ACT OUT: Look Back in Anger at Redtwist #OnSaleNow

Look Back in Anger

By John Osbourne 

Directed by Jonathan Berry 

Opens Saturday, May 17, at 3pm 

The seminal British drama of the 20th century, Look Back in Anger, exploded onto London's post-war theatrical landscape in the midst of silly comedies and splashy musicals. It took no prisoners and gave no quarter, mercilessly skewering the leftover relics of the Edwardian class system while blazing a trail for every British dramatist who followed. In a recent Entertainment Weekly poll, it was voted #17, among the 50 Greatest Plays of the Past 100 Years.

SCHEDULE 

Opens: Sat, May 17, 3pm (there is no evening performance on this date)

 Runs: Thu, Fri, Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 3pm

Closes: Sun, June 15 

Running Time: Approximately 2:20 minutes, which includes one intermission

Previews: $15; Wed, Thu, Fri, May 14, 15, 16, at 7:30pm

Tickets: Thursdays, $30; Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, $35 (seniors & students $5 off)

RESERVATIONS  

Call: 773-728-7529 

Website/Tickets: www.redtwist.org

PLAY 

This is the post-war British drama that started it all, said it best, and influenced every British playwright who came after it. In the play, Jimmy Porter, a bright, educated young man of working-class roots, is railing incessantly against the status quo and the vestiges of the desiccated social strata of the Edwardian ethic. When his long-suffering, upper-middle-class wife, Alison, has had her fill of his diatribes, things explode in every direction. The teetering couple, estranged and in extremis, flanked by his best buddy and her best friend, realize that amidst the despair and anger, they have one last thing that may save their souls. This is the long-awaited revival of a post-war classic...directed by post-modern maestro, Jonathan Berry.

CAST

Japhet Balaban (Cliff Lewis), Larry Baldacci (Colonel Redfern), Baize Buzan (Alison Porter), Lucy Carapetyan (Helena Charles), Joseph Wiens (Jimmy Porter)

UNDERSTUDY CAST

Nick Freed (Jimmy Porter), Rachel Griesinger (Helena Charles), Jerry M. Miller (Colonel Redfern), Mickey O'Sullivan (Cliff Lewis), Annie Sauter (Alison Porter) 

  

STAFF 

Jonathan Berry (Director), Kristen Johnson (Assistant Director), Allison Queen (Stage Manager), Joe Schermoly (Set Designer), Izumi Inaba (Costume Designer), Eric J. Vigo (Lighting Designer), Chris Kriz (Sound Designer), Ryan McCain (Props Designer), Elise Kauzlaric (Dialect Coach), Chris Rickett (Violence Designer), Kevin McDonald (Dramaturg), Sara Dickey (ASM Intern), Felicia Soler (Production Assistant), Jessie Chappe (Casting Director), Jan Ellen Graves (Graphic Design, Marketing), Charles Bonilla (Box Office Manager), E. Malcolm Martinez (Box Office Associate), Johnny Garcia (Box Office Associate/Associate Producer), Michael Colucci & Jan Ellen Graves (Producers)

Redtwist is located at 1044 W Bryn Mawr, 2 blks W of LSD, 2 blks E of the Red Line El station. Street parking (paybox/meters until 10pm, Free on Sundays) is available on Bryn Mawr, side streets, and Broadway. Please reserve 48 hours in advance. Credit cards accepted by phone and online to guarantee seating.  

ACT OUT: CHICAGO COMMERCIAL COLLECTIVE TO PRESENT THE NEW COLONY’S “5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE” MAY 1 – June 8 AT THE CHOPIN THEATRE

Save the Dates:

The Cult Hit and Critics’ Darling Returns to Chicago Featuring the Original Off-Broadway Cast

The hilarious send-up of 1950s cold war repression and kitsch culture, “5 Lesbians Eating Quiche” was an original critically-acclaimed creation by The New Colony.  This remount featuring the original off-Broadway cast is presented by the Chicago Commercial Collective, running May 1 to June 8 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Street.  Tickets ($15 - $40) are on sale now.  The press performance will be Tuesday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m.

“5 Lesbians Eating Quiche,” co-written by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder and directed by Sarah Gitenstein, finds five women assembled in a church basement (along with the audience) for the 1956 annual meeting of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein’s annual quiche breakfast.  The normally idyllic gathering, where the motto is “no men, no meat, all manners,” is upended when the Society’s matriarchs must confront the startling revelation that an atom bomb may be falling on their fair city.   As fears are confronted and confessions fly, the chipper ladies stay firm in their commitment that the quiche is a mighty thing and that one must “respect the egg.”

Following the upward trajectory from its debut as a short play presented at Collaboraction’s Sketchbook Festival in 2010 to a full production during The New Colony’s 2011 season, “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” enjoyed a meteoric rise with audiences and critics.  Reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, Kerry Reid said, "The New Colony's show dishes up high-spirited theatrical comfort food with a bit of a saucy kick."  After wowing Chicago where Time Out Chicago called it “smart, sharp and hysterically funny,” the comedy went on to play a sold-out engagement at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival, winning a “Best Overall Production” award.  This was soon followed by a successful off-Broadway run at New York’s SoHo Playhouse.  The New York Times said the work’s “raw and magnetic dementia seems destined to attract a cult following.”

“Giving new attention and life to successful productions like ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’ is what the Chicago Commercial Collective is all about,” said Collective Producer Brian Loevner.  “The show had an incredible following here and then brought Chicago’s raucous take-no-prisoners brand of live theater to New York.  We look forward to bring a great cast to Chicago so that an even larger audience can enjoy this wonderful show.”

The titular “5 Lesbians” are played by Caitlin Chuckta (Ginny), Rachel Farmer (Lulie), Kate Carson Groner (Dale), Megan Johns (Wren) and Thea Luxe (Vern).

Performance Schedule and Ticket Information
“5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” will be performed at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Street, Chicago.  Previews run May 1 at 7:30 p.m, May 2 at 7:30 p.m., May 3 at 7:30 p.m. and May 4 at 2 p.m.  Following the opening night performance on Tuesday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m., shows will run May 8 – June 8 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $15 - $40, with 15 for $15 rush tickets available for each performance and 20% off for groups of 10 or more.  They are on sale now at 5lesbianseatingaquiche.com or 773.404.7336 (open 12 noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturdays and 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays).

About Playwrights Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder
Andrew Hobgood is the founding artistic director of The New Colony where his work includes writing and directing the new musicals “Tupperware: An American Musical Fable,” “That Sordid Little Story,” and “Rise of The Numberless.”  His directing credits 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, and “B-Side Studio,” a four-episode sitcom produced in collaboration with The Inconvenience and the University of Chicago TAPS program.  His most recent play “reWILDing Genius” was commissioned by the University of Chicago and made its world premiere as part of the 2014 Steppenwolf Garage Rep Series.

Evan Linder is a founding member and co-artistic director of The New Colony. A playwright and actor, Linder teaches playwriting at the University of Chicago and has had the pleasure of working with Victory Gardens, The Inconvenience, Collaboraction, Bailiwick Chicago, the side project and Bohemian Theater Ensemble since moving to Chicago. Other works include “FRAT,” “11:11,” “The Warriors,” “The Bear Suit of Happiness” and “B-Side Studio.” He was recently listed in Chicago Magazine’s 2013 Power List of Theater Scene-Stealers.

About Director Sarah Gitenstein
Sarah Gitenstein is the associate artistic director at The New Colony and company member at Collaboraction Theater. She is a native of Washington, DC, and a Cum Laude graduate of Kenyon College with a degree in theater. She is the former casting director at Collaboraction where she worked on “The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow,” “Jon” and the Sketchbook Festival.  Gitenstein has directed for various theaters in Chicago, including Curious Theater, American Theater Company (Big Shoulder's Festival), The Mammals, Pavement Group (Amuse Bouche), and Victory Gardens Theater (One Minute Play Festival). Gitenstein directed the Off-Broadway and national tour of “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche,” and most recently she directed the Jeff Recommended production of The New Colony's “Kate and Sam Are Not Breaking Up.”

About the Chicago Commercial Collective
The Chicago Commercial Collective is a commercial theater company focused on producing Chicago theater of incredible quality and commercial appeal, thereby helping Chicagoans discover the finest of their city’s vibrant theater scene and worthy Off-Loop productions find larger commercial success.   Recent projects include the successful commercial remount last fall of TimeLine Theatre Company’s “To Master the Art” at Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse. The Collective is also presenting The Off-Loop Tour, which will export some of the best of Chicago theater throughout the Midwest in 2014-15. Productions on the tour include “there is a happiness that morning is” by Mickle Maher (originally produced by Theater Oobleck), “A Steady Rain” by Keith Huff (originally produced by Chicago Dramatists), “Unveiled” by Rohina Malik, “Honeybuns” by Dean Evans and “Crime Scene: A Chicago Anthology” by Anthony Moseley (both originally produced by Collaboraction).

The Collective’s goal is to support a thriving small and mid-sized commercial theater scene. The Collective focuses on producing theater with proven popularity and builds upon the interest already generated during their original production runs. For investors, the Collective provides opportunities to partner on exciting projects with reasonable financial returns on their investments, while non-profit theater companies enjoy the benefits from their original successful productions that, due to scheduling issues or theater availability, may end before they have reached the audiences they deserve. Further, artists who question if Chicago’s theater job market can provide stability and fair wages can rely on the Collective to transform the local industry with the development of mid-sized commercial theater and consistent employment opportunities.

The Chicago Commercial Collective is also presenting The Inconvenience’s “Hit the Wall” at the Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, April 22 to June 29. Tickets ($20 -$55) are on sale now at greenhousetheater.org, 773.404.7336 or the Greenhouse Theater Box Office (open 12 noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays through Saturdays and 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays).

Chicago Commercial Collective is located in the historic Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave, Suite 525, Chicago, IL  60605. For more information call (312) 724-7604 or visit chicagocommercialcollective.com.

About The New Colony
The New Colony, the 2011 recipient of the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award, strives to contribute original material to the American artistic canon and develop a new kind of theater going audience. Through collaboration with emerging artists of all disciplines, The New Colony continually develops new work and fresh perspectives. With the goal of exploring enticing subject matter and the common language of experience, The New Colony will cultivate the next generation of arts supporters.  More information at thenewcolony.org.