OPENING: FOR THE LOYAL Lee Blessing's Shocking New Play Via Interrobang Theatre at The Athenaeum

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Interrobang Theatre Project Presents

FOR THE LOYAL

By Lee Blessing

Directed by Co-Artistic Director James Yost

January 6 – February 4, 2018 at The Athenaeum Theatre

Presented as part of Interrobang Theatre Project’s 'RAW Series'

Important Info: Due to strong language, not recommended for all ages. Performance lasts 78 minutes without intermission.

Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission.

Tonight we're eager catch the press opening of For The Loyal, the latest in Interrobang Theatre Project’s 'RAW Series' exploring the urgent question “What is Truth?”. As we begin 2018, few things are as American as football and sex abuse scandals, so this on stage exploration is more than timely. Check back soon for our full review.

Photos by Emily Schwartz.

Sarah Gise, Rob Frankel & Matthew Nerber

Following its hit production of FOXFINDER, Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to continue its 2017-18 Season, exploring the urgent question “What is Truth?,” with the Chicago premiere of Lee Blessing's shocking and thought-provoking new play FOR THE LOYAL, directed by Co-Artistic Director James Yost*. FOR THE LOYAL will play January 6 – February 4, 2018 at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio 1), 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.interrobangtheatre.org, by calling (773) 935-6875 or in person at The Athenaeum Theatre Box Office. 

FOR THE LOYAL features ensemble members Sarah Gise* as Mia and Matthew Nerber* as Toby with Richard David as The Boy, Rob Frankel as Carlson and Josh Zagoren as Hale.

For Toby and Mia, college football and family are one and the same; he has a new coaching job for a top team, and they are happily expecting their first born. But when Toby gets Mia enmeshed in an unseemly team secret, she is forced to decide where her loyalties truly lie. Inspired by the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, FOR THE LOYAL takes an unconventional and provocative look at how one woman traverses a no-win situation. 

FOR THE LOYAL is presented as part of Interrobang's RAW Series. Think of it a bit like theatrical sashimi. Big ideas, bold flavors – everything you’ve come to expect from Interrobang Theatre Project – without the trimmings. We’ve stripped down the classic stage elements to put the story front and center. The RAW Series features passion-projects and bucket-list productions spearheaded by our talented ensemble. In addition to our regularly scheduled plays, the RAW Series aims to bring concise, actor-driven theater to the Chicago stage. 

The production team for FOR THE LOYAL includes: Pauline Olesky (scenic design), Rebecca Bartle (lighting design), Christopher Aaron Knarr* (original music), Hannah Wolff (asst. director), Elana Elyce* (artistic producer) and Shawn Galligan* (stage manager).

*Denotes Interrobang Theatre Project Company Member. 

Location: The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio 1), 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago

Regular run: Thursday, January 11 – Sunday, February 4, 2018
Curtain Times: Thursdays, and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 7:30 pm: Sundays at 2 pm. 

Tickets: Regular run: $32. Students $17 with ID. (Ticket prices include $2 Athenaeum Theatre restoration fee). 
Tickets are currently available at www.interrobangtheatre.org, by calling (773) 935-6875 or in person at The Athenaeum Theatre Box Office.

About the Artists:

Lee Blessing’s (Playwright) play A Walk in the Woods was produced on Broadway and London's West End. His Off-Broadway productions include A Body of Water, Primary Stages; Going To St. Ives, Primary Stages (Outer Critic’s Circle Award, Best Play, Obie for ensemble performance); Thief River, Signature Theatre (Drama Desk nomination, Best Play); Cobb, Lucille Lortel Theatre (Drama Desk award, best ensemble); Chesapeake, New York Stage and Film at Second Stage; Eleemosynary, Manhattan Theatre Company and Down the Road, the Weissberger Group at the Atlantic Theatre. The Signature Theatre dedicated its 1992-93 season to his work, consisting of Fortinbras, Lake Street Extension, Two Rooms and the world premiere of Patient A. Other world and regional premieres include an adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s Heaven's My Destination, which had its world premiere at the Cleveland Play House, Great Falls in the Humana New Play Festival of the Actors Theatre of Louisville, A Body of Water at the Guthrie Theater and the Old Globe Theatre, Lonesome Hollow, Flag Day and Whores at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, The Scottish Play at La Jolla Playhouse, Black Sheep at Florida Stage and The Winning Streak at George Street Playhouse. Other plays include Independence, Riches, Oldtimers Game, Nice People Dancing To Good Country Music and Perilous Night. Productions of Blessing’s plays have earned awards such as The American Theater Critics Circle Award, the L.A. Drama Critics Award, The Great American Play Award, The Humanitas Award, and the George and Elisabeth Marton Award, among others. He has received nominations for Tony and Olivier awards, as well as the Pulitzer Prize. He heads the graduate playwriting program at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.

James Yost (Director) is a Joseph Jefferson Award nominated director and the Co-Artistic Director of Interrobang Theatre Project. He previously served as the producing artistic director for BareBones Theatre Group, a company he co-founded in 1998. Selected credits include: Mr. Marmalade, Psycho Beach Party, Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical, Skylight, The Graduate, The Play About the Baby, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Drift, bash; the latter-day plays, Squirrels, The Wizard of Oz, Lend Me A Tenor, Orson's Shadow, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Pitchfork Disney and Noises Off.  For ITP, credits include Orange Flower Water (Jeff nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Joseph Wiens), Ibsen is Dead, The North Pool (Jeff nominated for best production and best director), Falling (Jeff nominated actors: Justin Tsatsa and Amy Johnson) and last season's critically acclaimed REALLY REALLY (named one of the best shows of 2015 by the Chicago Tribune). Other credits include True West by Sam Shepard for Shattered Globe. This summer he will direct Boeing Boeing for Davidson College. He teaches acting, directing, production design and film at the high school and collegiate level. He is published in Teaching Theatre Journal, a publication of Dramatics Magazine.

About Interrobang Theatre Project
Now in its eighth season, Interrobang Theatre Project, under the artistic leadership of Georgette Verdin and James Yost, has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as a “company to watch” and by Time Out Chicago as “one of Chicago’s most promising young theatre companies.” Season seven earned seven non-Equity Jeff Nominations, including Best Director, Production of a Play, Solo Performance and acting nominations for Lead Actor, Actress and Actor in a Supporting Role. Productions have included the world premiere of Calamity West’s Ibsen is Dead (Jeff Recommended), and the Jeff Recommended The Pitchfork Disney, Orange Flower Water, Recent Tragic Events, The Amish Project, The North Pool, and Falling. Director James Yost’s critically-acclaimed Really Really was one of six shows chosen for Chicago Tribune’s list "Best of 2015 in Chicago Fringe Theater.”

What’s an interrobang?
An interrobang is the combination of a question mark and an exclamation point, joining the Latin for “question” (interro) with a proofreading term for “exclamation” (bang). Through the plays we produce, Interrobang Theatre Project aims to pose worthwhile and exciting questions which challenge our understanding and assumptions of who we are and the world in which we live. 

For more information, please visit www.interrobangtheatreproject.org.

REVIEW: Nuanced Nevermore Macabre Musical Madness

Through January 28, 2018 at The Edge Theater

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar: 

Chicago Premiere!

Black Button Eyes Productions Presents

NEVERMORE – The Imaginary Life and 

Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe

Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Christenson 

Directed by Ed Rutherford 

Music Direction by Nick Sula

Choreography by Derek Van Barham

This has to be the creepiest, coolest board of headshots I've ever seen! Black Button Eyes Nevermore cast living up to their name.

Following its hit production of SHOCKHEADED PETER, Black Button Eyes Productions is pleased to conclude its 2017-18 season with the Chicago premiere musical NEVERMORE – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, the moving life story of the iconic American writer told through haunting music, poetic storytelling and stunning stagecraft, with book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Christenson. Directed by Producing Artistic Director Ed Rutherford, with music direction by Nick Sula and choreography by Derek Van Barham, NEVERMORE will play January 5 – 28, 2018 at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at nevermorechicago.brownpapertickets.com. 

Running time: 2:10, including intermission.

REVIEW:

It was truly a treat to catch Nevermore with my teenage son. We've both loved Poe's work forever, but knew little of his life story. This eerie and excellent musical makes for an entertaining night out. Poe endures one wrenching loss after another throughout childhood and into adulthood. He loses his parents and then his beloved adopted mother to suicide after she's forcibly committed to an asylum. He loses his true love, his chance at a college education, his sobriety, and eventually his mind. 

Photo credit for all: Cole Simon

One of the most striking characters, is the ever-present Raven, who stalks Poe as a grim reaper like specter with a mask reminiscent of the black plague doctors. His spiraling descent into despair and madness parallels his increasing genius in stellar storytelling. As Poe is pouring out his grief onto the pages, he is increasingly haunted by characters, both from his life and of his own making. 

Black Button Eyes Productions does a fabulous job on a storefront theatre budget. The set design is sparse and simplistic, which works well since the story is so dramatic and colorful. The cast’s musical performance of the fitting score is fabulous. The accompanying band of three keyboards (Nick Sula, Michael Evans, TJ Anderson) and percussion (Cali Kasten) does a fine job. Still, I would love to see a remount with a small, live band actually on stage, featuring theremin, dissonant strings, and maybe even a saw. 

Kevin Webb does a standout performance as Edgar Allan Poe, and there's not a weak link in the ensemble. Overall, this is an eclectic and striking production that's well worth seeing. Highly recommended. Catch Nevermore at The Edge Theatre through January 28th.

NEVERMORE features Kevin Webb as Edgar Allan Poe with Megan DeLay, Jessica Lauren Fisher, Ryan Lanning, Matt McNabb, Maiko Terazawa and Jeremy Trager.

Edgar Allan Poe’s life reads like one of his short stories: an unrelenting tale of misery and woe. His death is also shrouded in mystery. Was he just spectacularly unlucky, or did a supernatural shadow fall over his life? This Chicago premiere weaves fact and fiction into a tapestry of music and poetry.

The production team for NEVERMORE includes: Jeremy Hollis (scenic design, technical director) Beth Laske-Miller (costume design), Liz Cooper (lighting design), Robert Hornbostel (sound design), Catherine Woods (props design, puppet design) and Hazel McCabe-Flowers (stage manager).



Location: The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway, Chicago
Regular run: Saturday, January 6 – Sunday, January 28, 2018
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.

*Please note: there will be added matinee performances on Saturday, January 13, Saturday, January 20 and Saturday, January 27 at 2 pm. 

Tickets: $30. Tickets are currently available at nevermorechicago.brownpapertickets.com. Tickets may also be purchased in person beginning one hour prior to each performance.



About the Artists:
Jonathan Christenson (Book, Music & Lyrics) is a director, writer and composer whose original musical plays have been presented at major theatres and festivals throughout the U.K., Australia, the U.S. and Canada. His work has been recognized with more than 40 British, Canadian and American awards and nominations, including a Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding New Musical of New York’s 2015 Off-Broadway season. His plays have been published by Playwrights Canada Press, Newest Press and Bayeaux Arts, recordings of his music can be found on iTunes and at Broadway Records, and his productions are featured in American Theatre, Maclean’s, CTR, PRISM International, Canada World View and All Stages. He was named one of “Alberta’s Fifty Most Influential People” by Venture Magazine and Alberta Playwrights Network chose him as one of Alberta’s one hundred most significant theatre artists of the past one hundred years.

Ed Rutherford (Director) recently directed Black Button Eyes’ Jeff-Recommended Shockheaded Peter, preceded by Amour (Chicago premiere), Goblin Marke, and Stephin Merrit's musical adaptation of Coraline (Midwest Premiere). In 2017, Ed also directed the Jeff-Recommend productions of The Liar with Promethean Theatre Ensemble and Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz at Brown Paper Box Co. He is an artistic associate at Promethean, where he additionally directed his own world premiere adaptation of the Peter S. Beagle fantasy novel The Last Unicorn, Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle and the company's inaugural production, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy. As an actor, he has performed with Drury Lane Oakbrook, Porchlight, Theater Wit and many others. A graduate of Northwestern's theater program, he is currently completing his MBA at Kellogg.

Nick Sula (Music Director) is a pianist, arranger and award-winning music director for theater and cabaret. He is proud to return to Black Button Eyes where he performed as music director for Amour and Coraline. Recent theater credits include music direction at Porchlight Music Theatre, Pride Films and Plays, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble and Chicago Theatre Workshop. Nick is an instructor, music director and vocal coach at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. He is also a member of the Chicago Cabaret Professionals, performing with vocalists at venues such as Davenport’s, Uptown Underground, Stage 773, Victory Gardens, The Twisted Vine and the Park West. www.nicksula.com

Derek Van Barham (Choreographer) is the Associate Artistic Director of Pride Films & Plays, a member of the Red Tape Theatre ensemble and a former Artistic Director of The Ruckus. For PFP, he has directed Angry Fags (Steppenwolf Garage Repertory), Songs from an Unmade Bed (Jeff nomination: Best Director of a Musical or Revue), PRISCILLA, Queen of the Desert: The Musical (co-directed by David Zak). He also wrote, directed and choreographed BITE: A Pucking Queer Cabaret and Kill Your Boyfriends. Other directing credits include Three Days of Rain (Boho), Miracle! by Dan Savage and Skooby Don't (Hell in a Handbag) and Trash (New American Folk Theatre). He has choreographed for Black Button Eyes (Shockheaded Peter, Coraline the Musical, Goblin Market, Amour), Permoveo (Albert Cashier), The Plagiarists, Inappropriate Theatre,and Salonathon. He can currently be seen improvising with the LGBT team Baby Wine (Fridays at The Annoyance). He was recently named one of Windy City Times 30 Under 30, recognizing individuals from Chicago's LGBTQ community. He holds an MFA from Chicago College of Performing Arts. www.derekvanbarham.com



About Black Button Eyes Productions
Along with the Jeff-Recommended Chicago storefront premiere of Shockheaded Peter, the other production of the 2017-2018 season, Nevermore continues Black Button Eyes Productions' mission to bring to Chicago premieres and seldom-seen works containing elements of fantasy, in which the magical and surreal invade reality. The company was founded in 2014 with the acclaimed Midwest Premiere of the musical Coraline, and continued in 2015 by producing the musical Goblin Market in its first Chicago production in over 15 years, attended by the author, Chicago native Polly Pen. In 2016 the company presented the Chicago premiere of the musical Amour.

PHOTO RECAP: YAKUZA Chicago Sax Metal Favorites Play Empty Bottle 25th Anniversary Show 12/22/17

It was our great pleasure to catch YAKUZA in concert once again on December 22, 2017. Of course it's fitting they would be in on The Empty Bottle's year long 25th Anniversary Concert Series #EB25, as Yakuza's Vocalist and saxophonist Bruce Lamont is also a longtime fixture behind the bar at EB. 

It was especially sweet to hear Helen Money, “A classical-cellist-turned-avant-metal virtuoso", sit in with them!

Yakuza has been a favorite of mine for years, ever since another Bruce, former priest turned bartender/musician, Bruce (Neal) turned me on to the band when we worked at Facets Multimedia together. 





I was bemoaning the lack of a "Pandora-like" setting that could find bands by weird genre key words like (my actual quote) "heavy metal sax"... when Bruce N. laughed and said, do you know Yakuza? I'd already photographed another of Lamont's bands, Led Zeppelin cover band, LZ2, but hadn't heard of Yakuza at the time. They may never gain huge commercial success, but they have a fervent following and we catch them live every chance we can. They're dissonant, loud, haunting and unlike any other metal band I've experienced. It may be an acquired taste for more traditional headbangers, but theirs is a compelling sound I can't get enough of.


Check out my full set of YAKUZA live show shots in the slide show here and more favorites embedded below. 




I'm also including a sweet video of their whole show from that night via Wwatchthemwatchyou's YouTube Channel:

In another odd coincidence, I had a talk with the guy taping the show, and we discovered we were both frequent tapers at Dead Shows "back in the day". Just goes to show, a passion for live music transcends genres. Crank this one up! 




Via Empty Bottle:
Chicago’s YAKUZA is no stranger to the Empty Bottle stage. Well-known throughout the Chicago metal scene for incorporating jazz and world music elements, they’re basically a genre of their own. Vocalist and saxophonist BRUCE LAMONT notes influencers ranging from PINK FLOYD to GEORGE ORWELL and Ethiopian music. 



Formed in 1999, their debut album Amount to Nothing received critical acclaim from the likes of Terrorizer and Chicago Sun Times. They’ve released a boatload of boundary-crushing albums since and are still rocking as wildly as ever. The four-piece has long shown proclivities for music beyond metal and it's their willingness to incorporate these many and varied influences that sets them apart from their peers, continually pushing the envelope with an adventurousness and experimentation we've come to expect. YAKUZA has carved an unchallenged niche in the metal genre and we’re are excited to have them back for our unforgettable #EB25 anniversary series.

Other Musicians That Night:
Click the links for our photo features.

ALISON CHESLEY aka HELEN MONEY is a cellist who has become known for her adventurous sound, bold compositions, and compelling stage performance. Called “A classical-cellist-turned-avant-metal virtuoso" by the Boston Phoenix, CHESLEY channels her sensibilities and experience as a rock musician through a classical instrument, altering both genres without apology. She has played on over 150 albums with artists such as Disturbed, Bob Mould, Mono, Anthrax, Broken Social Scene, Russian Circles, and Archer Prewitt among others.

Support tonight comes from the one and only SANFORD PARKER. These days, if it’s metal and recorded in Chicago, chances are SANFORD PARKER was at the mixing board. His own bands, MINSK and BURIED AT SEA are super killer as well. We’re honored to witness a master at this craft this evening. Pay close attention and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two!

OPENING: World Premiere of The Light at The Den Theatre Via The New Colony Through 2/4/18

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

The New Colony Presents the World Premiere of

THE LIGHT

Written by Loy Webb 

Directed by Toma Langston

January 5 – February 4, 2018 at The Den Theatre

ChiIL Live Shows will be ChiILin' at one of our favorite Chi, IL theatre venues, The Den Theatre, on Thursday the 11th, reviewing The Light. We can't wait to catch this world premiere by The New Colony. Check back soon for our full review. 

The New Colony is pleased to conclude its ninth season with the world premiere of Loy Webb’s gripping romantic drama THE LIGHT, directed by Toma Langston, playing January 5 – February 4, 2018 at The New Colony’s resident home, The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org. 

THE LIGHT features TNC Ensemble Member Jeffery Owen Freelon Jr. (Byhalia, Mississippi - TNC, A Wonder in My Soul - Victory Gardens) and Tiffany Oglesby (An Octaroon - Definition Theatre Company, Significant Other - About Face & Theater Wit). 

A surprise proposal takes an unexpected turn that upends the world of Genesis and Rashad, forcing them to confront a devastating secret from the past and putting the future of their relationship at risk. Featuring two of Chicago’s most dynamic actors, THE LIGHT is a 70-minute, real-time rollercoaster journey of laughter, romance and despair that uncovers how the power of radical love can be a healing beacon of light.

The LIGHT is the 30th world premiere presented by The New Colony since 2008 and marks the final production under the tenure of founding co-artistic directors Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder, who are stepping down at the conclusion of the company’s ninth season 

The production team for THE LIGHT includes: John Wilson (scenic design), Cassandra Kendall (lighting design), Regina Victor (dramaturg), Noelle Simone (assistant director) and Daryl Ritchie (stage manager). 

Regular run: Thursday, January 11 – Sunday, February 4, 2018
Curtain times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Industry Night: Monday, January 29 at 7:30 pm 
Tickets: Regular run: $20. Students/seniors: 25% off. Tickets are currently available at www.thenewcolony.org.  

About the Artists
Loy Webb (Playwright) is a Chicago born theatre journalist and playwright. Her new play The Light was developed through The New Colony’s Writer’s Room 4.0. She is an inaugural Tutterow Fellow at Chicago Dramatists, and her one-act plays have been featured at Black Ensemble Theatre, American Theater Company, 20 Percent Theatre Company Chicago, University of North Dakota, GI60 International One Minute Play Festival, Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company New York and the Black Lives, Black Words International Project, in which she is an associate artist. As a theatre journalist she is a member of the Association of Women of Journalists-Chicago, a past mentor with the AWJ-Chicago/Goodman Theatre’s Cindy Bandle Young Critics Program and a contributing theater critic for Newcity. Her one act play, I AM a Woman is published in both Wish to Live: The Hip-hop Feminism Pedagogy Reader and the Black Lives, Black Words International Project anthology. Additionally, her one-act play Saving Inge is published in One Minute Plays: A Practical Guide To Tiny Theatre. Loy holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and J.D. from The John Marshall Law School. Her primary mission with all her writing is to be a pointer towards hope.

Toma Langston (Director) is a freelance theater director. Credits include Victory Gardens: Directors Inclusion Initiative Director 2015. (Assistant Director) Sucker Punch. Jackalope Theatre: 1980 (or Why I'm Voting for John Anderson). Sideshow Theatre: (Assistant Director) Truth and Reconciliation and Give It All Back. Toma is a proud steering committee member of DirectorsLab Chicago and an associate artist with Black Lives, Black Words International Project. Directorial credits include: The Last Five Years, The Shadow Box, For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Toma has worked with Chicago Dramatists, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre and Prologue Theatre. 

Jeffery Owen Freelon Jr. (Rashad) is a proud south side Chicagoan (Hyde Park) and excited  to work on a play by black people and for black people. He is also extremely proud to see it produced by The New Colony. He has worked with an array of theatre companies such as Theatre Unspeakable, Definition Theatre and Victory Gardens and has made an appearance on Chicago PD. He is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

Tiffany Oglesby (Genesis) is originally from Atlanta, GA. and recently appeared as Vanessa in About Face and Theatre Wit’s co-production of Significant Other. Other theatre credits include An Octoroon (Definition Theatre), truth and reconciliation (Sideshow), East Texas Hot Links (u/s Writers) and A Small Oak Tree Runs Red (u/s Congo Square). She also had the pleasure of working with other theatre companies including Raven and Lifeline. TV credits include Chicago Med and The Chi. She received her BFA in Performing Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. Happily exclusive with Grossman and Jack Talent. 

THE LIGHT is sponsored by Michael and Mona Heath.

About The New Colony

The New Colony develops NEW ART and NEW ARTISTS in order to educate and build NEW AUDIENCES. Founded in 2008, The New Colony has established itself as “one of Chicago’s essential off-Loop companies” (Chicago Tribune) having developed and produced over 25 world-premiere plays and musicals garnering four Joseph Jefferson Awards, the 2011 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award, and Best Overall Production at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival. The New Colony is a resident company of The Den Theatre located in Wicker Park.

OPENING: The Good Fight at City Lit Via Babes With Blades Through February 17th

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

BABES WITH BLADES THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES CHICAGO PREMIERE OF

THE GOOD FIGHT AT THE CITY LIT THEATER,

JANUARY 6 – FEBRUARY 17, 2018

A Remarkable True Chapter in the Struggle for Women’s Suffrage:

The English Suffragettes who Learned Jujutsu

running time is 1 hour and 45 minutes 

including intermission

Babes With Blades Theatre Company (BWBTC) has been a favorite of ours here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows for decades! We adore their female centered period pieces and original works, and we're particularly jazzed to see The Good Fight. We're also completely down with their mission statement:

In each element of their programming, BWBTC embraces two key concepts:

1)     Women are central to the story, driving the action rather than responding or submitting to it

2)     Women are capable of a full emotional and physical range, up to and including violence and its consequences.

The company offers participants and patrons alike an unparalleled opportunity to experience women as heroes and villains; rescuers and rescuees; right, wrong, and everywhere in between: exciting, vivid, dynamic PEOPLE. It’s as simple and as subversive as that.

 I'll be out on MLK Day, Monday the 15th, for the press opening, so check back shortly after for my full review. I love that in the microcosm of Chicago's theatre world, this show is coming on the heels of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's incredible Women's suffrage version of Taming of the Shrew, conceived and directed by the inimitable Barbara Gaines. It's my least favorite Shakespearian work and I'm still stunned and elated that Barbara was able to work some serious magic with this historically problematic, misogynistic piece and turn it into a feminist masterpiece, while remaining true to Shakespeare's original words and themes.

I can't wait to immerse myself in the women's suffrage era once again, with Babes With Blades, and experience a kick ass element of the movement we never learned in school, The English Suffragettes who Learned Jujutsu.

BWBTC continues its 20th Anniversary Season: “Origins” with the Chicago premiere of The Good Fight, playing at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., January 6 – February 17, 2018.  

Developed in 2011 through BWBTC’s Fighting Words program under the title Deeds Not Words, the play is written by Anne Bertram, executive director of Theatre Unbound, a Minneapolis/St. Paul company devoted to work by and about women. Elizabeth Lovelady, a Jeff Award-winning artist based in Chicago, directs The Good Fight, which features combat by Fight Choreographer Gaby Labotka. Preview performances are Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 7 at 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 14 at 3 p.m. Opening Night is Monday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. Regular performances are Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Preview tickets are $10, student and senior tickets are $15, early bird general admission (available online through January 15, 2018) are $20 and general admission (after January 15, 2018) are $25. To purchase tickets and for more information, please visit BabesWithBlades.org.

The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel, was the primary militant group pushing for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. Under the slogan "Deeds, not words," the WSPU advocated targeting property as a form of protest, from smashing shop windows to burning and bombing buildings. Imprisoned WSPU members – including Pankhurst – launched hunger strikes, which were initially countered by the authorities with force-feeding; later the government introduced the "Cat and Mouse Act," under which starving suffragettes were released, only to be re-imprisoned once regaining their health. To defend their leaders and comrades, the WSPU established "The Bodyguard" – a secret, all-female security team, trained in jujutsu – and the good fight began.

So what do British women from the early 20th century have to say to today's audiences?

“They had to arrive at answers for questions that sound awfully familiar: When is it OK to use violence? What difference does it make if women are in power? If you believe a law is unjust, should you break it?” said Playwright Anne Bertram. “It’s also good to remind ourselves about the price these women paid to secure women’s voting rights. They were imprisoned, tortured, force-fed. Some died.”  Adds Director Elizabeth Lovelady, "The US has plenty of problems, but we have so many rights and comforts that women in other parts of the world don't enjoy. During our auditions, as an example of how 'this is still happening,' I frequently referenced the fact that women in Saudi Arabia aren't allowed to drive. But since our auditions took place, the law has changed – and the change was largely influenced by women who broke the law and drove, and posted videos of it online. I think there's a lesson there, that you have to resist, but you also have to publicize your resistance to really influence a change. And that's a thing the women in this play do really well.”

Lovelady continues, “Lately there's so much discussion of white feminism (meaning white women who only care about moving themselves forward and don't recognize or try to address the unique issues that women of color face), which has been an issue with feminism since the get-go. So one way that I'm trying to bring this play out of the "history" department and into the "now" department is by casting a diverse array of women. To be clear, it's still set in the original time period, but we are populating the play with a group of women who don't look like you would expect. Instead they look like the people you'd ride the el with, making it speak more to the present. I hope that including women of color in this production will be a reminder that we are all in this together. And her rights are my rights. And if she's oppressed, we all need to stand up and fight.”

The cast of The Good Fight includes Scottie Caldwell, “Gertrude Harding;” Elisabeth Del Toro, "Mary;" Alison Dornheggen*, "Christabel Pankhurst/Edith Garrud;" Delia Ford*, "Harriet Kerr;" David Kaplinsky, "Mr. Dickinson/Charlie/Inspector McBrien/Constable;" Jean Marie Koon, "Emmeline Pankhurst;" Jillian Leff, "Cicely;" Arielle Leverett, "Grace Roe;" C. Jaye Miller, "Hilda;" Taylor Raye, "Emily Wilding Davison/Wardess;" Joseff Stevenson, "Home Secretary McKenna/Constable/Inspector Gray/Jujutsu Demonstrator" and Richard Traub, "Mr. Hunt/Bill/Constable/Prison Guard" with Tina Arfaee and Catherine Dvorak*, understudies.

The production team for The Good Fight includes Anne Bertram, Playwright and Elizabeth Lovelady, Director with Samantha Barr, Production Manager; Lauren Brady, Assistant Stage Manager; Kenya Hall, Dramaturg; Rose Hamill, Stage Manager; Carrie Hardin, Dialect Coach; Gaby Labotka, Fight Choreography; Kimberly G. Morris*, Costume Design; Patrick O’Brien, Sound Design; Rachel Rauscher, Scenic Design; Julia Skeggs, Assistant Director; Arielle Valene, Properties Design and Becca Venable, Lighting Design, Technical Director.

*denotes BWBTC ensemble member

The Good Fight SPECIAL EVENTS
“No Man Shall Protect Us” filming
Throughout January

“No Man Shall Protect Us” is a documentary on a secret society of women who served as bodyguards for the leaders of the radical suffragette movement in England during 1913/14. The documentary was crowd funded via a successful Kickstarter campaign during October 2017.  The production will make use of rare archival media, including photographs and silent film, as well as the narrative device of interview-style monologues by actors portraying key historical figures, such as suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.  Re-enactment sequences, including action scenes, will be shot during January and February of 2018 and the completed documentary will then be made freely available online as an educational resource, marking the 100th anniversary of women's voting rights in England.

Writer/producer Tony Wolf is the author of the young-reader biography “Edith Garrud: The Suffragette Who Knew Jujutsu” (2009) and the graphic novel trilogy “Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons” (2015).  He also wrote and co-produced the feature documentary Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes (2011).  Wolf has served as a historical consultant for several playwrights writing on the suffragette Bodyguard theme, including The Good Fight author Anne Bertram, as well as for BBC television productions including “Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: The Rise of Martial Arts in Britain” (2013) and “The One Show” (2014).

The collaboration with Babes With Blades Theatre Company's production of The Good Fight will take place during January of 2018 and will involve shooting scenes from the play, which will then be edited to feature as re-enactment sequences in the documentary. 

Open Caption Weekend
January 25 – 28

All performances this weekend of The Good Fight feature open captioning by Caption Point, on a screen provided by the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium (CCAC) Accessible Equipment Loan Program. 

“Women’s Suffrage: A Radical Difference in Tactics” – A Post-Show Talkback Sunday, Jan. 28

Emily E. LB. Twarog, PhD (Assistant Professor of History and Labor Studies at the University of Illinois’ School of Labor and Employment Relations - Labor Education Program; Director of the Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership Conference) and Tony Wolf (author of “Edith Garrud: The Suffragette Who Knew Jujutsu, Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons;” co-producer of No Man Shall Protect Us) compare and contrast the largely peaceful and law-abiding women's suffrage movement in the US with the radical militancy that characterized the UK movement between the years 1902-1914.

Pay What You Can Performances
Thursdays, Jan. 18 and 25 and Feb. 1 and 8
To reserve a PWYC seat, call 773-904-0391. 

IMPACT Weekend February 15 – 17
The Babes will be taking a post-show collection in honor of IMPACT Chicago at all performances this weekend. IMPACT is committed to ending violence and building a non-violent world in which all people can live safely and with dignity. By teaching self-defense, IMPACT provides women and girls with the tools they need to prevent, minimize, and stop violence.  IMPACT Chicago is committed to making its programs accessible to people of all economic, racial/ethnic, and social groups. For more information on IMPACT Chicago, please go to www.impactchicago.org.

ABOUT ANNE BERTRAM, PLAYWRIGHT

Anne Bertram is a founding artistic associate of Theatre Unbound, a Minneapolis/St. Paul company devoted to work by and about women. She currently serves as its executive director. Her work as a playwright has been seen in venues from off-Off Broadway to middle-school classrooms in Fargo, as well as successful runs with Theatre Unbound, including Murderess (2011) and The Good Fight (2012). Awards and commissions include Northwestern University’s Agnes Nixon Playwriting Award (lovehateforgive), The Playwrights’ Center’s Jones Commission (The Donner Gold), Studio Z’s Playwright in Electronic Residence Commission (St. Luke’s) and the Tennessee Williams One-Act Prize (Liability).

ABOUT ELIZABETH LOVELADY, DIRECTOR

Elizabeth Lovelady is a director, playwright, arts administrator and sometimes performer. She won the 2016 non-equity Jeff for Best Adaptation for D.O.A. with Strawdog Theatre, which she also directed. She is an artistic associate of Red Theater where she directed Prince Max's Trewly Awful Trip to the Desolat Interior and 20% Theatre where she directed Fanny's First Play and Photograph 51. Other favorite directing credits include Lone Star/Laundry and Bourbon, Crimes of the Heart, The Dining Room (Oil Lamp); The War to End War: Los Alamos (The Island) and Off the Spectrum, a devised piece she created as part of Red Tape Theatre’s Fresh Eyes project. She also created and performed the one-woman show A Simple Lesson in Baking with Marie Antoinette. 

ABOUT GABY LABOTKA, FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER

Gaby Labotka previously worked with BWBTC as assistant violence designer and Gloucester/Hartleur/John Bates for Henry V. Most recently, Labotka directed Wasteland Hero for the Reutan Collective and was the violence director for Night in Alachua County presented by WildClaw Theatre. She is currently the fight choreographer/assistant director for 'Twas the Night Before Christmas presented by Emerald City Theatre.  She is an advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD) and is frequently a teaching assistant for stage combat classes at Movement and Combat Education (MACE), The Actors Gymnasium and regional stage combat workshops. She is a proud member of the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA).



ABOUT BABES WITH BLADES THEATRE COMPANY

Gender parity is a hot topic, with news clip after article after report documenting how women, and women’s stories, are still underrepresented. Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s response – now, for the past 20 years, and moving forward – is to develop and present scripts focused on complex, dynamic (and often combative) female characters.

In each element of their programming, they embrace two key concepts:

1)     Women are central to the story, driving the action rather than responding or submitting to it

2)     Women are capable of a full emotional and physical range, up to and including violence and its consequences.

The company offers participants and patrons alike an unparalleled opportunity to experience women as heroes and villains; rescuers and rescuees; right, wrong, and everywhere in between: exciting, vivid, dynamic PEOPLE. It’s as simple and as subversive as that.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company (BWBTC) continues its 20th Anniversary Season: “Origins” with the Chicago premiere of The Good Fight, playing at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., January 6 – February 17, 2018.  Developed in 2011 through BWBTC’s Fighting Words program under the title Deeds Not Words, the play is written by Anne Bertram, executive director of Theatre Unbound, a Minneapolis/St. Paul company devoted to work by and about women. Elizabeth Lovelady, a Jeff Award-winning artist based in Chicago, directs The Good Fight, which features combat by Fight Choreographer Gaby Labotka. Preview performances are Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 7 at 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 14 at 3 p.m. Opening Night is Monday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. Regular performances are Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Preview tickets are $10, student and senior tickets are $15, early bird general admission (available online through January 15, 2018) are $20 and general admission (after January 15, 2018) are $25. To purchase tickets and for more information, please visit BabesWithBlades.org. 

BWBTC’s 2017-18 programming is partially made possible by the kind support of The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council Agency, and a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.