World Premiere of A SWELL IN THE GROUND at The Gift Theatre Through 12/10/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

The Gift Theatre Presents the World Premiere of

A SWELL IN THE GROUND

By Janine Nabers

Directed by Ensemble Member Chika Ike

October 13 – December 10, 2017

The Gift Theatre concludes its 2017 season with the world premiere of Janine Nabers’ time-hopping love story A SWELL IN THE GROUND directed by ensemble member Chika Ike, playing October 13 – December 10, 2017 at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available by calling the Gift’s box office at 773-283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org. 

In intimate rooms throughout New York and Michigan, four friends from college fight through 17 years of love affairs, shattered dreams and compromised lives. Flipping back and forth through time like a photobook, this play – whose title is from a line of Emily Dickinson poetry – is equally breathtaking and heartbreakingly spare as Olivia, Nate, Abigail and Charles try to reconcile the lives they imagined with the lives they live.

A SWELL IN THE GROUND will feature ensemble members Keith Neagle as Nate and Darci Nalepa as Abigail with guest artists Sydney Charles as Olivia and Andrew Muwonge as Charles.

The production team for A SWELL IN THE GROUND includes: Eleanor Kahn (scenic design), Rachel Lambert (costume design), Eric Watkins (lighting design), Christopher Kriz (sound design), Ellie Terrell (props design), Gaby Labotka (violence/intimacy design), Smooch Medina (video/projections design) and Corine James (stage manager).

(left to right)  Sydney Charles and Keith Neagle in The Gift Theatre’s world premiere of A SWELL IN THE GROUND by Janine Nabers, directed by ensemble member Chika Ike. Photo by Claire Demos.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:



Regular run: Friday, October 20 – Sunday, December 10, 2017
Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2:30 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Saturday, October 21 at 3:30 pm or Thursday, November 23 (Thanksgiving) or Friday, December 1.

Tickets: $30 – $40 Tickets are currently available at thegifttheatre.org or by calling the box office at (773) 283-7071.


About the Artists

Janine Nabers (Playwright) is a native of Houston, Texas and a 2013 graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellowship at Juilliard and winner of the 2014 Yale Drama Series Prize for her play Serial Black Face. She currently writes for Lifetime’s Unreal and Bravo’s Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce under Marti Noxon. Her play Annie Bosh is Missing premiered in August 2013 at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Janine won the 2013 NYFA Playwriting fellowship and was the 2013-2014 AETNA Playwriting Fellow at Hartford Stage, a 2012-2013 New York Theatre Workshop Playwriting Fellow, and Page 73’s 2011 Playwriting Fellow. Janine is working on commissions from Primary Stages, the Alley Theatre, and Hartford Stage. Her new musical Mrs. Hughes was developed as the 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival fellowship musical and was part of the 2013 Yale Institute for Musical Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club’s 7@7 series, and the Theatreworks New Works Now Festival.

Chika Ike (Director) is a Gift ensemble member, where she also served as the​ assistant director of The Royal Society of Antarctica. Ike has worked artistically with many Chicago and regional theatre companies, including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Victory Gardens, American Blues Theatre Company, Eclipse Theatre, and Prologue Theatre Company. Upcoming directing projects include Lloyd Suh’s Franklinland for Jackalope Theatre Company and Dontrell who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis for First Floor Theatre Company, as well as reading of Tori Sampson’s This Land was Made for Victory Garden’s Ignition Festival of New Plays. She is a former SDCF Gielgud Fellow, a member of the inaugural Victory Garden’s Directors Inclusion Initiative class, and the 2016-2017 Berkeley Repertory Theatre Bret C. Harte Directing Fellow.

About The Gift Theatre

The Gift’s 16th season consists of three world premieres and kicked off in February with Mona Mansour’s war-torn drama Unseen, directed by ensemble member Maureen Payne-Hahner, followed by Claire Kiechel’s Pilgrims, co-directed by ensemble member Michael Patrick Thornton and guest artist Jessica Thebus. The season closes with Janine Nabers’ time-hopping love story A Swell in the Ground, directed by ensemble member Chika Ike. Season subscriptions are available for as little as $75. The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071. 

REVIEW: Immigration Integration at Pivot Arts' Don't Look Back/Must Look Back

Pivot Arts Presents the World Premiere of

DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK

Directed by Devon de Mayo and Devised with the Ensemble 

Written by Tanya Palmer

Conceived by Julieanne Ehre

(front, l to r) Ashlyn Lozano, Sarah Lo and Christopher Acevedo 

All Photos by Michael Brosilow.

October 20 – November 19, 2017

A Site-Specific Performance Experience 

(left to right) Jin Park, Christopher Acevedo, Samantha Beach, Sarah Lo, Phyllis Liu and Lucy Carapetyan

REVIEW: 

Endless forms, queues, words and stairs. Information, education, investigation... In Pivot Arts' newest site specific work, the intimate audience of 16 experiences immigration integration. The journey encompasses pre-entry classes on how to request food and water, and find the bathroom if you've never seen the inside of an airplane, to ESL classes, to a barrage of questions in the citizenship application process, five years down the road. It was especially effective to be separated from the friend I came with, and herded around, not knowing where we were headed, why, and when I might see her again. The cast facilitates the process as other immigrants and immigration officials, interspersing bureaucratic instruction with poetic, frenetic synchronized motions and screen imagery.  

 (front, l to r) Ashlyn Lozano and Edward Mawere with the cast of Pivot Arts’ world premiere of DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK. 

(front) Christopher Acevedo with the cast of Pivot Arts’ world premiere of DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK. 

This production intrigued me, since my Swedish immigrant great grandparents first settled in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood 3 generations ago. Uptown was also my neighborhood for 4 years, when I first moved to Chicago in the early 90's. Although I was only coming from the suburbs of Ohio, there was still a bit of a learning curve as I acclimated to skyscrapers, urban crime, public transportation, and the best and worst our city has to offer. One of my vivid, early Uptown memories is of people in Asian conical hats, working the urban gardens next to utilitarian high rise apartments. It was such an unexpected juxtaposition to me. 

My mother was an ESL teacher for years, and we were frequent hosts to visitors from all over the world. So, I've heard many first hand adventures and adjustment stories. Still, I can only imagine the culture shock, moving to a giant city like Chicago, from another continent, speaking a different language, and scrambling to learn new customs.

(left to right) Christopher Acevedo and Ashlyn Lozano 

The Chinese Mutual Aid Association serves as an appropriate venue, that adds much to the production, via the wall art and institutional vibe. There are only two main locations in the show, with a short walk across the street, though there is much movement within the first building. If you have mobility issues, expect frequent trips up and down the stairs, and small desk seating. The closing ceremony has straw mat floor seating and only a couple chairs. I'm still recovering from major knee surgery in August, so it was a bit of a challenge for me, but I made it, albeit slowly and with painkillers in advance.

The ultimate takeaway is immigrant and refugee empathy, in a closing ceremony complete with written, folded origami promises placed in sand and a communion of unusual fruit. There are some interwoven stories gleaned from interviews with Uptown immigrants, though I was hoping for more first hand accounts of the experience. A series of personal stories would have been more interesting, though the premise of making the audience immigrants is effective. 

(left to right) Edward Mawere and Jin Park with a projected photo from James A. Bowey’s exhibit “When Home Won’t Let You Stay”

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, directed by Devon de Mayo and devised by an ensemble of actors and designers, written by Tanya Palmer and conceived by Julieanne Ehre. 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. 

(pictured) Sarah Lo with a projected photo from James A. Bowey’s exhibit “When Home Won’t Let You Stay”

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), Sammy Ziesel (assistant director) and Adrian Shelton (production assistant).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Location: Begins at Chinese Mutual Aid Association, 1016 W. Argyle St.
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 FREE pre-show event will be held on Sunday, October 29 at 5:30 pm at 1016 W. Argyle St. Artist and performance scholar Patricia Nyugen will moderate a discussion with her father, Vietnamese Activist, Tam Nyugen, artists from the Pivot Arts production and clients and staff from Chinese Mutual Aid Association. For additional information, visit 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
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.

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.

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.

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.

 (front, l to r) Sarah Lo and Lucy Carapetyan with the cast of Pivot Arts’ world premiere of 

DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

REVIEW: Ghosts of Ibsen and Gore Galore at Akvavit's Ghosts and Zombies Through 10/29/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Akvavit Theatre Presents 

GHOSTS & zombies

By Henrik Ibsen & Gustav Tegby

Translated by Chad Eric Bergman
 

(left to right)  Micah Kronlokken, Victor Bayona and Marsha Harman with the cast of Akvavit Theatre’s production of GHOSTS & zombies. 
All Photos by Karl Clifton-Soderstrom.

Review:
I must say, this is the most thought provoking production with a blood splatter zone that I've ever seen. There are enough ax murders to make Lizzy Borden blush, and quite a few deaths by gunfire too. What's an outwardly fine, upstanding, philanthropic family without a few skeletons in the closet and in this case, zombies in the cellar as well? Ghosts and Zombies is high camp, to be sure, yet the script is surprisingly multilayered and nuanced.

(left to right) Marsha Harman, Christiane Schaldemose and Micah Kronlokken 

Staging is quite clever, with ample windows for optimal zombie viewing and access. The cellar is also a great off stage space, ripe for the imagining. Though a one room set is all that's shown, the four off stage spaces are brought vividly to life.

(left to right) Victor Bayona, Marsha Harman and Jeremy Trager 

Pastor Manders (Jeremy Trager) is a fascinating character in both his arrogance and fanaticism. His character flaws and courses of action speak volumes, and his facial expressions and agonizing transformation are something to see. This is as much a fight against internal as external monsters. 

 (left to right)  Victor Bayona and Jeremy Trager

There are even feminist overtones, as the smart and capable family matriarch, Mrs. Helene Alving (Marsha Harman), struggles with the soul eating burden of a philandering, drunk, ailing husband, and a lack of recognition for her own accomplishments. Victor Bayona is as horrifying as he is hilarious as zombie Chamberlain Alving. Chafing against the constraints of duty, responsibility and expectation for too many years, Helene Alving is driven, determined and delightfully jaded. Just as she seems finally free to escape the ghosts of hidden family secrets and the zombies of burdensome living relatives, history is doomed to repeat. 

(back, l to r) Micah Kronlokken and Marsha Harman with the cast of Akvavit Theatre’s production of GHOSTS & zombies. 

Catch GHOSTS & zombies while you still can. They'll be lurching off into the darkness after 10/29, just in time for Halloween.

Directed by Co-Artistic Director Breahan Pautsch

September 28 - October 29, 2017 at Strawdog Theatre Company

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we're ready for the fall chill in the air and a touch of the macabre. We're also jazzed for Akvavit's latest, an updated spin on Ibsen by contemporary Swedish playwright, Gustav Tegby. 

I'm descended from Swedes who came to Chicago on a boat so rickety it sank on the return voyage! This is my heritage and ancestry and I adore the Akvavit's poetic mission statement. 

About Akvavit Theatre
Akvavit Theatre is haunted by Nordic visions: deep forests and ice-blue seas, the patience of the glacier, the sudden fury of the volcano, the arctic light and silence. Seeking the universal through the voices of contemporary Nordic playwrights, Akvavit Theatre is a kind of homecoming, a connecting back to the lands whose people and cultures have for generations been a part of the great prairies of North America that we call home. And like our namesake beverage, Akvavit brings a “strong spirit” to the work that we produce. Skål, Skál, Kippis! For additional information, visit www.chicagonordic.org.

 (front, l to r) Almanya Narula, Marsha Harman and Micah Kronlokken 

with (back) Victor Bayona  

Just in time to get you in the Halloween spirit, Akvavit Theatre is pleased to present GHOSTS & zombies, by Henrik Ibsen and Gustav Tegby, in a new American translation by Chad Eric Bergman*, directed by Co-Artistic Director Breahan Pautsch*. This dark and hilarious contemporary Swedish twist on Ibsen’s Norwegian classic Ghosts, will play September 28 - October 29, 2017 at the new Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice in Chicago. Tickets on sale at chicagonordic.org.

GHOSTS & zombies will feature Marsha Harman as Mrs. Helene Alving, Victor Bayona as Chamberlain Alving, Jeremy Trager as Pastor Manders, Joshua K. Harris as Carpenter Engstrand, Micah Kronlokken* as Osvald and Almanya Narula as Regine with and ensemble including Jessica Kearney, Dylan M. Lainez, Madelyn Loehr*, Christiane Schaldemose, Erik Schiller and Tyler Skafgaard.

GHOSTS & zombies puts a blood-curdling spin on Ibsen's classic drama, Ghosts. As in the original, Mrs. Alving is preparing to open an orphanage in her husband's memory, while welcoming her son home from a long absence. However, things soon take a turn for the weird and scary as their country estate becomes overrun by the un-dead. Haunted by the ghosts of her past, Mrs. Alving now finds herself confronted by zombies that she is forced to stand and fight. GHOSTS & zombies shows us that we can try to bury the parts of our life we would rather forget, but we cannot control whether they walk again – slowly, hungrily – in our direction.

(left to right)  Almanya Narula, Micah Kronlokken and Marsha Harman

The production team for GHOSTS & zombies includes: Chad Eric Bergman* (set design), Rachel Sypniewski (costume design), David Goodman-Edberg (lighting design), Nigel Harsch* (sound designer), Leticha Guillaud (properties design), Kirstin Franklin* (casting director), Bethany Weise (asst. costume designer), R&D Choreography (violence design), Christiane Schaldemose (music direction), Chris Waldron (asst. director), Amy Hopkins (production manager), Harrison Ornelas (technical director), Hannah Harper-Smith (stage manager) and Katy Grabarski (asst. stage manager).

Location: Strawdog Theatre Company,1802 W. Berenice, Chicago
Dates: Preview: Thursday, September 28 at 8 pm
Regular run: Saturday, September 30 – Sunday, October 29, 2017
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 4 pm.

Tickets: Regular Run: $25. Students/seniors/industry $15. Tickets available at chicagonordic.org.

*Denotes Akvavit Theatre company members.

Akvavit Theatre is also pleased to announce the addition of new company member Madelyn Loehr and associate company member Maggie Fullilove-Nugent.

(left to right) Marsha Harman, Almanya Narula, Victor Bayona and Micah Kronlokken

Artist Biographies
Gustav Tegby (Playwright) was born in Umeå, Sweden in 1980, where he also grew up. He has written about twenty plays played at, among others, Drama, Malmö City Theater, Uppsala City Theater and a number of different free groups across Sweden, as well as in Finland and the USA. Among the titles noted, Gargantua was released to Bibu in 2014 and Everyone Loves Bernie Madoff, a raid scene version of the true and completely unlikely story of Wall Street's greatest scammers. The latter was set up on three different theaters and was also filmed for SVT's project Pulse in Sweden. As a dramatist, Gustav has been interested in popular culture, and especially for the horror genre – he has among other things given Ibsen's Gengångare an odd twist in his variant Ghosts & zombies, where the infection of Mrs. Alving's son is drawn to something worse than syphilis. In the summer of 2016 he was one of the authors of Sweden's Radio Drama's major success, The Voices of the Dead, a fictional horror documentary in eight parts. Gustav had previously run the Drama Cup for many years. He also works as a dramaturg at the National Theater.

Chad Eric Bergman (Translator) actively collaborates in the Chicago storefront scene having worked with Stage Left, Live Bait, Chicago Dramatists, MPAACT, parker, Plasticene and Akvavit in various artistic ways. He has been an artist in residence at the Ragdale Foundation and the University of Chicago’s Summer Incubator. He spent a year in Finland on a Fulbright exploring bilingual theatre. At North Park University, he has been developing a theatre curriculum that is based on the Chicago storefront theatre model.

Breahan Eve Pautsch (Director) is originally from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. She earned her BA in Theatre and English at UW-Madison and has been working in Chicago as an actor and director since 2003. She has been a company member with Akvavit Theatre since 2011, where she served as Literary Manager and Director of Development for several years before taking the position of co-Artistic Director at the beginning of 2017. She is also a company member with Indie Boots Theatre.  

OPENING: FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA’S YERMA 10/27-12/10/17 Via THEATRE Y AND RED TAPE THEATRE

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

THEATRE Y AND RED TAPE THEATRE UNITE AS ARTISTIC PARTNERS TO BRING NEW ADAPTATION OF 

FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA’S YERMA, 

OCTOBER 27 – DECEMBER 10, 

TO THEIR NEW SHARED SPACE: “THE READY”

 The Companies’ Initial Co-Production Reunites Jeff Award-Winning Duo Director Max Traux and Composer and Music Director Nicholas Tonozzi

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we love it when our favorites play well together. We'll be out next week to review a collaboration between Theatre Y and Red Tape Theatre, who are not only co-presenting a show, they're movin' in together! We're looking forward to seeing their new space, The Ready, as well as catching their new Yerma adaptation.

Theatre Y and Red Tape Theatre are proud to present Federico García Lorca’s tragic poem, Yerma, in a new adaptation by Theatre Y Ensemble Member Hector Álvarez to be played at the companies’ new shared, and recently named space, The Ready, 4546 N. Western Ave. Álvarez’s adaptation of Lorca’s play is directed by Red Tape Theatre Artistic Director Max Truax and features original music by Composer and Music Director Nicholas Tonozzi. The duo reunites for Yerma following the success of their first major partnership, Oracle Theatre’s 2013 five time Joseph Jefferson-award winning production of The Mother, which was awarded Best Ensemble, Best Production and a win for Tonozzi for Original Music in a Play. Tonozzi went on to earn two more Jeff Award nominations and one win for his collaborations with Oracle Theatre. For tickets or more information visit www.theatre-y.com.

Yerma, playing October 27 – December 10, is Theatre Y and Red Tape Theatre’s first co-production as well as the inaugural production to take place in the two companies’ new, shared space, The Ready. The space is 3,300-square feet and offers a flexible black box performance area with an audience capacity of up to 75 seats, a spacious lobby and rehearsal space for the two companies to utilize. Located in the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood, The Ready is south of the Western Brown Line station. The space hosts both companies’ upcoming seasons, as well as staged readings, off-night and late night shows, classes and other programming and events for the community at large.

Yerma is the rarely produced second play of Lorca’s three rural tragedies about a woman driven to extremes by her desperate desire to have a child. Trapped in a passionless marriage with a husband who shows no interest in having children, her maternal longing becomes an obsession. Like much of Lorca’s other work, the play casts a critical eye upon what he called “the grotesque treatment of women” and the repression of female sexual desire.

In director Truax's production, the barrenness of Yerma’s marriage reduces her home to a prison, under the controlling force of the male gaze, personified by an ever-present male chorus. This is the "tragic poem" of a woman stretched between the burden of her family's honor and an all-consuming appetite she can't name or hold. With much of Lorca’s poems performed as songs with original music by Tonozzi, Theatre Y’s new immersive staging unearths the agony and anguish that propel Yerma toward her tragic fate. 


Katie Stimpson (Yerma)

Cast for Yerma includes: Héctor Álvarez (Man 2), Cody Beyer (Juan), Tanner Bradshaw (Man 1), Barbara Button (Old Pagan Woman), Adrian Garcia (Man 3), Arch Harmon (Man 5), Brendan Mulhern (Victor), Eric Roberts (Man 4), Laurie Roberts (Second Girl), Katie Sherman (Maria), Katie Stimpson (Yerma), Kris Tori (First Girl), Victoria Walters (Dolores), and Nick Wenz.

The production team for Yerma includes: Emily Altman (Scenic Painter), Héctor Álvarez (adaptor), Eric Backus (Sound Designer), Joanna Iwanicka (Set Designer), Melissa Lorraine (Costume and Makeup Designer), Morgan Massaro (Stage Manager), Taylor Ovca (Lighting Designer), Nicholas Tonozzi (Composer and Music Director), Max Truax (Director) and Ben Wardell (Choreographer).


ABOUT MAX TRUAX, Director
Max Truax serves as artistic director of Red Tape Theatre, where he has directed A Hedda Gabler and Brand.  He previously served as artistic director of Oracle Productions until 2016, where he directed No Beast So Fierce, The President, The Mother, The Sandman, Woyzeck, The Ghost Sonata and Termen Vox Machina. His production of The Mother received several Jeff Awards. Truax has been a resident director at Trap Door Theatre since 2008, where he has directed No Matter How Hard We Try, The Balcony, They Are Dying Out, Hamlet Machine, A Couple of Poor Polish-Speaking Romanians, and No Darkness Round My Stone. His production of A Couple of Poor Polish-Speaking Romanians performed at the Fun Underground Festival in Arad, Romania and at the Bagatela Theatre in Krakow, Poland. Truax studied visual art, performance art and post-modern choreography at Oberlin College and he received his MFA in Theatre Directing from California Institute of the Arts.


ABOUT NICHOLAS TONOZZI, Composer and Music Director
Nicholas Tonozzi is a composer and music director based in Chicago as well as an active singer. He was awarded the 2014 Joseph Jefferson Non-Equity Award for Original Music in a Play for his work on The Mother with Oracle Productions. He was honored with a second Jeff Award in 2015 for his original music in The Jungle also at Oracle.  He earned a second nomination in the same category that year for Oracle’s production of Circle Machine.  In 2014, Tonozzi worked as music director and composer for Trap Door Theater’s production of Regarding the Just, which enjoyed a run in Chicago before touring in and around Paris, France.  This was Tonozzi’s second show featured in Paris following in the footsteps of Trap Door’s production of Me Too, I am Catherine Deneuve.  Other credits include No Beast So Fierce, Hamlet Machine, Twelve Ophelias, and Anger/Fly.  Tonozzi, a tenor, may currently be heard singing as a cantor, chorister and soloist with the Schola Cantorum Cathedralis of Holy Name Cathedral.  Tonozzi returned to the Ravinia Festival in 2017 for their Lord of the Rings movie/concert series.

OPENING: The Black Renaissance (A MUSICAL RESISTANCE AGAINST RACISM) a Black Ensemble Theater World Premiere 10/14-11/26/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

BLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER CONTINUES 2017 

DANCE THEATER SEASON 

WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF

The Black Renaissance 

(A MUSICAL RESISTANCE AGAINST RACISM)

Written and DIRECTED BY Jackie Taylor

October 14-November 26, 2017

The mission of the Black Ensemble Theater Company is to eradicate racism and its devastating effects upon society through the theater arts.  

This Sunday, ChiIL Mama will be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's renowned Black Ensemble Theater Company for the press opening of the World Premiere of The Black Renaissance (A Musical Resistance Against Racism), another Jackie Taylor original. Check back soon for our full review. Despite being about as white as a blonde haired, blue eyed German/Swede can be, I have always felt completely and unequivocally welcome at BET. There is an undeniable friendliness and inclusive sense of community here, that's big enough to accept everyone.

The power vocals of BET's ensemble members are truly world class, and they seek not only to entertain, but to craft original, thought provoking, mind altering productions, season after season. In these regressive, repressive political times, where hate and divisiveness have found a platform, there's an aching need for healing, understanding, and powerful action that music and theatre can provide. I can't wait to see Black Ensemble Theater's latest world premiere. 

Black Ensemble Theater continues the 2017 Season (The Dance Theater Season) with the World Premiere of The Black Renaissance (A Musical Resistance Against Racism), written and directed by Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor. The Black Renaissance (A Musical Resistance Against Racism), will be performed at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago, October 14-November 26, 2017. 

Through the struggles, trials and tribulations of those who fought and fight against oppression and racism, The Black Renaissance is a musical and historical depiction of the African American experience in a racist America that will uplift, inspire and motivate all of us to create a world where racism cannot exist. The Black Renaissance (A Musical Resistance Against Racism), is more than a play, it is a movement. A movement through song and dance that will help us understand the systemic process of racism and oppression. This thought provoking production will uncover the root of racism, what is it and why we must remove it from our society.  

When asked the reason why she decided to tackle this subject, Jackie Taylor replied, “Because of the climate within in our society today, now is the time! The Black Renaissance has difficult moments because the racism pill is a very difficult pill to swallow. In order to solve our societal issues we must be able to confront those issues. And that is the purpose of The Black Renaissance.”  

Through this historical presentation from slavery to Obama to Trump, we will be led on a spiritual journey that will ignite the healing process and help us understand how to respect and honor our differing cultures while learning how to live together as one race – the human race.  

The Black Renaissance features Michael Adkins, Brian Boller, Jana’ah Coates, Rueben Echoles, Lemond Hayes, Wendell Jackson, Dwight Neal, Linnea Norwood, Rhonda Preston, LeKeya Shearrill, Henri Slater, Lynn Solar and Levi Stewart. 

As with all Black Ensemble Theater productions, The Black Renaissance features live musicians, including musical director Robert Reddrick, (drums) Adam Sherod (piano), Mark Miller (bass) and Gary Baker (guitar).

The designers are Ruthanne Swanson (costumes), The A Team (set), Denise Karczewski (lights), Aaron Quick (sounds). The stage manager is Bekki Lambrecht. 

Tickets are available at the Black Ensemble Box Office located at 4450 N. Clark St in Chicago, or online at www.blackensemble.org, or by phone at (773) 769-4451. Tickets are $45 for previews (preview dates); $55 (Thursdays and Saturday matinees) and $65 (Fridays, Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees).  There is a 10% discount for students, seniors and groups


Dates:


October 14-November 19, 2017
Previews: October 14, 15, 20 and 21, 2017
Press Performance: Sunday, October 22 at 3:00pm

Schedule:     

Thursdays: 7:30 pm

Fridays: 8:00 pmSaturdays: 3:00 pm 
8:00 pm 
Sundays: 3:00 pm 

Location: Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street, Chicago
Valet parking is available.

Ticket prices: $45 Previews
$55 on Thursdays and Saturday matinees; 
$65 on Fridays, Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees
A 10% discount is available for students, seniors, and groups. 
Box Office: Buy online at www.blackensemble.org or call (773) 769-4451

The Black Ensemble Theater 
Founded in 1976, by the phenomenal producer, playwright and actress Jackie Taylor, Black Ensemble Theater is the only African American theater located in the culturally, racially and ethnically diverse north side Uptown community. Through its Five Play Season of Excellence, The Black Ensemble Theater dazzles audiences locally, nationally and internationally with outstanding original musicals that are entertaining, educational and uplifting. The Black Ensemble Theater has produced more than 100 productions and employed over 5,000 artists.

On November 18, 2011, The Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center opened and is able to accommodate larger-scale productions, bigger audiences and a wider range of educational programming. The new facility includes amenities such as a 299-seat main stage theater (double the capacity of the original venue); 14 offices, classroom space, rehearsal hall, dance studio, scene shop, costume shop, and wardrobe rooms; seven dressing rooms; rehearsal room for musicians; front lobby space with concession areas; and an indoor parking garage.  The completion of a 150-seat theater, which will serve as an experimental stage for the work of the Black Playwright Initiative (BPI), with construction by General Contractor Norcon Inc., is expected in 2018. 

For more information on the Black Ensemble Theater Company, please visit www.BlackEnsembleTheater.org or call 773-769-4451.

OPENING: Welcome to Jesus 10/26-12/3 And Full 33rd Season Casting Announced

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY ANNOUNCES COMPLETE

CASTING FOR SEASON 33:

World premiere of Welcome to Jesus by Janine Nabers

Chicago premiere of We’re Gonna Be Okay by Basil Kreimendahl

World premiere of Diagram of a Paper Airplane by Carlos Murillo

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we're looking forward to another season of edgy, insightful productions from ATC. We'll be out to review their season opener, Welcome to Jesus, on October 30th, so check back soon for our full review. 

American Theater Company (ATC) announces complete casting for Season 33 productions: Janine Nabers’ world premiere of Welcome to Jesus, directed by Artistic Director Will Davis, October 26–December 3, 2017; Basil Kreimendahl’s Chicago premiere of We’re Gonna Be Okay, January 25–March 4, 2018, directed by Davis; and Carlos Murillo’s world premiere of Diagram of a Paper Airplane, May 3–June 10, 2018, directed by Bonnie Metzgar.

“At ATC we champion theater makers who are bold and curious about what is possible on stage, which means we're thrilled to kick off the season with the world premiere of Janine Nabers Welcome to Jesus, a remarkable new work fusing fable and horror in a 21st century take on the southern gothic tradition,” says Davis. “Welcome to Jesus speaks to the power of prejudice to define our fate and will be performed in a kinetic and magical darkness, punctuated by the high theater of small town football and old-time religion. Continuing in the ATC style of expansive and fearless approaches to play-making, Welcome to Jesus will be followed by Basil Kreimendahl's We're Gonna be Okay and Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane. The Season 33 line up of artists exemplifies our commitment to equity, theatricality, and adventure, and we cannot wait to share their work with you.”

Season subscriptions are on sale now and range from $40-$114, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35. To purchase a subscription or for more information, visit

www.atcweb.org or call the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125.

World Premiere

Welcome to Jesus

Written by Janine Nabers

Directed by Will Davis

October 26–December 3, 2017

Cast: Taylor Blim (Dixie Danver), Theo Germaine (Bud Henderson), Rashaad Hall (Him), Casey Morris (Officer Mike Danver), Josh Odor (Coach Arthur Henderson), John Henry Roberts (Sheriff Paul Danver Sr.) and Stacy Stoltz (Ma Danver).

In fictional Hallelujah, TX, football reigns, and the quarterback is king. Janine Nabers’ darkly funny and powerful new play unearths the tyranny of small town life and the power of prejudice to define our fate. Staged in a field of wood chips, about a town in search of some good news, Welcome to Jesus fuses fable and horror in a twenty-first century take on the Southern Gothic tradition.

Chicago premiere

We’re Gonna Be Okay

Written by Basil Kreimendahl

Directed by Will Davis

January 25–March 4, 2018

Cast: Adithi Chandrashekar (Leena), BrittneyLove Smith (Mag), Saraí Rodriguez (Deanna), Avi Roque (Jake), Kelli Simpkins (Efran) and Penelope Walker (Sul).

In the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy addressed the nation, “My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out...But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.” Well, Efran and Leena and Mag and Sul are thinking about doing something. Something big. Straight from Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay confronts the fears of the American middle class as two families wrestle with macrame, female empowerment and a shared property line.

World Premiere
Diagram of a Paper Airplane 

Written by Carlos Murillo

Directed by Bonnie Metzgar

May 3–June 10, 2018

Cast: Nicholas Bailey (Mario), David Cerda (Alvaro), Lawrence Grimm (Herman), Rebecca Spence (Valerie) and Allyce Torres (Lila).

Javier C. is dead, and in his wake are fragments and scraps of his magnum opus mailed mysteriously from New Mexico to his group of ex-friends in New York. Called "an absolutely extraordinary achievement from a writer at the height of his powers” by American Theatre Magazine, Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane is the first in a trilogy of plays that examine the capacity of friendships to withstand the unimaginable. Director Bonnie Metzgar brings life to a night of mourning and celebration that will leave them wondering if Diagram of a Paper Airplane ever existed at all.

Bringing together theater artists and audiences often separated by physical ability, gender identity and ethnicity

ATC remains committed to its partnership with Chicago Inclusion Project, whose work creates inclusive theater experiences that bring together Chicago artists and audiences normally separated by physical ability, gender identity and/or ethnic background. The two companies partner on casting, giving diverse theater artists access to roles they might traditionally have been excluded from. Together with the Chicago Inclusion Project, ATC will continue its commitment to presenting works that boldly reflect the diversity of stories and experiences in America today.

Past world premiere productions at ATC include Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play The Humans and Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced, both of which enjoyed acclaimed Broadway runs. In Season 32 ATC produced the regional premiere of Jaclyn Backhaus’ Men On Boats, immediately following its Off Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons; reimagined classic, Pulitzer Prize winner Picnic by William Inge; and presented Dan Aibel’s world premiere of T., an exploration of the competitive ice skating saga between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.  

About American Theater Company

American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, ArtsWork Fund, Lagunitas Breweing Co, Actors’ Equity Foundation,

The Pauls Foundation and Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation.

ROCK SHOWS ON OUR RADAR: Chicago’s Two Sets of Eyes Play Tonic Room 10/21/17

Chicago’s Two Sets of Eyes, featuring members of The Phantom Broadcast, Splor and Groove Cartel, offer up a progressive blend of post punk, hip hop, pop and jazz on their debut single “For the Last Time.”

“For the Last Time” streams at https://twosetsofeyes.bandcamp.com/releases and the band is playing The Tonic Room this Sat, Oct 21 as noted at http://tonicroom.ticketfly.com/event/1577647-faintlife-chicago/

https://www.facebook.com/twosetsofeyes/