REVIEW: Victory Gardens Theater To Stream Final Five Live Performances of Queen of the Night March 9–13, 2022

ChiIL Live And Streaming Shows On Our Radar   

Victory Gardens Theater to live-stream

Queen of the Night

with an innovative pilot program

Five live performances to be streamed

March 9–13, 2022

REVIEW: 

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we're loving the trend of theatres live streaming part of their run for those out of town or otherwise unable to sit indoor with a crowd. I caught opening night and Terry Guest (Ty) and André Teamer (Stephen) are wonderful in this poignant LGBTQ parenting adventure. 

Gay, young adult, Ty is hilariously out of his element in the wilderness with his father, but trying to embrace the experience and unpack some baggage. His father, Stephen doesn't stoop to the usual cliche of working class father of a gay son. 

Though they have a complicated and somewhat negative past history, he has evolved and is trying hard to bond with his adult son. I also love the intimacy of Victory Gardens Theater's 109 seat, upstairs Richard Christiansen Theater, named for beloved, long time Chicago critic, who passed away in January at age 90. Shout out to the set designer and sound designer for creating a delightful, overgrown wilderness that's exciting to escape to. 

Parenting children who don't turn out like you is complicated. Divorce and remarriage is difficult. Bridging not only the generation gap but the chasm between gay and heteronormative cultural can be daunting. Navigating relationships with your biological family as adults can be intense, and Queen of the Night explores this all too human experience in a tender, funny, heartfelt way. There's something especially dynamic and compelling about a 2 person show, and Queen of the Night nails it. Recommended. 

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

Victory Gardens Theater, in partnership with Assemble Stream, will live-stream the final five performances of its critically acclaimed production of Queen of the Night. The pilot program includes cameras that have been mounted in the theater and throughout the set for superior live-stream capabilities and making the live performance simultaneously available to patrons at home and in the theater. This is the first program of its kind in Chicago.

"We are excited to be partnering with Assemble this season especially after watching their work on Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s on Broadway. With livestream performances, we will be able to reach a broader audience than ever before, and share work by Chicago artists with theater-lovers around the world who may never have the opportunity to visit Victory Gardens in person," comments Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin.

A divorced father and his queer son head to the woods of southeastern Texas to relive the camping trips of earlier, easier days. But even without cell service, certain things are inescapable. Playwright travis tate explores masculinity and queerness through the lens of multi-generational Blackness, offering a hilarious, heart-rending family portrait about reckoning with the wilderness of a shared past, while facing an uncertain future.

Written by travis tate and directed by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin, Queen of the Night features Terry Guest (Ty) and André Teamer (Stephen). The live-stream performance options will be available March 9-12, 2022 at 7:30pm Central, and March 13, 2022 at 3pm Central. Streaming tickets are $24 and can be purchased at https://victorygardens.assemblestream.com/.

OPENING: Rolling World Premiere of In Every Generation April 2 – May 1, 2022 at Victory Gardens Theater

 

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Victory Gardens Theater Presents

the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of

In Every Generation

By Ali Viterbi

Directed by Devon de Mayo

April 2 – May 1, 2022

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 2021/22 Mainstage Season with the world premiere of In Every Generation, written by Ali Viterbi and directed by Devon de Mayo. This is a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by Victory Gardens, the Olney Theatre Center (MD), and San Diego Repertory Theatre (CA). In Every Generation runs April 2 – May 1, 2022 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. I'll be out for the press opening April 8th so check back soon for my full review. Tickets are on sale now and available by phone at 773.871.3000 or online at www.victorygardens.org.

Each Passover, for four millennia, we ask: why is this night different from all other nights? And each year, the Levi-Katz clan has answered, while struggling with questions of race and religion that never seem to get resolved. The family finds strength in tradition (vegan brisket or no); but each year of celebration brings more pressing questions about the future: if trauma is generational, then must we be defined by it? Will we ever be free? Written by Ali Viterbi, In Every Generation was the 2019 winner of the National Jewish Playwriting Contest, and will have its world premiere at Victory Gardens, staged by Devon de Mayo (If I Forget, Victory Gardens).

The In Every Generation cast includes Eli Katz (Valeria), Sara Lo (Dev), Esther Fishbein (Yael), Paul Dillon (Davide), and Carmen Roman (Paola), with casting by The Chicago Inclusion Project.

The In Every Generation creative team includes Andrew Boyce and Lauren Nichols (Scenic Design), kClare McKellaston (Costume Design), Heather Sparling (Lighting Design), Jeffrey Levin (Sound Design), Yeaji Kim (Projections Design), Caitlin McCarthy (Props Design), Courtney Abbott (Intimacy Design) and Adam Goldstein (Language and Dialect). The creative team also includes Kat Zukaitis (dramaturg), Adelina Feldman Schultz (Assistant Director), Casie Morell (Stage Manager) and Shandee Vaughan (Production Manager). Additional creatives to be announced.

About the Artists

ALI VITERBI (Playwright; she/her) is a playwright, television writer, and educator from San Diego. Her plays have been developed, produced, or commissioned by Geffen Playhouse, The Kennedy Center/National New Play Network, La Jolla Playhouse, Round House Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, HERE Arts Center, The Barrow Group, and North Coast Repertory Theatre, among others. Her play In Every Generation won the 2019 National Jewish Playwriting Contest, and she has been a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Ali has developed TV projects with AMC and Anonymous Content. She was a member of the 2020/2021 Geffen Playhouse Writers’ Room, and she is the associate artistic director of the annual Lipinsky San Diego Jewish Arts Festival. Ali received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.F.A. in Playwriting from UC San Diego.

DEVON de MAYO (Director; she/her) Victory Gardens: If I Forget and Ignition Festival in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Chicago Credits: First Love is the Revolution (Steep Theatre); The Tasters, Laura and the Sea & The Scientific Method (Rivendell Theatre); Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Theatre Wit); The Burn (Steppenwolf Theatre); Harvey (Court Theatre); Sycamore (Raven Theatre); You on the Moors Now (The Hypocrites); Animals Out of Paper (Shattered Globe Theatre); You Can’t Take it With You and Lost in Yonkers (Northlight Theatre); Everything is Illuminated (Next); Roadkill Confidential, The Whole World is Watching, As Told by the Vivian Girls and The Twins Would Like to Say (Dog & Pony). Broadway: Resident Director under Stephen Daldry on The Audience. International: Guerra: A Clown Play (La Piara, Mexico). Devon received her MFA from Middlesex University in London and did further studies at the Russian Academy of Dramatic Arts in Moscow and the Indonesian Institute for the Arts in Bali.

Creative Team: Andrew Boyce and Lauren Nichols (Scenic Design), kClare McKellaston (Costume Design), Heather Sparling (Lighting Design), Jeffrey Levin (Sound Design), Yeaji Kim (Projections Design), Caitlin McCarthy (Props Design), Courtney Abbott (Intimacy Design) and Adam Goldstein (Language and Dialect). The creative team also includes Kat Zukaitis (dramaturg), Adelina Feldman Schultz (Assistant Director), Casie Morell (Stage Manager) and Shandee Vaughan (Production Manager).

Previews: April 2 – 7, 2022 

Press Performances:  Friday, April 8, 2022 at 7:30pm

Regular run:  April 9 – May 1, 2022 

 

Schedule:                   

Tuesday-Saturday 7:30pm (except April 2, April 12, April 16, April 19)

Wednesday: 2:00pm (April 20 only)

Saturday: 3:00pm (April 16 only)

Sunday: 3:00pm & 7:30pm (April 3 only)

 

Accessible Performances:            

Word for Word (open captioning): Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 2:00pm; Friday, April 22, 2022 at 7:30pm; Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 7:30pm

ASL Interpretation: Friday, April 22, 2022 at 7:30pm

Audio Description/Touch Tour: Friday, April 22, 2022 at 7:30pm; Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 3:00pm (Touch Tour begins 90 minutes prior to showtime)

Location:   Victory Gardens Theater is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue 

Tickets: $29 - $62

Box Office: The Box Office is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.  773.871.3000; www.victorygardens.org. 

Victory Gardens Theater 2021/22 Mainstage Season

The Victory Gardens Theater 2021/22 Mainstage Season includes Queen of the Night by travis tate, directed by Ken-Matt Martin, January 29 - March 13, 2022; the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of In Every Generation by Ali Viterbi, directed by Devon de Mayo, April 2 - May 1, 2022; and the regional premiere of cullud wattah by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, June 11 - July 17, 2022.

Flex Passes to the 2021/22 Season are currently on sale at victorygardens.org or by phone at 773.871.3000, and offer 20% savings over single ticket prices. Single tickets for all three shows are on sale now at victorygardens.org and range from $29 to $62.

The Ignition New Play Program 

The Ignition New Play Program (formerly the Ignition Festival of New Plays) consists of two events for the 2021/22 season: the Ignite Chicago reading series, offering six free readings of new works between October 2021 and July 2022, and the 20/50 Festival in June 2022, featuring three new works by playwrights over 50, staged by VG Directors Inclusion Initiative Fellows. Ignite Chicago readings will take place not only at Victory Gardens’ home in Lincoln Park, the Biograph Theater, but at partner locations throughout the city, to bring new plays into Chicago’s many communities. 

 Upcoming Ignite Chicago readings include: 

●      April 2022: Primary Trust by Eboni Booth  

●      July 2022: Nancy by Rhiana Yazzie 

All readings are free to attend, but RSVPs will be required, as capacity for each reading is limited. Registration will be available at victorygardens.org approximately one month before each event. 

For complete details on the 2021/2022 Season and artists, Flex Passes, and the Ignition New Play Program, please visit www.victorygardens.org  

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Bradshaw Family Foundation, Exelon Corporation, Illinois Arts Council, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, Pritzker Foundation, The Small Business Administration, and The Joyce Foundation.

Victory Gardens also receives support from the Alphawood Foundation, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, John R. Halligan Charitable Fund,Mayer Brown LLP, TheNational Endowment for the Arts, thePritzker Pucker Family Foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, The Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, The Seabury Foundation, and The Venturous Theater Fund of Tides Foundation.

 

Victory Gardens Theater COVID-19 Attendance Policy

To protect the health of all who attend Victory Gardens productions, the following policies are in place for the 2021/22 Season: All audience members must be masked for the duration of their visit. Masks are available onsite if needed. All audience members ages 5+ must show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination; audience members ages 16+ must also show a valid photo ID at the door to be admitted to the theater. These policies follow state and local guidelines for safe operation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and are subject to change based on the current recommendations.

About Victory Gardens Theater

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin and Acting Managing Director Roxanna Conner, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals. Victory Gardens Theater is committed to the development, production and support of new plays, which has been the mission of the theater since its founding, set forth by Dennis Začek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater, and continued by former Artistic Director Chay Yew.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theater work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Začek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage, and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

For more information about Victory Gardens, visit www.victorygardens.org . Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens, Twitter @VictoryGardens, and Instagram @victorygardenstheater.

REVIEW: Voice of Good Hope at City Lit Now Playing Through February 23, 2020

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

VOICE OF GOOD HOPE

by City Lit’s resident playwright Kristine Thatcher

Directed by Terry McCabe

January 10 – February 23, 2020

FINAL 2 WEEKS! Don't miss this Chicago Reader Recommended and 4-Star 

Sun-Times show!

"FOUR STARS...captures the sense and sensibility of a bonafide powerhouse."

-Chicago Sun-Times

"Recommended...Voice of Good Hope comes just in time"

-Chicago Reader

Andrea Conway-Diaz as Barbara Jordan

Photo credit for all, Steve Graue

Review:

by Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

As the senate impeachment hearings wrap up, caucus votes roll in, and the 2020 campaigns amp up, political plays are filling the stages of Chicago as well. I was finally able to catch City Lit's excellent production, Voice of Good Hope last night. It was great to learn so much about Barbara Jordan, the first African American congresswoman from the Deep South, that I was unaware of before. This production is a gem of wit and wisdom. Women like Barbara Jordan give me hope for our democracy and our country's future. If you're tired of the lies and lunacy that have infiltrated Washington DC, come spend a few hours at City Lit and recharge. Recommended. 

There are numerous strong shows on stage right now in Chicago, if you prefer your political figures to be articulate, intelligent and female. We recommend catching Voice of Good Hope at City Lit (Barbara Jordan), The Adult in the Room (Nancy Pelosi) at Victory Gardens, and A So-Called Qualified Woman (Sandra Day O’Connor), part of Valiant Theatre's New Works Festival. We also highly recommend Roe at The Goodman, for the back story on the Roe V. Wade ruling.

Voice of Good Hope

left to right: McKennzie Boyd, Jamie Black

The storyline of Voice of Good Hope is delightfully nonlinear and I enjoyed meeting her first as a politician, before delving into her childhood to meet the Texas child she was. Heart (Barbara as a child) was deftly played by McKennzie Boyd the day I caught the production, alternating with her sister, MiKayla. It was stellar storytelling to see the seeds of Barbara Jordan's determination, intelligence, perception and personality already in play as she interacts with her relative (Jamie Black) and discovers early lessons on racism, religion, and character. 

Her fierce determination, despite physical limitations is an inspiration. Although she ultimately died young, before age 60, of pneumonia and complications of leukemia and multiple sclerosis, her words and example live on. Now that we have another impeached president currently in the white house, Barbara's legendary history with Nixon's impeachment is all too timely. It was fascinating to me, how she protected her integrity and principles even after retirement, and wouldn't endorse or clear a fellow politician just because they were both black women, if she wasn't on board with her views. Conversely, it was a joy to see her navigating the good old boys network of cigarette smoking, whisky swilling Washington power brokers, and winning at it. She was truly an inspiration and a trailblazer today's women in politics might do well to emulate. 

Andrea Conway-Diaz (left) as Barbara Jordan and Susie Griffith as Nancy Earl 

Don't miss this. We're nearing the end of the run for Voice of Good Hope, so catch it while you can. City Lit does an excellent job of keeping her legacy alive and inspiring audiences. Do leave extra time to search out parking. It can be a challenge around Edgewater.

Bonnie Kenaz-Mara is a Chicago based writer-theater critic-photographer-videographer-actress-artist-general creatrix and Mama to two terrific teens. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly). 



Kristine Thatcher’s VOICE OF GOOD HOPE is a bio-drama of Barbara Jordan, the first African American congresswoman from the Deep South. Jordan earned national stature in the 1970’s as a member of the House Judiciary Committee that considered articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon and as the keynote speaker of the 1976 Democratic National Convention. Kristine Thatcher, who is City Lit’s playwright-in-residence, was nominated for Best New Work in the 2019 Jeff Awards for her play, THE SAFE HOUSE, which premiered at City Lit last fall. VOICE OF GOOD HOPE premiered at Victory Gardens Theater in 2000 and has been produced across the US since then. 

The play follows Jordan from her childhood in Houston’s Fifth Ward through her receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton, and deals with her pivotal role on the House Judiciary Committee during its hearings concerning the possible impeachment of President Richard Nixon, her complex political relationship with Texas power broker Robert Strauss, her struggle with MS, and her twenty-year relationship with Nancy Earl, her companion and occasional speechwriter, and ultimately her caregiver. The play premiered at Victory Gardens Theater in 2000 and has been produced from New York to San Francisco in the years since then.

left to right: Paul Chakrin and Andrea Conway-Diaz

The role of Barbara Jordan is played by Andrea Conway-Diaz. Also in the cast are Susie Griffith (Nancy Earl), Sahara Glasener-Boles (Karen Woodruff), Jamie Black (John Ed Patten), Paul Chakrin (Robert Strauss), Noelle Klyce (Julie Dunn); and McKennzie Boyd and MiKayla Boyd, who will alternate as “Heart” – Barbara Jordan as a child. The design team includes Ray Toler (set design), Katy Vest (costume design) and Daniel Salazar (lighting design).

left to right: Andrea Conway-Diaz, Sahara Glasener-Boles

Regular run Sunday, January 19 - Sunday, February 23, 2020
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm. Mondays February 10 and 17 at 7:30 pm

Regular run ticket prices $32.00, seniors $27.00, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees).

Performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago 60660 (Inside Edgewater Presbyterian Church)
773-293-3682
www.citylit.org



ABOUT CITY LIT
For forty years, City Lit Theater has been dedicated to the vitality and accessibility of the literary imagination. City Lit produces theatrical adaptations of literary material, scripted plays by language-oriented playwrights, and original material. City Lit Theater was founded with $210 pooled by Arnold Aprill (at the time the Body Politic Theatre’s box office manager), David Dillon, and Lorell Wyatt on October 9, 1979 and was incorporated on March 25, 1980.  There were still so few theatres in Chicago that at City Lit’s launch event, they were able to read a congratulatory letter they had received from Tennessee Williams.

City Lit is in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue. We are two blocks east of both the Bryn Mawr Red Line stop and the #36 Broadway and the #84 Peterson buses. We are one block west of the #147 Sheridan and #151 Sheridan buses. Divvy bike stations are located at Bryn Mawr & Lakefront Trail, and at Broadway & Ridge at Bryn Mawr. The metered street parking pay boxes on Bryn Mawr have a three-hour maximum duration and are free on Sundays. $10 valet service is available at Francesca's Bryn Mawr at 1039 W Bryn Mawr diagonally across the street from us on the SW corner of Kenmore and Bryn Mawr and is available whether you are dining at the restaurant or not. There are additional details about parking and dining options at www.citylit.org.

City Lit is supported by the Alphawood Foundation, the MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Ivanhoe Theater Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and is sponsored, in part, by A.R.T. League.

FREE With RSVP: Victory Gardens Theater Announces Lineup for IGNITION Festival of New Plays August 2 - 4, 2019

Fest Alert:

Victory Gardens Theater Announces

Lineup for IGNITION Festival of New Plays

2019 Festival runs August 2 - 4, 2019

Victory Gardens Theater Artistic Director Chay Yew, Executive Director Erica Daniels and Director of New Play Development Skyler Gray announce the lineup for the 2019 IGNITION Festival of New Plays, including The Tasters by Meghan Brown; The Gradient by Steph Del Rosso; [hieroglyph] by Erika Dickerson-Despenza; #NEWSLAVES by Keelay Gipson; Reckoning: Furies from a New Queer Nation by Geraldine Inoa; and They Could Give No Name by Exal Iraheta. The 2019 Festival runs August 2 -4, 2019 at Victory Gardens Theater, located at 2433 N Lincoln Avenue.

All readings are free and open to the public, though a reservation is strongly encouraged. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.victorygardens.org/ignition or call the Victory Gardens Box Office at 773.871.3000.

IGNITION’s six selected plays will be presented in a festival of readings and will be directed by leading artists from Chicago, including Lili-Anne Brown, Mikael Burke, Monty Cole, Elly Green, Devon de Mayo, and Chay Yew.

"I'm excited to introduce a brave new generation of American playwrights for our eleventh edition of Victory Gardens' IGNITION Festival of New Plays. Since its inception in 2008, we have given world premiere productions to some of our country's most innovative voices from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Lauren Yee to Jackie Sibblies Drury and Kristoffer Diaz. We're thrilled to have shared these plays with Chicagoans and the world," says Artistic Director Chay Yew. "This year, we give a home to emerging playwrights who shine light on our diverse humanity, whose powerful plays create meaningful dialogue towards a more unified and equitable world."

"This year's Ignition Festival includes six of the most exciting new voices writing today. Each piece is exploring our complicated world and the people in it with a rich complexity and vibrant urgency that demands these stories be told,” says Director of New Play Development Skyler Gray. “I could not be more excited to introduce Chicago to these powerhouse writers who are paving a new road in the American Theater."



The 2019 Lineup Includes:

Friday, August 2 at 7:30pm
#NEWSLAVES
By Keelay Gipson
Directed by Mikael Burke

This Is the Story of Football and Football is the Story of America. A Sports Fantasia on the Commodification of the Black Body in America - Using the NFL Draft as a jumping off point, the show follows three black men as they attempt to free themselves from the history of a nation pitted against itself.

About Keelay Gipson

Keelay Gipson is an Activist, Professor, and award-winning Playwright whose plays include imagine sisyphus happy (Finalist; Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference; P73 Summer Residency at Yale University),  #NEWSLAVES (Finalist; Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Seven Devils Playwright Conference), CRH, or the placenta play (Semi- Finalist; The O’Neill, Bay Area Playwrights Conference, AADA Main Stage Live!), Nigger/Faggot (Downtown Urban Theater Festival), The Lost, Or How to Just Be, What I Tell You in the Dark (Premiere Stages Finalist), and Mary/Stuart, a dramatic queering of friederich schiller's classic play (BAM Next Wave Festival, partnership with Wendy’s Subway and Lambda Literary). He is the recipient of New York Stage and Film’s Founders’ Award, the Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists, as well as writing fellowships with Lambda Literary, The Amoralists, Page 73, Dramatist Guild Foundation and Playwrights’ Realm. He has held residencies with the MacDowell Colony, New York Stage and Film, the Cultural Affairs Department of the City of New York, and the Administration of Children’s Services of the City of New York. His work has been seen/developed at the Wild Project, Poetic Theater Productions, HERE Arts Center, The Theater at Alvin Ailey, Tom Noonan's Paradise Factory, Pace University, Planet Connections Theater Festivity, The University of Houston, The National Black Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights' Theater, The Fire This Time Festival, Classical Theater of Harlem, and New York Theatre Workshop. Represented by Abrams Artists Agency.



Saturday, August 3 at 11am
They Could Give No Name
By Exal Iraheta
Directed by Chay Yew

Somewhere in the southern end of Arizona, medical examiner Nellie Ramirez descends into near-madness when her fiancé, a border patrol agent, accidentally kills a young immigrant girl. In order to save her future family, Nellie must make a decision that threatens to tear her life apart. Little does she know that soon the desert will come to collect what is due to it. This macabre, magical play takes an unsettling look at the complexities of identity, cruelty of immigration, and the power behind a name.

About Exal Iraheta

Exal Iraheta is a Salvadorian American playwright & screenwriter, born in Houston, TX who is now based in Chicago, IL. Sometimes humorous and often uncomfortable, his writing explores the intersections of Latinx realities, innocence, queerness, violence, and sex. Exal earned an MFA from Northwestern University’s Writing for the Screen and Stage program in 2019, and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Film & Video Production in 2009. He has worked with several Chicago-based organizations as videographer and editor, media advisor, and film/video equipment instructor. Recently, his short play Open Venas received a production as part of Theater Master's 2019 Take Ten Festival NYC. And his full-length play Rules of a Closed Door was a semi-finalist for 2019 Activate: Midwest New Play Fest, with an excerpt reading at The Goodman Theater the previous year. Exal is a 2018 Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar, 2018 Fornés Playwriting Workshop participant, and 2019 Theater Masters Playwright.



Saturday, August 3 at 2pm
Reckoning: Furies from a New Queer Nation
By Geraldine Inoa
Directed by Monty Cole

2015: a year when the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on marriage equality coincided with a record number of trans women being murdered. Reckoning: Furies from a New Queer Nation examines the most pressing issues affecting Queer America today: gay white male privilege and the systemic oppression of trans women. Because when a Supreme Court ruling like marriage equality passes, we must ask: what did we accomplish and who did we leave behind?

About Geraldine Inoa

Geraldine Inoa is a writer for theater and television. She is a story editor for AMC's “The Walking Dead.” Her play Scraps had its world premiere production at the Flea Theater in New York during the 2018/19 season, marking her professional debut. Scraps is making its West Coast premiere at The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles during summer 2019. As a playwright, she is an alumnus of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group and the inaugural recipient of The Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission. She is a L. Arnold Weissberg New Play Award finalist, a P73 Playwriting Fellowship finalist, and a twice-named Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference semifinalist. Her work has been developed at the Atlantic Theater Company and the Labyrinth Theater Company. She holds a B.A. from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She resides in Los Angeles with her dog Alfred.

Saturday, August 3 at 7:30pm
The Tasters
By Meghan Brown
Directed by Devon de Mayo

With government leaders getting poisoned left and right, the Tasters have an important job — eating delicious, gourmet meals, and then waiting to see if they die. When rebellious Taster Elyse goes on hunger strike, she kicks off a series of events that will change the course of history… while putting all of the Tasters’ lives in jeopardy. In her sharp, energetic new play, Meghan Brown (The Pliant Girls) explores the nuances of political resistance, self-interest, and individual action creating hope in the face of hopelessness.

About Meghan Brown

Meghan is an Ovation Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and lyricist based in Los Angeles. Current projects include These Girls Have Demons (Pittsburgh CLO SPARK Festival), Cowboy Elektra (with Rogue Artists Ensemble), The Tasters (Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival), What Happened While Hero Was Dead (Moving Arts’ MADlab Development Lab), and the film adaptation of her play, The Kill-or-Dies. Meghan wrote the lyrics for the song cycle Untuned Ears Hear Nothing but Discord, which premiered at Lincoln Center as part of In Need of Music: The Songs of Ben Toth with Tony Award-winner Lindsay Mendez as Emma Goldman. Full-length plays include The Pliant Girls (winner of the 2014 Ovation Award for Playwriting for an Original Play), The Kill-or-Dies (Max K. Lerner Fellowship winner, Princess Grace Award semifinalist), Psyche (Princess Grace Award finalist), The Fire Room (Hollywood Fringe Festival Award winner), The Gypsy Machine, This Is Happening Now, Perfect Teeth for Crocodile Land, and Shine Darkly, Illyria. She wrote the libretto for Operaworks’ social just opera The Discord Altar, and the book and lyrics for a new musical version of Jane Austen’s Emma with composer Sarah Taylor Ellis. Emma has been workshopped in London, Washington D.C., Brooklyn, Orlando, Los Angeles, and New York City. www.MeghanBrown.net


Sunday, August 4 at 11am
[hieroglyph]
By Erika Dickerson-Despenza
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

Involuntarily displaced in Chicago two months post-Katrina, 13-year-old Davis wrestles with the cultural landscape of a new city and school community while secretly coping with the PTSD of an assault at the Superdome. With her mother still in New Orleans committed to the fight for Black land ownership and her father committed to starting a new life in the Midwest, divorce threatens to further separate a family already torn apart. Will Davis be left hanging in the balance? [hieroglyph] traverses the intersection of environmental racism, sexual violence, and displacement, examining the psychological effects of a state-sanctioned man-made disaster on the most vulnerable members of the Katrina diaspora.

About Erika Dickerson-Despenza

Erika Dickerson-Despenza is a Blk feminist poet-playwright, futurist, educator and grassroots organizer from Chicago, Illinois. She’s a 2019 New York Stage and Film Fellow-in-Residence, a 2019 New Harmony Project Writer-in-Residence, a 2018-2019 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow, The Lark’s 2018 Van Lier New Voices Fellow and a 2018 Relentless Award Semifinalist. Erika is a 2019-2020 member of Ars Nova Play Group and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Obie-winning Youngblood collective. Current plays in development include: Ocean’s Lip/ Heavn's Shore, Took/Tied; Hung/Split, Shadow/Land and Cullud Wattah (Public Theater, 2020). In addition to this water tetralogy, Erika is developing a 10-play Katrina Cycle, including [hieroglyph], focused on the effects of Hurricane Katrina and its state-sanctioned man-made disaster.

Sunday, August 4 at 3pm
The Gradient
By Steph Del Rosso
Directed by Elly Green

Tess just landed her dream job at sleek tech start-up The Gradient: a center where men accused of sexual misconduct are sent to be rehabilitated. The clients go in with a lifetime of toxic male conditioning and emerge as new people, sensitized and redeemed. It sounds too good to be true, and maybe it is. The Gradient asks what it means to say I'm sorry and whether it's possible for people to truly change.

About Steph Del Rosso

Steph Del Rosso is a playwright, film and television writer, and educator. Her play 53% Of is the winner of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition and will receive its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in March 2020. Her play Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill Fill premiered at The Flea Theater and is published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Her work has been developed or produced by Soho Rep, Clubbed Thumb, JACK, New York Stage and Film, The Lark, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Colt Coeur, SPACE on Ryder Farm, the Kennedy Center, and others. She is a Theater Masters Visionary Playwright and is currently commissioned by Studio Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. BA, Northwestern University. MFA, UC-San Diego.

The IGNITION Festival of New Plays receives major support from the Bill and Orli Staley Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Southwest Airlines - Victory Garden Theater’s official travel sponsor, and Suite Home Chicago-Victory Gardens Theater’s housing sponsor for the 2019 IGNITION Festival.

Performances are at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Admission to all festival readings and events is free, though an RSVP is strongly encouraged. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.victorygardens.org/ignition/ or call the Victory Gardens Box Office at 773.871.3000.

About Victory Gardens Theater

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Erica Daniels, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals. Victory Gardens Theater is committed to the development, production and support of new plays that has been the mission of the theater since its founding, set forth by Dennis Začek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theater work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.  

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Začek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

Victory Gardens Ensemble Playwrights include Luis Alfaro, Philip Dawkins, Marcus Gardley, Ike Holter, Samuel D. Hunter, Naomi Iizuka, Tanya Saracho, and Laura Schellhardt. Each playwright has a seven-year residency at Victory Gardens Theater.

For more information about Victory Gardens, visit www.victorygardens.org.  Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens, Twitter @VictoryGardens and Instagram at instagram.com/victorygardenstheater/

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The REAM Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wallace Foundation. Additional major funding comes from Crown Family Philanthropies, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Polk Bros. Foundation.

Major funders also include: Allstate, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Edgerton Foundation, Exelon, The Harvey L. Miller Supporting Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Additional funding this season Robert and Isabelle Bass Foundation Inc., Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Capital Group Private Client Services, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, ComEd, Conagra Brands Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Golden Country Oriental Foods, Goldman Sachs, John R. Halligan Foundation, Illinois Humanities Council (with support from the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety + Justice Challenge), ITW, Mayer Brown LLP, The McVay Foundation, Metropolitan Capital Bank and Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Negaunee Foundation, Roberta Olshansky Charitable Fund, Origin Ventures, Pauls Foundation, PNC Financial Services Group, Poetry Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, Service Club of Chicago, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Wrightwood Neighbors Foundation.

In-kind support is provided by: Italian Village Restaurants, Southwest Airlines, Roy’s Furniture, Suite Home Chicago, Taco Joint, and Whole Foods Market.

Capital improvement support from the Performing Arts Venue Fund at the League of Chicago Theaters, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and Capacity Building support by Compass-Chicago.

SHOWS ON OUR RADAR: Chicago Premiere of If I Forget at Victory Gardens Theater July 7, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Victory Gardens Theater Presents the

Chicago Premiere of

If I Forget

By Steven Levenson

Directed by Devon de Mayo

Through July 7, 2019

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 44th season with the Chicago Premiere of If I Forget, written by Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen) and directed by Devon de Mayo. If I Forget runs June 7 – July 7, 2019, with press performance on Friday, June 14, 2019 at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

In the final months before 9/11, liberal Jewish studies professor Michael Fischer has reunited with his two sisters to celebrate their father’s 75th birthday. Each deeply invested in their own version of family history, the siblings clash over everything from Michael’s controversial scholarly work to the mounting pressures of caring for an ailing parent. As destructive secrets and long-held resentments bubble to the surface, the three negotiate—with biting humor and razor-sharp insight—how much of the past they’re willing to sacrifice for a chance at a new beginning. If I Forget tells a powerful tale of a family and a culture at odds with itself.

If I Forget “speaks to both the head and the heart.” – The New York Times, Critic’s Pick

"We are proud to give a Chicago home to Steven Levenson's poignant play, If I Forget. This explosive family drama deftly explores the power and complexity of history, legacy, gentrification and identity," says Chay Yew. "The play centers on a Jewish American family as they are forced to grapple with an ever-changing world, and how their histories inform the present, and how they embrace their past as they move towards the future. I'm thrilled to share this powerful and timely work with our Chicago audiences."

The cast of If I Forget includes Alec Boyd (Joey Oren), Daniel Cantor (Michael Fischer), David Darlow (Lou Fischer), Keith Kupferer (Howard Kilberg), Elizabeth Ledo (Sharon Fischer), Gail Shapiro (Holly Fischer), and Heather Townsend (Ellen Manning). 

The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (scenic design), Izumi Inaba (costume design), Heather Sparling (lighting design), Kevin O'Donnell (sound design), and Rachel Watson (props design).

About the Artists

Steven Levenson (Playwright) is the Tony Award-winning book writer of Dear Evan Hansen. His plays include If I Forget, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, Days of Rage, and The Language of Trees. Honors include the Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, and the Helen Hayes Award. He worked for three seasons as a writer and producer on Showtime’s Masters of Sex and is a founding member of Colt Coeur and an alumnus of MCC’s Playwrights Coalition and Ars Nova’s Play Group. His work has been published by Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. A graduate of Brown University, he is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and the WGA. Upcoming projects include the limited series Fosse/Verdon (FX) and the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…boom!

Devon de Mayo (Director) has directed twice at Victory Gardens as part of their Ignition Festival of New Plays. Most recently she directed the world premiere of The Scientific Method by Jenny Connell Davis at Rivendell Theatre and First Love is the Revolution at Steep Theatre. Other Directing credits include: Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Theatre Wit); The Burn (Steppenwolf Theatre), Harvey (Court Theatre), Sycamore (Raven Theatre), You on the Moors Now (The Hypocrites), Animals Out of Paper (Shattered Globe Theatre), You Can’t Take it With You, and Lost in Yonkers (Northlight Theatre), Jet Black Chevrolet (side project); Compulsion and Everything is Illuminated (Next); Roadkill Confidential, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, and Clouds (Dog & Pony). Directing and devising credits: Don’t Look Back/Must Look Back (Pivot Arts); Guerra: A Clown Play (La Piara, Mexico); The Whole World is Watching, As Told by the Vivian Girls and The Twins Would Like to Say (Dog & Pony). She received her MFA from Middlesex University in London and did further studies at the Russian Academy of Dramatic Arts in Moscow and the Indonesian Institute for the Arts in Bali, Indonesia.

Alec Boyd (Joey Oren) Victory Gardens debut. Chicago: The Cryptogram (Profiles Theatre), Damn Yankees (Music Theater Works). Film & TV: “Another Yesterday”, "Chicago Med".  Education/training: Interlochen Arts Camp.

Daniel Cantor (Michael Fischer) Victory Gardens: Relatively Close, Jacob and Jack. Chicago: Rabbit Hole, Fishmen, Chicago Boys (Goodman), Water by the Spoonful (Court,) Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare), Boeing Boeing, Deathtrap (Drury Lane), Paulus (Silk Road Rising), Return to Haifa (Next). Off-Broadway: Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight (Promenade) Tuesdays With Morrie (Minetta Lane), Strictly Personal (Soho Playhouse). National Production: Picasso at the Lapin Agile (San Francisco). Regional: A.C.T., Milwaukee Rep., Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, Studio Theater, Barrington Stage, Hartford TheatreWorks, Arkansas Rep., Contemporary American Theater Festival, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Notre Dame Shakespeare, Worcester Foothills Theater, Mill Mountain Theater, National Shakespeare. Film: The Auteur Theory, Alternative Universe: A Rescue Mission, Alchemy, Justice, House of Satisfaction. TV: "Empire," "Chicago Fire," "Chicago PD," "Law and Order," "Law and Order: CI," "Law and Order: SVU," "Conviction," "Sopranos" (Webisode), "As the World Turns," "Asphalt Man" (Korea). Education: Wesleyan, A.C.T.Teaching: Head of BFA Performance, University of Michigan.

David Darlow (Lou Fischer) Indecent, Among Friends (Victory Gardens). Chicago: Le Puff, Pygmalion, Heroes, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Best Man, Major Barbara (After Dark Award), The Father, A Delicate Balance, Power and Hapgood (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); Endgame (American Theater Company, Jeff Award); Tug of War, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Timon of Athens and Othello (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Regional: Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., South Coast Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Barter Theatre and Syracuse Stage. Film & TV: “The Fugitive”, “Road to Perdition”, “Hoodlum”, “Let’s Go to Prison”, and “High Fidelity”; “Empire”, “Chicago Fire”.

Keith Kupferer (Howard Kilberg) Victory Gardens: Hillary and Clinton, Never the Sinner, and Appropriate. Sweat, Support Group for Men, God of Carnage, Passion Play (Goodman Theater); The Mystery of Love and Sex, Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Wolf (Writers Theatre); The Qualms, Good People, Middletown, Carter's Way, Things Being What They Are (Steppenwolf Theatre);The Humans (American Theatre Company); Gypsy (Chicago Shakespeare Theater);  The Legend of Georgia McBride (Northlight Theatre); Big Lake, Big City, Trust (Lookingglass Theatre). Dada Woof, Papa Hot (About Face). The Cake, Cal in Camo (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble). Film credits: “Widows”; “Monuments;” ”The Dilemma;” “Dark Knight;” “Public Enemies;” “The Express;” “Stranger Than Fiction;” “Road to Perdition;” “Finding Santa;” “Fred Klaus;” “The Last Rights of Joe May;” and “The Merry Gentleman.” TV credits: “The Chi”; “Proven Innocent”; “Better Call Saul”; “Empire”; “Chicago P.D.”; “Betrayal”; “Crisis”; “Chicago Fire”; and “Detroit 187”.

Elizabeth Ledo (Sharon Fischer) Victory Gardens Debut. Chicago: Mamma Mia, Barefoot in the Park, (Drury Lane Oakbrook) Tug of War: Civil Strife, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Amadeus (Chicago Shakespeare) One Man Two Guvnors, Secret Garden, Tartuffe, The Illusion, The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, Uncle Vanya (Court Theatre) The Matchmaker, Boleros for the Disenchanted, A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre) Homebody/Kabul, Morningstar (Steppenwolf Theatre) Charm, The Chalk Garden (Northlight Theatre) Bright Half Life, Le Switch, The Homosexuals (About Face Theatre) Isaac's Eye, Arms and the Man (Writers Theatre) The How and the Why (Timeline Theatre) The Old Curiosity Shop (Lookingglass Theatre). Regional: Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Shakespeare at Notre Dame. Film & TV: "Boss", "Doubt", "Chicago Fire". "The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas". Elizabeth is a 2016 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow.

Gail Shapiro (Holly Fischer) Victory Gardens Debut. Diary of Anne Frank (Steppenwolf Theatre), The Book of Joseph (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). National: Los Angeles; Country Wife, Romeo and Juliet, The Seagull, Cymbeline, Major Barbara, The Importance of Being Earnest (A Noise Within). The Game of Love and Chance (San Jose Rep), Sidney Bechet Killed A Man (South Coast Rep). TV: “Chicago Med” recurring (ABC). Natalie Schaffer Award, numerous Ovation and Backstage West awards. MFA Yale School of Drama. Gail teaches acting at Northwestern University and is a private coach for actors and non-actors.

Heather Townsend (Ellen Manning) Victory Gardens Theater debut. Chicago:  Orpheus Descending (Shattered Globe), Roadkill Confidential (Dog & Pony), Macbeth (City Lit), On Golden Pond (Buffalo Theatre Ensemble), A Christmas Story (Theatre Wit); Icarus, Hello Again (BoHo), Company (Venus Cabaret Theatre), Hairspray (Paramount), Nine, Sunday in the Park with George, 1776, Gifts of the Magi (Porchlight), A Grand Night for Singing (Mercury), Boojum (Chicago Opera Vanguard).  Film & TV:  “Empire”.  

Full Performance Schedule:
Previews for If I Forget are June 7-13, 2019. Previews are $20-$45. The Press opening is Friday, June 14, 2019 at 7:30pm. Regular performances run June 15 – July 7, 2019: Tuesday – Friday at 7:30pm; Saturday at 3pm and 7:30pm; Sunday at 3pm. Regular performances are $27-$60. 

Accessible Performance Schedule:

ASL Interpreted Performance: Friday, June 21 at 7:30pm

Word for Word (open captioning): Friday, June 21 at 7:30pm, Saturday, June 22 at 3:00pm and Wednesday, June 26 at 2:00pm

Audio Description/Touch Tour: Friday, June 21 at 7:30pm (Touch tour at 6:00pm), Sunday, June 30 at 3:00pm (Touch tour at 1:30pm)

Performances are at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Neighborhood. For tickets and information, call the Victory Gardens Box Office, 773.871.3000, email tickets@victorygardens.org, or visit www.victorygardens.org. Ask the Box Office about discounts for students, seniors, and those with access needs. Groups of 10 or more, call 773.634.9862 for discounted rates. 


Cast: Alec Boyd (Joey Oren), Daniel Cantor (Michael Fischer), David Darlow (Lou Fischer), Keith Kupferer (Howard Kilberg), Elizabeth Ledo (Sharon Fischer), Gail Shapiro (Holly Fischer), and Heather Townsend (Ellen Manning)

Creative Team: Andrew Boyce (scenic design), Izumi Inaba (costume design), Heather Sparling (lighting design), Kevin O'Donnell (sound design), and Rachel Watson (props design).

Previews: June 7 - 13, 2019
Press Performance: Friday, June 14, 2019
Regular run: June 15 – July 7, 2019

Schedule:      Tuesdays - Fridays: 7:30pm 
Saturdays: 3:00pm; 7:30pm
Sundays: 3:00pm

Accessible
Performances: Word for Word (open captioning): Friday, June 21 at 7:30pm, Saturday, June 22 at 3:00pm and Wednesday, June 26 at 2:00pm

ASL Interpreted: Friday, June 21 at 7:30pm

Audio Description/Touch Tour: Friday, June 21 at 7:30pm (Touch tour at 6:00pm), Sunday, June 30 at 3:00pm (Touch tour at 1:30pm)

Location: Victory Gardens Theater is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, 
in the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood

Tickets: Previews: $20 - $45
Regular run: $27 - $60

Box Office: The Box Office is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.
773.871.3000; www.victorygardens.org.

2018/19 Season Sponsors: REAM Foundation, The Harvey L. Miller Supporting Foundation, Bill and Orli Staley Foundation, Helen Zell

Season Sponsor Partners: Conant Family Foundation; George A. Joseph; Marcelle McVay and Dennis Zacek; Jeffrey Rappin and Penny Brown; Jane M Saks, Nathan Cummings Foundation 

Major Production Sponsor: The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust

Production Sponsors: 
The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; Lois Morrison and Justin Daab



Playwright’s Society 
Sponsors: 
Bruce and Jacki Barron; Paul Lisnek; Linda Garrison, 
Brienne Letourneau and Richard Bailey, Tony and Anne Ruzicka; 
Anuradha Behari and Anjan Asthana, Chanel W. Coney, 
E. Patrick Johnson and Stephen J. Lewis

Student Matinee and 
Youth Engagement 
Sponsors:
Exelon, AllState, Capital Group Private Client Services

Travel Sponsor: Southwest Airlines


In-Kind Sponsor: Whole Foods Market

Major Season Support: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wallace Foundation.



About Victory Gardens Theater
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Managing Director Erica Daniels, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals.  Victory Gardens Theater is committed to the development, production and support of new plays that has been the mission of the theater since its founding, set forth by Dennis Začek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theater work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.  

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Začek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

Victory Gardens Ensemble Playwrights include Luis Alfaro, Philip Dawkins, Marcus Gardley, Ike Holter, Samuel D. Hunter, Naomi Iizuka, Tanya Saracho and Laura Schellhardt. Each playwright has a seven-year residency at Victory Gardens Theater. 

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The REAM Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wallace Foundation. Additional major funding comes from Crown Family Philanthropies, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Polk Bros. Foundation.

Major funders also include: Allstate, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Edgerton Foundation, Exelon, Field Foundation of Illinois, The Harvey L. Miller Supporting Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Time Warner Foundation, Inc.

Additional funding this season Robert and Isabelle Bass Foundation Inc., Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Capital Group Private Client Services, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, ComEd, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Golden Country Oriental Foods, Goldman Sachs, John R. Halligan Foundation, Illinois Humanities Council (with support from the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety + Justice Challenge), ITW, Mayer Brown LLP, The McVay Foundation, Metropolitan Capital Bank and Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Negaunee Foundation, Roberta Olshansky Charitable Fund, Origin Ventures, Pauls Foundation, PNC Financial Services Group, Prince Charitable Trusts, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Wrightwood Neighbors Foundation. 

In-kind support is provided by: Italian Village Restaurants, Southwest Airlines, Roy’s Furniture, Suite Home Chicago, Taco Joint, and Whole Foods Market. 

Capital improvement support from the Performing Arts Venue Fund at the League of Chicago Theaters, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and Capacity Building support by Compass-Chicago.

Victory Gardens Theater is proud to be part of the 2019 Year of Chicago Theatre, presented by the City of Chicago and the League of Chicago Theatres. To truly fall in love with Chicago, you must go to our theatres. This is where the city bares its fearless soul. Home to a community of creators, risk-takers and big hearts, Chicago theatre is a hotbed for exciting new work and hundreds of world premieres every year. From Broadway musicals to storefront plays and improv, there’s always a seat waiting for you at one of our 200+ theatres. Book your next show today at ChicagoPlays.com.

For more information about Victory Gardens, visit www.victorygardens.org.  Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens, Twitter @VictoryGardens and Instagram @victorygardenstheater.