witch includes David Alan Anderson (Sir Arthur), Audrey Francis (Elizabeth), Steve Haggard (Cuddy), Ryan Hallahan (Scratch), Arti Ishak (Winnifred) and Jon Hudson Odom (Frank Thorny).

The creative team includes Yu Shibagaki (scenic design), Mieka van der Ploeg (costume design), Paul Toben (lighting design) and Mikhail Fiksel (sound design). Katie Spelman is the Choreographer, Matt Hawkins is the Fight Director and Cara Parrish is the Stage Manager.

Tickets are priced $35 - $80. Subscriptions and individual tickets may be purchased online at www.writerstheatre.org, by phone at 847-242-6000 or in person at the box office at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

**Jen Silverman’s The Roommate recently received its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre under the direction of Phylicia Rashad. The Roommate premiered in 2017 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where it starred S. Epatha Merkerson and Jane Kaczmarek.**

Jen Silverman (Playwright) makes her Writers Theatre debut. Jen is a New York-based playwright and writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Her theatre work includes The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre premiere, off-Broadway with The Playwrights Realm, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist), The Roommate (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville world premiere, produced widely across the U.S. including productions at South Coast Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Steppenwolf) and Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties (Woolly Mammoth premiere, The Theater @ Boston Court, Southwark Playhouse in London). Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, New York Theatre Workshop, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship and the Yale Drama Series Award. She is the 2016/17 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Her plays have been published by Samuel French (US) and Oberon Books (UK), and she has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories called The Island Dwellers and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.

**Director Marti Lyons returns to Writers Theatre, where she previously directed The Mystery of Love & Sex and assistant directed Days Like Today and The Letters. Lyons most recently directed The Wolves at Studio Theatre in D.C., Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías for Victory Gardens Theater, Twelfth Night for Montana Shakespeare, Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Wit for The Hypocrites, Give It All Back by Calamity West for Sideshow Theatre and The City of Conversation by Anthony Giardina for Northlight Theatre Company.**

Marti Lyons (Director) returns to Writers Theatre, where she previously directed The Mystery of Love and Sex and assistant directed Days Like Today and The Letters. Lyons most recently directed The Wolves at Studio Theatre in D.C., Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías for Victory Gardens Theater, Twelfth Night for Montana Shakespeare, Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Wit for The Hypocrites, Give It All Back by Calamity West for Sideshow Theatre and The City of Conversation by Anthony Giardina for Northlight Theatre Company. She directed Wondrous Strange by Meg Miroshnik, Martyna Majok, Jen Silverman and Jiehae Park for the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, as well as Will Eno’s Title and Deed for Lookingglass Theatre Company and a reading of Martín Zimmerman's On the Exhale for the New Stages Festival at Goodman Theatre, where she received the 2015 Maggio Directing Fellowship. Other projects include Laura Marks’ Bethany, Marks' Mine, Will Nedved’s Body and Blood (The Gift Theatre), Catherine Trieschmann’s Hot Georgia Sunday, Theresa Rebeck's Seminar (Haven Theatre), Prowess by Ike Holter, The Peacock by Calamity West, The Last Duck by Lucas Neff (Jackalope Theatre), The Play About My Dad by Boo Killebrew (Raven Theatre), Mai Dang Lao by David Jacobi, 9 Circles by Bill Cain, Maria/Stuart by Jason Grote and co-directing The Golden Dragon (Sideshow Theatre). Lyons will next direct Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner for Court Theatre and Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill for Woolly Mammoth Theatre. She is an ensemble member with the Gift Theatre Company, an Artistic Associate with Sideshow Theatre Company and a proud member of SDC.

David Alan Anderson (Sir Arthur) makes his Writers Theatre debut. Other Chicago credits include Gem of the Ocean (BTAA winner) and The Mountaintop (Jeff Nominee), both with The Court Theatre. David is a recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship sponsored by the Ten Chimneys Foundation. He has over twenty-five seasons with The Indiana Repertory theatre in Indianapolis, where his many credits include Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, What I Learned in Paris, Julius Caesar, The Whipping Man, Romeo and Juliet, A Christmas Carol and many others. Recent works include Troy in Fences (Indiana Rep, Denver Center, Arizona Theatre Company and Milwaukee Rep), Morning After Grace (Asolo Rep), Radio Golf (Cleveland Playhouse) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Indiana Rep and Syracuse Stage). Other regional credits include The Guthrie, Baltimore Center Stage, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, KC Rep, Geva Theatre and many others. Directing credits include MVP, The Color of Justice (Indiana Rep), Topdog/Underdog and Two Trains Running (Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis). He is a company member with Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, MN. Recent television works include Showtimes new hit series The Chi. 

Audrey Francis (Elizabeth) returns to Writers Theatre where she previously appeared in Othello and Another Part of the Forest. Audrey is an ensemble member at Steppenwolf Theatre and most recently performed there in The Doppelgänger, You Got Older, The Fundamentals, Between Riverside and Crazy and The Herd. Audrey is also a director who recently received a Jeff nomination for her production of The Invisible Hand at Steep Theatre. Film credits include: Signature Move, Medal of Victory, Dig Two Graves, and the upcoming independent feature, As With Knives and Skin. Television Credits include: Empire, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Written Off. Audrey is the proud co-founder of Black Box Acting.

Steve Haggard (Cuddy) returns to Writers Theatre where he previously appeared in The Importance of Being Earnest, Doubt: A Parable, Old Glory, The Subject Was Roses and Our Town. Chicago credits include 33 to Nothing, 3C, Sender, The Mutilated, Accidentally Like A Martyr, The Aliens, Kimberly Akimbo and The Mandrake (A Red Orchid Theatre), Tribes (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Funnyman, Season’s Greetings and She Stoops to Conquer (Northlight Theatre), Wasteland (Timeline Theatre Company), Alias Grace and Winter (Rivendell); King Lear, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare). Regional credits include Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Tempest, Hay Fever, Comedy of Errors and Ah Wilderness! (American Players Theatre), Almost Maine (Milwaukee Repertory Theater) and Fallen Angels (Indiana Repertory). Steve is an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre and a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Ryan Hallahan (Scratch) returns to Writers Theatre, where he previously appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire and The Real Thing. Some recent Chicago credits also include Pass Over, Straight White Men (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac, Pericles (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Posh (Steep Theatre, Jeff Award Winner: Best Ensemble), The Body of an American (Stage Left, Jeff Award Nominee: Best Actor in a Principal Role), Octagon (Jackalope Theatre) as well as work with The Goodman Theatre, Definition Theater, Theater Seven, Broken Nose, Cold Basement, The Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Livewire! and Theater on the Lake. Television credits include Chicago Fire and Chicago Med (NBC). Film credits include Workingman and Pass Over, directed by Spike Lee. He is represented by Actors Talent Group.

Arti Ishak (Winnifred) returns to Writers Theatre where she previously appeared in Buried Child. Arti Ishak is an actor, writer and teaching artist originally from Detroit. Recent Chicago credits include Men On Boats (American Theater Company), Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter (Chicago Dramatists), Venus in Fur (Circle Theatre), Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno (The Second City), Harbur Gate (16th Street Theatre) and A Story Told in Seven Fights (The Neo-Futurists). She is a graduate of Western Michigan University's Theatre and Business schools. 

Jon Hudson Odom (Frank Thorny) makes his Writers Theatre debut. Chicago credits: A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre). Regional credits include: An Octoroon, Botticelli in the Fire (Woolly Mammoth Theatre), Angels in America parts 1 & 2 (Round House and Olney Theatre Center), The Magic Play (Actors Theatre of Louisville), A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre Center), Twelfth Night (Baltimore Center Stage), The Magic Play, Piano Lesson, Our Town, Hay Feverand Colossal (Olney Theatre Center) Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Passion Play (Forum Theatre) Father Comes Home From the Wars Parts 1, 2 & 3 (Round House Theatre), Yellowman (Rep Stage), You Can’t Take It With You (Everyman Theatre), A Christmas Carol, Our Town (Ford’s Theatre), 2-2-Tango (Studio Theatre), Under the Skin (The Public Theatre ME), A Few Good Men (Keegan Theatre), Reals (Theater Alliance DC), The BFG (Imagination Stage, The National Children's Theatre) and The Ramayana (Constellation Theatre). He is a three-time nominee and a recipient of the Helen Hayes Awards. He is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, an Artistic Associate at Olney Theatre Center and a member of The Ensemble at Forum Theatre in DC. Education: University of North Carolina School of the Arts.



AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
Accessible Performances
Open-Captioned performance: Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 7:30pm
ASL-Interpreted performance: Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 7:30pm

Sunday Spotlight
REINVIGORATING A CLASSIC
Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 11:30am
Jen Silverman’s Witch is the most recent example of a play developed through the Literary Development Initiative, and it joins the ranks of other world premieres produced by Writers Theatre as a result of this program. Many LDI works refresh classic pieces through a new contemporary lens, and with Witch, Silverman has taken a Jacobean-era play and given it modern relevance and bite with its themes of revolution, feminism and morality. Join Director of New Work & Dramaturgy Bobby Kennedy and guests as they break down the process of reinvigorating a classic through fresh eyes, shedding light on how a play from 1621 can be adapted for today’s world. This free one-hour event begins at 11:30am, leaving you plenty of time for coffee or lunch before the 2pm Sunday matinee performance begins (though you may attend even if you are not staying for the performance). Seating is limited, RSVP is required.

The Making of... Witch
WITCHCRAFT THEN & NOW
Monday, November 12, 2018 at 6:30pm
Before The Wizard of Oz introduced the idea of “good witches” and “bad witches,” beyond Wicked and The Crucible and Harry Potter, witchcraft has mystified humankind for centuries and has always been present in popular culture and media. At this installment of The Making Of series, Director of Education Kelsey Chigas will walk through a brief history of witches and witchcraft across time periods and cultures, exploring the deeper meanings behind the accusations and celebrations of witches throughout history and exposing the cultural misogyny so often at the root of the persecution of women who defied social norms. We’ll also examine what witchcraft looks like in today’s society, busting myths about this spiritual practice. Seating is limited, RSVP is required.

Post-Show Conversation: The Word
Join us after every Tuesday evening performance (excluding First Week and any extension weeks) for a 15-minute discussion of the play, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team.
Post-Show Conversation: The Artist
Join us after every Wednesday evening performance (excluding First Week and any extension weeks) for a 15-minute talk-back featuring actors from the production, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team.

RIDE METRA TO WRITERS THEATRE
In an effort to promote taking public transit to the Theatre, Writers Theatre launched a new promotion in 2013. Any audience member who purchases a ticket to a Writers Theatre production and rides Metra’s Union Pacific North Line to the Theatre may snap a photo of themselves on the train and post it to their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account with a tag of @WritersTheatre (@Writers_Theatre on Instagram) and #WitchWT, and upon showing the post at the Writers Theatre Box Office, receive $5 in cash to put toward the cost of your fare as a thank you for going green.

This promotion is available for a limited time only and may end without warning. Ticket must have been paid for in advance. Not valid on comp tickets. More information available at writerstheatre.org/metra.

WRITERS THEATRE PARTNERS
Writers Theatre is pleased to recognize BMO Harris Bank as the 2018/19 Season Sponsor and ComEd as the Official Lighting Sponsor of the 2018/19 Season. The Major Production Sponsor for Witch is Mary Pat Studdert, and the Artists Council Sponsors are Susan and Don Belgrad. Additional support is provided by the Director’s Society Sponsors.

For more information about Writers Theatre’s 2018/19 partners, visit writerstheatre.org/our-supporters.

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE
For more than 25 years, Writers Theatre has captivated Chicagoland audiences with inventive interpretations of classic work, a bold approach to contemporary theatre and a dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible.

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Halberstam and the executive leadership of Kathryn M. Lipuma, Writers Theatre has grown to become a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called the top regional theatre in the nation by The Wall Street Journal. The company, which plays to a sold-out and discerning audience of more than 60,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry—providing the finest interpretations of both classic and contemporary theatre in its two intensely intimate venues. 

In February 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility. This established the company's first permanent home—a new theatre center in downtown Glencoe, designed by the award-winning, internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by Founder and Design Principal Jeanne Gang, FAIA, in collaboration with Theatre Consultant Auerbach Pollock Friedlander. The new facility has allowed the Theatre to continue to grow to accommodate its audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy. The new facility resonates with and complements the Theatre’s neighboring Glencoe community, adding tremendous value to Chicagoland and helping to establish the North Shore as a premier cultural destination.

Find Writers Theatre: 

on Facebook at Facebook.com/WritersTheatre, 

follow @WritersTheatre on Twitter or 

@Writers_Theatre on Instagram. 

For more information, visit www.writerstheatre.org.

OPENING: Chicago Premiere of The Roommate at Steppenwolf Theatre Company June 21 – August 5, 2018

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad

Directs Chicago Premiere of 

The Roommate

Written by Jen Silverman

June 21 – August 5, 2018

Featuring Ensemble Members Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez

In a Warm, Funny Story About a Chance Cohabitation That Sets Two Lives Spinning

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of The Roommate by Jen Silverman, directed by Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad. A unique story that expresses how early-life choices can lead to mid-life challenges and the humorous, touching and unexpected rewards of bridging the divide, the Steppenwolf production will feature ensemble members Ora Jones as Robyn and Sandra Marquez as Sharon.

The Roommate begins previews June 21, 2018 and the production runs through August 5, 2018 in the Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N Halsted St. Press performances are Sunday, July 1 at 6pm and Tuesday, July 3 at 7:30pm; opening night is Sunday, July 1. Single tickets ($20-$93) are currently on-sale through Audience Services at 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Sharon is Midwestern nice. But to Robyn, her new roommate from the Bronx, that just means very nosy and very, very talkative. A comical mismatch leads to a surprising and touching friendship in this new comedy about how early-life choices lead to mid-life challenges and the unexpected rewards of bridging the divide. The Roommate is a warm, funny story about a chance cohabitation that sets two lives spinning. Think The Odd Couple meets Breaking Bad. 

Jen Silverman’s The Roommate premiered at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville in 2015 and has received subsequent productions at South Coast Rep, Williamstown and SF Playhouse. Additional work includes The Moors, Phoebe in Winter, The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane (Barrymore Award) and Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Boops (Woolly Mammoth). She is a member of New Dramatists, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Portland Center Stage, Berkeley Rep and the Royal Court in London. A recipient of the Helen Merrill and Yale Drama Series Awards, she’s also a two-time MacDowell Fellow and 16/17 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark.



Phylicia Rashad (director), one of the entertainment world’s most extraordinary performing artists, has been bringing laughter to millions of television viewers around the world, moving theatre-goers to tears, thrilling movie fans, offering new insights to students by teaching at renowned learning institutions such as Howard University and Julliard, and breaking new ground as a director.

Phylicia Rashad’s directing credits include August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director) and Fences at the Long Wharf Theatre and the McCarter Theatre. This spring Ms. Rashad makes her NYC stage directing debut with the comedy Our Lady of 121st Street, running off-Broadway from May 1 to June 10.

Ms. Rashad received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her riveting performance in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun. She received the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in Steppenwolf ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney's Head of Passes at the Public Theater, which played at the Mark Taper Forum this fall. She has performed on Broadway in Steppenwolf’s production of ensemble member Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County; Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (a role that she reprised on the London Stage), August Wilson’s Gem Of The Ocean, (Tony Award nomination) and Cymbeline at Lincoln Center.

Well-known to television audiences for her groundbreaking role of attorney Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, her recent film credits include Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls and the 2015 Rocky spin-off and sequel Creed, and she currently has a featured guest-starring role in Empire.

Ora Jones (Robyn) is a Steppenwolf ensemble member and was recently seen in Studio Theatre’s production of Curve of Departure and on Broadway last season as Madame de Volanges in Les Liaisons Dangerueses at the Booth Theatre in New York. She also appeared as Mrs. Phelps in Matilda the Musical, both at the Shubert Theatre in New York, and in the first National tour. At Steppenwolf she is in the upcoming production of The Doppelgänger (an international farce) and appeared in The Wheel, Three Sisters, Middletown, The Brother/Sister Plays, The Unmentionables, The Violet Hour, The Crucible, Carter's Way and Morning Star. Some favorite Chicago roles include Katherine of Aragon in Henry VIII, Queen Charlotte in The Madness of George III, Maria in Twelfth Night, Lucienne in A Flea in Her Ear and Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor for Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Mrs. Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers, Claire in Proof, Mrs. Fezziwig and Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, Madeleine Beck in Boy Gets Girl and Elizabeth I in The Beard of Avon for Goodman Theatre; Jaclyn in Rasheeda Speaks for Rivendell Theatre; Rita Jeffries in My Kind of Town for Timeline Theatre; the Stage Manager in Our Town for Writers Theatre; Gwen in Execution of Justice for About Face Theatre; Bird/Turtle in A Year With Frog and Toad for Chicago Children's Theatre. Regional and other New York credits include performances at Long Wharf Theatre, Yale Repertory, Manhattan Theatre Club, Public Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory and Next Act. Film and television appearances include Chicago Fire, Betrayal, Consumed, Were the World Mine and Stranger than Fiction.

Sandra Marquez (Sharon) joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in spring 2016 and is in the upcoming Steppenwolf production of The Doppelgänger (an international farce). She recently appeared in the Steppenwolf productions of Mary Page Marlowe and The Motherf**ker with the Hat. Other credits at Steppenwolf include A Streetcar Named Desire, Sonia Flew, and One Arm. At Teatro Vista, where she is a longtime company member, she directed Fade, My Mañana Comes, Breakfast Lunch & Dinner and Our Lady of the Underpass and has acted in numerous productions, including A View from the Bridge for which she received a Jeff Award. Last fall she completed a three-year arc playing Clytemnestra in what was billed as Court Theater's Iphigenia Cycle (Iphigenia at Aulis, Electra and Agamemnon). Film and television credits include Boss, Empire, Chicago Med, Chicago Justice and Timer. Marquez is on the theater faculty at Northwestern University. 

The Roommate production team includes John Iacovelli (scenic design), Samantha C. Jones (costume design), Xavier Pierce (lighting design) and Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound design). Additional credits include Laura Glenn (stage manager), Christine D. Freeburg (assistant stage manager), JC Clementz (casting director) and Hallie Gordon (artistic producer).

Dates: June 21 – August 5, 2018
Previews: June 21 – June 30, 2018
Press Performances: Sunday, July 1 at 6pm and Tuesday, July 3 at 7:30pm
           Opening: July 1, 2018
Regular Run: July 3 – August 5, 2018
Accessible Performances:
American Sign Language Interpretation: Sunday, July 22 at 7:30pm
Open Captioning: Saturday, August 4 at 3pm
Audio Description and Touch Tour: Sunday, July 29 at 1:30pm
Curtain Times: Tuesday – Friday at 7:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm and 7:30pm

Ticket prices:
Previews: $20 – $54, Regular Run: $20 – $93. Prices subject to change
20 for $20: Twenty $20 tickets are available for all main series shows on the day of the performance at 11am (Mon – Sat) and 1pm (Sun), by phone only at 312-335-1650. Limit 2 per person.

Rush Tickets: Half-price rush tickets are available one hour before each main series show.

Student Discounts: Limited $15 student tickets are available online. (Limit 2 tickets. Must present a valid student ID for each ticket). For additional student discounts, visit steppenwolf.org/students.

Group Tickets: All groups of 10 or more receive a discounted rate for any performance.

Black Card Memberships are for audiences interested in extreme flexibility. Cards include six tickets for use any time, for any production including the LookOut Series. The tickets are valid for one year with the option to add additional tickets as needed. Perks include easy and free exchanges, access to seats before the general public, savings on single ticket prices and bar and restaurant discounts for pre- and post-show socializing.

Red Card Memberships are available for theatergoers under 30.

More info at steppenwolf.org/memberships

Audience Services:
For tickets or more information, contact Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St) at
312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Visitor Information
Steppenwolf is located at 1650 N Halsted St near all forms of public transportation, bike racks and Divvy bike stands. The parking facility ($12 or $14, cash or card) is located just south of our theater at 1624 N Halsted. Valet parking service ($14 cash) is available directly in front of the main entrance starting at 5pm on weeknights, 1pm on weekends and at 12noon before Wednesday matinees. Limited street and lot parking are also available. For last minute questions and concerns, patrons can call the Steppenwolf Parking Hotline at 312.335.1774.

Accessibility
Committed to making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each play. Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and the Downstairs and 1700 Theatres are each equipped with an induction hearing loop. All theaters feature wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, and Front Bar features a push-button entrance, all-gender restrooms and accessible counter and table spaces.

Sponsor Information
United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf.

Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks
Connected to the main lobby is Steppenwolf’s own Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks, offering a warm, creative space to grab a drink, have a bite, or meet up with friends and collaborators, day or night. Open Tuesdays – Sundays from 8am to midnight, Front Bar serves artisanal coffee and espresso is provided by La Colombe and food prepared by Goddess and Grocer. The menu focuses on fresh, accessible fare, featuring grab-and-go salads and sandwiches for lunch and adding shareable small plates and desserts for evening and post show service. www.front-bar.com.



Steppenwolf Theatre Company 
is the nation’s premier ensemble theater. Formed by a collective of actors in 1976, the ensemble represents a remarkable cross-section of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling and powerful productions from Balm in Gilead to August: Osage County—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards—have made the theater legendary. Steppenwolf produces hundreds of performances and events annually in its three spaces: the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Artistic programing includes a seven-play season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a multi-genre performances series. Education initiatives include the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf for Young Adults, which engages 15,000 participants annually from Chicago’s diverse communities; the esteemed School at Steppenwolf; and Professional Leadership Programs for arts administration training. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Executive Director. Eric Lefkofsky is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.