TONIGHT: One Night Only at Greenhouse Theater, USE IT OR LOSE IT: An Evening of Short Plays About Your Rights

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Greenhouse Theater Center Presents

USE IT OR LOSE IT: 

An Evening of Short Plays About Your Rights

Saturday, September 23, 2017

A Benefit for the ACLU

PHOTO CREDIT: Greenhouse Theater Center's MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble includes (left to right) Zayd Dohrn, Rebecca Gilman, Lydia Diamond, Julie Marie Myatt, Laura Schellhardt, Sandra Delgado, Brett Neveu, Thomas Bradshaw, Philip Dawkins and Tanya Palmer.

Come on out to Greenhouse Theater Center tonight for some of our favorite playwrights and actors supporting a great cause. Tickets are pay-what-you-want.  All proceeds will benefit the ACLU. We're jazzed about the newly-created MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble, and can't wait to see what they have in store tonight and down the road!

Greenhouse Theater Center is pleased to present USE IT OR LOSE IT: An Evening of Short Plays About Your Rights, original works inspired by contemporary and historic legal battles the ACLU has fought on behalf of Americans' rights and freedoms. Written by members of the Greenhouse's newly-created MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble and directed by Devon de Mayo, Jacob Harvey and Chuck Smith, the short pieces tackle everything from the recent travel ban to the attack on reproductive rights to encounters with the TSA, offering audiences a glimpse into the vast impact and critical importance of the ACLU. 

USE IT OR LOSE IT will play one night only on Saturday, September 23 at 7 pm at the Greenhouse Theater's Downstairs Mainstage, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.  Tickets are pay-what-you-want and are currently available at www.greenhousetheater.org, in person at the box office or by calling (773) 404-7336. All proceeds will benefit the ACLU. 

USE IT OR LOSE IT features short plays by: Thomas Bradshaw, Philip Dawkins, Sandra Delgado, Zayd Dohrn, Rebecca Gilman, Brett Neveu, Julie Marie Myatt, Tanya Palmer and Laura Schellhardt. 

The cast of USE IT LOSE IT includes: Japhet Balaban, Dana Black, Pat Kane, Jennifer Latimore, Mary Ann Thebus, Dan Waller and Wandachristine. 

The full USE IT OR LOSE IT line-up includes: 

EVERYDAY SUPER HERO
By Laura Schellhardt, directed by Devon de Mayo

January 27th, 2017 – In a backroom office of this mayhem called America, two super heroes strategize their next mission.

THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM PROTECTUS
By Sandra Delgado, directed by Devon de Mayo

Brenda just wants to hear her daughter’s voice and help her with her homework. But Brenda is one of the two-thirds of female inmates who is the parent of a minor child, and no conversation is free, easy or uninterrupted. 

HOLD ON
By Julie Marie Myatt, directed by Devon de Mayo

What do your rights feel like? One woman tries to get inside the emotion of this so-called inalienable thing. 

WONDER NEVER CEASES
By Philip Dawkins, directed by Jacob Harvey

Get inside the mind of a service dog who just wants to be there for his seven-year-old BFF after her school decides he’s a “distraction” and not, you know, an ADHA required necessity. 

GANG MEMBERS UNITE
By Thomas Bradshaw, directed by Jacob Harvey

A veteran Chicago gang member tries to unite fellow gang leaders from across the country for a common cause.

ON THE CLOCK
By Tanya Palmer, directed by Jacob Harvey

When you’re a single working mom it can be hard to find time for yourself. With abortion clinics closing and restrictions on abortions increasing, one woman fights against the clock to end an unwanted pregnancy. 

SPOTers
By Brett Neveu, directed by Chuck Smith

While undergoing additional passenger check training, two TSA employees discover their jobs may require more of them than they previously understood.

BILLIE BOGGS
By Zayd Dohrn, directed by Chuck Smith

Meet Billie Boggs, the most famous homeless black lady in all of history! She and the ACLU fought for her right to live on the streets and won.
  
DEATH FOR GILMORE 
By Rebecca Gilman, directed by Chuck Smith

In 1977, the ACLU fought to save Gary Gilmore from the firing squad. But their biggest obstacle was Gilmore himself.


About the MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble
The Greenhouse Theater's newly-created MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble is a collection of ten of the country’s most sought-after established and mid-career Chicago playwrights and theatre-makers. The ensemble, in residence at the Greenhouse Theater Center, will create new works for its stages. Beginning with the 2018-19 season, the Greenhouse will present one play per season by MC-10 member playwrights, eventually expanding to two MC-10 productions per season. These world and regional premieres aim to expand the scope, diversity and visibility of work happening at the Greenhouse and underscore the institution's commitment to creating new vital works for the American theatrical canon.

In addition to the one to two annual productions at the Greenhouse, MC-10 will curate a series of special events, pop-up performances and provocative conversations aimed at responding directly to issues and needs as they arise in our community. 

The MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble includes: Thomas Bradshaw, Philip Dawkins, Sandra Delgado, Lydia Diamond, Zayd Dohrn, Rebecca Gilman, Brett Neveu, Julie Marie Myatt, Tanya Palmer and Laura Schellhardt.

About the MC-10 Playwrights
Thomas Bradsaw’s play Carlyle premiered at The Goodman Theatre as part of their 2015-16 season. His play Fulfillment co-premiered at American Theater Company (Chicago) and The Flea Theater (New York) in fall 2015. His other plays include Intimacy and Burning (New Group); Mary (Goodman Theatre) Job and Dawn (Flea Theater); The Bereaved (Crowded Fire, Partial Comfort and the State Theater of Bielefeld in Germany); Southern Promises (PS122) and many more. He was the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2010 Prince Prize, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts award in 2012 and a Doris Duke Implementation Grant in 2016. Mr. Bradshaw has been featured as one of Time Out New York’s “10 Playwrights to Watch” and was named “Best Provocative Playwright” by the Village Voice. A compilation of his work Intimacy and Other Plays was recently published by TCG. Mr. Bradshaw is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University. He is currently under commission from The Royal National Theater in London, Marin Theater Company in San Francisco and The Foundry Theater in New York.

Philip Dawkins is a Chicago playwright whose plays have been produced all over the country and the world. His critically acclaimed works include: The Happiest Place on Earth (Greenhouse Theater Center & Sideshow Theatre Company – Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Solo Work), Charm (Northlight Theatre – Jeff Award for Best New Work), Le Switch (About Face Theater, The Jungle – Jeff nomination Best New Work and Best Production); Miss Marx: Or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living (Strawdog Theatre – Jeff Award for Best New Work), The Homosexuals (About Face Theater – Jeff nomination for Best New Work) and Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens Theatre – Jeff nomination for Best New Work). His musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches (with composer David Mallamud) premiered at Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis this past winter. His play Charm will receive its New York premiere in September at MCC. Philip teaches playwriting at Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, his alma mater, and through the Victory Gardens ACCESS Program for writers with disabilities. Most of his plays, including his plays for young performers, are available through Playscripts, Inc. and Dramatic Publishing.

Sandra Delgado is a Colombian-American actor, writer, singer and producer born and raised in Chicago. She received the Theater Communications Group (TCG) Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship in residence at the Goodman Theater in Chicago where she developed her solo show para Graciela, subsequently performed at the Yo Solo Festival. As an actor, her vivid portrayals of strong, smart women such as the iconic Medea in Luis Alfaro's Mojada at Victory Gardens Theatre (named one of the Top Ten performances of 2013 by the Chicago Tribune) to the tough as nails, foul mouthed Veronica in Stephen Adly Guirgis' Motherf**ker with the Hat at the Steppenwolf Theatre, have made her a favorite among critics and audiences alike. Delgado's stage credits include work at Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Actors Theater of Louisville and INTAR. She produced Teatro Vista's and Collaboraction's Yo Solo Festival of Latino Solo Shows and Collaboraction's popular Sketchbook Festival from 2005-2008. She is a founding ensemble member of Collaboraction and an ensemble member of Teatro Vista (Associate Artistic Director from 2006-2008). She has trained in interview-based, collaboratively- generated and physical theater with Tectonic Theater Project, Ping Chong + Company, SITI Company and Cuba's Teatro Buendia. Ms. Delgado was part of the Goodman's Playwright's Unit for the 2015-16 season and is a TCG Young Leader of Color Alum, a two-time Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events grantee, a 3Arts 3AP Project Grantee and served on the National Steering Committee of the Latina/o Theatre Commons, an advocacy group for Latino Theatre artists. In 2015, she received the Joyce Award to develop her documentary play with music, La Havana Madrid, with Teatro Vista. La Havana Madrid made its premiere at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre in April 2017 and is playing at The Goodman Theatre this summer. www.sandradelgado.net

Lydia Diamond’s plays include: Voyeurs de Venus (2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work, 2006 Black Theater Alliance Award for Best Writing), The Bluest Eye (2006 Black Arts Alliance Image Award for Best New Play and 2008 AATE Distinguished Play Award), The Gift Horse (Theodore Ward Prize, Kesselring Prize 2nd Place), Stick Fly (2008 Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist, 2006 Black Theatre Alliance Award for best play), Lizzie Stranton and Harriet Jacobs. Producing theatres include: Arena Stage, The Huntington, New Vic, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, McCarter, Playmakers Rep, Providence Black Rep, Chicago Dramatists, Congo Square, TrueColors, The Matrix and Company One. Commissions include: Steppenwolf, Actors Theatre of Louisville/Victory Gardens, McCarter, Huntington and The Roundabout. Stick Fly is published by Northwestern University Press. Ms. Diamond is a 2009 NEA/Arena Stage New Play Development Grant Finalist, and 2006-2007 Huntington Playwright Fellow.

Zayd Dohrn’s plays include The Profane, Want, Outside People, Long Way Go Down, Sick and Reborning. His work is published by Samuel French, and has been produced across the country and internationally, including at Playwrights Horizons, The Vineyard Theatre, Naked Angels, Steppenwolf First Look and The Public Theater / Summer Play Festival. He is the recipient of the 2016 Horton Foote New American Play Prize, the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, the Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Award, the Sky Cooper American Playwriting Prize, Theatre Master’s Visionary Playwrights Award and Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize. Zayd attended Brown University, received his MFA from NYU and was a Lila Acheson Wallace Fellow at Juilliard. He currently teaches in the MFA program in Writing for the Stage + Screen at Northwestern. www.zayddohrn.com.

Rebecca Gilman’s plays include Luna Gale, Boy Gets Girl, Spinning Into Butter, Dollhouse, Blue Surge, A True History of the Johnstown Flood, Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976, The Glory of Living, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Crowd You’re in With. Her plays have received numerous productions in the U.S. and abroad, including productions at the Goodman Theatre (where she is a member of the Goodman Theatre Artistic Collective), Steppenwolf Theatre, The Acting Company, Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre, Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Seattle Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Alliance Theatre, Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre and Manhattan Class Company. Gilman is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, The Harper Lee Award, The Scott McPherson Award, The Prince Prize for Commissioning New Work, The Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The George Devine Award, The Theatre Masters Visionary Award, The Great Plains Playwright Award, The Roe Green Award, an Ingram Playwriting Fellowship and an Illinois Arts Council fellowship. Boy Gets Girl received an Olivier Nomination for Best New Play and was included in Time Magazine’s list of “Top Ten Plays of the Decade.” Gilman was named a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for The Glory of Living. She is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America. Gilman is a professor at Northwestern University and teaches in its MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage Program.

Julie Marie Myatt’s play The Happy Ones premiered at South Coast Repertory, and won the LA Drama Critic Circle’s Ted Schmitt Award for Outstanding New Play. Her play Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter premiered at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Kennedy Center as part of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. Her play Someday, premiered as part of Cornerstone Theater’s Justice Cycle. Her play, My Wandering Boy, premiered at South Coast Repertory in the 2007, was part of Pacific Playwrights Festival, and was also produced in New York as part of the 2007 Summer Play Festival. Boats On A River premiered at the Guthrie Theater, was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and was recorded for the LA Theatre works radio play series, “The Play’s The Thing.” Her ten-minute play, Mr. and Mrs. premiered at the 2007 Humana Festival. Her play The Sex Habits of American Women was produced by the Guthrie Theater, among others, and premiered at the Magic Theatre. Her work has been developed or seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Rep, Cherry Lane, A.S.K. Theatre Projects, LAByrinth Theater Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, ACT Seattle, among others. She received a Walt Disney Studios Screenwriting Fellowship, a Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center, a McKnight Advancement Grant, Mark Taper Forum Fadiman Award and a Master Playwright Residency – Michener Center for Writers and Department of Theatre and Dance, UT/Austin. She is currently working on commissions for Yale Repertory and Cornerstone Theatre Company. She is an Alumni of New Dramatists, was the Mellon Playwright in Residence at South Coast Repertory 2013-2016 and teaches playwriting at Northwestern University.

Brett Neveu’s upcoming and recent theatre productions include Miss America with Greenhouse Theater Center (Chicago) and Pilgrim’s Progress with A Red Orchid Theatre (Chicago). Film/TV productions include the short Convo with Breakwall Pictures, the feature The Earl with Intermission Productions and the upcoming The Humbler new content series. Past work includes productions with 59e59 Theatre in New York, The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company in London, The Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, The House Theatre, The Inconvenience, TimeLine Theatre Company, A Red Orchid Theatre and American Theatre Company in Chicago. A Sundance Institute Ucross Fellow, Brett is also a recipient of the Marquee Award from Chicago Dramatists, the Ofner Prize for New Work, the Emerging Artist Award from The League of Chicago Theatres, an After Dark Award for Outstanding Musical (Old Town) and has developed plays with companies including The Atlantic Theatre Company and The New Group in New York and The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. He is a resident-alum of Chicago Dramatists, a proud ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, an alumni member of TimeLine Theatre Company’s Writers Collective and Center Theatre Group’s Playwrights’ Workshop in Los Angeles. Brett has been commissioned by The Royal Court Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, House Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Northlight Theatre and has several of his plays published through Broadway Play Publishing, Dramatic Publishing and Nick Hern Publishing. Brett has taught writing at DePaul University, Second City Training Center and currently teaches writing for the screen and stage at Northwestern University.

Tanya Palmer is a dramaturg and playwright. Her plays include Body Talk, Fatherland, Barbra Live at Canyon Ranch, Spring and Trash and The Memory Tour, and have been developed or produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Hangar Theatre, Solar Stage, the Montreal Fringe Festival, The Harbourfront Centre, HERE and Pivot Arts, and published by Smith & Kraus, Samuel French and Playscripts, Inc. She is the Director of New Play Development at Goodman Theatre, where she coordinates New Stages, the theater’s new play program, and has served as the production dramaturg on a number of plays including the world premieres of 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, adapted and directed by Seth Bockley and Robert Falls; Smokefall by Noah Haidle, The Happiest Song Plays Last by Quiara Hudes and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ruined by Lynn Nottage. Prior to her arrival in Chicago, she served as the director of new play development at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she led the reading and selection process for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is the co-editor, with Amy Wegener and Adrien-Alice Hansel, of four collections of Humana Festival plays, published by Smith & Kraus, as well as two collections of 10-minute plays published by Samuel French. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she holds an MFA in playwriting from York University in Toronto.

Laura Schellhardt’s original works include Ever in the Glades, The Comparables, Upright Grand, Air Guitar High, Auctioning the Ainsleys, The K of D, Courting Vampires and Shapeshifter. Adaptations include The Phantom Tollbooth and The Outfit. She is also the author of Screenwriting for Dummmies. Her work has been produced at The Kennedy Center, TheatreWorks Palo Alto, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, People’s Light Theatre, The Magic Theatre, Wooly Mammoth Theatre, Boston Court Theatre, ACT and Northlight Theatre, among others. Laura is a recipient of the TCG National Playwriting Residency, the Jerome Fellowship, ACT’s New Play Award, the Best New Play Award NYC Fringe, The AATE Distinguished Play Award and a Dramatist Guild Fellowship. Her work has been developed at the SoHo Rep. Writer/Director Lab, The Ojai Playwright’s Conference, The Denver New Play Summit, The Bay Area Theatre Festival, The Women Playwrights Festival, The Kennedy Center New Voices/New Visions Festival, The Bonderman Symposium, The Goodman Theatre Playwrights Unit and the O’Neill National Playwright’s Festival. Laura received her MFA in Playwriting from Brown University under the direction of Paula Vogel. She currently heads the undergraduate playwriting program at Northwestern University and is a Victory Gardens ensemble playwright. 

About the Greenhouse Theater Center
The Greenhouse Theater Center is a producing theater company, performance venue and theatre bookstore located at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Our mission is first and foremost to grow local theatre.

The Greenhouse Theater began its producing life in 2014 with the smash hit Churchill, after which came 2016’s much-lauded Solo Celebration!, an 8 month, 16 event series highlighting the breadth and depth of the solo play form. This year, the Greenhouse announced a full subscription season, with a mix of multi-character and solo plays. With a focus on our community, the Greenhouse is also launching the Trellis playwriting residency, an initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of Chicago theatre creators and a two-tiered education program for college and high school students.

As a performance venue, our complex offers two newly remodeled 190-seat main stage spaces, two 60-seat studio theaters, two high-capacity lobbies, and an in-house rehearsal room. We strive to cultivate a fertile environment for local artists, from individual renters to our bevy of resident companies, and to develop and produce their work. In 2016, the Greenhouse announced a new residency program, which offers a reduced rate to local storefront companies while giving the Greenhouse a stake in the resident’s success. We house Chicago’s only dedicated used theatre bookstore, located on the second floor of our complex. 

With new ideas always incubating, the Greenhouse is flourishing. Come grow with us!

LAST CALL: MERCY KILLERS and SIDE EFFECTS at Greenhouse Theater Center Through 10/8

Check out Two Timely "Pay What You Want" one-act plays steeped in America’s controversial relationship with healthcare. Written and performed by Michael Milligan.

Greenhouse Theater Center and Poor Box Theater, in association

with Taffety Punk Theatre Company, present

THE AMERICAN MERCY TOUR:

MERCY KILLERS & SIDE EFFECTS

Written and Performed by Michael Milligan

Directed by Tom Oppenheim

Through October 8, 2017 

MercyKillers (pictured) Actor and playwright Michael Milligan in MERCY KILLERS. Photo by Daylon Walton.


Side Effects-1 (pictured) Actor and playwright Michael Milligan in SIDE EFFECTS. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

Greenhouse Theater Center and Poor Box Theater, in association with D.C’s award winning Taffety Punk Theatre Company, are pleased to present THE AMERICAN MERCY TOUR: MERCY KILLERS and SIDE EFFECTS, two one-act plays steeped in America’s controversial relationship with healthcare. Written and performed by Michael Milligan and directed by Tom Oppenheim, these moving and unapologetic pieces will be presented as a single theatrical event, immersing the audience in the stories of patients and physicians, coming out of the waiting room and into the fray. 

MERCY KILLERS and SIDE EFFECTS will play September 7 – October 8, 2017 at The Greenhouse Theater Center (Upstairs Studio), 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Tickets (pay-what-you-want) are currently available at greenhousetheater.org, in person at the box office or by calling (773) 404-7336.  

In MERCY KILLERS, Joe, a blue-collar red state auto mechanic faced with his wife’s failing health, must grapple with the stark divide between his values and his reality. Pushed to the breaking point by debt, disease and a busted system, Joe must decide what compromises he will make to keep his wife alive. MERCY KILLERS is all at once a tender love story and an unblinking look at those the system leaves behind.

Flipping to the other side of the stethoscope, SIDE EFFECTS follows William, a family practice physician on the brink of burnout. Caught between his ambition to become the healer his father once exemplified and the corporatization of his chosen profession, William must reconcile the art and business of medicine, or be forced to lose his practice. In this Chicago premiere, we see the human side of those who heal us, throwing light onto the turmoil that remain out of sight from the examination table.

“Michael Milligan is one of those rare theatre artists who can combine his craft, intellect and activism in a perfect storm of unapologetically political performance,” comments Greenhouse Theater Center Artistic Director Jacob Harvey. “These pieces and the issues they explore are increasingly important in our political moment, but what truly sets them apart is their unwillingness to simplify. Milligan’s pieces are bi-partisan and in their splendid, terrifying honesty put faces to the statistics and figures we so easily grow numb to.”

History of “The American Mercy Tour”
“I wrote Mercy Killers in response to a number of personal encounters with the healthcare system,” comments Michael Milligan. “A good friend of mine showed up at the Folger Theatre stage door after a show, carrying a small duffle bag, in which he had all of his belongings. He’d been living on the streets for a couple years. I invited him back to my place, where I discovered he also had a number of medical problems, a slipped disk in his neck from a fall and a golf ball size lump on his arm. I took it on myself to try to get him in to see someone. The difficulty of that blew my mind. It was overwhelming. If I lived in any number of other nations, I could have made an appointment and walked my friend to a doctor’s office, and the first question would not have been ‘what insurance do you have.’” 

“The situation for many healthcare workers is also desperate.” Milligan says, “there’s even diagnostic terminology now for it, it’s called ‘moral distress.’ It’s crippling doctors and nurses; many of them are burning out and leaving the profession. The medical literature says that ‘moral distress occurs when one knows the ethically correct action to take but feels powerless to take that action.’ The healthcare system becomes more bureaucratized and corporatized every year, medical decisions are increasingly influenced by claims analysts, hospital administrators, and entitlement bureaucrats, Side Effects is a meditation on the conflicts of interest that arise as a result.” 

The impulse to create Side Effects was similarly visceral. When Milligan was on the road performing Mercy Killers, he started interviewing doctors and nurses in each community. Side Effects has already been well received by the medical community, including a special presentation by the Mayo Clinic. 

"Michael Milligan has captured the sum total of pressures that confront today's physicians in Side Effects. A realistic, engaging and very dramatic portrayal of the life of an average doctor trying to meet the demands of a busy practice as he nearly succumbs to a breakdown and considers leaving the profession he loves so much. Anyone involved in medicine, from the caregivers to the patients we serve, would benefit from seeing this performance." –Robert E McAfee MD, Former President, American Medical Association.

About the Artists
Michael Milligan (Playwright/Actor) Broadway: August: Osage County, La Bete, Jerusalem. Off Broadway: Thom Pain, Mercy Killers. The Golem. Chicago: Iago in Othello and Tug of War: Civil Strife at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Mercy Killers at American Theater Company. Michael will appear in the Goodman’s upcoming world premiere, Blind Date. Michael has performed Shakespeare hither and yon with groups like the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Shakespeare Theater in DC. Alabama, Utah, Colorado, New Jersey, Milwaukee, and Illinois Shakespeare festivals, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Shakespeare and Company. Regionally, Michael has played at the Guthrie, Westport Playhouse, The McCarter Theater, St. Louis Rep, Cincinatti Playhouse and more. Michael received the 2013 Fringe First award in Edinburgh for Mercy Killers which he has performed 100s of times around the country. Michael’s other plays include Phaeton, Heroin, Urgent: Aliens, The Sea Wolf, and a musical adaptation of Aesop’s Fables commissioned by Circle in the Square in NYC. Television credits include: Law and Order, Person of Interest, The Knick, Chicago Justice, and APB.  Michael is a graduate of the Juilliard Drama Division where he received the John Houseman Prize. When not acting and writing, Michael is director of PR and Marketing for his brother’s knife company, New West Knifeworks and is also the founding artistic person of the Poor Box Theater. Michael lives in Chicago.

Tom Oppenheim (Director) Directorial credits include Michael Milligan’s Mercy Killers, which won the prestigious Fringe First Award at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe; A Bright Room Called Day off-Broadway, As You Like It by William Shakespeare (with Steve Cook), Songs and Statues by Peter Nickowitz (world premiere), Our Town by Thornton Wilder, What Shall I Give My Children? by Don K. Williams (world premiere), Imagining Heschel by Colin Greer (all for the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company). As artistic director and president of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting for over 15 years, Tom has articulated a mission, engaged top faculty, structured a world-class training program and created a cultural center. He originated the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company in 2002 which has since presented over twenty production including 11 world premieres. He created MAD (the Harold Clurman Center for New works in Movement and Dance Theater) a dance theater company that has resented over 30 new works, the majority of which were commissioned world premieres, and which includes Marie Gillis, Bill T. Jones and Mikhail Baryshnikov on the advisory board. He spearheaded the creation of the Harold Clurman Art Series which has presented artists including Harold Bloom, Edward Albee, John Ashbery, Julianne More and Harold Mabern in events that are free and open to the public.  Under Oppenheim’s leadership, the Stella Adler Outreach Division, a program originally designed to educate urban youth, was created.  Since 2004, the division has provided free theater training to over 5,000 low income New York City citizens.  In addition, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting trains over 500 actors per year. Oppenheim studied acting at the National Shakespeare Conservatory and with his grandmother, Stella Adler. Acting credits include the title role in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” as well as Michael in Buzz McLaughlin’s “Sister Calling My Name”, both with the Harold Clurman Theater Company. Tom co-edited The Muses Go To School (New Press 2012) and his writing is featured in Arthur Bartow’s Training of the American Actor (TCG, 2006).

About the Companies 
The Greenhouse Theater Center is a producing theater company, performance venue and theatre bookstore located at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Our mission is first and foremost to grow local theatre.

The Greenhouse Theater began its producing life in 2014 with the smash hit Churchhill, after which came 2016’s much-lauded Solo Celebration!, an 8 month, 16 event series highlighting the breadth and depth of the solo play form. This year, the Greenhouse announced a full subscription season, with a mix of multi-character and solo plays. With a focus on our community, the Greenhouse is also launching the Trellis playwriting residency, an initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of Chicago theatre creators and a two-tiered education program for college and high school students.

As a performance venue, our complex offers two newly remodeled 190-seat main stage spaces, two 60-seat studio theaters, two high-capacity lobbies, and an in-house rehearsal room. We strive to cultivate a fertile environment for local artists, from individual renters to our bevy of resident companies, and to develop and produce their work. In 2016, the Greenhouse announced a new residency program, which offers a reduced rate to local storefront companies while giving the Greenhouse a stake in the resident’s success. We house Chicago’s only dedicated used theatre bookstore, located on the second floor of our complex. 

With new ideas always incubating, the Greenhouse is flourishing. Come grow with us!

Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s mission is to establish a dynamic ensemble of actors, dancers and musicians who ignite a public passion for theatre by making the classical and the contemporary exciting, meaningful, and affordable. The company was recently nominated for Helen Hayes Awards in choreography for 2016’s productions of Phaeton and An Iliad. Past awards include the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company at the 2008 Helen Hayes Awards. The company was also a 2010 finalist for the D.C. Mayor's Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts. 

      The Poor Box Theater
      An actor, an audience, and an empty space.
      Keeping overhead low, we reach high.
      Through simplicity, we delve into complexities.
      Limiting spectacle, we expand imagination.
      A light in dark corners reveals hidden treasures.
      One vulnerable heart redeems the whole world.
      The greatest revolution is empathy.

The Poor Box Theater brings “pop up” performances to theaters, arts centers, church basements, libraries, union halls, medical schools, conferences and living rooms around the country. The Poor Box Theater is committed to bringing challenging, quality theater to out of the way parts of America — Mercy Killers has toured West Virginia, Oregon, Texas, Maryland, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, California and more. From the Mayo Clinic, to bilingual performances with the Living Hope Wheelchair Association in Texas, from the floor of the House of Representatives in St. Paul, to a 16-city tour with the California Nurses Association, the Poor Box Theater sparks needed dialogue about the issues of the day.

OPENING: Becky Shaw at Windy City Playhouse Now In Previews

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

PREVIEWS UNDERWAY FOR GINA GIONFRIDDO’S “BECKY SHAW,” 

DIRECTED BY SCOTT WEINSTEIN, RUNNING THROUGH NOV. 12

Carly Cornelius and Michael Doonan

Photo Credit for all production shots: Michael Brosilow  

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've adored Windy City Playhouse since they first opened their doors. Their stellar productions, comfortable swivel seating and drink tables in the front section, and their cozy bar space up front, make for a fabulous night out year round. This is the future of successful storefront theatre. We'll be out for the press opening this coming Thursday, so check back soon for our full review.

Previews continue this weekend for Gina Gionfriddo’s “Becky Shaw,” playing now through November 12. Under the direction of Jeff Award winner Scott Weinstein, the dark “ferociously funny” (The New York Times) comedy stars Carley Cornelius as the titular character, an emotionally-fragile single woman swept up in the chaos of a blind-date gone array. The cast of “Becky Shaw” also features Michael Doonan as Max Garrett, Suzanne Petri as Susan Slater, Michael Aaron Pogue as Andrew Porter and Amy Rubenstein as Suzanna Slater.

Tickets ($15-$55) are on sale now and can be purchased at the Windy City Playhouse Box Office online or by calling the Box Office at (773) 891-8985.

The cast of “Becky Shaw” includes Carley Cornelius as Becky Shaw, Michael Doonan as Max Garrett, Suzanne Petri as Susan Slater, Michael Aaron Pogue as Andrew Porter and Amy Rubenstein as Suzanna Slater. 

                      Michael Aaron Pogue, Amy Rubenstein, Carly Cornelius and Michael Doonan

“’Becky Shaw’ is exactly the type of play that I wanted to produce when I founded Windy City Playhouse,” said Artistic Director Amy Rubenstein.  “It is thought-provoking, insightful and outrageously funny. I also think that our space – utilized in a new configuration that literally positions the audience just inches away from the actors – will make viewers feel as though they are a ‘fly on the wall’ during the performance.”

Windy City Playhouse’s intimate venue aims to make audience members part of the action. Scenic designer for “Becky Shaw” Jeffrey Kmiec has conceived a uniquely immersive, 360-degree viewing experience to make viewing as exclusive as possible. 70 of Windy City Playhouse’s signature club chair-style seats will be integrated into the three-stage modular set that will transform each night into seven unique locations.

In conjunction with “Becky Shaw,” Windy City Playhouse’s Talkback series offers patrons an intimate Q&A experience with an array of artists to learn more about the creative process behind each production. The series begins with Chicago-based Matchmaker “Stef in the City” Stef Safran, who will lead the discussion on the modern world of dating immediately following the 2 p.m. performance on Sunday, October 1. In addition, audiences have the rare opportunity to sit down with “Becky Shaw” director Scott Weinstein following the 3 p.m. performance on Sunday, October 15 to talk about the production from his unique perspective. All talkbacks are complimentary for Windy City Playhouse patrons; no sign-up is required.

The Playhouse continues the weekly post-performance Nightcap series, inviting patrons to grab a drink at the bar and partake in an intimate discussion around “Becky Shaw” with a member of the cast or creative team. The series takes place every Wednesday and Thursday at 9:30 p.m. through the duration of the run. For the complete schedule of special events at the Playhouse, visit WindyCityPlayhouse.com/Becky-Shaw.

No experience at the Playhouse is complete without a trip to their signature bar, and “Becky Shaw” is no different. The production-specific cocktails, available throughout the run, include:

Two Kinds of Trouble – Catdaddy Moonshine, spiced rum, lemon juice, simple syrup, blood orange San Pellegrino, a dash of bitters and an orange garnish

Reality Check – a twist on a Kentucky Sunrise; bourbon, grenadine and orange juice garnished with a lime and cherry skewer

Pocket of Mystery – a bubbly aviation; gin, violet liqueur, lime juice, and tonic served with a sugared rim and lemon or lime garnish

Alternative Redneck – a bittersweet and sexy martini; chocolate liqueur, vodka, cranberry juice and a cherry garnish

Also new at the bar, Windy City Playhouse has partnered with JR Bakery to provide organic sweets such as carrot cake, chocolate decadence cake, red velvet cake, chocolate chip cheesecake and chocolate dipped cheesecake pops for theatre patrons. For the complete beer, wine and cocktail menu, click here.

The Playhouse has just announced its newest program, Monday Mixers, beginning on October 9 at 7 p.m. (cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m.) and continuing on every Monday throughout the run of “Becky Shaw.” Monday Mixers feature a curated list of headliners performing everything from sketch to standup, singer-songwriters to spoken word with a full bar available to those who attend. Tickets are $5 in advance or $10 at the door.

The performance schedule for “Becky Shaw” is as follows: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. For a detailed performance schedule visit WindyCityPlayhouse.com/Becky-Shaw. Tickets for “Becky Shaw” are on sale now and range from $15-$55—with discounts available for seniors and students—and can be purchased by calling 773-891-8985 or visiting WindyCityPlayhouse.com.

The creative team for “Becky Shaw” includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec (Scenic Design), Rachel M. Sypniewski (Costume Design), Brandon Wardell (Lighting Design), Eric Backus (Sound Design) and Jamie Karas (Properties Design). Mara Filler is the Production Stage Manager and Johnnie Schleyer is the Technical Director.

Suzanne Petri, Amy Rubenstein, Michael Aaron Pogue and Carley Cornelius 

About Windy City Playhouse
Windy City Playhouse, Chicago's most sophisticated not-for-profit Equity theater, aims to expand beyond the traditional theatergoing experience by offering audience members a night of high-quality entertainment with a full-service bar, in a lounge-like atmosphere. Windy City Playhouse premiered in March of 2015, with the inaugural production “End Days.” Lauded by audiences and critics alike, Windy City Playhouse promises to rock Chicago's theater scene.
For more information, visit WindyCityPlayhouse.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

REVIEW: Frenetic Kinetic "Toad" Microcosm of Life at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Through 9/23

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

James Thierrée’s The Toad Knew 

The Toad Knew has been one of the hottest tickets in Chi, IL this month. The world famous troupe is in from France, the acclaimed production is a very limited five day run, and this is the inaugural show for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's exciting new space, The Yard. I caught it last night and consider it a must see, though it won't be everyone's cup of tea. 

Theatre goers who like literal, straight forward, easily digestible shows, may find this a mouthful. There is little dialogue and James Thierrée pushes the boundaries of tolerance with unpleasant static and repetition of sound, to the point of discomfort, before treating the audience to beautiful music and soaring vocals. Much of the choreography is twitchy and jerky, rather than a pleasing fluid and flowing style. The set is grimy and ugly, and there is no discernible plot, yet we found it enthralling, particularly the stunning opener and show close with the massive, shabby, red velvet curtain. I've never seen a curtain call where the cast crawled from beneath the curtain on their bellies! This production is utterly unique, and well worth an evening.

The stamina and training needed to pull off a movement based show of this magnitude is astonishing, and we found the alternating bouts of intense action and complete motionlessness among the characters stunning. In a microcosm of life, The Toad Knew includes repetitive motion and rest, machines, music, the elements, humorous accidentally injuries, cooperation, coexistence, isolation, irritation, elation, and a good dose of humor. We were mesmerized by this frenetic kinetic exploration.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) opens the innovative new performance venue The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare with James Thierrée’s The Toad Knew from France as part of CST’s World’s Stage series, September 19–23, 2017.

James Thierrée's The Toad Knew from France All Production Photos by Richard Haughton.

Chicago Shakespeare welcomes back creator and director James
Thierrée after his wildly popular presentations Farewell Umbrella in
2007 and Bright Abyss in 2005. For nearly two decades, Thierrée
has twisted audiences’ imaginations with astonishing, theatrical
creations, including Junebug Symphony and Tabac Rouge. Born to
circus legends Jean-Baptise Thierrée and Victoria Chaplin,
Thierrée made his circus debut at the age of four and has been

performing ever since. His works have toured the world over and have received critical and popular acclaim.

This spectacle premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival, where it was called “flamboyant, hallucinatory and ravishingly beautiful” by The Guardian. Thierrée returns to CST after his magnificent Farewell Umbrella (2007) and Bright Abyss (2005). 

His newest invention, The Toad Knew, intertwines dreams with childhood terrors, burlesque, and realism to explore the wild, wondrous love shared among siblings. A collective of dancers, high-wire artists, and musicians create an intoxicating world evocative of Salvador Dalí and Tim Burton. This is artistry that defies categorization, but promises to stay with you long after you leave the Theater. 

Click HERE to purchase tickets and discover more about the new space and this production.



Cirque nouveau superstar James Thierrée presents The Toad Knew to open Chicago Shakespeare’s innovative third theater The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare in a limited engagement as part of CST’s World’s Stage series September 19–23, 2017. Photo by Richard Haughton.

OPENING: World Premiere of Immigrant Stories, DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK Via Pivot Arts 10/20-11/19

Pivot Arts Presents the World Premiere of

DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK

Conceived by Julieanne Ehre

Written by Tanya Palmer

Directed by Devon De Mayo

October 20 – November 19, 2017

 (left to right) Jin Park, Ashlyn Lozano and Phyllis Liu 

Photo by Austin D. Oie.

Pivot Arts is pleased to present the world premiere of DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK, a site-specific performance experience in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, conceived by Julieanne Ehre, written by Tanya Palmer, directed by Devon de Mayo and devised by an ensemble of actors and designers. Audience members are taken on an immersive journey inspired by the stories and experiences of Uptown residents, many of whom came to Uptown as refugees. 

DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK will play October 20 – November 19, 2017 in various Uptown locations starting at the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, 1016 W. Argyle St. The intimate performance experience is limited to 16 audience members per show. Tickets, priced at $35, are currently on sale at pivotarts.org/events/.

DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK will feature Christopher Acevedo, Samantha Beach, Lucy Carapetyan, Phyllis Liu, Sarah Lo, Ashlyn Lozano, Edward Mawere and Jin Park.

The performance is inspired by stories of escape and loss from local residents who fled their countries and arrived here to make Uptown their home – and the systems and people that they’ve encountered along the way. Blending movement, images and storytelling, Don't Look Back/Must Look Back brings audiences into the experience of making a home in a place where everything is unfamiliar and the sands are constantly shifting beneath your feet. 

The performance also features images from documentary artist James Bowey’s exhibit “When Home Won’t Let You Stay,” a portrait of refugees in America and their stories of hope and perseverance in the face of violence and loss. For additional information, visit https://jamesbowey.atavist.com/home. 

“Don’t Look Back/Must Look Back continues Pivot Arts’ initiative to create site-specific performances where audiences participate in unique experiences,” comments Pivot Arts Director Julieanne Ehre. “Last year’s The Memory Tour took audiences on a journey through memory and Don’t Look Back/Must Look Back uses a similar format. Audiences will have the opportunity to experience the lives of local residents and refugees while moving through various locations.” 

The production team includes Patricia Nguyen (associate director), John Blick (production manager), James Bowey (video and photographs), Connor Ciesil (sound designer), kClare  McKellaston (costume designer), Justine B. Palmisano (stage manager), Giau Truong (lighting and installation designer) and Sammy Ziesel (assistant director). 

(front right) Ashlyn Lozano with (back, l to r) Jin Park, Phyllis Liu, Christopher Acevedo, Samantha Beach, Lucy Carapetyan and Edward Mawere 

Photo by Austin D. Oie.

Location: Begins at Chinese Mutual Aid Association, 1016 W. Argyle St.
Dates: Previews: Friday, October 20 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Friday, October 27 – Sunday, November 19, 2017
Curtain Times: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 pm.
Tickets: $35.Tickets are currently available at pivotarts.org/events/.

A special event held on Sunday, October 22 at 5:30 pm at 1027 W. Argyle St. includes a discussion with lead artists on DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK along with an opportunity to learn more about the work of Chinese Mutual Aid Association and other local organizations who serve refugees. More information can be found at pivotarts.org/events/.

DON’T LOOK BACK/ MUST LOOK BACK is funded in part by an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts with major in-kind support from Chinese Mutual Aid Association.

About the Artists
Julieanne Ehre is the founder and the director of Pivot Arts. She both leads the organization and curates performances including the Pivot Arts Festival, Live Talk series and conceived/directed The Memory Tour. She was the NEA/TCG New Generations “Future Leaders” Fellow at the Goodman Theatre, where she served as producer on Latino Festival, New Stages Series and conceived of and produced the Goodman’s Artists Talk series. Julieanne served as a delegate to the Santiago a Mil Festival in Chile and the ITI World Theater Congress in Xiamen, China through Theater Communications Group and was the co-chair of the Arts and Culture Committee for Chicago’s 48th Ward. As the Artistic Director of Greasy Joan & Co. for five years, she directed and produced critically acclaimed and premiere adaptations of classic plays and worked as a freelance theater director. Ehre holds an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University.

Tanya Palmer is a dramaturg and playwright. Her plays include Body Talk, Fatherland, Barbra Live at Canyon Ranch, Spring and Trash and The Memory Tour, and have been developed or produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Hangar Theatre, Solar Stage, the Montreal Fringe Festival, The Harbourfront Centre, HERE and Pivot Arts, where she is an Artistic Associate. She is a member of MC-10, a newly formed Playwrights Collective in residence at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Her work has been published by Smith & Kraus, Samuel French and Playscripts, Inc. She is the Director of New Play Development at Goodman Theatre, where she coordinates New Stages, the theater’s new play program, and has served as the production dramaturg on a number of plays including the world premieres of 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, adapted and directed by Seth Bockley and Robert Falls; Smokefall by Noah Haidle, The Happiest Song Plays Last by Quiara Hudes and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ruined by Lynn Nottage. Prior to her arrival in Chicago, she served as the director of new play development at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she led the reading and selection process for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is the co-editor, with Amy Wegener and Adrien-Alice Hansel, of four collections of Humana Festival plays, published by Smith & Kraus, as well as two collections of 10-minute plays published by Samuel French. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she holds an MFA in playwriting from York University in Toronto.

Devon de Mayo is a director, devisor and teacher. Most recently, she directed Harvey at Court Theatre. Other directing credits include: You on the Moors Now (The Hypocrites), Sycamore (Raven Theatre), Animals Out of Paper (Shattered Globe Theatre), You Can't Take it With You at (Northlight Theatre), Jet Black Chevrolet (side project), Lost in Yonkers (Northlight Theatre), Compulsion and Everything is Illuminated (Next Theatre); An Actor Prepares (University of Chicago); and Roadkill Confidential, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler and Clouds (Dog & Pony). Directing and devising credits include: Guerra: A Clown Play, a collaboration with Mexico City based artists La Piara (performances in Mexico City, Chicago, New York, Bogota, Albuquerque and Madrid); The Whole World is Watching (Dog & Pony Theatre Co. with Chicago Park District), Infiltrating Bounce (San Antonio Luminaria Festival), The Twins Would Like To Say (Dog & Pony at Steppenwolf Theatre), As Told by the Vivian Girls (Dog & Pony). In 2015, she served as Resident Director under Stephen Daldry for The Audience on Broadway. Devon also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, Loyola University and the University of Chicago. She received her MFA in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University in London.

About Pivot Arts
Pivot Arts produces and presents contemporary and multi-disciplinary performance. They develop new work and present performances throughout the year culminating in a multi-arts festival. Their vision is that of a vibrant community where unique collaborations between artists, businesses and organizations lead to the support and creation of innovative performance events.

CASTING ANNOUNCED: Lookingglass Theatre Company's 30th Anniversary Season

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

The 30th Anniversary Season includes Hard Times,

adapted and directed by Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman from the book by Charles Dickens

in Association with The Actors Gymnasium;

the World Premiere of Plantation! written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas,

directed by Ensemble Member David Schwimmer;

and the World Premiere of 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas,

adapted by David Kersnar and Althos Low from the books by Jules Verne,

directed by Ensemble Member David Kersnar

Here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows, we're absolutely elated about Lookingglass Theatre Company's upcoming season. Save the dates! Many of our top favorite directors and actors are back, to bring these stellar stories to life. With the highly anticipated return of Hard Times and two world premiers, this season is one to watch for sure. We're especially excited for the season opener, adapted and directed by Artistic Director and Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman from the book by Charles Dickens. We missed the earlier incarnation of this award-winning, circus-infused Hard Times and can't wait to catch it. 

Hard Times is presented in association with The Actors Gymnasium, another top favorite of ours. My teens have each been cast in 3 youth circus shows there over the past few years, and they also spent last summer in a 6 week summer lab intensive at Lookingglass, culminating in an incredible original show created by all the teens involved. We're huge fans of their professional productions and their education and outreach as well. Chicago is lucky to have them!

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces complete casting 
for its 2017–2018 Season lineup. 

The season begins with the return of the award-winning, circus-infused Hard Times, adapted and directed by Artistic Director and Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman from the book by Charles Dickens and in association with The Actors Gymnasium. Following Hard Times is the World Premiere of Plantation!, written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas and directed by Ensemble Member David Schwimmer. Concluding the 2017-2018 Season is the World Premiere of 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, adapted by Ensemble Member David Kersnar and Althos Low from the books by Jules Verne. Kersnar also directs this new work. Subscriptions to Lookingglass’ 2017-2018 season are on sale now and may be purchased through the box office at (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org/subscribe.

The Lookingglass 2017–2018 Season up close:

Hard Times
Adapted and Directed by Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman
From the Book by Charles Dickens
In Association with The Actors Gymnasium
October 4, 2017 – January 14, 2018
Press Opening: October 14, 2017

Returning to Hard Times are Ensemble Members David Catlin (returning to the role of Stephen and Sleary), Raymond Fox (returning to the role of Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy’s Father and Slackbridge), Louise Lamson (in the role of Rachael, Mrs. Gradgrind and Scherezade through 12/17) and Artistic Associate Troy West (returning to the role of Mr. Bounderby). The cast also includes Artistic Associate Atra Asdou (Rachael, Mrs. Gradgrind and Scherezade beginning 12/19), with Audrey Anderson (Sissy), Amy J. Carle (Mrs. Sparsit, Drunk Woman and Pufflerumpus), Raphael Cruz (Bitzer and Le Papillon), Cordelia Dewdney (Louisa), Marilyn Dodds Frank (returning to the role of Mrs. Pegler), Nathan Hosner (Mr. Harthouse, Mr. M’Choakumchild and Kidderminster) and JJ Phillips (Tom).

The creative team includes Ensemble Members Daniel Ostling (scenic) and Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), with Artistic Associates Brian Sidney Bembridge (lighting), Andre Pluess (sound) and Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi (circus/choreography). Additional creative team members include Amanda Herrmann (props), Isaac Schoepp (rigging), Eva Breneman (dialect) and Jeri Frederickson (stage manager).

Lookingglass launches its 30th Season with the return of the award-winning, circus-infused Hard Times.

A Dickensian carnival of characters inhabits the streets of smoke-choked Coketown: grim Mr. Gradgrind’s school churns out joyless students; poor Stephen Blackpool toils in the nearby mines; and mill-owner Mr. Bounderby, full of bluster and bombast, presides over it all. Only when a traveling circus alights nearby, and young orphan Sissy Jupe enters their world, does a ray of hope shine through.

Artistic Director Heidi Stillman adapts and directs this timeless love-letter to the power of beauty, hope, and imagination. 



World Premiere
Plantation!
Written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas
Directed by Ensemble Member David Schwimmer
February 21 - April 22, 2018
Press Opening: March 3, 2018

Plantation! features Ensemble Member Louise Lamson (Kimberly) and Artistic Associate Ericka Ratcliff (Sydney), with Hannah Gomez (Diana), Lily Mojekwu (London), Linsey Page Morton (Kara), Tamberla Perry (Madison), Grace Smith (Kayley) and Janet Ulrich Brooks (Lillian).

The creative team includes Courtney O’Neill (scenic), Ensemble Member Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), Artistic Associates Christine A. Binder (lighting) and Rick Sims (sound and composition), with Amanda Herrmann (props), Eva Breneman (dialect) and Ari Clouse (stage manager).

Look who’s coming to tea…

A Texas matriarch, bless her heart, discovers that the history of the ancestral home is, well…complicated. When she reveals the news to her Southern Belle daughters, tempers rage hotter than the devil’s armpit and pandemonium runs amok on the pristine plantation…and that’s before the other set of sisters arrive.

Ensemble Member and playwright Kevin Douglas (Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure) returns with a sharp pen and sharper wit to slash into America’s thorniest underbrush and most enduring conundrum. Ensemble Member David Schwimmer directs this World Premiere black (and white) comedy. 



World Premiere
20,000 Leagues Under the Seas
Adapted by David Kersnar and Althos Low
From the Books by Jules Verne
Directed by Ensemble Member David Kersnar 
May 23 – August 19, 2018
Press Opening: June 2, 2018

20,000 Leagues Under the Seas features Ensemble Members Kareem Bandealy (Captain Nemo) and Thomas J. Cox (Gideon Spillet/J.B. Hobson) with Artistic Associates Walter Owen Briggs (Ned Land) and Kasey Foster (Professor Aronnax). The cast also includes Owais Ahmed (Harbert), Joe Dempsey (Farragut), Glenn-Dale Obrero (Neb/Mr. Drax) and Lanise Antoine Shelley (Conseil).

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic), Sully Ratke (costumes), Artistic Associates Christine A. Binder (lighting) and Rick Sims (sound and composition), with Amanda Herrmann (props) and Mary Hungerford (stage manager).

When a terrifying sea monster is spotted off the coast, renowned scientist Professor Aronnax and fellow explorers set out to investigate. They soon find themselves kidnapped and held under the command, and spell, of the mysterious Captain Nemo. As they circle the globe aboard the most advanced submarine the world has never seen, they confront giant squids, bizarre sea creatures, and the monsters that lurk below…and within.

Adapted from Jules Verne’s epic adventure exploring the murky perils of the seas, Ensemble Member David Kersnar invites you to board the Nautilus and “Dive! Dive! Dive!” into this Lookingglass World Premiere.

Subscriptions
Subscriptions are on sale for the 2017–2018 Season. Performances will be held at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

Subscribers can choose between a 3-play subscription, the Gglasspass program, or for those under 35, the Madhatter’s Club. For the 2017–2018 Season, 3-play subscriptions range from $116–$170.

The Gglasspass is a flex pass available to all ages. For $150, Gglasspass holders receive 3 tickets that can be used in any combination and denomination for any Lookingglass production in the 2017–2018 Season.

The Madhatter’s Club flex pass is available to those 35 or younger. The Madhatter’s Club flex pass is $75 and includes 3 tickets that members can use in any combination and denomination for any Lookingglass production in the 2017-2018 season.

Subscription benefits include access to the best seats in the house, pre-sale opportunities and savings before single tickets go on sale to the general public, special perks at restaurant partners, unlimited ticket exchanges, discounted parking at the nearby John Hancock Center, Water Tower Place and Olympia Centre Garage, reduced tuition for Lookingglass’ renowned classes and summer camps, and access to exclusive subscriber-only events. For season subscription and ticket information, call the Lookingglass Theatre box office at (312) 337-0665 or visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

About Lookingglass Theatre Company
Inventive. Collaborative. Transformative. Lookingglass Theatre Company, recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award, was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students. Now in its 30th season, Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. The Company has staged 64 world premieres, received 144 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations, and work premiered at Lookingglass has been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Princeton, Hartford, Kansas City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Louisville and St. Louis. Lookingglass original scripts have been produced across the United States. In 2016, Lookingglass received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago's landmark Water Tower Water Works opened in June 2003. In addition to developing and presenting ensemble work, Lookingglass Education and Community programs encourage creativity, teamwork and confidence with thousands of community members each year.

Lookingglass Theatre Company continues to expand its artistic, financial and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director Heidi Stillman, Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Producing Director Philip R. Smith, Connectivity and Engagement Director Andrew White, Interim Managing Director Michele Anderson, a 24 member artistic ensemble, 23 artistic associates, an administrative staff and a dedicated board of directors led by Chairman John McGowan and President Nancy Timmers. For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

Applications Accepted Through 9/25 For Goodman Theatre's BOOT CAMP FOR EARLY-CAREER ARTS JOURNALISTS

GOODMAN THEATRE ANNOUNCES 

“CRITICISM IN A CHANGING AMERICA,” 

A BOOT CAMP FOR EARLY-CAREER ARTS JOURNALISTS, OFFERED IN CONJUNCTION WITH 

THE NEW STAGES FESTIVAL

***APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT GOODMANTHEATRE.ORG; DEADLINE TO APPLY IS SEPTEMBER 25***

Goodman Theatre invites emerging theater writers and critics to apply for its new “boot camp” intensive experience—“Criticism in a Changing America”—designed to develop journalists’ understanding of how plays live in the wider context of contemporary issues. Held in conjunction with New Stages, the Goodman’s 14th annual festival of new plays, the training includes workshops, keynotes, panels, readings and staged productions. Participants experience the boot camp in pairs, to encourage discourse and divergent perspectives. Early career journalists from educational institutions and community media are invited to apply. “Criticism in a Changing America” is presented in a two-part series, October 5-7 and October 13-14 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn). Applications are due September 25 and are now available at Goodmantheatre.org/criticsbootcamp; writing samples required. “Criticism in a Changing America” is funded through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

“Given the recent controversies surrounding theatrical productions in New York and here in Chicago, we strongly recognize the need for the empowerment of a diversity of critical voices,” said Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor. “With the launch of our intensive, we hope to be part of the solution by providing an opportunity to discuss the nature of criticism in our changing society—and what is lost, or missing, for the arts and audiences when there is not a diversity of critical voices.” 

“Criticism in a Changing America” continues Goodman Theatre’s decade-long dedication to cultivating new critical voices—an effort begun with the Cindy Bandle Young Critics (CBYC) program, which is designed to introduce young women to the world of theater and field of journalism. The young critics attend bi-monthly Saturday workshops in the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement, where mentors assist help them develop a critical voice and hone professional journalism skills. CBYC participants also interview Goodman artists and staff members for feature stories and attend press opening nights. For more information, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Engage.

Last week, Goodman Theatre announced the lineup of its 14th annual New Stages Festival—a celebration and discovery of new work by some of the country’s finest established and emerging playwrights. Over the course of three weeks (September 20 – October 8), the annual festival offers Chicago theatergoers a first look at eight new works, completely free-of-charge.

“The New Stages Festival is always exciting because the plays are grappling with issues in real time that impact our lives in real and visceral ways,” said Tanya Palmer, Goodman’s Director of New Play Development. “The Criticism In a Changing America initiative is a perfect way to bring critics and theater-makers together to think about the unique role theater can play in tackling the challenges we all face.”

New Stages 2017 features three developmental productions (fully staged and performed in repertory), including: Lottery Day by Ike Holter, a new work that weaves together characters from Holter’s acclaimed previous plays Exit Strategy, Sender and more; Continuity by Bess Wohl, a comic look at a female director’s attempts to bring climate change to the forefront of a Hollywood blockbuster; and Twilight Bowl by Rebecca Gilman, a tender look at two young women facing very different futures. Four staged readings appear during the final weekend of the festival (“Professionals Weekend”), including: Eden Prairie, 1971 by Mat Smart, the story of a young draft dodger returning home; How to Catch Creation by Christina Anderson, an ode to the art of creating; The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona by José Rivera, a supernatural tale of a woman’s attempt to communicate with her deceased twin; and We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time by David Cale, a musical reflection of the playwright’s childhood. Plus a sneak peek at an immersive work-in-progress—POSTNATION conceived by Mikhael Tara Garver, an exploration of immigrants’ roles in the creation of the U.S. Postal Service.

Since New Stages’ 2004 inception, more than 70 plays have been produced as a developmental production or staged reading. Nearly half of these plays were authored by playwrights of color and/or authored by female playwrights. More than one-third of all plays developed in New Stages have received a world premiere production at the Goodman or another leading U.S. theater.

About Goodman Theatre
America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres in the past three decades), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh ). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle” and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.

Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.