Pay-What-You-Can At The Midwest Premiere of LANGUAGE ROOMS Via Broken Nose Theatre April 19 – May 18, 2019 at The Den Theatre

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Midwest Premiere!

Broken Nose Theatre Presents

LANGUAGE ROOMS

By Yussef El Guindi

Directed by Kaiser Zaki Ahmed

April 19 – May 18, 2019 at The Den Theatre

All Performances Pay-What-You-Can!

(left to right) Bradford Stevens, Bassam Abdelfattah, Salar Ardebili and Bilal Dardai in a publicity image for Broken Nose Theatre’s Midwest premiere of LANGUAGE ROOMS. Photo by Spenser Davis.

I'll be ChiILin' at The Den with Chi, IL's Broken Nose Theatre for the press opening April 22nd, so check back soon for my full review. Broken Nose Theatre is pleased to continue its seventh season with the Midwest premiere of Yussef El Guindi’s dark comedy LANGUAGE ROOMS, directed by Kaiser Zaki Ahmed, playing April 19 – May 18, 2019 at BNT’s resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com. Tickets for all Broken Nose Theatre productions are available on a “pay-what-you-can” basis, allowing patrons to set their own price and ensuring theatre remains economically accessible for all audiences. 

LANGUAGE ROOMS features Bassam Abdelfattah, Salar Ardebili, Bilal Dardai and Bradford Stevens.

Ahmed loves America, and he’s proud to prove his patriotism whenever possible. He pays his taxes, he dresses for success at the office, and he’s made a point to be the best interrogator at this particular government detainment facility. So when a rumor swirls around the water cooler calling his loyalty into question, he works to do whatever’s necessary to maintain his reputation as one of “the good ones.” But when you’re an immigrant, can you ever truly be at home in a country always ready to view you as an enemy? Part The Office, part 1984, LANGUAGE ROOMS examines the paranoia polluting our political climate.

Comments Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis, “We at Broken Nose are consistently looking for plays that center around characters, or are set in worlds, that rarely have the opportunity to make it onstage, and Yussef's play is no different. Language Rooms is a dark comedy about state-sanctioned torture, a hilarious and horrifying balancing act in which the belly laughs are immediately followed by gut punches. After admiring the work he's done at his home company of Jackalope Theatre for years, we're thrilled to be working with director Kaiser Zaki Ahmed for the first time. We cannot wait for Chicago audiences to see what this cast and production team have in store.”

* Denotes BNT company member   ^ Denotes BNT artistic associate      

Cast (in alphabetical order): Bassam Abdelfattah (Nassar), Salar Ardebili (Ahmed), Bilal Dardai (Samir) and Bradford Stevens (Kevin).

Location: The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, April 19 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 pm
Opening: Sunday, April 21 at 3 pm
Press performance: Monday, April 22 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, April 25 – Saturday, May 18, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Industry night: Monday, May 6 at 7:30 pm
Understudy night: Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: Pay-what-you-can. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com.

About the Artists

Yussef El Guindi’s (Playwright) productions include The Talented Ones at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland; Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat at Golden Thread Productions; An Evening with Activists at Cutting Ball Theater; Collaborator at Macha Monkey Productions; Threesome at Portland Center Stage, ACT and at 59E59 (winner of a Portland Drammy for Best Original Script); Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World (winner of the Steinberg/ American Theater Critics Association’s New Play Award in 2012; and the 2011 Gregory Award) also at ACT and at Center Repertory Company (Walnut Creek, CA) 2013; and Language Rooms (Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award), co-produced by Golden Thread Productions and the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco; at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia (premiere), and at the Los Angeles Theater Center. Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat was also produced by Silk Road Theater Project and won the M. Elizabeth Osborn award. His plays Back of the Throat, Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda’s and Karima’s City have been published by Dramatists Play Service. His play Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith is included in Salaam/Peace: An Anthology of Middle Eastern-American Playwrights, published by TCG, 2009. Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat is included in the anthology Four Arab American Plays published by McFarland Books. And Threesome is published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Yussef is the recipient of the 2010 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award, and Seattle’s 2015 Stranger’s Genius Award.

Kaiser Zaki Ahmed (Director) is a Chicago-based theatre director, actor and teacher. An alum of Columbia College Chicago’s Theatre Directing program, Kaiser specializes in actor-driven new American plays. Most recently, he assistant directed Guards at the Taj (Steppenwolf) and Hand to God (Victory Gardens). Kaiser was the Founding Artistic Director of Jackalope, from its inception in May of 2008 through the end of 2011, and continues to serve as the Associate Artistic Director. At Jackalope, Kaiser has directed the Jeff-Nominated 1980 (or Why I'm Voting for John Anderson), The Raid, The Killing of Michael X, Long Way Go Down, Slaughter City, The Last Exodus of American Men, and countless readings and short plays. Kaiser is also an Artistic Associate at The Artistic Home Theatre Company. A member there since 2005, he directed the Jeff-Nominated Midwest Premiere of The Late Henry Moss, House of Yes and assistant directed several others. Kaiser also directed Vanya (or That’s Life!) and Washer/Dryer at Rasaka Theatre. Kaiser is a 2015-16 Eugene O’Neill National Directors Fellowship Finalist, a 2016-17 Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative recipient and an Associate Member of SDC. Favorite acting work includes Ideation and Lunacy! (Jackalope Theatre), A Nice Indian Boy (Rasaka Theatre) and The Seagull (Artistic Home Theatre), The Awake (First Floor Theatre) and several film and commercial spots. He is represented by Gray Talent.

About Broken Nose Theatre:

Broken Nose Theatre is a Pay-What-You-Can theatre company. Founded in 2012, BNT was this year's recipient of the Emerging Theater Award, presented by the League of Chicago Theatres and Broadway in Chicago. The company has produced and developed 15 full-length plays (including 8 Chicago or World Premieres) and over 40 new womencentric short plays through their annual Bechdel Fest. We strive to spark conversation, cultivate empathy, and amplify underrepresented voices, and are committed to making new, exciting and relevant theatre that is economically accessible to all audiences. For more information, please visit www.brokennosetheatre.com.

OPENING: Chicago Premiere of I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD Via First Floor Theater April 20 – May 18, 2019 at The Den Theatre

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Chicago Premiere!

First Floor Theater Presents

I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD

By Halley Feiffer

Directed by Cole von Glahn


April 20 – May 18, 2019 at The Den Theatre

Tim Kidwell and Amanda Caryl Fink in a publicity image for First Floor Theater’s Chicago premiere of I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD. Photo by Sam Doyle Photography.

I'll be out for the press opening April 24th, so check back soon for my full review. First Floor Theater is pleased to conclude its seventh season with the Chicago premiere of Halley Feiffer’s blisteringly funny play I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD, directed by Cole von Glahn, playing April 20 – May 18, 2019 at FFT’s resident home, The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at firstfloortheater.com. 

Ella is a precocious and fiercely competitive actress with a desperate need to make her father David, a famous playwright, proud. Over the course of a boozy, drug-fueled evening, Ella and David pass the time digging into family history, artistic passion and unspoken fears as they wait for the reviews, but what is unearthed can't simply be reburied. This daring play pulls the audience into the middle of a deeply complicated relationship, exploring how we build and break idealized versions of our loved ones.

The production team for I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD includes: Joy Ahn (scenic design), Alexis Chaney (costume design), Becca Jeffords (lighting design), Sarah Espinoza (sound design), Claire Stone (properties design), Carrie Hardin (dialect coach), Anastar Alvarez (stage manager) and Caitlin McCarthy (production manager).


Cast: (in alphabetical order): Amanda Caryl Fink (Ella) and Tim Kidwell (David).

Location: The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago
Dates: Previews: Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, April 21 at 3 pm and Tuesday, April 23 at 7:30 pm.
Press Performance: Wednesday, April 24 at 7:30 pm
Regular Run: Friday, April 26 – Saturday, May 18, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.
Industry Nights: Monday, April 29 at 7:30 pm and Monday, May 13 at 7:30 pm.
Tickets: Previews: $8. Regular Run: $25. Students $20. Tickets are currently available at firstfloortheater.com.

About the Artists
Halley Feiffer (Playwright) Halley Feiffer is a New York-based writer and actress. Her plays have been produced, commissioned and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, LAByrinth Theater Company, The O’Neill, The Orchard Project, Berkshire Theatre Group, Naked Angels, Cape Cod Theatre Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Keen Company, Partial Comfort Productions and the Amoralists. She is currently working on a stage adaption of THE BOY KINGS, Kate Losse's memoir about working at Facebook during its rising year. Halley is an alumna of terraNOVA’s Groundbreakers Playwrights’ Group, a former resident writer for Blue Man Group, former Playwright in Residence at Stella Adler Studio and a winner of the Young Playwrights Competition and the Lotos Foundation Prize. She is currently under commission by Manhattan Theatre Club/The Sloan Foundation, Jen Hoguet Productions and Playwrights Horizons. Her work is published by Dramatists Play Service, Overlook Press, Vintage Books, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus. Halley co-wrote and starred in the 2013 film HE'S WAY MORE FAMOUS THAN YOU, and co-created and stars in the web series WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY for Stage17.tv (both directed by Michael Urie). She holds a BA from Wesleyan University.

Cole von Glahn (Director) Cole von Glahn is a Chicago-based director and production manager. He has been working with First Floor since moving to Chicago in 2015 before becoming the Director of Production in 2016. In that time, he has produced over a dozen company shows and events. Additionally, Cole serves as the Production Manager at Raven Theatre. In the past, he has administered and managed with Cherry Lane, Neverbird Project, Cleveland Play House, Northlight Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company. Outside of theatre, Cole is a board game designer and collaborative storyteller. He holds degrees in Drama and Sociology from Tufts University.

About First Floor Theater
Founded in 2012, First Floor Theater stages stories of individuals facing moments of radical change. Through a process of collaborative dramaturgy, FFT expands these stories to ask urgent social questions. For more information on First Floor Theater, visit firstfloortheater.com.

OPENING: World Premiere of SMALL WORLD Via The New Colony at The Den Theatre March 27 – May 4, 2019

 ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

World Premiere!

The New Colony Presents

SMALL WORLD

By Jillian Leff and Joe Lino

Directed by Andrew Hobgood

March 27 – May 4, 2019 at The Den Theatre

I'll be out for the press opening April 1st, so check back soon for my full review.

The New Colony, under the new artistic leadership of Fin Coe* and Stephanie Shum*, is pleased to continue its 2018-19 season with the world premiere of SMALL WORLD, a twisted comedy in the happiest place on earth, co-written by Jillian Leff and Joe Lino and directed by Andrew Hobgood*, playing March 27 – May 4, 2019 at TNC’s resident home, The Den Theatre’s Upstairs Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org. 

SMALL WORLD feature Ensemble members Patriac Coakley* and Stephanie Shum* with Jackie Seijo.

It’s the end of the world…maybe? There’s no way to confirm for three cast members trapped inside their attraction at the happiest place on earth. The music won’t stop, there’s a body in the moat and one of the group is impaled under a smiling animatronic. Can they force their way off the ride? And what waits for them on the other side? It’s a world of hopes, it’s a world of fears. It’s a small world, after all.  

Comments Co-Artistic Director Fin Coe, “We're getting back to our roots with Small World, a show that is getting the full New Colony Process; our Ensemble fell vocally in love with the concept, we greenlit it, and we've hit the ground sprinting – working with the playwrights to generate and polish it for this season. It's a gonzo workplace dark comedy gem, with all our signature weird humor and wild action.”

The production team for SMALL WORLD includes: Sotirios Livaditis (scenic design), Uriel Gomez (costume design), Alon Stotter (lighting design), Erik Siegling (sound design), Jennifer Wernau (props design), Zack Meyer (violence design), Zoe Benditt (dramaturg), Megan Johns* and Zach Weinberg (assistant directors), Doran Konja (script supervisor), Lila Gilbert (production manager), Evan Sposato (technical director), Monica Brown* (stage manager) and Cedar Larson (assistant stage manager).

Cast (in alphabetical order): Patriac Coakley* (Donny), Jackie Seijo (Becca) and Stephanie Shum* (Kim).

Location: The Den Theatre’s Upstairs Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Wednesday, March 27 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 31 at 3 pm
Press opening: Monday, April 1 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, April 4 – Saturday, May 4, 2019

Curtain times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Sunday, April 21 (Easter).
Industry Nights: Monday, April 15 at 7:30 pm and Monday, April 29 at 7:30 pm
Understudy Night: Monday, April 22 at 7:30 pm

Tickets: Previews: $10; Regular run: $20. Students/seniors: 25% off. Tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org. 

*Denotes The New Colony Ensemble Member.

About the Artists

Jillian Leff (Playwright) is a Chicago based playwright and actor. She’s excited to be back at The New Colony after being the script supervisor and fight choreographer for Scapegoat and developing her play The Mark with The Writers Room. Her writing has been seen around the city with Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (Fly on the Wall), Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble (Forgetting) and Nothing Special Productions' Fight Night (The Mother-Load). Her short play Real Talk was a finalist for the 2015 City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting and was published in The City Theatre Anthology 2015. Her play Missed Opportunities will be receiving its world premiere this winter with The Cuckoo’s Theater Project, where she is a company member. She is also currently working on developing The Private Life of Private Molly, a play about Deborah Sampson, with EDGE Theatre.

Joe Lino (Playwright) is making his playwriting debut with Small World. He’s mainly focused on acting, and in Chicago he has worked with Steppenwolf, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Drury Lane, The New Colony, The Cuckoos Theater Project, The Agency Theatre Collective,and Interrobang Theatre Project, where he is an ensemble member. Regionally, he has credits with Actors Theatre of Louisville in shows such as Dracula, A Christmas Carol and That High Lonesome Sound, which premiered at the Humana Festival. He has also performed Off-Broadway at the BAM Harvey Theatre in Charles Mee’s world premiere of The Glory of the World. He is a proud alumni of Ball State University, where he received a BFA in Acting.

Andrew Hobgood (Director) is the Founding Artistic Director of The New Colony and led the organization for its first 10 years. He has been a working playwright, director and actor in Chicago for the last 15 years. His play, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, won Outstanding Production at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival before opening Off-Broadway in a production Ben Brantley of the New York Times called “raw and magnetic dementia…destined to attract a cult following.” 5 Lesbians is published with Samuel French and has been translated into over 15 languages and produced throughout the world. Hobgood’s other work with The New Colony includes writing and directing the new musicals Tupperware: An American Musical Fable, That Sordid Little Story, Rise of The Numberless and Plastic Revolution. His play reWILDing Genius was commissioned by the University of Chicago and premiered as part of Steppenwolf Theater’s Garage Rep series. Directing credits for The New Colony include Amelia Earhart: Jungle Princess, the original and commercial productions of FRAT, Hearts Full of Blood, which won Outstanding Script at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival, B-Side Studio, produced in collaboration with The Inconvenience and the University of Chicago TAPS program, Orville and Wilbur Did It!, and MERGE. Recent acting credits include The Bear Suit of Happiness, The Terrible and Kinfolk. In 2010, Newcity Magazine named him one of the 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago; in 2011, he and The New Colony were honored with the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award; and in 2013 he and Evan Linder were two of six people on Chicago Magazine’s Cultural Power List of Theater Scene Stealers. Most recently, he authored Surviving Collaboration, a manual that teaches writers, directors and actors how to create new works using The Process, the development methodology used by The New Colony.

About The New Colony

The New Colony develops New Art and New Artists in order to educate and build New Audiences.

Now in its tenth year, The New Colony has established itself as “one of Chicago’s essential off-Loop companies” (Chicago Tribune). Through the premiere of now thirty premiere plays and musicals, The New Colony has cultivated a diverse audience of theatergoers eager to have a voice in the storytelling. Conversation, collaboration and innovation remain at the heart of everything they produce. The New Colony’s work has been honored with five non-Equity Jeff Awards, Broadway In Chicago’s 2011 Emerging Theatre Award and Best Overall Production at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival. The New Colony’s 2018/19 Season marks their fourth year as a resident company in the Upstairs Mainstage of The Den Theatre in Wicker Park. 

OPENING: My Name is Rachel Corrie Via Jacaranda Collective at The Den Theatre in Chicago

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Jacaranda Collective Presents

MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE

Taken from the writings of Rachel Corrie

Edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner

Directed by Sam Bianchini

March 22-April 6, 2019 @ the Den Theatre

The Den Theatre, Chicago: Jacaranda Collective is thrilled to be bringing the words of Rachel Corrie to Chicago in their production of My Name is Rachel Corrie. 

“And what would I write about if I only stayed within the doll’s house, the flower-world I grew up in?”

When a young writer’s growing knowledge of world events leads her to nonviolent activism and human rights observation in the Gaza strip, she witnesses first hand the personal experiences of the people behind the news headlines. 

Taken from the intense and the poetic journals, adapted by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, My Name is Rachel Corrie boldly poses the question: what do we owe the rest of humanity?  The show opens on March 22nd and will run Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through April 6th, with one performance on Monday the 25th. All at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 general admission, $15 student/senior, and available at the door or at The Den Theatre.

On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a bulldozer at the age of twenty-three, while she was working to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. My Name is Rachel Corrie is a one-woman show taken directly from Rachel’s writings that paints the portrait of a messy, skinny, articulate, Salvador Dali-loving chain-smoker (with a passion for the music of Pat Benatar), who left home and school in Olympia, Washington, to join hundreds of others in non-violent activism in the tumultuous Gaza Strip.

This will be the first production produced by Jacaranda Collective. 
Associate Artistic Director, Halie Robison, will take on the title role of this one-woman show. Robinson has previously worked with Muse of Fire, Promethean Theatre Ensemble, Midsommer Flight, Ghostlight Ensemble, and Jacaranda Collective.

Artistic Director, Sam Bianchini, has taken on the role of Director. Bianchini has been working as an actress/director/producer/writer in both Film and Theatre around LA, NYC, and Chicago for the past 14 years. Rachel Corrie will be her Chicago debut as a director. She said of the show, “In this extremely polarized time where news is often confined to headlines and sensationalized stories are shared at an alarming rate, Rachel’s story is not only timely but absolutely critical. She asks us to look at the humans behind the headlines, their families, their hopes, their dreams, and implores us to see the consequences of our actions. Her haunting and brilliant words drip with vulnerability, humor, and an urgency that I believe is imperative in this paramount moment in the history of our world.”

Rachel Corrie’s writings have been translated into Arabic, Hebrew, French, Italian and Spanish and are recognized as a powerfully honest insight, not only into one of the most complicated international political conflicts but also into human nature.  

What: Jacaranda Collective is thrilled to bring the powerful and haunting words of Rachel Corrie to Chicago in their production of My Name is Rachel Corrie. The show is composed of Rachel’s own journals, letters, and emails. It details her life as she leaves her home in Olympia, Washington to work as a non-violent activist in the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The show opens on March 22nd and will run Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through April 6th, with one show on Monday, March 25th. All at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 and available at the door or at The Den Theatre.

Who: Jacaranda Collective

When: March 22nd- April 6th at 7:30 p.m.

Where: The Den Theatre, Chicago

Tickets: Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at the door or at The Den Theatre. Discounts available for students.

OPENING: Midwest Premiere! of GIRL IN THE RED CORNER Via Broken Nose Theatre February 1 – March 2, 2019 at The Den Theatre

Midwest Premiere!

Broken Nose Theatre Presents

GIRL IN THE RED CORNER

By Stephen Spotswood

Directed by Elizabeth Laidlaw 

February 1 – March 2, 2019 at The Den Theatre

All Performances Pay-What-You-Can!

Broken Nose Theatre is pleased to continue its seventh season with the Midwest premiere of Stephen Spotswood’s drama GIRL IN THE RED CORNER, directed by Elizabeth Laidlaw, playing February 1 – March 2, 2019 at BNT’s resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com. Tickets for all Broken Nose Theatre productions are available on a “pay-what-you-can” basis, allowing patrons to set their own price and ensuring theatre remains economically accessible for all audiences. 

I'll be out for the press opening February 4th so check back soon for my full review.

GIRL IN THE RED CORNER will feature BNT company member Elise Marie Davis* and artistic associate Kim Boler^ with Michelle Courvais, August N. Forman and Mark West.

Unemployed and fresh from an abusive marriage, Halo steps into a gym one day and signs up for mixed martial arts lessons. Her family thinks it’s ridiculous. Her trainer thinks she’s soft. But none of them know the anger that fuels her ambition. When it’s rage that brought you into the cage, are you really ready to see what winning looks like? GIRL IN THE RED CORNER is a visceral, fast-moving tale of self-discovery, one that allows women to take centerstage in a world so often dominated by men.

Comments Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis, “Girl in the Red Corner is a show that allows women and other marginalized voices to step into a story (and an arena) so often dominated by men, all while being unapologetically messy and complicated and real. There's something extremely empowering about allowing women to be the anti-hero, about giving us a platform to tell stories of characters who often muddle the best of intentions with poor execution. We are thrilled to have director Elizabeth Laidlaw, fight choreographer John Tovar, and a host of other guest artists joining us for this production. Broken Nose is proud to bring this play and these characters to Chicago audiences, with their scrapes, scars and bruises on display for all to see.”

The production team for GIRL IN THE RED CORNER includes Therese Ritchie (scenic design), Lizzie Cook (costume design), Cat Davis (lighting design), Isaac Mandel (sound design), Devon Green^ (props design), John Tovar (fight choreography), Alison Dornheggen (associate director), Madisen Dempsey (assistant director), Rose Hamill* (production manager), Dominique Zaragoza (technical director), Liz Gomez (master electrician) and Jenna Thiel (stage manager).

* Denotes BNT company member   ^ Denotes BNT artistic associate      
    

Cast (in alphabetical order): Kim Boler^ (Brinn), Michelle Courvais (Terry), Elise Marie Davis* (Halo), August N. Forman (Gina) and Mark West (Warren).

Location: The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, February 1 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, February 2 at 7:30 pm

Opening: Sunday, February 3 at 3 pm
Press performance: Monday, February 4 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, February 7 – Saturday, March 2, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Industry night: Monday, February 18 at 7:30 pm
Understudy night: Wednesday, February 27 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: Pay-what-you-can. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com.

About the Artists
Stephen Spotswood (Playwright) is a DC-based playwright, educator and journalist, who received his MFA in playwriting from the Catholic University of America in 2009. At the 2017 Helen Hayes Awards, he received the Charles MacArthur Award For Outstanding New Play for Girl In The Red Corner. Produced works include: Doublewide (NNPN Rolling World Premiere); Girl In The Red Corner (The Welders); The Last Burlesque (Pinky Swear Productions); Walking The City Of Silence And Stone (Forum Theatre); In The Forest, She Grew Fangs (defunkt Theatre, Washington Rogues); We Tiresias (Best Drama, Capital Fringe Festival 2012); When the Stars Go Out (Bright Alchemy Theatre); Sisters of Ellery Hollow; The Resurrectionist King (Active Cultures Theatre); Off A Broken Road (Imagination Stage); and A Cre@tion Story for Naomi (Bright Alchemy). He is a current member of The Welders playwrights collective and a member of Forum Theatre’s artist ensemble.

Elizabeth Laidlaw (Director) has worked in Chicago and regional theatre professionally for 25 years. She is the founder and artistic director of Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre, begun in 2003. At LST, she has directed Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew, and co-directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Jeff Christian) and most recently Henry VIII, (with Christy Arington). She is also the co-producer (with Mia McCullough) of The Haven web series, co-directing episode 2. She assisted director Terry Kinney with East of Eden at Steppenwolf Theatre. This past season, she served as the intimacy consultant on The Doppelgänger, also at Steppenwolf, and as the violence and intimacy designer for A Moon for the Misbegotten at Writers Theatre. As an actor, Elizabeth has appeared onstage at Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, Writers Theatre, Court Theatre, The Goodman and many, many others. Film credits include the features, Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, Into the Wake, Eastern College, Dimension and Three Days. Television includes Chicago PD and Crisis (NBC), Betrayal (ABC) and Boss (Starz), The Chicago Code (FOX). Ms. Laidlaw spent the autumn of 2018 filming The Red Line, a new drama series for Warner Bros and CBS television, written and produced by fellow Chicagoans Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss, Her voice can be heard narrating Hard Earned, a documentary produced by Kartemquin Films for Al-Jazeera America, and in numerous television commercials, audiobooks and video games. She received her BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University and completed post-graduate Shakespeare studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art of London, UK.


About Broken Nose Theatre:
Broken Nose Theatre is a Pay-What-You-Can theatre company. Founded in 2012, BNT was this year's recipient of the Emerging Theater Award, presented by the League of Chicago Theatres and Broadway in Chicago. The company has produced and developed 11 full-length plays (including 8 Chicago or World Premieres) and over 40 new womencentric short plays through their annual Bechdel Fest. We strive to spark conversation, cultivate empathy, and amplify underrepresented voices, and are committed to making new, exciting and relevant theatre that is economically accessible to all audiences. For more information, please visit www.brokennosetheatre.com.

REVIEW: WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT Via Interrobang Theatre Project Every Monday Through November 12, 2018

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Interrobang Theatre Project Presents

WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT

By Nassim Soleimanpour

September 24 – November 12, 2018 at The Den Theatre

Review:

I did something odd at The Den Theatre this month. I just watched someone make a potentially fatal choice, take direction from an Iranian half a world away, explore vulnerability, enlist the unsuspecting, and perform a script, opened for the first time on the spot. Yes, it's WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT. 

Mondays are usually a dark night for theatre arts, but Interrobang Theatre Project is changing that up with a stunning 8 week social experiment. With a script from award-winning Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, 8 diverse Chicagoans, and willing audience, WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT, is a subtly different show every week. 

First, kudos to Interrobang Theatre Project for casting an eclectic range of actors for the run. I had the great pleasure of catching JD Caudill on October 1st, the second actor in the lineup. They provided a unique perspective on the work as a trans individual who prefers the pronouns "they/theirs/them". 

About a third of the audience was drafted into joining the production, some designated by the playwright in the script, and many by choice. I found it poetic that JD's partner was one of the first to begin the show, randomly plucked by seat number, and another trans individual (a theatre critic), volunteered by choice, and closed out the show with a powerful reading. The bookending was a beautiful thing that happened organically and will likely never be recreated again.

I'm keeping this review as spoiler free as possible, because WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT is best experienced without preconceptions. Suffice it to say, before I had left the show, I was already thinking of all the people I know that I wanted to bring back to see it. I left the show and promptly friended Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour on social media and heard back from him within a day. I left with a few more tangents in my head, new thoughts on psychology and sociology and how they tie in with the theatre of politics and the political theatre arts, and a new Facebook friend in Iran. Theatre has the power to transcend borders and cultural conditioning, and alter mindsets on the spot more effectively than most other mediums. Check it out! White Rabbit Red Rabbit is recommended.

Ever have that nightmare where you can't get your locker open, or you're suddenly on stage without a clue what your lines are or even what play you're in, and everyone in the audience is looking expectantly at you? I have. This fall in Chicago, professional actors are actually volunteering for the latter scenario at several theatres in several different show configurations! One that's piqued my interest the most is award-winning Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's acclaimed solo show WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT. 


The show features a different actor each week, with a script they’ve never read before. Plan to catch one or many, as we go down the rabbit hole of word spanning two disparate cultures. Forbidden to leave his country, young Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour found a way for his voice to get out when he physically could not. His words have escaped censorship and are awaiting an audience.

What happens when you put one artist on a stage and hand them a script they’ve never read before? Pure theatrical magic! Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to present award-winning Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's acclaimed solo show WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT, an experimental tour de force you have to see to believe! 

Featuring a different actor each week, this unforgettable artistic experiment will play Mondays at 8 pm from September 24 – November 12, 2018 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are on sale at www.interrobangtheatre.org or by calling (312) 219-4140. 

The line-up for WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT includes: 

Stephanie Shum (September 24) 
JD Caudill (October 1)
Echaka Agba (October 8)
Michael Turrentine (October 15)
Joe Lino (October 22)
David Cerda (October 29)
Shawna Franks (November 5)
Owais Ahmed (November 12)

No rehearsal. No director. No set. No spoiler. A different performer each night is handed a script (in a sealed envelope) for the first time as they step onto stage. Forbidden to leave his country, young Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour found a way for his voice to get out when he physically could not. His words have escaped censorship and are awaiting your audience. This wildly entertaining and thought-provoking theatrical piece – where no audience can see the same show twice – blends drama, comedy and social experiment, providing audiences with a potent reminder of the transformative power of theatre. WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT has been called a play – but it’s a lively, global sensation that no one is allowed to talk about. 

Curtain Times: Mondays at 8 pm
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Tickets go on sale shortly at www.interrobangtheatre.org or by calling (312) 219-4140. 
Performers: Stephanie Shum (September 24) JD Caudill (October 1), Echaka Agba (October 8), Michael Turrentine (October 15), Joe Lino (October 22), David Cerda (October 29), Shawna Franks (November 5) and Owais Ahmed (November 12).

Understudy: Matthew Nerber

About the Playwright

Nassim Soleimanpour is an independent multidisciplinary theatre maker from Tehran, Iran. His plays have been translated into more than 20 languages. Best known for his play White Rabbit Red Rabbit, written to travel the world when he couldn’t, his work has been awarded the Dublin Fringe Festival Best New Performance, Summerworks Outstanding New Performance Text Award and The Arches Brick Award (Edinburgh Fringe), as well as picking up nominations for a Total Theatre and Brighton Fringe Pick of Edinburgh Award. By the time Nassim was permitted to travel for the first time in early 2013, his play White Rabbit Red Rabbit had been performed over 200 times in 15 languages. Since then, Nassim has facilitated workshops and panels in different countries including World Theatre Festival (Brisbane), Tolhuistuin (Amsterdam), SESC Vila Mariana (Sao Paulo), Schauspielhaus (Vienna), DPAC (Kuala Lampur), Theatretreffen (Berlin), British Council (London), Asia House (London) and University of Bremen (Germany). Nassim’s second play Blind Hamlet for the London based Actors Touring Company premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has since toured extensively around the UK and was received well in Bucharest and Copenhagen. Blank, his third play, recently premiered in Amsterdam and has been performed in Utrecht, Edinburgh and London. Nassim now lives in Berlin with his wife Shirin.

PHOTO CREDIT: Interrobang Theatre Project’s production of WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT will feature (top, l to r) Echaka Agba, Owais Ahmed, JD Caudill and David Cerda (bottom, l to r) Shawna Franks, Joe Lino, Stephanie Shum and Michael Turrentine.

About the Performers

Stephanie Shum can't believe Interrobang is letting her do this but is very excited to play with them for the first time. She is Co-Artistic Director of The New Colony, Associate Producer with Red Tape Theatre and has also performed with Steppenwolf, American Theater Company, The Neo-Futurists, 16th Street, Walkabout, Factory, Redtwist, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Silk Road and The Fly Honeys. She is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Actors Talent Group. She may next be in seen in Wildclaw’s Second Skin. www.stephanieshum.com

JD Caudill is a Chicago-based director, music director and performer. Since coming to Chicago in 2014, JD has performed onstage with The New Colony, Hell in a Handbag Productions, New American Folk Theatre, Forks and Hope and Hobo Junction, and directed for over 15 companies, including Broken Nose Theatre, The New Colony and Haven Theatre. JD is a company member of Hell in a Handbag and Haven Theatre (where they are also marketing director), and an associate company member of Broken Nose Theatre.

Echaka Agba’s Chicago theatre credits include: Women Laughing Alone with Salad (Theater Wit); At the Table (Jeff Award – Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Actress; Black Theatre Alliance Award – The Hattie McDaniel Award) Broken Nose Theatre; The Crucible, Between Riverside and Crazy (u/s) Steppenwolf Theatre; Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet (u/s) Chicago Shakespeare Theater; A Comedical Tragedy for Mister Punch, United Flight 232 (Jeff Award – Best Ensemble) House Theatre of Chicago; Don't Go Gentle (Haven Theatre); Balm in Gilead (Griffin Theatre). She is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Grossman and Jack. 

Michael Turrentine is an actor/educator/playwright originally from Oklahoma, but loves the Windy City too much for words! He has worked at various theaters around Chicago including Firebrand Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Theater Wit, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Gift Theatre and others. He will also be performing in the up coming production of Frankenstein at Remy Bumppo Theatre. Michael is excited to go on this cool and exciting journey with Interrobang! He is represented by Gray Talent Group.

Joe Lino is a Chicago based actor and has worked with Steppenwolf, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Drury Lane, The New Colony, The Cuckoos Theater Project, The Agency Theatre Collective and Interrobang Theatre Project. where he is an artistic associate. Regionally he has credits with Actors Theatre of Louisville in shows such as Dracula, A Christmas Carol and That High Lonesome Sound, which premiered at the Humana Festival. He has also performed Off-Broadway at the BAM Harvey Theatre in Charles Mee’s world premiere of The Glory of the World. He is a proud alumni of Ball State University. 

David Cerda is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Hell in a Handbag Productions. Plays written include Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, SCARRIE! The Musical, POSEIDON! An Upside-Down Musical, Christmas Dearest, The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes Vol 1 & 2 and The Birds. As an actor he has worked with A New Colony, Corn Productions, Lookingglass, A Red Orchid Theatre and more. Cerda was inducted into the Chicago 2016 GLBTQ Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Jeff Committee in 2017 for his body of work and philanthropic efforts.

Shawna Franks is the founding Managing Director of Facility Theatre where she is currently performing in the Chicago premiere of Phoebe In Winter by Jen Silverman. Shawna originated the role of Dottie in Killer Joe by Tracy Letts at The Next Lab in Evanston. She performed this role at The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, The Bush Theatre in London and The Vaudeville Theatre on London's West End. She also performed in Grand Concourse at Steppenwolf Theatre and The Woman Before at Trap Door Theatre. She has appeared in various productions in Dublin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and New York City, and is the founding Artistic Director of Space 55 Theatre in Phoenix.

Owais Ahmed is a Chicago native and a proud ensemble member of Definition Theatre Co. Theatre credits include: The Invisible Hand (Steep Theatre, Milwaukee Rep), The Hard Problem (Court Theatre), Orange (Mixed Blood Theatre) and The Qualms (Steppenwolf Theatre). 



About Interrobang Theatre Project

Now in its ninth season, Interrobang Theatre Project, under the artistic leadership of Georgette Verdin and James Yost, has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as a “company to watch” and by Time Out Chicago as “one of Chicago’s most promising young theatre companies.” Chris Jones called Foxfinder, which kicked off Interrobang’s 2017-18 season, “...a ripping good yarn,” earning it 3.5 stars from the Chicago Tribune. Foxfinder also garnered seven non-Equity Jeff Awards nominations including Best Director and Production of a Play, and took home two awards for Best Original Music and Set Design. The company also earned seven non-Equity Jeff Nominations for their seventh season, including Best Director, Production of a Play, Solo Performance and acting nominations for Lead Actor, Actress (win) and Actor in a Supporting Role (win). Productions have included the world premiere of Calamity West’s Ibsen is Dead (Jeff Recommended), the Jeff Recommended The Pitchfork Disney, Orange Flower Water, Recent Tragic Events, The North Pool, The Amish Project, Falling and Grace. Director James Yost’s critically-acclaimed Really Really was one of six shows chosen for Chicago Tribune’s “Best of 2015 in Chicago Fringe Theater.”

What’s an interrobang?
An interrobang is the combination of a question mark and an exclamation point, joining the Latin for “question” (interro) with a proofreading term for “exclamation” (bang). Through the plays we produce, Interrobang Theatre Project aims to pose worthwhile and exciting questions which challenge our understanding and assumptions of who we are and the world in which we live. 

For more information, please visit www.interrobangtheatreproject.org.

OPENING: World Premiere of FUN HARMLESS WARMACHINE Via The New Colony

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

The New Colony Presents the World Premiere of

FUN HARMLESS WARMACHINE

By Co-Artistic Director Fin Coe

Directed by James Fleming

October 3 – November 4, 2018 at The Den Theatre 

I'll be out for the press opening October 9th. The New Colony is a favorite of ours here at ChiIL Live Shows, for edgy, relevant choices, and impressive production values. Check back shortly for my full review.

The New Colony, under the new artistic leadership of Fin Coe* and Stephanie Shum*, is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with the world premiere of FUN HARMLESS WARMACHINE, written by Co-Artistic Director Fin Coe* and directed by James Fleming. This kinetic journey down the rabbit hole of online masculinity cults will play October 3 – November 4, 2018 at The New Colony’s resident home, The Den Theatre’s Upstairs Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org. 

FUN HARMLESS WARMACHINE features Ayanna Bria Bakari, Daniel Chenard, Robert Koon, Emily Marso, Victor Musoni, Londen Shannon, Ian Michael Smith and Laura Sturm.

By day, Tom works a dead end job for the man and can't get a date. But by night, he's top of the leader board, a master gamer. Othered and lonely, Tom is sucked into the Order of the Sword, an online community  that seems to promise him his digital persona in real life. Developed through The New Colony's Writers' Room and inspired by Gamergate and online hate movements, FUN HARMLESS WARMACHINE is a cautionary tale of the power of fear and the seductive pull of the alt right.

Comments TNC Co-Artistic Director Stephanie Shum, “When Fin began working on this script as part of  the 2015 Summer Session of The Writers' Room, we were immediately struck by the timeliness and depth of this story about online hate. More than three years later, as we prepare for its world premiere, it seems more prescient and current than ever.”

The production team for FUN HARMLESS WARMACHINE includes: Sotirios Livaditis (scenic design), Rachel Sypniewski (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Eric Backus (sound design), Omer Abbas Salem* (props design), Zoe Benditt (dramaturg), James Fleming and the cast (choreography), Ella Silverman (assistant director), Brian Sprague (technical director), Jennifer Aparicio (stage manager) and Lili Bjorklund (assistant stage manager).


Location: The Den Theatre’s Upstairs Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Wednesday, October 3 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, October 6 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, October 7 at 3 pm 
Press opening: Tuesday, October 9 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, October 11 – Sunday, November 4, 2018
Curtain times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Industry Night: Monday, October 15 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: Previews: $10; Regular run: $20. Students/seniors: 25% off. Tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org.  

*Denotes The New Colony Ensemble Member.

Cast of "Fun Harmless Warmachine": Daniel Chenard, Robert Koon, Londen Shannon 

& Ayanna Bria Bakari.

Photo Credit: Joe Mazza/Brave Lux

About the Artists

Fin Coe (Playwright) is a Chicago-based theatre artist and the Co-Artistic Director of The New Colony. A native of Silicon Valley and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, his past writing credits include Pretty/Windy Theatre Company, Scribble Bibble, A-Squared Theatre, the Sketch Review, and others. Fun Harmless Warmachine is his first full-length play to be produced.

James Fleming (Director) is a Chicago-based director, Director of New Works at The New Colony and Associate Artistic Director at Redtwist Theatre. At Redtwist, he has directed Our Town by Thornton Wilder and Sagittarius Ponderosa by MJ Kaufman. He has also directed readings, workshops and events for Goodman Theatre, Route 66 Theatre, Broken Nose Theatre, arc theatre and The New Colony. He's had the pleasure of assistant directing at Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre and Greenhouse Theatre Center. He worked as part of a collaborative team with Peca Stefan, Tamilla Woodard and Ana Margineanu of PopUp Theatrics, producing the Chicago story for #THENEWOLDHOME, which premiered at CLB Berlin in January 2018. He has served on the literary panels for the National New Play Network’s Annual Showcase of New Plays, Route 66’s TEST DRIVE and Kitchen Dog Theatre’s New Play Festival. James was a participant in the Chicago Directors Lab and a recipient of an SDC Foundation Observership. Upcoming projects: Herland by Grace McLeod for Redtwist Theatre.

About The New Colony

The New Colony develops New Art and New Artists in order to educate and build New Audiences.

Now in its tenth year, The New Colony has established itself as “one of Chicago’s essential off-Loop companies” (Chicago Tribune). Through the premiere of now thirty premiere plays and musicals, The New Colony has cultivated a diverse audience of theatergoers eager to have a voice in the storytelling. Conversation, collaboration and innovation remain at the heart of everything they produce. The New Colony’s work has been honored with five non-Equity Jeff Awards, Broadway In Chicago’s 2011 Emerging Theatre Award and Best Overall Production at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival. The New Colony’s 2018/19 Season marks their fourth year as a resident company in the Upstairs Mainstage of The Den Theatre in Wicker Park.

OPENING: WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT Via Interrobang Theatre Project at The Den Theatre

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Interrobang Theatre Project Presents

WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT

By Nassim Soleimanpour

September 24 – November 12, 2018 at The Den Theatre

Ever have that nightmare where you can't get your locker open, or you're suddenly on stage without a clue what your lines are or even what play you're in, and everyone in the audience is looking expectantly at you? I have. This fall in Chicago, professional actors are actually volunteering for the latter scenario at several theatres in several different show configurations! One that's piqued my interest the most is award-winning Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's acclaimed solo show WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT. The show features a different actor each week, with a script they’ve never read before. Plan to catch one or many, as we go down the rabbit hole of word spanning two disparate cultures. Forbidden to leave his country, young Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour found a way for his voice to get out when he physically could not. His words have escaped censorship and are awaiting an audience. I'll be ChiILin' at Chi, IL's Den Theatre for WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT featuring JD Caudill on October 1st. Check back soon for my full review.

What happens when you put one artist on a stage and hand them a script they’ve never read before? Pure theatrical magic! Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to present award-winning Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's acclaimed solo show WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT, an experimental tour de force you have to see to believe! 

Featuring a different actor each week, this unforgettable artistic experiment will play Mondays at 8 pm from September 24 – November 12, 2018 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are on sale at www.interrobangtheatre.org or by calling (312) 219-4140. 

The line-up for WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT includes: 

Stephanie Shum (September 24) 
JD Caudill (October 1)
Echaka Agba (October 8)
Michael Turrentine (October 15)
Joe Lino (October 22)
David Cerda (October 29)
Shawna Franks (November 5)
Owais Ahmed (November 12)

No rehearsal. No director. No set. No spoiler. A different performer each night is handed a script (in a sealed envelope) for the first time as they step onto stage. Forbidden to leave his country, young Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour found a way for his voice to get out when he physically could not. His words have escaped censorship and are awaiting your audience. This wildly entertaining and thought-provoking theatrical piece – where no audience can see the same show twice – blends drama, comedy and social experiment, providing audiences with a potent reminder of the transformative power of theatre. WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT has been called a play – but it’s a lively, global sensation that no one is allowed to talk about. 

Curtain Times: Mondays at 8 pm
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Tickets go on sale shortly at www.interrobangtheatre.org or by calling (312) 219-4140. 
Performers: Stephanie Shum (September 24) JD Caudill (October 1), Echaka Agba (October 8), Michael Turrentine (October 15), Joe Lino (October 22), David Cerda (October 29), Shawna Franks (November 5) and Owais Ahmed (November 12).

Understudy: Matthew Nerber

About the Playwright

Nassim Soleimanpour is an independent multidisciplinary theatre maker from Tehran, Iran. His plays have been translated into more than 20 languages. Best known for his play White Rabbit Red Rabbit, written to travel the world when he couldn’t, his work has been awarded the Dublin Fringe Festival Best New Performance, Summerworks Outstanding New Performance Text Award and The Arches Brick Award (Edinburgh Fringe), as well as picking up nominations for a Total Theatre and Brighton Fringe Pick of Edinburgh Award. By the time Nassim was permitted to travel for the first time in early 2013, his play White Rabbit Red Rabbit had been performed over 200 times in 15 languages. Since then, Nassim has facilitated workshops and panels in different countries including World Theatre Festival (Brisbane), Tolhuistuin (Amsterdam), SESC Vila Mariana (Sao Paulo), Schauspielhaus (Vienna), DPAC (Kuala Lampur), Theatretreffen (Berlin), British Council (London), Asia House (London) and University of Bremen (Germany). Nassim’s second play Blind Hamlet for the London based Actors Touring Company premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has since toured extensively around the UK and was received well in Bucharest and Copenhagen. Blank, his third play, recently premiered in Amsterdam and has been performed in Utrecht, Edinburgh and London. Nassim now lives in Berlin with his wife Shirin.

PHOTO CREDIT: Interrobang Theatre Project’s production of WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT will feature (top, l to r) Echaka Agba, Owais Ahmed, JD Caudill and David Cerda (bottom, l to r) Shawna Franks, Joe Lino, Stephanie Shum and Michael Turrentine.

About the Performers

Stephanie Shum can't believe Interrobang is letting her do this but is very excited to play with them for the first time. She is Co-Artistic Director of The New Colony, Associate Producer with Red Tape Theatre and has also performed with Steppenwolf, American Theater Company, The Neo-Futurists, 16th Street, Walkabout, Factory, Redtwist, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Silk Road and The Fly Honeys. She is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Actors Talent Group. She may next be in seen in Wildclaw’s Second Skin. www.stephanieshum.com

JD Caudill is a Chicago-based director, music director and performer. Since coming to Chicago in 2014, JD has performed onstage with The New Colony, Hell in a Handbag Productions, New American Folk Theatre, Forks and Hope and Hobo Junction, and directed for over 15 companies, including Broken Nose Theatre, The New Colony and Haven Theatre. JD is a company member of Hell in a Handbag and Haven Theatre (where they are also marketing director), and an associate company member of Broken Nose Theatre.

Echaka Agba’s Chicago theatre credits include: Women Laughing Alone with Salad (Theater Wit); At the Table (Jeff Award – Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Actress; Black Theatre Alliance Award – The Hattie McDaniel Award) Broken Nose Theatre; The Crucible, Between Riverside and Crazy (u/s) Steppenwolf Theatre; Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet (u/s) Chicago Shakespeare Theater; A Comedical Tragedy for Mister Punch, United Flight 232 (Jeff Award – Best Ensemble) House Theatre of Chicago; Don't Go Gentle (Haven Theatre); Balm in Gilead (Griffin Theatre). She is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Grossman and Jack. 

Michael Turrentine is an actor/educator/playwright originally from Oklahoma, but loves the Windy City too much for words! He has worked at various theaters around Chicago including Firebrand Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Theater Wit, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Gift Theatre and others. He will also be performing in the up coming production of Frankenstein at Remy Bumppo Theatre. Michael is excited to go on this cool and exciting journey with Interrobang! He is represented by Gray Talent Group.

Joe Lino is a Chicago based actor and has worked with Steppenwolf, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Drury Lane, The New Colony, The Cuckoos Theater Project, The Agency Theatre Collective and Interrobang Theatre Project. where he is an artistic associate. Regionally he has credits with Actors Theatre of Louisville in shows such as Dracula, A Christmas Carol and That High Lonesome Sound, which premiered at the Humana Festival. He has also performed Off-Broadway at the BAM Harvey Theatre in Charles Mee’s world premiere of The Glory of the World. He is a proud alumni of Ball State University. 

David Cerda is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Hell in a Handbag Productions. Plays written include Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, SCARRIE! The Musical, POSEIDON! An Upside-Down Musical, Christmas Dearest, The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes Vol 1 & 2 and The Birds. As an actor he has worked with A New Colony, Corn Productions, Lookingglass, A Red Orchid Theatre and more. Cerda was inducted into the Chicago 2016 GLBTQ Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Jeff Committee in 2017 for his body of work and philanthropic efforts.

Shawna Franks is the founding Managing Director of Facility Theatre where she is currently performing in the Chicago premiere of Phoebe In Winter by Jen Silverman. Shawna originated the role of Dottie in Killer Joe by Tracy Letts at The Next Lab in Evanston. She performed this role at The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, The Bush Theatre in London and The Vaudeville Theatre on London's West End. She also performed in Grand Concourse at Steppenwolf Theatre and The Woman Before at Trap Door Theatre. She has appeared in various productions in Dublin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and New York City, and is the founding Artistic Director of Space 55 Theatre in Phoenix.

Owais Ahmed is a Chicago native and a proud ensemble member of Definition Theatre Co. Theatre credits include: The Invisible Hand (Steep Theatre, Milwaukee Rep), The Hard Problem (Court Theatre), Orange (Mixed Blood Theatre) and The Qualms (Steppenwolf Theatre). 

About Interrobang Theatre Project

Now in its ninth season, Interrobang Theatre Project, under the artistic leadership of Georgette Verdin and James Yost, has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as a “company to watch” and by Time Out Chicago as “one of Chicago’s most promising young theatre companies.” Chris Jones called Foxfinder, which kicked off Interrobang’s 2017-18 season, “...a ripping good yarn,” earning it 3.5 stars from the Chicago Tribune. Foxfinder also garnered seven non-Equity Jeff Awards nominations including Best Director and Production of a Play, and took home two awards for Best Original Music and Set Design. The company also earned seven non-Equity Jeff Nominations for their seventh season, including Best Director, Production of a Play, Solo Performance and acting nominations for Lead Actor, Actress (win) and Actor in a Supporting Role (win). Productions have included the world premiere of Calamity West’s Ibsen is Dead (Jeff Recommended), the Jeff Recommended The Pitchfork Disney, Orange Flower Water, Recent Tragic Events, The North Pool, The Amish Project, Falling and Grace. Director James Yost’s critically-acclaimed Really Really was one of six shows chosen for Chicago Tribune’s “Best of 2015 in Chicago Fringe Theater.”

What’s an interrobang?
An interrobang is the combination of a question mark and an exclamation point, joining the Latin for “question” (interro) with a proofreading term for “exclamation” (bang). Through the plays we produce, Interrobang Theatre Project aims to pose worthwhile and exciting questions which challenge our understanding and assumptions of who we are and the world in which we live. 

For more information, please visit www.interrobangtheatreproject.org.

OPENING: CAROLINE, OR CHANGE Via Firebrand Theatre at The Den Theatre September 22 – October 28, 2018

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Firebrand Theatre Announces Casting for

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE

Music by Jeanine Tesori

Book & Lyrics by Tony Kushner

Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

Music Direction by Andra Velis Simon

September 22 – October 28, 2018 at The Den Theatre

Presented in Partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to announces casting for its revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Violet), book and lyrics by Tony Kushner (Angels in America), direction by Lili-Anne Brown and music direction by Andra Velis Simon.

(left to right) Bre Jacobs, Rashada Dawan and Blair Robertson in a publicity image for Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE. Photo by Rob Riddle/Ghost Light Headshots.

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE will feature Rashada Dawan as Caroline with Roberta Burke as Radio 3, Kevin Grubb as Grandpa Gellman, Nicole Michelle Haskins as Dotty, Rosalind Hurwitz as Grandma Gellman, Bre Jacobs as Emmie, Michael Kingston as Mr. Stopnick, Princess Isis Lang as Jackie, Alejandro Medina as Noah, De'Jah Perkins as Radio 1, Blair Roberston as Rose, Jonathan Schwart as Stuart, Lyric Sims as Joe, Sasha Smith as Moon/Washer and Emma Sipora Tyler as Radio 2.

Launching Firebrand’s 2018-19 season, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE will play September 22 – October 28, 2018, at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets now on sale at firebrandtheatre.org. Season subscriptions are currently available. 

Firebrand is the first musical theatre company committed to employing and empowering women by expanding opportunities on and off the stage.

CAROLINE, OR CHANGE is set in Lake Charles, Louisiana: the end of 1963. America is changing. Caroline Thibodeaux is a mother of four and a maid, working for the southern Jewish Gellman family. Caroline struggles with changes monumental and mundane, and her relationship with the young, grieving boy who lives in the house she cleans. Riveting, moving and awe-inspiring, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE features a virtuosic score by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Violet) and a breathtaking book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner (Angels in America), the music ranges from Motown to Klezmer, the storytelling from political to magical.

The production team for CAROLINE, OR CHANGE includes: Lauren Nichols (scenic design), Noël Huntzinger (costume design), Cat Wilson (lighting design), Victoria Deiorio and Karli Blalock (sound design), Lacie Hexom (props design), Brigitte Ditmars (choreographer), Harmony France (producer), Heather Larkin (production manager), Adelina Feldman-Schultz. (casting director), Joshanna Robinson (run crew, child wrangler), JC Widman (stage manager) and Kirby Gibson (assistant stage manager).

PHOTO CREDIT: The cast of Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE includes (top, l to r) Rashada Dawan, Roberta Burke, Kevin Grubb, Nicole Michelle Haskins and Rosalind Hurwitz (middle, l to r) Bre Jacobs, Michael Kingston, Princess Isis Lang, Alejandro Medina, De'Jah Perkins (bottom, l to r) Blair Roberston, Jonathan Schwart, Lyric Sims, Sasha Smith and Emma Sipora Tyler.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Roberta Burke (Radio 3), Rashada Dawan (Caroline), Kevin Grubb (Grandpa Gellman), Nicole Michelle Haskins (Dotty), Rosalind Hurwitz (Grandma Gellman), Bre Jacobs (Emmie), Michael Kingston (Mr. Stopnick), Princess Isis Lang (Jackie), Alejandro Medina (Noah), De'Jah Perkins (Radio 1), Blair Roberston (Rose), Jonathan Schwart (Stuart), Lyric Sims (Joe), Sasha Smith (Moon/Washer) and Emma Sipora Tyler (Radio 2).

Swings: JiGi Fabulous, Kirby Gibson, Tyler Franklin, Ted Kitterman, Micheal Lovette and Corrbette Pasko.

Location: The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Dates: Previews: Saturday, September 22 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, September 23 at 3 pm

Regular run: Thursday, September 27 – Sunday, October 28, 2018
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Tickets: Previews $25. Regular run $45. $20 students/industry rush tickets available at the box office. Tickets go on sale Saturday, July 28, 2018 at firebrandtheatre.org. Season subscriptions are currently available at firebrandtheatre.org.

About The Creative Team

Lili-Anne Brown (Director) is a native Chicagoan who works as a director, actor and educator, both locally and regionally. She is the former artistic director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she directed Dessa Rose (Jeff Award), Passing Strange (BTA Award and Jeff nomination for Best Director of a Musical), See What I Wanna See (Steppenwolf Theatre Garage Rep) and the world premiere of Princess Mary Demands Your Attention by Aaron Holland. Other directing credits include Kristiana Rae Colón's Tilikum (world premiere, Sideshow Theatre), Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (American Theatre Company), Ike Holter's The Wolf at the End of the Block (16th Street Theatre), Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre New Stages Festival), Marie Christine (Boho Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (Metropolis Performing Arts), The Wiz (Kokandy Productions), Xanadu (American Theatre Company), Jabari Dreams of Freedom by Nambi E. Kelley (world premiere, Chicago Children’s Theatre), American Idiot (Northwestern University); the national tour of Jesus Snatched My Edges; and Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, Unnecessary Farce, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Timber Lake Playhouse. She is a member of SDC, SAG-AFTRA and a graduate of Northwestern University.

Andra Velis Simon (Music Director) is thrilled to be the Resident Music Director for Firebrand, where she music directed Lizzie and 9 to 5 for their inaugural season. Her work as a music director, adapter, arranger, pianist and vocal coach has been seen regionally at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, A.R.T. in Cambridge, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU’s Skirball Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pasadena Playhouse, Berkeley Rep and Olney Theatre in Maryland. In Chicago, she has worked with The Goodman Theatre (The Iceman Cometh and Camino Real); The Hypocrites (Cinderella at the Theater of Potatoes, American Idiot, Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore); Theater Wit (Mr. Burns and 10 out of 12); Chicago Children’s Theatre (The Hundred Dresses, A Year with Frog and Toad, Goodnight Moon and Last Stop on Market Street), and many others. In addition, Andra has taught musical theatre performance at  Columbia College Chicago since 2008. Upcoming projects include A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Porchlight and Next to Normal at Writers Theatre.   

Firebrand Theatre’s 2018-19 season sponsor: Michael and Mona Heath of the HeathFund.

About the Companies

Firebrand Theatre is a musical theatre company committed to employing and empowering women by expanding their opportunities on and off the stage. Firebrand is a 501(c)(3) Equity theatre.

Company members: Artistic Director: Harmony France, Advisory Board: Lili-Anne Brown, Emjoy Gavino, Kate Garassino, Amber Mak, Danni Smith, Company Members: Kasey Alfonso, Sydney Charles, Heather Clark, Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Tyler Franklin, Amanda Horvath, Jon Martinez, Eric Martin, Amelia Jo Parish and Andra Velis-Simon.

TimeLine Theatre Company was founded in April 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. To date over 21 seasons, TimeLine has presented 75 productions, including 10 world premieres and 33 Chicago premieres, and launched the Living History Education Program working with Chicago Public Schools. 

TimeLine is led by Artistic Director PJ Powers, Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman and Board President Eileen LaCario. Company members are Nick Bowling, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Behzad Dabu, Lara Goetsch, Juliet Hart, Mildred Marie Langford, Mechelle Moe, David Parkes, Ron OJ Parson, PJ Powers, Maren Robinson and Benjamin Thiem. More information at timelinetheatre.com.