Klingon Christmas Carol at Raven Theatre Via E.D.G.E THEATRE

E.D.G.E THEATRE PRESENTS   

Klingon Christmas Carol,   

ADAPTED BY 

CHRISTOPHER KIDDER-MOSTROM & SASHA WARREN ,

AT Raven Theatre, November 30th-December 17th

Get your geek on with a rendition of Christmas Carol like no other! Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we caught A Klingon Christmas Carol a few years back and were astonished. It plays out like a foreign language movie with subtitles, yet the carefully crafted script and translation is far from gibberish. The Klingon values of courage and honor shine through and the language is impressive, to say the least. This is a must see for Star Trek fans and anyone who enjoys pop culture, unique takes on holiday classics, and a fun night out.

A Klingon Christmas Carol, written by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom & Sasha Warren, and translated by Laura Thurston, Bill Hedrick, Christopher Kidder-Mostrom & Chris Lipscombe. This production is directed by John Gleason Teske and performs  November 30th-December 17th at Raven Theatre, 6157 N Clark St, Chicago, IL.  

The performance schedule is Thursdays and Saturdays at 8:00PM and Sundays at 2:00PM (with a special Friday performance on December 1st at 8:00PM). Tickets are $22 and may be purchased at edgeoforion.com/purchase-tickets/.

A Klingon Christmas Carol is the first play to be performed entirely in Klingon, a constructed language first appearing in Star Trek. It is the Charles Dickens classic tale of ghosts and redemption, adapted to reflect the Klingon values of courage and honor, and then translated into Klingon (performed with English supertitles).

The cast of  Kllingon Christmas Carol includes  Jamie Spagnola (Narrator); Tony Bunnell SQUJA’ (Scrooge); Matt Calhoun QACHIT (Cratchit); Justin Blankenship VRED (Fred); Andrea Hansen EMLI (Mrs. Cratchit); Alexander C. Ferguson BEN QEYLIS QA' (Christmas Past); Rhys Read DAHJAJ QEYLIS QA' (Christmas Present); Kreg Kennon PIQ QEYLIS QA' (Christmas Yet-To-Come); Angela Rak

SQUJA' QUP (Young Scrooge); Darrick Jackson VESIWIQ (Fezziwig); Mandi Corrao VAN (Fan); Cat McKay BEL (Belle); John Mobley MARLI'(Marley); Erin Caswell SUY (Weapon Merchant/Old Joe); Lucinda Lodder Lindstrom TIMHOM (Tiny   Tim).

The  Klingon Christmas Carol production team includes  Shauna Warren,  stage manager; Rachel Flesher, fight director; Peter McManus, set designer and  David Trudeau, lighting designer.

ABOUT E.D.G.E. THEATRE
E.D.G.E.’s anachronism stands for “Esteem Development through Greater Expectations”. Using the theatre arts, they educate and entertain to foster the tools of social change. E.D.G.E has a goal of finding every participant’s personal best and holding them accountable to it. E.D.G.E. main thrust is developing theatre for marginalized communities and to bring a message of non-violence, civic and social change through exploration of the theatre arts. E.D.G.E.’s four sectors are: E.D.G.E Core, company produced classes offered on a select curriculum in theatre, social skills, history and stage combat; E.D.G.E. Satellite, 

E.D.G.E programs produced, collaborated or sub contracted by an outside produced program; E.D.G.E Troupe, a professional actor program providing a training ground for interns from our marginalized community to observe the highest standards of professionalism and be part of the process and E.D.G.E Workshops, limited time commitment programs are meant to harness their educational and entertainment abilities in a workshop environment. These programs are targeted for school assemblies, conventions, and camps.

OPENING: Chicago Premiere of CHOIR BOY Via Raven Theatre

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Raven Theatre Presents the Chicago Premiere of

CHOIR BOY

By Tarell Alvin McCraney

Directed by Artistic Director Michael Menendian

September 27 – November 12, 2017

Raven Theatre Company is pleased to launch its 35th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of CHOIR BOY, by recent Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney who, together with writer-director Barry Jenkins, won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the Academy’s Best Picture winner, Moonlight.  Directed by Artistic Director Michael Menendian, CHOIR BOY will play September 27 – November 12, 2017 in Raven’s 120-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177. 

CHOIR BOY features Patrick Agada, Robert D. Hardaway, Tamarus Harvell, Christopher W. Jones, Julian Terrell Otis, Darren Patin and Don Tieri.

CHOIR BOY, which was first produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York during the summer of 2013, concerns a gay teenage boy in an all African-American prep school. The Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys is dedicated to the development of strong, ethical black men. Pharus wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school's legendary choir. Can he find his way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key?

The production team for CHOIR BOY includes: Ray Toler (scenic design) JoAnn Montemurro (costume design), Diane D. Fairchild (lighting design), Sebby Woldt (sound design), Mary O’Dowd (properties design and set dressing), Kathryn McNall (stage manager), Destiney Higgins (assistant director), Frederick Harris (music director), Breon Arzell (choreographer) and Dan Laushman (technical director).

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

Dates: Previews: Wednesday, September 27 at 7:30 pm, Thursday, September 28 at 7:30 pm, Friday, September 29 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, September 30 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, October 1 at 3 pm and Monday, October 2 at 7:30 pm.

Regular run: Friday, October 6 – Sunday, November 12, 2017
Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturday at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, October 5.

Tickets: $46 ($43 if purchased online). Seniors/teachers $41 ($38 if purchased online). Students/active military and veterans $15. Every Thursday is “Under 30 Thursday,” when patrons under age 30 can purchase tickets for $15. Single tickets and season subscriptions for the 2017-18 Season are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.

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

Plan Your Visit: 

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

About the Artists

Tarell Alvin McCraney (Playwright) is well-known to Chicago audiences for his acclaimed trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays: The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet, which were performed at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2010. He was named a Steppenwolf ensemble member that year, and his play Head of Passes received its world premiere there in 2013, the year he received a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant.” On February 26 of this year, he shared an Academy Award with Barry Jenkins for “Best Adapted Screenplay” of Moonlight, which was also named “Best Picture” of 2016 by the Academy.

Michael Menendian (Director) is co-founder and co-artistic director of Raven Theatre through the current season, where he has directed over 50 productions in the past 35 years.  Some favorites include The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia, Cobb, A View from the Bridge, You Can’t Take It With You, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marvin’s Room, Golden Boy, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Beast on the Moon, and Direct from Death Row The Scottsboro Boys.  He is the recipient of nine Joseph Jefferson, and multiple After Dark awards.  Mr. Menendian has also directed for such companies as The Meetinghouse Theatre (Boston), Victory Gardens Theatre, The New Haven Playhouse, Oak Park Village Players, Chicago Dramatists, and The Agency Theatre Collective.

About Raven Theatre Company

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

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

OPENING: Haven at Raven US PREMIERE OF THE DISTANCE

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

HAVEN THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS THE U.S. PREMIERE OF 

THE DISTANCE 

WRITTEN BY DEBORAH BRUCE AND DIRECTED BY ELLY GREEN, AT THE RAVEN THEATRE COMPLEX, MAY 20 – JUNE 26 

Tonight we'll be ChiILin' with Haven at The Raven for opening night of the US Premiere of The Distance. Check back soon for our full review. 

Haven Theatre Company announces the United States premiere of Deborah Bruce’s The Distance, directed by Elly Green, at the West Stage within the Raven Theatre Complex, 6157 N. Clark St., May 20 – June 26. The regular schedule is Thursday – Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Regular run tickets are $28, senior/student/industry tickets are $14 and preview tickets are $10. You may purchase tickets and get more information at www.haventheatrechicago.com.

Good friends should be there for one another - no matter what. However, when Bea returns home to England after five years abroad, having made a bold choice about her life, old friends struggle to support her or even to understand. One night in Brighton, things threaten to slide into chaos...The Distance is a painfully funny play about motherhood and fatherhood, about keeping control and about letting go.

Cast for The Distance includes: Abigail Boucher (Bea), Allison Latta (Alex), Megan Kohl (Kate), Layne Manzer (Darragh), Patrick Gannon (Vinnie), Josh Odor (Man and Dewy U/S), Nik Kmiecik (Liam), Jon Beal (Vinne/Man U/S), Julie Dahlinger (Kate U/S), Adithi Chadrashekar (Alex U/S), Erin Rein (Bea U/S) and James C. Romney (Liam U/S).

The production team for The Distance includes: Elly Green (director), Emily Dillard (stage manager), Krista Mickelson (production manager), Anna Trachtman (asst. production manager), Alyssa White (asst. director), Joseph Schermoly (set designer), Rachel Sypniewski (costume designer), Claire Chrzan (lighting designer), Joe Court (sound designer), Stephen O’Connell (music composition), Archer Curry (props designer), Adam Goldstein (dialect coach), Cody Ryan (master electrician/ALD), Alan Weusthoff (technical director) and Justin Lance (digital marketer).

ABOUT PLAYWRIGHT DEBORAH BRUCE

Deborah Bruce is a celebrated theatre director with over 20 years of experience. She recently began writing and several of her works have been published by Nick Hern books. The Distance has recently been performed in Melbourne Australia, as well as enjoying a revival in the UK. It was a finalist in the 2012/13 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Bruce is currently writing an original drama for the BBC with Tanya Ronder. She has been commissioned to write plays for the National Theatre and The Royal Court in London. Other work Bruce has written include Joanne (Clean Break), Same (National Theatre) and Godchild (Hampstead Theatre Downstairs).

ABOUT DIRECTOR ELLY GREEN

Elly Green is a British freelance text-based theatre director based in Chicago who received her MFA in Theatre Directing at Birkbeck College, University of London from 2004-2006. Since moving to Chicago, she has directed for Sideshow Theatre Company, Strawdog Theatre Company, Trap Door Theatre, Stage Left Theatre, Redtwist Theatre, Theatre Seven, Livewire Theatre Company and assisted for the Court Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Her first production in the United States. was The TomKat Project at the Playground Theatre, which then transferred to the New York Fringe in 2013. 

Previously, Green worked as a freelance director in the United Kingdom for several years in London and in regional theatres, including the Royal National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, AlmeidaTheatre and Royal & Derngate, Northampton. She has an equal passion for classic and contemporary material and for several years in London, worked as a director and producer for Brother Tongue, a company she co-founded which focused on producing new translations of European work.

ABOUT HAVEN THEATRE COMPANY

Haven Theatre Company, led by Artistic Director Josh Sobel and Executive Director and Founder Carol Cohen, is dedicated to nurturing empathy and passion in the Chicago community through championing artistic voices, visions and values that are staking their claim within the immediate future of the American Theatre.