OPENING: Melancholy Play: a chamber musical at Piven 4/30 - 6/7

Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar

Piven Theatre Workshop presents the Midwest Premiere of

Melancholy Play: a chamber musical by Sarah Ruhl

Rare musical offering at Piven to be performed 

April 30-June 7, 2015

Piven Theatre Workshop proudly announces the Midwest Premiere of Melancholy Play: a chamber musical by Tony™-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl, with new music by New York composer Todd Almond and direction by Polly Noonan. The production will run April 30 – June 7, 2015 at Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes Street in Evanston. 

Dates:                                      

Previews: April 30 & May 1, 2015                 

Regular run: May 2 – June 7, 2015

Schedule: Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 7:30 p.m. 

Sunday: 2:30 p.m.

Location: Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes St., Evanston

Tickets: Pay-what-you-can preview performances; $20-35 regular run performances

Box Office: Located at 927 Noyes St., Evanston; 847-866-8049 or online www.piventheatre.org.

Sarah Ruhl’s Melancholy Play had its world premiere in 2002 at Piven Theatre Workshop and starred Noonan in the lead role as Tilly.  A decade later, Ruhl teamed up with Almond and developed Melancholy Play as a new chamber musical.  It was workshopped in 2012 via 13p in Brooklyn, and will return to the Piven Theatre Workshop stage for its Midwest Premiere.

“We rarely present musicals but knew we had to jump at the chance to work with Sarah again and share this gem with Chicago audiences.  She has taken this quirky, lovely story to a new and different level from when it was first staged here in ‘02.  We’ve got Chicago’s rising musical theater talent performing to Todd’s gorgeous score, accompanied by a live chamber ensemble.  This is going to be a special night out for Piven audiences to discover,” said Piven Theatre Workshop artistic director Jennifer Green.

In this lighthearted farce, bank teller Tilly’s (Stephanie Stockstill) melancholy is of an exquisite quality. She turns her melancholy into a sexy thing, and every stranger she meets falls in love with her. One day, inexplicably, Tilly becomes happy, and wreaks havoc on the lives of her paramours, while Frances, Tilly’s hairdresser, becomes so melancholy that she turns into an almond. It is up to Tilly to get her back. Other members of the Equity production include Chris Ballou (Frank, a tailor who deeply loves Tilly’s melancholia); Lauren Paris (Frances, her hairdresser); Emily Grayson (Joan, the helpless nurse who watches her girlfriend Frances devolve into a nut), and Ryan Lanning (Lorenzo, Tilly’s eccentric therapist from an undetermined European country).  

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Noonan, director of the highly acclaimed production of The Language Archive last year at Piven, returns to helm the show she once starred in over a decade ago. 

“I love this play,” said Noonan.  “If plays are blueprints, catalysts, then this play is a recipe for joy.  When Sarah and Jessica (Thebus) invited me to play Tilly (in 2002) I had given up acting, so Melancholy Play brought me back to the theatre. There is so much humor in the play mixed in with the melancholy.  I am thrilled that Piven is producing such an ambitious project—five actors and five musicians!  It’s so wonderful to think of the Piven Theatre enlivened again with the sounds of Melancholy Play.”

The designers of Melancholy Play: a chamber musical are Jacob Watson (set), Rachel Levy (lighting), Alex Palma (sound), Stephanie Cluggish (costumes), and Austin Kopsa (properties). Musical Direction is by Aaron Benham.

About the Playwright:

Sarah Ruhl’s plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award nominee for best new play), The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, 2005; The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004); Passion Play, a cycle (Pen American award, The Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from The Kennedy Center); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Helen Hayes award); Melancholy Play; Eurydice; Orlando, Demeter in the City (NAACP nomination), Late: a cowboy song, Three Sisters, and most recently, Stage Kiss, The Oldest Boy, and Dear Elizabeth.  Melancholy Play, Eurydice, Orlando, Three Sisters, and Late: a cowboy song have all been produced at Piven Theatre Workshop.

About the Composer:

Writer/performer Todd Almond’s work includes the World Premiere of IOWA, an original musical play with playwright Jenny Schwartz and director Ken Rus Schmoll, officially opening at Playwrights Horizons, April 13, 2015.  Other theatrical credits include original music for Ruhl’s Stage Kiss, also at Playwrights Horizons; original music and lyrics for the Public Theater/Public Works’ The Tempest at the Delacorte, in which Almond also starred as Ariel; original book for Girlfriend (music and lyrics by Matthew Sweet) at Actors Theater and Berkeley Rep; original music and lyrics for On the Levee at LCT3; original music and lyrics for Yale Rep’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle; original music and lyrics for The Odyssey at the Old Globe in San Diego; and original music and lyrics for Kansas City Choir Boy, performed by Almond with rock icon Courtney Love as part of the Prototype Festival. 

About Piven Theatre Workshop:

With Melancholy Play: a chamber musical, Piven Theatre Workshop continues its ongoing mission of premiering original works, and its history of celebrating the emerging voices of women. Piven Theatre Workshop has excelled as a leader in the arts community for 44 years, maintaining a distinguished legacy in the training of children and adults in the theatre arts. Annually, between onsite and off-site programming, the theatre trains over 1,000 students, provides approximately $30,000 in need-based scholarships, and maintains a professional theatre and numerous outreach programs throughout the Chicago area.

OPENING: LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE MIDWEST PREMIERE OF TITLE AND DEED

Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar 

This Week:

TITLE AND DEED

BY WILL ENO

FEATURING MICHAEL PATRICK THORNTON

ChiIL Live Shows will be there for the press opening this Saturday, so check back soon for our full review. Continuing its 27^th Season, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the Midwest Premiere of Title and Deed, by Will Eno and directed by Marti Lyons. Title and Deed runs March 18 – May 3, 2015 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.Tickets can be purchased through the box office at (312) 337-0665 or www.lookingglasstheatre.org.  

One man’s circuitous journey finds universal resonance in this compelling new travelogue by Pulitzer finalist Will Eno (Broadway’s The Realistic Joneses). Eno – hailed as the Samuel Beckett of the Jon Stewart generation – crafts a solo work that is both whimsical and lyrical, speaking directly to each of us. Title and Deed is a meditation on life, language, endless hope and our perennial search for home.

Chicago’s own Jeff Award winner Michael Patrick Thornton takes center stage, engaging us and posing soul-baring questions in what promises to be a most illuminating dialogue.

Title and Deed features Michael Patrick Thornton. The creative team for Title and Deed includes Ensemble Members Dan Ostling (scenic and lighting design) and Mara Blumenfeld (costume design), Production Affiliate Andre Pluess (sound design), Mieka van der Ploeg (props), John Tovar (movement consultant) and Sara Gammage (stage manager).

About the Artists

Will Eno (Playwright) is a Residency Five Fellow at the Signature Theatre in New York, which presented Title and Deed in 2012, and The Open House, in 2014. His play The Realistic Joneses was on Broadway in 2014 and was named “Best Play on Broadway,” topped the The Guardian’s 2014 list of American plays, and was included in The N.Y. Times’ “Best Theatre of 2014.” Title and Deed was on The N.Y. Times and The New Yorker magazine’s Top Ten Plays of 2012. The Open House won the 2014 Obie Award, the Lortel Award, and a Drama Desk Award, and was included in both the Time Out New York and Time Magazine Top 10 Plays of the Year. His play Gnit, a loving but aggressive adaptation of Peer Gynt, premiered at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville in 2013. Middletown, winner of the Horton Foote Award, premiered at the Vineyard Theatre and subsequently at Steppenwolf Theater and many other American Theaters. His play Thom Pain (based on nothing) was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into a dozen languages. He was recently awarded the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Award.

Marti Lyons (Director) recently directed a reading of Dana Lynn Formby’s American Beauty Shop at Steppenwolf and a reading of Ike Holter’s Prowess at the Goodman Theatre where she received the 2015 Maggio directing fellowship. She also recently directed Laura Marks’ Bethany and Mine for The Gift Theatre, Catherine Trieschmann’s Hot Georgia Sunday and Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar for Haven Theatre, 9 Circles by Bill Cain, Maria/Stuart by Jason Grote, and co-directed The Golden Dragon for Sideshow Theatre, and The Peacock by Calamity West and The Last Duck by Lucas Neff for Jackalope Theatre. Next she will direct Will Nedved’s Body and Blood at the Gift Theatre.

Michael Patrick Thornton (Traveler) Co-founding Artistic Director of The Gift Theatre, Michael was recently seen in Colossal (Olney Theatre), Othello (The Gift), and in Our Town (Actors Theatre of Louisville) directed by Les Waters who directed Mike in Will Eno’s Middletown (Steppenwolf) which featured Molly Glynn, who is no longer with us. At The Gift, Michael directed Will’s Oh, the Humanity & appeared in Will’s Brief Study of An Endless Thing. Years ago, Michael won the Jeff Award for Solo Performance and gave it to his mom and dad.

Dates:              Previews:                    March 18 – 27, 2015

                        Press opening:            Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 7:30 PM

                        Regular run:                March 29 – May 3, 2015

Times: Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays: 3:00 p.m. (except March 19 and 26; April 2 and 16)

7:30 p.m.

Fridays: 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays: 3:00 p.m. (except March 21 and 28)

7:30 p.m. (except March 28)

Sundays: 3:00 p.m. (except March 29)

7:30 p.m. (except March 22 and 29; April 12 and 26)

Accessible

Performances: Touch tour/Audio described performance, April 26, 2015 at 3pm;

Open captioned performance, April 19, 2015 at 3pm. Partial support for open captioning provided by Theatre Development Fund.

Location: Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic

Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.  

Prices: Previews are $25 - $40

Regular Run is $40 - $60

                                   

A limited number of student tickets are available the day of the show for $20 with valid student ID.

Groups of 10 or more patrons save up to 20%. Call the box office for details.

Box Office: Buy online at www.lookingglasstheatre.org

or by phone at (312) 337-0665

The Lookingglass box office is located at Water Tower Water Works,

821 N. Michigan Ave.

About Lookingglass Theatre Company

Inventive.  Collaborative.  Transformative.  Lookingglass Theatre Company, recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award, was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students.  Now in its 27^th season, Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. The Company has staged 62 world premieres, received 101 Joseph Jefferson awards and nominations, and work premiered at Lookingglass has been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Princeton, Hartford, Kansas City, Washington D.C., and St. Louis.  Lookingglass original scripts have been produced across the United States.

The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago's landmark Water Tower Water Works opened in June 2003.  In addition to developing and presenting ensemble work, Lookingglass Education and Community programs encourage creativity, teamwork and confidence with thousands of community members each year.

Lookingglass Theatre Company continues to expand its artistic, financial and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director Andrew White, Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Producing Artistic Director Philip R. Smith, Artistic Director of New Work Heidi Stillman, a 24-member artistic ensemble, 15 artistic associates, 11 production affiliates, an administrative staff and a dedicated board of directors led by Chairman Joe Brady of Jones Lang LaSalle and President John McGowan of CTC | myCFO (a part of BMO Financial Group). For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

ACT OUT OPENING: Cock at Profiles Theatre

PROFILES THEATRE PRESENTS

THE MIDWEST PREMIERE OF

COCK by Mike Bartlett

DIRECTED BY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DARRELL W. COX

Profiles Theatre continues its 25^th Anniversary Season with the Midwest premiere of Cock by Mike Bartlett, directed by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox. The production runs February 14 – April 6, 2014 at The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway. 

In this tense comedy about sexual identity, Cock explores one man's choices about which path of love to pursue. When John takes a break from his longtime boyfriend, the last thing he expects is to fall in love with a woman. Trapped between two lovers, John feels the physical and emotional tug as neither party wants to lose the battle for his heart. John must make a choice as he navigates his sexuality, selfhood, and the intersection of the two.

Cock received its World premiere at London’s Royal Court Theatre, selling out its entire run in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs before opening in November 2009. Directed by James Macdonald, it won the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre as well as a nomination for Best Play at the 2010 Evening Standard Theatre Awards. The American premiere, also produced by Royal Court and staged by Macdonald, opened off-Broadway in May 2012 and received a nomination for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play from the Outer Critics Circle Awards and Outstanding Play for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards. Mike Bartett won the Old Vic New Voices Award for Artefacts at the Bush Theatre while Contractions at Royal Court received a nomination for the TMA Best New Play Award. Bartlett, a Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Royal Court in 2007, currently works as Associate Playwright at Paines Plough.

Directed by Profiles Co-Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, the cast of Cock features Guest Artists Larry Neumann, Jr., Eleni Pappageorge, Christopher Sheard and Jake Szczepaniak.

"I'm thrilled that Profiles Theatre is producing Cock this season,” says playwright Mike Bartlett. “It's about sex and sexuality, fighting, falling in love, and getting things wrong. It needs four clever actors, and an audience with a bold imagination, a big heart, and a capacity to laugh out loud when required. From what I've heard about Profiles, it'll have no trouble finding that audience, and they'll encounter a fantastic production of a play I care a huge amount about."

The designers for Cock are Katie-Bell Springmann (set), Mike Durst (lights), Jeffrey Levin (sound and original music), and Raquel Adorno (costumes), with Kaylie Honkala serving as stage manager and Scott Wolf as assistant director.

Profiles Theatre concludes its 25^th Anniversary Season with the Midwest premiere of Hunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, also at The Main Stage. Their Midwest premiere of Gidion’s Knot by Johnna Adams is now playing at The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway, through March 9, 2014.

Tickets for Cock are $35 for Thursdays, $40 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available by phone, (773) 549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 7:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MIKE  BARTLETT (Playwright) is currently Associate Playwright at Paines Plough. In 2011 he was writer-in-residence at The National Theatre and in 2007 he was Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Royal Court Theatre. His play Love, Love, Love won Best New Play in the 2011 Theatre Awards UK, and his play Cock won an Olivier Award in 2010 for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre; he won the Writer's Guild Tinniswood and Imison prizes for Not Talking and the Old Vic New Voices Awards for Artefacts. Additional theatre credits include 13 (National Theatre), Decade (co-writer), Earthquakes in London, Contractors and My Child. His radio credits include: "The Core," "Heart," "Liam," "The Steps," "Love Contract," "Not Talking," and "The Family Man," all on BBC. Mike’s screen credits include "Earthquakes in London" and "Hometown." His directing credits include Honest by DC Moore. Mike is currently under commission from Headlong Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Hampstead Theatre and The Royal Court Theatre.

DARRELL W. COX (Director) is the Co-Artistic Director of Profiles Theatre and most recently directed the holiday season revival as well as last year's 20th Anniversary productions of Hellcab by Will Kern. Prior to that, he directed the Midwest premiere of Bachelorette by Leslye Headland, the American premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson, Profiles’ Midwest premieres of This is How it Goes, “Coax” and the titular piece from Things We Said Today and Profiles’ long running hit, Autobahn, all by Neil LaBute. Mr. Cox has directed numerous productions for Profiles over the years including the Midwest premieres of The Radiant Abyss by Angus MacLachlan and Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire. Other directorial credits for Profiles include The Water Engine, How the Other Half Loves and The Twilight Zone: The Series.

LARRY NEUMANN JR. (F) has performed in over 75 productions in his career. A native Chicagoan, audiences have seen Larry most recently in Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol. Profiles audiences will remember him as Mitch in their production of In God’s Hat. Larry will reprise his role of Ed Mosher in Robert Falls’ award-winning production of The Iceman Cometh with Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy at BAM in January 2015. At Lookingglass Theatre, Larry portrayed baseball icon Branch Rickey in the critically acclaimed production Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting, as the title role in The Richard Nickel Story and as Austin Shagg in the music-infused production, The Shaggs.  Mr. Neumann received Jeff awards for performances in A Moon for the Misbegotten as Phil Hogan at First Folio Theatre, in the epic, two-part production of The Cider House Rules as Dr. Larch and for his portrayal of the Dali Lama in Hitting For The Cycle both at Famous Door Theater. Other Chicago performances include The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe (First Folio), The Puppetmaster of Ludz (Writer’s Theatre) and Underneath The Lintel (Noble Fool). He has appeared regionally at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Madison Repertory Theater and Kansas City Repertory. His film credits include Merry Gentleman, Stranger Than Fiction and Stir of Echoes. Larry is a member of Actors’ Equity.

ELENI PAPPAGEORGE (W) is makes her Profiles Theatre debut in Cock. She is a Waltzing Mechanics company member focusing these past few years on developing and performing original documentary theatre including EL Stories and Over My Dead Body. She’s also had the pleasure of working with Northlight, The Chicago Dramatists, Remy Bumppo, Second City, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Circle Theatre and The Pre-Post Humanists. She is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

CHRISTOPHER SHEARD (John) is makes his Profiles Theatre debut with Cock. He was last seen in Chicago in SS! Romeo and Juliet with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and A Christmas Carol for Metropolis PAC. His regional credits include Skylight, Troilus and Cressida, Les Liaisons Dangereuses  and Antony and Cleopatra with American Players Theatre as well as Henry IV Part One and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Great River Shakespeare Festival. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a BA in Theatre and received his MFA from The University of Illinois PATP.

JAKE SZCZEPANIAK (M) appears with Profiles Theatre for the first time. He was last seen in Unwilling and Hostile Instruments with Theater Seven, Burn This with Shattered Globe, Changes of Heart with Remy Bumppo and Girl You Know It’s True with Pavement Group. He has also worked with Baliwick Chicago, Circle Theater, Red Tape Theater, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Pride Films and Plays and (re)Discover theater. Jake is a graduate of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana acting program and an artistic associate with Pavement Group. 

FACTS

Title:                 Cock

            Playwright:        by Mike Bartlett

Directed by:      Darrell W. Cox

Featuring:            Guest Artists Larry Neumann, Jr., Eleni Pappageorge, Christopher Sheard, Jake Szczepaniak

           

            Dates:              Previews:                     February 14, 15, 18, 19 at 8 pm

                                                                        February 16 at 7 pm

                                    Press Opening:            Thursday, February 20 at 8 pm

                                    Regular Run:                February 20 – April 6, 2014

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 $14 - $20 at 4100 N. Clarendon

(One block east of the theatre at the corner of Clarendon and Belle Plaine)

Ticket prices:    Previews:         $20

Regular Run:    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

Also now playing:

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.

ACT OUT OPENING: The Old Man and The Old Moon at Writers Theatre #midwestpremiere

Writers Theatre's opening production of the 2013/14 Season: The Old Man and The Old Moon

The Midwest Premiere of
THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOONBy PigPen Theatre Co.
Directed by Associate Artistic Director Stuart Carden and PigPen Theatre Co.

Featuring: PigPen Theatre Co.- Alex Falberg*, Ben Ferguson*, Curtis Gillen*, Ryan Melia*, Matt Nuernberger*, Arya Shahi* and Dan Weschler*.
Designed by Lydia Fine and Bart Cortright, USA
Sound Design by Mikhail Fiksel, USA
Stage Management by David Castellanos*

“A journey into the frontiers of undiluted imagination.” 

– New York Magazine

Writers Theatre invites you to dive headlong into a theatrical fable that celebrates the power of imagination. The Old Man and The Old Moon creates an epic new mythology, centered on a man whose job is to collect spilled light to refill the leaking moon.  When his wife unexpectedly leaves home in pursuit of much-needed adventure, he abandons his post to follow her, throwing the world into chaos as he searches for his lost love, his fading memory and, ultimately, himself.
A blend of resonant storytelling, spirited indie-folk music and inventive puppetry creates a theatrical experience that will win you over with its wit, style and depth of emotion, and send you home inspired by an act of pure creation.
Writers Theatre is thrilled to collaborate with the young men of PigPen Theatre Co., who bring the story of The Old Man and The Old Moon to such brilliant, vibrant life that its New York production earned a coveted spot on multiple “Best of the Year” lists.
The Old Man and The Old Moon was developed in part at New Writers, New Plays. at Vineyard Arts Project: Ashley Melone, Founder and Artistic Director.

The Old Man and The Old Moon features music from the debut album, "Bremen."

"PigPen Theatre Company formed, in no small part, owing to their work with Stuart Carden at Carnegie Mellon," comments Artistic Director Michael Halberstam. "I was delighted to learn that, despite their enormous success with this production in New York, they wanted to continue their work on the piece.  Despite numerous offers from some of the nation's most venerable dramatic institutions, they were most engaged by the notion of returning to collaborate with their former teacher at Writers Theatre.  Following a writing workshop, two weeks at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and a full rehearsal process in Glencoe, PigPen and Writers Theatre are thrilled to present a newly improved version of their The Old Man and The Old Moon. A celebration of creativity, music, poetic text, this is a marvelous fusion of the word and the artist and a superb way to begin our final season in our current space."

"We began writing The Old Man and The Old Moon during our sophomore year at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama,” says PigPen Theatre Co.  “It was the second play we had ever tried to write together, so in the spirit of trying to define our very young aesthetic, we were searching for inspiration in all of our classes. We found some in our movement, acting, and dramatic literature classes, but were hugely inspired by a directing course taught by Stuart Carden. He taught us to take ownership of our work in a way we hadn't thought possible. Making theatre in his class evoked a playfulness we fell in love with, so we kept doing it. We've since graduated, written and performed several original plays all over the country, and have begun telling our stories in different media. Being re-united with Stuart and working with the lovely, intelligent, and passionate artists at Writers Theatre feels like the final step in creating a world we began imagining 6 years ago. We can't wait to share it with Chicago."

"Reconnecting with the guys of PigPen Theatre Co. and developing further their epic and playful new work, The Old Man and The Old Moon, has been invigorating and a whole lot of fun,” said Associate Artistic Director Stuart Carden, who co-directs the piece. “The PigPen guys are an infectious group of theatre artists that spin their own highly original brand of storytelling, bringing together indie-folk music, surprising and elegant shadow play and an energized physicality.  All this in the service of a story that is both hugely entertaining and beguiling in its exploration of duty, memory, love and the tricky work of making change in your life.  With this piece, they have created an original myth that rather ingeniously explains how the moon came to be and why it waxes, wanes and goes through its changes.  I think this story—and the inventive way that this incredibly talented group of artists tell it—will strike a chord in our audience, as it has in me, and leave them seeing the moon in an entirely new light."

PigPen Theatre Company (Playwright and Co-director) began creating its unique brand of music, film, and theatre at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 2008. They have gone on to become the first group to win the NYC Fringe Festival’s top honor for a play two years in a row in 2010 and 2011, produced several original plays off-Broadway earning them critics’ picks from The New York Times, Time Out New York, New York Magazine, and more, ranking them in the top ten theatrical events of both 2011 and 2012. Their first full-length production of The Old Man and The Old Moon opened in Manhattan on October 7, 2012 with a commercial run at The Gym at Judson. The show was a critical smash hit, playing over a hundred performances to over 10,000 people, landing PigPen once again on several best-of-the-year theatre ranking lists. The Old Man and The Old Moon closed its New York run on January 6, 2013.

Stuart Carden (Co-director and Associate Artistic Director) is thrilled to reconnect with the guys of PigPen on The Old Man and The Old Moon. This marks Stuart's fifth season as Writers Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, where he has directed Yellow Moon, Hesperia, and Travels with My Aunt. A new play specialist, Stuart leads Writers Theatre’s Literary Development Initiative, which establishes a dialogue between the theatre and noted playwrights in order to commission, develop and produce new and adapted works. Before joining Writers Theatre, he was the Associate Artistic Director of City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh. Recent regional directing projects include Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker, In the Next Room (Or the Vibrator Play) by Sarah Ruhl, Crime and Punishment by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus and The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Blackbird by David Harrower, Mary’s Wedding by Stephen Massicotte, A Picasso by Jeffrey Hatcher (City Theatre Company), The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, Martin Crimp’s adaptation of The False Servant and Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre). In Chicago with Silk Road Theatre Project (now Silk Road Rising), he directed the widely acclaimed world premiere of Shishir Kurup’s The Merchant on Venice (a South Asian-American and Bollywood-inspired adaptation of Shakespeare’s original), the world and regional premieres of Yussef El Guindi’s 10 Acrobats In an Amazing Leap of Faith and Back Of The Throat, as well as the Chicago premiere of David Henry Hwang’s The Golden Child. Coming up, he will direct Nina Raines' Tribes in a co-production with Philadelphia Theatre Company and City Theatre. Carden is a proud alum of Carnegie Mellon University, a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and dad of twin toddlers Griffin and Dashiell.

Title:                 The Old Man and The Old Moon

By:                   PigPen Theatre Co.

Directed by:      Associate Artistic Director Stuart Carden and PigPen Theatre Co.

Cast:                PigPen Theatre Co.

Alex Falberg, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Gillen, Ryan Melia, Matt Nuernberger, Arya Shahi and Dan Weschler.

Designers:        Lydia Fine and Bart Cortright; Mikhail Fiksel (sound); Meredith Miller (props master)

                                    Dates:              First performance: September 3, 2013

                                   

                                    Closing performance: November 10, 2013

           

            Schedule:         Tuesdays: 7:30pm

                                    Wednesdays: 7:30pm (with select 2:00pm matinees)

                        Thursdays & Fridays: 8:00pm 

                                    Saturdays: 4:00pm and 8:00pm

                        Sundays: 2:00pm and 6:00pm

             

                        Location:          Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

                        Prices:              Prices for all performances range from $35 - $70

                                                Purchase early for best prices   

           

Box Office:       The Box Office is located at 376 Park Avenue, Glencoe;

                        847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org

Notes of Interest:

• Following a production in New York, an initial writing workshop, two weeks at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and a full rehearsal process in Glencoe, Pigpen and Writers Theatre present a newly improved version of the piece.
• PigPen Theatre Co. is actively involved in multiple genres of artistic expression, including theatrical performance, a live music tour, authorship of a children’s book, short filmmaking and more.
• The company works in a uniquely collaborative process with all members of the company contributing equally to all aspects of the show, including an ensemble approach to writing using Google Docs, in which all members are actively writing and editing the script at the same time.
• The company’s debut album “Bremen” (which features tracks used in The Old Man and The Old Moon) was named one of the top ten albums of the year by The Huffington Post.
• PigPen will be performing a concert series at the renowned Chicago concert venue Schubas on their nights off from Writers Theatre in October and November, to promote the release of their upcoming EP, which will feature brand new music as well as a few songs from The Old Man and The Old Moon.
• Examples of PigPen’s music, animated shorts and theatre work can be seen http://www.youtube.com/user/PigPenTheatreCo.

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE

Over the past twenty-two seasons, Writers Theatre has become a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence. Under the artistic leadership of Michael Halberstam and the executive leadership of Kathryn M. Lipuma, Writers Theatre has been deemed the “best drama company in the nation” by the Wall Street Journal and achieved twenty years of surplus operations. The company, which plays to a sold-out and discerning audience of 35,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry. Prized for the finest interpretations of classic and contemporary theatre in its two intensely intimate venues, Writers Theatre’s acclaimed work includes Artistic Director Michael Halberstam’s world premiere in Glencoe and subsequent production of A Minister’s Wife at Lincoln Center Theater; David Cromer’s productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Picnic; and the commissioning, world premiere and New York premiere of Crime and Punishment, which has received more than 30 subsequent regional theater productions.

In July, 2011, Writers Theatre announced the hiring of the award-winning, internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by principle Jeanne Gang, FAIA to design a new home for the Theatre in downtown Glencoe which will once again allow the Theatre to grow to accommodate its audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy. The new facility will resonate with and complement the Theatre’s neighboring Glencoe community and will add tremendous value to Chicagoland and the North Shore as a premier cultural destination.

Find Writers Theatre on Facebook at Facebook.com/WritersTheatre or follow Writers Theatre on Twitter at Twitter.com/WritersTheatre. For more information, visit www.writerstheatre.org.