OPENING: ROUTES Via Remy Bumppo Theatre Company October 12 - November 20, 2022 at Theater Wit

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

Announces Casting and Production Team for 

ROUTES

by Rachel De-lahay

Directed by Mikael Burke

October 12 - November 20, 2022 at Theater Wit

 

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is pleased to announce the casting and design team for the final show in its 2022 Season, ROUTES by Rachel De-lahay and directed by Mikael Burke. The show will run from October 12 through November 20, 2022 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

Olufemi hopes to return home to his family. Bashir wants to remain in the only home he knows. Kola yearns to find home in a place that’s never felt like one. Rachel De-lahay’s shattering, urgent new play looks through the eyes of immigrants, refugees, and children in conflict with the law as they fight to get home through an impossibly complex system designed to keep them out.

 

ROUTES will feature Terry Bell (Remy Bumppo Core Ensemble Member) Yao Dogbe, Kristin E. Ellis, Evelyn Lockley, Kevin Tre’von Patterson and TJ Thomas. Designs for this production will feature work by Bindu Poroori (Dramaturg), Mara Zinky (Scenic Design), Gregory A. Graham (Costume Design), Eric Watkins (Lighting Design), Peter Clare (Sound Design), Amanda Herrmann (Properties Design) and Sana Selemon (Dialect Coach).

 

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s production of ROUTES will run from October 12 through November 20, 2022 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale at www.RemyBumppo.org or by calling the Theater Wit Box Office at 773.975.8150.

 

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022-2023 Presenting Sponsor is Geoffrey A. Anderson. Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022-2023 Season Sponsors are Brenda and James Grusecki, Lynne and George Simon, and Charlotte Toerber.

Remy Bumppo’s programs and operations are also partially funded by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, the MacArthur Foundation for Arts and Culture at Prince Charitable Trusts, and the Shubert Foundation.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Terry Bell (Bashir) Yao Dogbe (Olufemi), Kristin E. Ellis (Lisa), Evelyn Lockley (Anka), Kevin Tre’von Patterson (Abiola) and TJ Thomas (Kola). 

Understudy Cast (in alphabetical order): Maya Jahan Abram (U/S Lisa), Kevin Aoussou (U/S Abiola), Tamarus Harvell (U/S Bashir), Benjamin Jenkins (U/S Olufemi), Lucas Looch Johnson (U/S Kola), Amanda Winston (U/S Anka)

 

Artistic Director: Marti Lyons

Stage Manager: Lucy Whipp

Assistant Director: Alex Dauphin

Assistant Stage Manager: Cecilia Koloski

Production Manager: Ellen Willett

Technical Director: Harrison Ornelas

Dramaturg: Himabindu Poroori

Scenic Designer: Mara Zinky

Costume Designer: Gregory Graham

Assistant Costume Designer: Aija Moreno

Lighting Designer: Eric Watkins

Assistant Lighting Designer: Liz Gomez

Sound Designer: Peter Clare

Properties Designer: Amanda Herrmann

Dialect Coach: Sana Selemon

Scenic Charge Artist: Trent Jones

Sound Engineer: Andrew Littleton

Head Electrician: Devin Sullivan

Wardrobe Supervisor: Gabi Sitze-Martin

Casting Director: Katie Galetti

Casting Associate: Jasmine B. Gunter

Creative Producer, Company Management, Covid Compliance Officer: Christina Casano

 

Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

Dates: Previews: Wednesday, October 12 - October 15, 2022 at 7:30pm; Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 2:30pm

Press Performance: Thursday, October 20, 2022

Regular Run: Friday, October 21 - Sunday, November 20, 2022

Curtain Times: Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:30pm

Matinee Performances (other than Sundays): Saturday, October 29 at 2:30pm; Saturday, November 5 at 2:30pm; Saturday, November 12 at 2:30pm; Thursday, November 17 at 2:30pm

 

Audio Description/Touch Tour Performance: Saturday, October 29, 2022; Touch Tour starts at 1:00pm, and the performance starts at 2:30pm

Open Caption Performance: Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 2:30pm

Tickets: Previews: $30.00

Regular Run: $32.00 - $40.00

Industry Tickets: $15.00, available for all performances

Student Tickets: $10.00, available for all performances

Group Discounts: Available for parties of 10 or more, call 773.975.8150

Top Row (L to R) - Terry Bell, Kristin E. Ellis, Yao Dogbe

Bottom Row (L to R) - Evelyn Lockley, Kevin Tre’von Patterson and TJ Thomas.

ABOUT REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY:

 

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches their community’s view of the world, and their own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. As an ensemble-driven theater company, Remy Bumppo authors a more humane culture that listens to, and seeks to understand, the voices, the ideas 

and the stories of one another. Since its inception in 1996, Remy Bumppo has produced a blend of modern classics and complex contemporary works, presented in an intimate setting with clarity, wit and passion. We invite audiences to engage directly with the art through conversation with the artists.

SAVE THE DATES: Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022 – 2023 Season of Shows

Celebrating the resilience of the human spirit, our need for creative self expression, and the never-ending desire for emotional connection

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company returns to the stage for its 2022-2023 season with three plays that celebrate the resilience of the human spirit, our need for creative self-expression, and the never-ending desire for emotional connection. Examining the unexpected relationships that are born in life-altering circumstances, these bold, provocative works will capture your imagination with electrifying, language-driven, funny, unique, heart-wrenching stories. All three plays will be performed at Theater Wit, 1229 West Belmont Avenue in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. 

“In my second season as Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, I am thrilled to bring to the stage three plays that are all about people whose journeys are about to take unexpected turns; ROUTES by Rachel De-lahay, ANNA IN THE TROPICS by Nilo Cruz, and GOD’S SPIES by Bill Cain,” says Marti Lyons. "Driven both by forces outside of their control, and their own needs and desires, each person in these works find themselves in a moment where their whole future hangs on their next decision.”

“Remy Bumppo has always produced plays that speak to the current moment--this season is no different. Each one of these plays seizes on themes and feelings we are all grappling with,” says Executive Director Margaret McCloskey. “I am especially proud to feature plays that showcase the breadth of talented artists working in Chicago right now, and introduce our audience to thrilling voices in playwriting.”

SEASON AT A GLANCE:

 

ROUTES

by Rachel De-lahay

Directed by Mikael Burke, featuring Core Ensemble Member Terry Bell

An American Premiere 

October 12, 2022 - November 20, 2022

Olufemi hopes to return home to his family. Bashir wants to remain in the only home he knows. Kola yearns to find home in a place that's never felt like one. Rachel De-lahay's shattering, urgent new play looks through the eyes of immigrants, refugees, and children in conflict with the law as they fight to get home through an impossibly complex system designed to keep them out. 

 

ANNA IN THE TROPICS

by Nilo Cruz

Directed by Laura Alcalá Baker, featuring Core Ensemble Member Charín Alvarez

The first major revival in Chicago in 20 years

February 8 - March 19, 2022

In a Cuban American cigar factory just outside Ybor City in 1929, a charismatic lector reads Anna Karenina aloud to pass the hours. As Anna’s passions are enunciated, the workers’ hidden desires bubble to the surface, becoming a powder keg that must eventually explode in the Florida heat. Nilo Cruz’s passionate classic shines an unrelenting light on the search for identity in the American landscape.

 

GOD’S SPIES

by Bill Cain

Directed by Artistic Director Marti Lyons, featuring Core Ensemble Member Linda Gillum

A World Premiere 

April 5 - May 14, 2023

London, 1603. A famous playwright is beset by self-doubt after writing the world’s greatest play, Hamlet. The plague grips the city, and the playwright is forced into quarantine with an idealistic young lawyer and a shrewd sex-worker. As the city burns just outside their door, they turn to creativity in order to survive, and a new masterpiece is born from the ashes. Bill Cain’s God’s Spies is a funny and heart-wrenching love-letter to Shakespeare and the value of art during times of struggle.  

All productions in Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s season will be performed at Theater Wit, 1229 West Belmont Avenue in Chicago. Visit RemyBumppo.org for more information on subscriptions and single ticket sales.

Underwriting support for ANNA IN THE TROPICS and the 2022-2023 Season is generously provided by Brenda and James Grusecki. Additional support of the 2022-2023 Season is generously provided by Geoffrey A. Anderson, Lynne and George Simon, and Charlotte Toerber. Remy Bumppo’s programs and operations are partially funded by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, the MacArthur Foundation for Arts and Culture at Prince Charitable Trusts, and the Shubert Foundation.

ABOUT REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches their community’s view of the world, and their own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. As an ensemble-driven theater company, Remy Bumppo authors a more humane culture that listens to, and seeks to understand, the voices, the ideas and the stories of one another.

Since its inception in 1996, Remy Bumppo has produced a blend of modern classics, new adaptations and complex contemporary works, all presented in an intimate setting with clarity, wit and passion. We invite audiences to engage directly with the art through conversation with the artists.

REVIEW: Remy Bumppo Theatre Company's Passage at Theater Wit Through April 10, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar  

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company Presents

PASSAGE 

by Christopher Chen Directed by Kaiser Ahmed

March 2 - April 10, 2022 at Theater Wit

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Passage breaks through the 4th wall and straight into the souls of the audience. Remy Bumppo's latest is a thought provoking journey that illuminates the chasm between different ethnicities, the complicated topography of colonialism, and the humanity that connects us all. I loved the use of letters to designate names and places, as it left a bit of mystery, but also made the content more universal. 

Patrick Agada, Carolyn Hu Bradbury, Adam Poss, Leyla Beydoun, Tiffany Renee Johnson, Charin Alvarez and Peter Sipla.  All photos by Nomee Photography

At the top of the show, with house lights still blazing, it was enjoyable to get to see the whole cast introduce themselves and share a bit of family background on where they've come from in life and how they got here, as in literally HOW they made the trek in to the performance space today. As the lights dimmed and the actors morphed into their characters, they did an amazing job of bringing the entire audience of newfound friends along for the ride.

This timely and timeless production is a must see as long as humans are still invading each other's countries, judging worth on the basis of ethnicity or physical characteristics, and reacting to others based on fears, stereotypes, and prejudices.

Peter Sipla and Carolyn Hu Bradbury

Kudos to Scenic Designer: Yeaji Kim for the unique set, that provides a powerful visual metaphor.

Carolyn Hu Bradbury

The entire cast was strong, whether connecting with one another or addressing and engaging the audience directly with rhetorical questions and visualization journeys. Charin Alvarez and Patrick Agada were particularly excellent in their respective roles.

Charin Alvarez and Patrick Agada 

Charin Alvarez, Peter Sipla, Tiffany Renee Johnson and Adam Poss

Cheers to Remy Bumppo Theatre Company for celebrating ageless, nearly universal traditions of spilling the tea, adding a flask for a bit of a spike, and both listening and engaging in meaningful dialogue with those different from ourselves even when we may end up with more questions than answers. This production is a lovely exploration of the subtle layers and nuances to the human condition, sacred spaces, and the ways we help and harm others intentionally or accidentally. 

Adam Poss

If clever tangents, multicultural friendships, anthropomorphic critters, mystical caves, and forging new ways to repair systemic racism are your jam, don't miss this. After seeing Passage, I'm eager to read  E. M. Forster's  1924 novel, A Passage to India, though it's certainly not a prerequisite to enjoy this production. Good theatre entertains while great theatre enlightens, encourages thought, and challenges ingrained thoughts and behaviors. Passage does just that. Highly recommended.

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

Leyla Beydoun and Adam Poss

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is pleased to announce the casting and design team for the first show in its 2022 Season, 

PASSAGE by Christopher Chen and directed by Kaiser Ahmed. 

The show will run from March 2 through April 10, 2022 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

Q is building a new life in Country X, having immigrated from Country Y. But it’s hard to make friends in Country X — the history between the two countries is fraught, and political tensions are running high. As Q tries to navigate interpersonal dynamics, the past and present collide in a complex geopolitical landscape. And no one is off the hook. Christopher Chen’s deeply humane, exquisitely theatrical play inspired by E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India is tense, fascinating, delicate, and dangerous.

PASSAGE will feature Patrick Agada, Charin Alvarez (Remy Bumppo Core Ensemble Member), Leyla Beydoun, Carolyn Hu Bradbury, Tiffany Renee Johnson, Adam Poss, Peter Sipla. Designs for this production will feature work by Himabindu Poroori (Dramaturg), Yeaji Kim (Scenic Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design), Liz Gomez and Mac Vaughey (Co-Lighting Design), Michael Huey (Sound Design and Original Music) and Rowan Doe (Properties Design).

Marti Lyons enthusiastically speaks to kicking off her first season as Artistic Director with PASSAGE: “I am thrilled to launch our 2022 season with this production. PASSAGE, written by one of my favorite playwrights, Christopher Chen, is a kaleidoscopic examination of power that could be anywhere and anytime, but feels intensely now. The Core Ensemble and I cannot wait to be back onstage and start our season with this show.”

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s production of PASSAGE will run from March 2 through April 10, 2022 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale at www.RemyBumppo.org or by calling the Theater Wit Box Office at 773.975.8150.

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022 Presenting Sponsor is Geoffrey A. Anderson. Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022 Season Sponsors are Brenda and James Grusecki and Charlotte Toerber.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Patrick Agada (F); Charin Alvarez (B); Leyla Beydoun (Q); Carolyn Hu Bradbury (J/S/MOSQUITO); Tiffany Renee Johnson (D/M); Adam Poss (H/R/GECKO); Peter Sipla (G); Flavia Pallozzi (u/s D / M); Natalie Santoro (u/s J / S / MOSQUITO). Tina El Gamal (u/s B); Nathaniel Elfant (u/s H /R / GECKO); Aissa Guerra (u/s Q); Tulsi McDaniels (u/s F); Michael Mejia (u/s G);

Artistic Director: Marti Lyons 

Producer: Alexis Taylor

Intimacy and Culture Consultant: Greg Geffrard

Associate Intimacy and Culture Consultant: Courtney Abbott

Casting Director: Rachael Jimenez, CSA

Casting Associate: Emily Gruhl

Stage Manager: Jean E. Compton

Assistant Stage Manager: Cori Lang

 Technical Director: Harrison Ornelas

 Production Manager: Ellen Willett

Dramaturg: Himabindu Poroori 

Scenic Designer: Yeaji Kim 

Costume Designer: Izumi Inaba

 Assistant Costume Designer: Aija Moreno

 Co-Lighting Designer: Liz Gomez

 Co-Lighting Designer: Mac Vaughey

 Sound Designer and Original Music: Michael Huey

 Properties Designer: Rowan Doe

 Scenic Charge Artist: Emily Altman

 Wardrobe Supervisor: Stefani Azores-Gococo

 Head Electrician: Nick Chamernik

Leyla Beydoun, Adam Poss, Peter Sipla, Carolyn Hu Bradbury, Patrick Agada, and Tiffany Renee Johnson

Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

Dates: Previews: Wednesday, March 2 - Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 7:30pm; Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 2:30pm

Press Performance: Monday, March 7, 2022 at 7:30pm

Regular Run: Thursday, March 10 through Sunday, April 20, 2022

Curtain Times: Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:30pm

Matinee Performances (other than Sundays): Saturday, March 19 at 2:30pm; Saturday, March 26 at 2:30pm; Saturday, April 2 at 2:30pm; Thursday April 7 at 2:30pm Audio Description/Touch Tour Performance: Saturday, March 19, 2022; Touch Tour starts at 1:00pm, and the performance starts at 2:30pm

Open Caption Performance: Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 2:30pm

Tickets: Previews: $30.00 - $40.00

Regular Run: $35.00 - $55.00

Industry Tickets: $20.00, available Wednesdays – Fridays

Student Tickets: $15.00, available day of

Group Discounts: Available for parties of 10 or more, call 773.244.8119

ABOUT REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY:

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches their community’s view of the world, and their own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. As an ensemble-driven theater company, Remy Bumppo authors a more humane culture that listens to, and seeks to understand, the voices, the ideas and the stories of one another. Since its inception in 1996, Remy Bumppo has produced a blend of modern classics and complex contemporary works, presented in an intimate setting with clarity, wit and passion. We invite audiences to engage directly with the art through conversation with the artists.