EXTENDED: Gift's World Premiere, Good For Otto Extended 3 More Weeks

THE GIFT THEATRE EXTENDS DAVID RABE’S  

REMARKABLE HIT GOOD FOR OTTO 

THREE ADDITIONAL WEEKS

Special reception and conversation on Monday, November 9 offers theatergoers the chance to hear from the acclaimed writer and director

To accommodate demand for tickets, The Gift Theatre has added performances and extended the run of its critically acclaimed new play, Good for Otto, written by Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe and directed by Gift artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton. Originally scheduled to close November 22, Good for Otto, will continue performances December 3- December 20, 2015. Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Please consult The Gift’s website at thegifttheatre.org or call the box office at 773-283-7071 for the most current schedule and ticket availability.  

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we haven't had a chance to catch this one yet, but the buzz has been amazing and it's high on our must see list. Book your tickets now. This one has been selling out regularly and the extension tickets are sure to go fast.

“I am deeply moved that this epic masterwork by American master playwright David Rabe has found its home and voice at The Gift Theatre in Chicago,” said Thornton. “We look forward to as many people as possible experiencing David's beautiful and mesmerizing opus, Good For Otto. In Good For Otto, one character's motto is ‘Fortune favors the brave’; David's writing, the ensemble's acting and the world created by our designers is bravery defined.”

In addition to the extension, the National Veterans Art Museum (4041 N. Milwaukee) will host “A Legendary Reception: David Rabe,” a special one-night event on Monday, November 9, 6:30 - 9:00pm featuring a rare and intimate conversation with director Michael Patrick Thornton, Theatre and Dance critic of the Chicago Sun-Times Hedy Weiss, and American theater legend David Rabe about his work and an exploration behind the scenes of The Gift's acclaimed world premiere of Good for Otto. Individual tickets are $100 and can be reserved at thegifttheatre.org/shows-events or by calling 773-283-7071.  Cocktails will be served throughout the evening.

Haunted by his own childhood, a psychologist tries to minister to the distressed souls who find their way to the doors of the health center he runs in a cluster of Connecticut hamlets and villages. Absurd at times, sadly comic and touching in the twists and turns of their simple humanity, men and women, young and old, rich and poor bring their pain in from the bucolic setting of trees, white churches, streams and mountains ranges for Dr. Michaels and his collogues with hopes of relief in the world premiere of this whimsical, yet tornadic, ensemble piece.

Playwright David Rabe received a Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 for Sticks and Bones and also received Tony Award nominations for Best Play in 1974 for In the Boom Boom Room, 1977’s Streamers and 1985’s Hurlyburly.

THE CAST

Cyd Blakewell – Marcy

Brittany Burch – Mother

John Connolly – Timothy

Paul D'Addario – Jimmy

Patricia Donegan – Teresa Gilchrist

John Gawlik – Dr. Robert Michaels

Caroline Heffernan – Frannie

Alexandra Main – Jane

Donna McGough – Mrs. Garland

Kenny Mihlfried – Jerome

Darci Nalepa – Nora

Lynda Newton – Evangeline Ryder 

Rob Riley – Barnard Gilchrist

Justine Serino – Denise

Jay Worthington – Alex

About The Gift Theatre

The 2015 Season began in January with TEN, The Gift’s annual kickoff celebration of ten-minute plays curated by artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton and associate artistic director Paul D'Addario. The season kicked off March 5 with the world premiere of Mat Smart’s quirky and beautiful play The Royal Society of Antarctica, directed by Gift Ensemble member John Gawlik. Director Marti Lyons (Bethany) returned for Body + Blood written by The Gift Co-Founder, William Nedved; the season closes with David Rabe’s (Hurlyburly, Streamers) Good For Otto directed by The Gift Co-Founder and Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton. Subscriptions for the entire 2015 season, which includes three world premieres, are available for as little as $75. The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at http://thegifttheatre.org/ or call 773-283-7071.

The Gift Theatre is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, and is easily accessible by the CTA Blue Line, the Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenue buses and the Kennedy Expressway. For more information about The Gift Theatre’s productions and programs, visit www.thegifttheatre.org.

EXTENDED: THE GIFT THEATRE EXTENDS RUNAWAY HIT THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTARCTICA BY FOUR WEEKS

Special “Come Closer” matinee on Sunday, April 19 offers theatergoers the chance to mingle with writer, director and cast

To accommodate demand for tickets, The Gift Theatre has added performances and extended the run of its critically acclaimed new play, The Royal Society of Antarctica, written by Mat Smart and directed by Gift ensemble member John Gawlik. Originally scheduled to close April 26, The Royal Society of Antarctica, will now continue through Sunday, May 24, 2015. Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Please consult the Gift’s website at thegifttheatre.org or call the box office at 773-283-7071 for the most current schedule and ticket availability.

In addition to the extension, The Gift Theatre will host “Come Closer,” a special one-day event on Sunday, April 19 featuring a post-show conversation and drinks with playwright Mat Smart, director John Gawlik, the cast and crew of The Royal Society of Antarctica, and special guest Jeanne Ropollo, author of Grandma Goes to Antarctica: A Journey of Discovery who was with Mat Smart during his time at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. A Performance ticket, food and drinks inspired by the play and continent are included in the $50 ticket price.

The Royal Society of Antarctica, follows Dee (Aila Peck) as she returns to her birthplace at the blindingly bright McMurdo Station in Antarctica to work as a janitor and seek answers to her mother’s disappearance in this wonderfully weird and touching new play perfectly suited to The Gift’s intimate space.

Sheldon Patinkin, Gift ensemble member and vital figure in the development of improv in Chicago, was originally set to direct The Royal Society of Antarctica before his passing in September.

“Sheldon loved the play, but he wanted to push me further,” says Smart. “It's a three-act play, and he felt that the end of the second act needed more of a cliffhanger. I knew he was right, and that prompted me to do a big rewrite this summer.

“I went to the bottom of the world to find this play—working as a janitor for three months at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.  It’s perfect that it will premiere in my hometown at The Gift.”

“We are thrilled to give Mat's quirky and beautiful play its premiere,” says Thornton. “For more than 12 years, Sheldon taught The Gift how to be an ensemble, and it's painfully bittersweet but also kind of perfect that Mat's play—about unlikely ensembles—was the last play Sheldon ever worked on. I'm overjoyed they got a chance to collaborate. There is no artist at The Gift better suited to take over the reins than ensemble member John Gawlik. John has been a keen nurturer and director of our most blazing premieres, a staunch advocate for new voices, and together he and Mat will bring our audience on an unforgettable journey.” 

Cast

Brittany Burch – Tamara

John Connolly – Ace

Paul D'Addario – UT Tom

Brian Keys – Miller

Lynda Newton – Pam 

Aila Peck – Dee
Jay Worthington – UT Tim
Kyle Zornes – Jake

About The Gift Theatre

The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Most recent productions include: Bethany, Othello, Thinner Than Water, TEN 2014; Broadsword, Mine, and Vigils. The company also sponsors the giftED Ensemble, a rigorous two-year afterschool course for creative and motivated high school students on Chicago’s Northwest side, and the literary program/Salon Series giftLIT.

The 2015 Season began in January with TEN, The Gift’s annual kickoff celebration of ten-minute plays curated by artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton and associate artistic director Paul D'Addario. Following Mat Smart’s The Royal Society of Antarctica (March 5-April 26), director Marti Lyons (Bethany) returns for Body & Blood written by Gift Co-Founder, William Nedved (June 15- August 9). The season closes with David Rabe’s (Hurlyburly, Streamers) Good For Otto (September 25-November 23) directed by Gift Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Michael Patrick Thornton. Subscriptions for the entire 2015 season, which includes three world premieres, are available for as little as $75. The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at http://thegifttheatre.org/ or call 773-283-7071.

The Gift Theatre is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, and is easily accessible by the CTA Blue Line, the Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenue buses and the Kennedy Expressway. For more information about The Gift Theatre’s productions and programs, visit www.thegifttheatre.org.

ACT OUT OPENING: The Chicago premiere of Mine at The Gift Theatre

Hillary Clemens as Mari (center), Gabriel Franken as Peter and Alexandra Main as Joan in The Gift Theatre’s Mine

The Gift Theatre presents the Chicago premiere of Mine

Contemporary thriller with age-old roots by Laura Marks, directed by Marti Lyons

Playing now through August 11, 2013

New mother Mari has a devoted husband, a reassuring midwife and a mom who can’t wait to babysit. But she can’t shake the feeling that there’s something strange about her newborn daughter. Chicago’s The Gift Theatre Company births a world of new motherhood, where doubt and certainty blur, in the Chicago premiere of Laura Marks’ thrilling, haunting and terrifying Mine, directed by Marti Lyons. Mine makes its Chicago premiere now through August 11, 2013, at The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Avenue (at Lawrence) in Chicago. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Single tickets are $25-$30 and subscriptions start at $50. To purchase tickets or for more information, please call 773-283-7071 or visit www.thegifttheatre.org.

“One of the many remarkable things about Laura Marks' work is her use of heroines,” says director Marti Lyons. “Her leading ladies are charming and unflinchingly loyal—and when faced with any threat to their families, they are fierce warriors with an inexhaustible drive and strength. The protagonist in Mine, Mari, is no exception. Though at times she’s conflicted, Mari's investigation over the course of the play is driven by the uncompromising strength of her maternal instinct and love for her child. The Gift’s space allows us to see both her external and internal conflict; the close proximity to all the actors enables the audience to understand the truest motivations, conflicts and resolve at the heart of every character.”

Hillary Clemens as Mari and Gabriel Franken as Peter in The Gift Theatre’s Mine, playing now through Aug. 11, 2013. Photos by http://clairedemos.com.

New York-based, Kentucky-born playwright Laura Marks made an explosive off-Broadway debut earlier this year with Bethany, which starred America Ferrera, was a New York Times Critic's Pick and garnered Marks a Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Play. The New Yorker subsequently called the recent Juilliard School grad and mother of two “a real talent to watch.” Marks wrote Mine shortly after completing Bethany, while still a student at Juilliard. Mine director Marti Lyons (Maria/Stuart) previously worked at The Gift as assistant director on Will Eno's Oh, the Humanity (and other exclamations) for Michael Patrick Thornton in 2012 and twice directing short plays for TEN. She is the Literary Manager and Company Dramaturg for Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre.

Mine stars The Gift Ensemble members Hillary Clemens (Vigils, Dirty) as Mari, Gabriel Franken (Northwest Highway) as her husband and Alexandra Main (Wit, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest) as the midwife. Returning to The Gift are SiNNERMAN Ensemble and Pavement Group’s Cyd Blakewell (TEN) as a mysterious stranger and Rendition Theatre’s Deborah Ann Smith (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot) as Mari’s mom.

Hillary Clemens as Mari and Cyd Blakewell as Amy in The Gift Theatre’s Mine

About The Gift Theatre

The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Previous productions include: Vigils; TEN 2013; Natural Gas' Jugband Christmas; Dirty; Oh, The Humanity (and other exclamations); Fact & Fiction; Absolute Hell; TEN; Cloud 9; Northwest Highway; Night and Her Stars; Get Behind Me, Santa!; Lonesome West; Suicide, Inc.; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Almost, Maine; Santa’s Great American Depression Holiday Show! (2009 & 2010); Summer People; The Ruby Sunrise; Talk Radio; Stop/Kiss; Natural Gas; Streamers; Wit ;The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; White People; Three Sisters; The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Blithe Spirit; 365 Days/365 Plays; The Halloween Show; Long Day’s Journey Into Night; The Glass Menagerie (Remount: Theatre on the Lake); The Good Thief; The Clearing; Hurlyburly; The Glass Menagerie; The Pavilion; A Young Man In Pieces; Language of Angels; 6; County Fair; The Countess; Alcatraz (Abbie Hoffman Festival); Orestes 2.0; Boys’ Life. The theater also sponsors the giftED Ensemble, a rigorous two-year afterschool course for creative and motivated high school students on Chicago’s Northwest side, and the literary program/Salon Series giftLIT.

The Gift’s 2013 Season opened in January with TEN, its annual kickoff celebration of ten-minute plays curated by Gift Co-Founder Michael Patrick Thornton, then shifted tone with the Chicago revival of Vigils, directed by Erica Weiss. The final production of the 2013 Season is the Chicago premiere of Broadsword by former Sons of Anarchy staff writer Marco Ramirez, October 3 (first preview)-November 24. Subscriptions for the remainder of the 2013 season, which includes two Chicago premieres, are available for as little as $50. The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events.

The Gift Theatre Company’s 2013 season is made possible, in part, by generous contributions from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. The Gift is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, and is easily accessible by the CTA Blue Line, the Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenue buses and the Kennedy Expressway. For more information about The Gift Theatre’s productions and programs, visit www.thegifttheatre.org.

ACT OUT OPENING: Vigils at The Gift Theatre 2/28

 VIGILS, starring Hillary Clemens, February 28-April 21 at The Gift Theatre. Photo by Joshua Longbrake • http://joshualongbrake.com • @joshualongbrake

THE GIFT THEATRE PRESENTS DARK, FARCICAL FANTASY VIGILS

BY WRITER OF STAND UP GUYS AND DIRECTOR OF A TWIST OF WATER

FEBRUARY 28-APRIL 21, 2013

Chicago’s The Gift Theatre explores the challenges of loss, love and letting go in the darkly comic one-act play Vigils, written by Noah Haidle (Stand Up Guys, Mr. Marmalade) and directed by Erica Weiss (A Twist of Water). In a gently whimsical take on a heartbreaking scenario, a young widow keeps her deceased fireman husband’s soul in a box by her bed, but then has to make a tough choice when the possibility for new love comes into her life. Vigils  runs February 28-April 21 at The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave (at Lawrence) in Chicago.

The Gift’s staging of the dreamy and surreal Vigils emphasizes the hyper-articulate script at the heart of the surreal play.

"Working in an extremely intimate space with very different design capabilities completely transforms how you approach a piece like Vigils, which has so many elements that could be considered magical or otherworldly,” Weiss explains. “We're guided by the artistic ethos of The Gift ensemble, which is grounded in gritty emotional realism and audience immediacy, so that even though the play consists mainly of memories, our production feels very rooted in the present tense."

Vigils stars The Gift ensemble members Hillary Clemens (Dirty) as Widow, Jim Farruggio (Suicide, Inc.) as her deceased husband’s Body, Jay Worthington (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) as his imprisoned Soul and Kyle Zornes (Stop/Kiss) as a new (and living) Wooer, with special guest Elodie Tougne as Child.

Detroit-based playwright Noah Haidle (Mr. Marmalade, Rag and Bone) is the screenwriter of the new movie Stand Up Guys, starring Christopher Walken, Al Pacino and Alan Arkin. Vigils director Erica Weiss staged Route 66 Theatre Company’s 2011 world premiere, Jeff Award-nominated hit A Twist of Water.

Tickets and Performance Schedule

Vigils runs February 28-April 21 at The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave (at Lawrence) in Chicago.

Showtimes are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm, with Sunday matinees at 2:30pm.

Single tickets, $25-$30, are available at 773-283-7071 or online at www.thegifttheatre.org. Three-play 2013 season subscriptions start at $65.

About Vigils’ Creative Team

Detroit-based playwright NOAH HAIDLE’s plays – Vigils; Mr. Marmalade; Rag and Bone; Kitty Kitty Kitty; Persephone; Saturn Returns; Skin Deep Song – have premiered at The Goodman Theatre, Lincoln Center Theater, The Roundabout Theatre Company and other theaters across the US, Germany, Great Britain and New Zealand. Haidle is the recipient of three Lincoln Center Le Compte Du Nuoy Awards, the 2005 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, the 2007 Claire Tow Award and an NEA/TCG theater residency grant. He wrote the screenplay for Stand Up Guys, currently in theaters, and is developing his next script, Rodeo Clown, to be his motion picture directorial debut. His new play Smokefall premieres this season at Goodman Theatre.

Director Erica Weiss was the director of the World Premiere production of Route 66’s A Twist of Water in Chicago as well as its New York Premiere. She was the founding Artistic Director of Hypatia Theatre Company, where she directed the critically acclaimed World Premieres of Red Georgia Clay and Florida Styx. Weiss served as Assistant Director on the Chicago premiere of Elizabeth Rex at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. As a director, dramaturg and assistant director, she has worked with The Gift, Northlight, American Theater Company, Chicago Dramatists, Stage Left, MPAACT and Victory Gardens, where she was the Dramaturg for the workshop and world premiere of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Jeff Award winner). Weiss is Associate Artistic Director of Route 66 Theatre Company.

About The Gift Theatre

The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Previous productions include: TEN 2013; Natural Gas' Jugband Christmas; Dirty; Oh, The Humanity (and other exclamations); Fact & Fiction; Absolute Hell; TEN; Cloud 9; Northwest Highway; Night and Her Stars; Get Behind Me, Santa!; Lonesome West; Suicide, Inc.; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Almost, Maine; Santa’s Great American Depression Holiday Show! (2009 & 2010); Summer People; The Ruby Sunrise; Talk Radio; Stop/Kiss; Natural Gas; Streamers; Wit ;The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; White People; Three Sisters; The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Blithe Spirit; 365 Days/365 Plays; The Halloween Show; Long Day’s Journey Into Night; The Glass Menagerie (Remount: Theatre on the Lake); The Good Thief; The Clearing; Hurlyburly; The Glass Menagerie; The Pavilion; A Young Man In Pieces; Language of Angels; 6; County Fair; The Countess; Alcatraz (Abbie Hoffman Festival); Orestes 2.0; Boys’ Life. The theater also sponsors the giftED Ensemble, a rigorous two-year afterschool course for creative and motivated high school students on Chicago’s Northwest side, and the literary program/Salon Series giftLIT.

The Gift’s 2013 Season opened in January with TEN, its annual kickoff celebration of ten-minute plays curated by Gift Co-Founder Michael Patrick Thornton. Later this summer, The Gift dramatically shifts tone with the Chicago premiere of dark thriller Mine by Laura Marks, June 13-August 11. The final production of the 2013 Season is the Chicago premiere of Broadsword by Sons of Anarchy staff writer Marco Ramirez, September 26 (first preview)-November 17. Subscriptions for the entire 2013 season, which includes two Chicago premieres, are available for as little as $65. The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and an invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at http://thegifttheatre.org/ or call 773-283-7071.

The Gift Theatre Company’s 2013 season is made possible, in part, by generous contributions from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

The Gift Theatre is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, and is easily accessible by the CTA Blue Line, the Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenue buses and the Kennedy Expressway. 

For more information about The Gift Theatre’s productions and programs click here.