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

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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.