REVIEW: “TALES FROM THE WANDERING WYVERN INN” EXTENDED UNTIL FEBRUARY 19th, 2023

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Otherworld Theatre Company's

The Wandering Wyvern Inn Now Extended Due To Popular Demand

Guest Review 

by Dugan Kenaz-Mara

When traveling through the realm of Amelor, my party of five adventurers came across a cozy inn. Some invited there by old friends, some seeking answers, and others just looking to have a good time. Little did we know that in the span of 90 minutes, we would make decisions that could change the fate of the world…

Tales From The Wandering Wyvern Inn is a fun, immersive experience where you and your party get to gather information from the characters, find clues, solve puzzles, and decide on a path to follow to solve a mystery about a fantasy world. 

The show is a fun activity for everyone regardless of previous LARP (live action role play) experience. My party consisted of a good mix of people with a wide variety of experiences. A few of us have worked at Bristol Renaissance faire and had plenty of background in immersive theatre. Others are experts at TTRPGS but had never experienced them in person, and others still are not involved in theatre whatsoever. All of us had a fantastic time. 

The adventure starts with a quest board, listing the names of the NPCs you will encounter once the experience starts. The participants are given a brief insight into who the characters are and what they are like before choosing one of the quests to follow. This gives the participants an easy entrance into the world of the show and gives each one a sort of NPC companion to start off the show with. Nobody feels left out, and because everyone chooses which questline to follow, they often end up with an NPC who they feel like they can trust and identify with. One friend who was new to immersive experiences ended up getting to just hang out with one NPC who was just in the story to have fun and didn’t have to get wrapped up too tightly in the lore of the world. 

Anyone looking for a well-constructed world can find that here too. The Wandering Wyvern Inn’s characters have secrets, conflicting motivations, and lore about themselves and the world that the players get to discover through conversation. They also bring some of that character lore to the whole group after it’s revealed, heightening the tensions and helping nudge the story along naturally. With 5 players maximum and 5-6 NPCs, the world feels full without being too chaotic, and intimate without being overbearing. 

The set is very fun and quite immersive, including a bar where you can exchange fantasy coins for real drinks, shelves of magical trinkets, and additional spaces that get revealed as the story progresses. Some characters even grow and change as you progress their individual questlines! While it’s marketed as a hybrid LARP/escape room/immersive theatre experience, I would say that it skews more heavily into LARP than the other two. While there are still puzzles to solve it’s much more story driven than an escape room, and while it is completely immersive, the main focus is building relationships and interacting with characters rather than following a plot. 

On top of all of that, there are multiple storylines (some apparently covering more intense material than others), so players who enjoyed the experience can return to the world to solve new puzzles and interact with new characters, making each adventure unique. I would highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys role-playing or audience-centered experiences. ★★★★ Four out of four stars. 

Dugan is an actor, designer, and photographer studying theatre and psychology at Northwestern University. Contrary to popular belief, he is not a time traveler.

Audiences Embark on Ever-Changing Quests, 

Ensuring No Two Shows are the Same

Don't miss this! Shows are selling out fast. Get your tickets today. 

Otherworld Theatre Company has announced the extension of TALES OF THE WANDERING WYVERN INN: A One-Shot Immersive LARP, a hybrid Live Action Role Play (LARP), escape room, and immersive theatre that has enjoyed a sold-out run since opening December 9. The show, originally slated to close January 29, will now run through February 19, 2023 at their storefront at 3914 N. Clark St. 

TALES FROM THE WANDERING WYVERN INN: A One-Shot Immersive LARP is a 90-minute adventure set in the world of the popular multi-day CHRONICLES OF THE REALM LARP series. Rumors abound about the quaint Wyvern Inn, nestled quietly at the foothills of the Alden's Gate Mountains in Amelor. It is the first stop for many who make the pilgrimage up to Heightswatch. The tavern itself seems unassuming - without the smoke stack you might even miss the structure. However, at night, there is no mistaking the glow from a single orb that beckons travelers to its doors. As you approach, you see the famed Wyvern himself to greet you, holding his magical sphere and whispering through the winter wind that you should come inside for at least the night. 

Grab a quest off the wall, an adventure awaits! Be a mage outlaw, a Strykarrian assassin on the job, a Druid on a journey to find the life-saving antidote for your feverish friend, and more - the Quest Board changes daily so no two experiences are ever the same. Limited to five players, this intimate experience is a hybrid between LARP, escape room, and immersive theatre. Shows run Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5:30 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m.; tickets are $65 and include a beverage (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). The next installment in the LARP series, CHRONICLES OF THE REALM: LEGIONS & LIAISONS, is a weekend-long event July 21 - 23, 2023, held in Monticello, Illinois.

TALES FROM THE WANDERING WYVERN INN features a cast of Non-Player Characters (NPCs), whose roles change show by show depending on that evening’s Quests. The cast includes Blake Hood, Ross Myers, Lilly Bolduc, Shaun Hayden, Sean Buckley, Kyra Young, Vhenan Strange, Ginny Weant, Jono Mammel, Jenna Kappers, Abbey Schnell, Alex Campbell, Chelsea Cox, and Sam Santos. Players are guided on their quests by these NPCs, with new storylines unfolding based on the players’ choices.

Tickets for TALES OF THE WANDERING WYVERN INN and CHRONICLES OF THE REALM: LEGIONS AND LIAISONS are available at www.otherworldtheatre.org. 

ABOUT OTHERWORLD THEATRE COMPANY

Otherworld Theatre Company (3914 N Clark St.) was founded in 2012 to bring a theatrical experience to the science fiction and fantasy genre. The Company’s work celebrates the depth of human imagination by engaging spectators in high quality storytelling. Otherworld Theatre Company stages original works in its pay-what-you-can Chicago, Illinois venue, presents virtual programming online, and produces immersive Live-Action Role Playing events through its partner company, Moonrise Games. For more information: www.otherworldtheatre.org

FREE With RSVP: Queer Theatre Workshops Via About Face Theatre every Saturday from January 28 – March 18, 2023, at The Den Theatre

  About Face Theatre to present

a public intergenerational workshop series 

Re/Generation Studio

charting the future of Queer Theatre

About Face Theatre continues its 28th season with Re/Generation Studio, a series of innovative, intergenerational workshops focused on new works and the future of queer theatre. The goal of the workshops is to bring together people of diverse ages and backgrounds to reconnect and imagine new ways of producing theatre. Each workshop will be grounded by staged readings of sections of new plays that invite conversation, collaboration, and creation in a shared space. Facilitators will offer key questions and considerations raised by the playwrights and directors and encourage participants to work together to brainstorm and develop creative solutions.

All workshops are free and open to the public. Workshops will be presented every Saturday from January 28 – March 18, 2023, at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, in Wicker Park (subject to change). More information can be found at aboutfacetheatre.com.

The artistic producer of Re/Generation Studio is theatre artist AJ Schwartz. Schwartz is a theatre director and producer who has previously worked with About Face on Time Is On Our Side and This Bitter Earth, as well as curating AFT’s OUT Front play reading series. They have also worked with Haven Chicago, Steep Theatre, First Floor Theatre, The New Coordinates, SideShow Theatre, and The Syndicate. The creative team for the series additionally includes casting director Catherine Miller and stage manager Rebecca Walker. Featured artists include Dionne Addai, Kirsten Baity, Mikael Burke, Roger Q. Mason, Derek Lee McPhatter, Lucky Stiff, and Steven Strafford.

“One of the major issues that has come up for theatre artists over the last few years is having regular shared space where we can collaborate,” said About Face Theatre Artistic Director Megan Carney. “We know we are stronger together. So Re/Generation Studio addresses that need. It is an invitation to gather across generations and explore the stories we want to tell going forward. This is just one of the ways About Face Theatre is dedicated to the future of the field. “

Re/Generation Studio

January 28 – March 18, 2023

Saturdays 2:00-5:00pm

All workshops are free and open to the public. 

Reservations are recommended and can be made at aboutfacetheatre.com.

This winter, About Face Theatre opens its doors for people across generations to gather in a series of public workshops exploring new plays and new models of play production. This will be a collective dreaming space for connecting with each other, learning about new plays, world-building, and exploring new production models. Each session will feature a new play and invite conversation, collaboration, and creation around key questions it raises. We’ll also have some food and time to catch up with each other.

 

Individual events:

Re/Generation Studio: Love and Nappiness

Saturday, January 28, 2023, 2:00-5:00pm

at About Face Theatre rehearsal studio, 5252 N Broadway Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

Featuring readings from Love and Nappiness by Kirsten Baity, directed by Dionne Addai.

In Love and Nappiness, when Meraki’s girlfriend brings her to a queer owned hair salon as a bonding exercise, the experience quickly devolves into an exercise in dealing with micro-aggressions and the intricacies of interracial dating.

 

Re/Generation Studio: Lavender Men

Saturday, February 18, 2023, 2:00-5:00pm

at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Featuring readings from Lavender Men by Roger Q Mason, directed by Lucky Stiff.

Lavender Men is a genre-pushing play that courageously re-imagines one of America’s most beloved historical icons, President Abraham Lincoln, through a queer person of color’s storytelling lens. Taffeta, a self-proclaimed "fabulous queer creation of color," invades Honest Abe’s private world to confront issues of visibility, race, and LGBTQ+ inclusion that still challenge us today. Lavender Men is an embrace to every queer, fat person of color who has been ignored, neglected, or erased for being themselves unapologetically in this world. They are beautiful; they are essential; they are perfect - just the way they are.

 

Re/Generation Studio: The Model Congressman

Saturday, February 25, 2023, 2:00-5:00pm

at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Featuring readings from The Model Congressman by Steven Strafford, directed by AJ Schwartz.

In The Model Congressman, it’s 1994, and Kevin’s just a kid hoping to win a big scholarship and get enough money to go to the school of his dreams. It’s 1994, and Kevin’s just a closeted kid who secretly goes on adults-only chat rooms looking for men. It’s 1994, and Kevin’s just an ambitious, closeted kid who has to decide how far he’s willing to go to impress the man who can change or ruin his life. It’s time to go to the 1994 Model Congress!

 

Re/Generation Studio: underdrown

Saturday, March 4, 2023, 2:00-5:00pm

at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Featuring readings from underdrown by Derek Lee McPhatter, directed by Mikael Burke.

As climate catastrophe reshapes Chicago, a queer black intellectual confronts a lover, a computer, and a mysterious visitor on his quest for truth in virtual worlds. The lines between the digital world and “real life” blur as our blackademic grows obsessed with researching a problematic video game.

 

Re/Generation Studio: TBA

Saturday, March 11, 2023, 2:00-5:00pm

at  The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Featuring readings from a new play; title and director to be announced soon.

 

Re/Generation Studio: TBA

Saturday, March 18, 2023, 2:00-5:00pm

at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Featuring readings from a new play; title and director to be announced soon.

  

ARTIST BIOS

DIONNE ADDAI (she/they), Director (Love and Nappiness)

Dionne Addaiis a director, actor, writer, and teaching artist local to Chicago. Their artistic practice centers on educating in order to encourage political action and mutual aid. As a director, she’s worked on Meeting Our Desires, Botticelli, and Sexuality Out Loud. Recent acting credits include Nina Simone: Four Women (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), The Secret Yes (Filament Theatre), Eclipsed (Pegasus/Theater on the Lake), and We are Pussy Riot (Red Tape Theatre). She is represented by Actor’s Talent Group.

KIRSTEN BAITY (they/them), Playwright (Love and Nappiness)

Kirsten Baity is a Chicago-based playwright, deviser, and intimacy director. Their work mainly explores race and gender politics within queer spaces. Their plays include Forest Friends & the First Day of Spring (Theatre Between Addresses), This Is Normal (Quaranstream Theatre Festival), Rage Isn’t Free: A participatory play (Youth Empowerment and Performance Project), and Tonin Town, Minstrelsy 2.0 (Columbia College Chicago). They have devised plays with  Goodman Theatre's Playbuild and Intergen Ensembles, About Face Youth Theatre, For Youth Inquiry, and Free Street Theater. Kirsten is a proud member of the Intimacy Coordinators of Color cohort and an About Face Theatre Green Room Collective alum. For more info, check out kirstenbaity.com

MIKAEL BURKE (he/him), Director (underdrown)

Mikael Burke is a Chicago-based director and educator and served as Associate Artistic Director with About Face from 2020 through 2022. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre and Jeff Award-nominated director, Mikael’s worked with Goodman Theatre, About Face Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Raven Theatre, Jackalope Theatre Company, First Floor Theater, American Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, The Story Theatre, and Windy City Playhouse in Chicago, and regionally with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis. Recent credits include the American premiere of Routes by Rachel De-Lahay, The Wanderers by Anna Ziegler, Shakespeare’s Richard III, The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest (2022 Jeff Award Winner - Production, Short Run); Fireflies by Donja R. Love (Black Theatre Alliance Award - Best Direction of an Ensemble). | mklburke.com

ROGER Q. MASON (they/them), Playwright (Lavender Men)

Roger Q. Mason was dubbed by Theatre Mania as "a major voice in the theatrical vanguard."  Their playwriting has been seen on Broadway (Circle in the Square Reading Series); Off and Off-Off-Broadway; and regionally.  Mason's critically-acclaimed world premiere of Lavender Men was recently lauded by the LA Times as "a daring theatrical talent on display...evoking the mingled visions of Suzan-Lori Parks, Jeremy O. Harris and Michael R. Jackson."   As a filmmaker, Mason has been recognized by the British Film Institute, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, AT&T Film Award, and Atlanta International Film Festival. Their films have screened in the US, UK, Poland, Brazil, and Asia.  Mason holds degrees from Princeton University, Middlebury College, and Northwestern University. They are a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Page 73’s Interstate 73 Writers Group, and Primary Stages Writing Cohort; the co-host of Sister Roger’s Gayborhood podcast; the host of This Way Out Radio's Queerly Yours: Portraits in Courage; and lead mentor of the Marsha P. Johnson Starship Fellowship, Shay Foundation Fellowship, and New Visions Fellowship.

DEREK LEE McPHATTER (he/him), Playwright (underdrown)

Derek Lee McPhatter is committed to new work at intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and technology. A 2021 Creative Capital Awardee, Derek is currently developing the NightQueen Performance Suite as a triptych of evening-length works spanning theater, music, opera, spoken word and new media.  The project has been supported by a 2022 Chicago Performance Commission from the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, as well as additional residency and developmental support from Chicago Dramatists, Prop Thtr, Perceptions Theatre and Primary Stages. Derek served as librettist, book-writer and/or lyricist for five new music-theatre works with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as various theater projects with JACK, Hi-ARTS, and The Drama League, among others. His work has been supported by grants and prizes from the Jerome Foundation, the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund, the Puffin Foundation, the Propeller Fund, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the United States Embassy in the United Kingdom, to name a few. He is a native of Pickerington Ohio and currently splits his time between Chicago, NYC and Los Angeles. www.derekleemcphatter.com

AJ SCHWARTZ (they/them), Artistic Producer / Director (The Model Congressman)

AJ Schwartz is a theatre director and producer in Chicago, making work focused on queerness, relationships, and the fall of the American Empire. You may have seen their production of How You Kiss Me Is Not How I Like To Be Kissed by Dan Giles at Haven Chicago. They have also worked with storefront companies in Chicago including About Face Theatre, Steep Theatre, First Floor Theater, The New Coordinates, Sideshow Theatre Company, and The Syndicate. In their free time they enjoy photography and hosting dinner parties.

LUCKY STIFF (they/them), Director (Lavender Men)

Lucky Stiff is a trans and nonbinary director, writer, and performer working in Chicago and New York. They build original experiences that combine nightclub culture and performance art which have been featured at the Museum of Con­temporary Art Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Blue Man Group Chicago, Boy Friday Dance Company, and Bushwig Festival of Drag, among many others. They hold an MFA in Directing for Theater from Northwestern University and have lectured in performance and directing at UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. luckystiffdrag.com

STEVEN STRAFFORD (he/him), Playwright (The Model Congressman)

Steven Strafford is grateful to be a part of this festival and to return to working with About Face Theatre where he performed his award-winning solo play, Methtacular! He has performed that show across the country for a long time now, and he loves it every single time. Methtacular! was recorded at Steppenwolf Theatre’s 1700 Space in 2019. His play Small Jokes About Monsters won the New American Voices Contest in 2016, was a semifinalist for The O’Neill, and won the 2022 Ready-to-Publish Award and will be published and licensed by Broadway Licensing later this year. Small Jokes About Monsters was produced at Landing Theatre in Houston (Nominated, Outstanding New Play), 16th Street Theater in Chicago, and at Lamb Theatre in Sioux City. His play The Match Game won the 2022 Jackie Demaline Award at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. His play Greater Illinois was semifinalist at The O’Neill in 2021. The play was an official selection of Tantum East’s New Play Development, MATC, Great Plains Theatre Conference, and received a workshop with The Road Theatre in Los Angeles in 2022. His essays have been published on various sites and in the book The Anatomy of Silence. He has an MFA in Playwriting from Ohio University.  As an actor, he's been across the globe on fancy and less fancy stages. He has been on TV, in commercials and movies, and one time played Hepatitis A for an industrial, which is a performance he still receives emails about...so, go figure.

ABOUT FACE THEATRE advances LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance. AFT envisions an affirming and equitable world in which all LGBTQ+ individuals are thriving and free from prejudice and discrimination. About Face Theatre is also dedicated to being an intentionally and increasingly anti-racist organization. Due to the intersectionality of our identities, we understand our work to advance LGBTQ+ equity as directly connected to movements for racial justice.

Chicago Premiere of Last Night and the Night Before Via Steppenwolf April 6 – May 14, 2023

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Chicago premiere of Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ 

Last Night and the Night Before

 at Steppenwolf Theatre April 6 – May 14, 2023

PHOTO CREDIT: The cast of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Chicago premiere of Last Night and the Night Before includes (top, l to r) ensemble member Namir Smallwood with Ayanna Bria Bakari and Sydney Charles (bottom, l to r), Aliyana Hamood, Kylah Renee Jones and Jessica Dean Turner.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 47th season with the Chicago premiere of Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ Last Night and the Night Before, a powerful, poetic exploration of what it takes to create a future from a past you long to forget. Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, Last Night and the Night Before will play April 6 – May 14, 2023 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. I'll be out for the press opening, April 16th, so check back soon for my full review.

Last Night and the Night Before will feature ensemble member Namir Smallwood with Ayanna Bria Bakari, Sydney Charles, Aliyana Hamood, Kylah Renee Jones and Jessica Dean Turner.

Monique is on the run. From what, she will not say. Showing up on the doorstep of her sister’s Brooklyn brownstone with her timid daughter Sam – and without her husband – their arrival raises more questions than it answers. As the specter of their abandoned life in Georgia creeps back into focus, the family is forced to consider what must be sacrificed to break a cycle of despair. Poetic and heartbreaking, Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ stunning portrait of Black Love explores what it takes to nurture family in an often-cruel world. 

Single tickets for Last Night and the Night Before starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650.

Steppenwolf 2022-23 Flex Memberships are currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production, and Red Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.  

The creative team includes Regina García (Scenic Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design) Mary Louise Geiger (Lighting Design), Larry Fowler (Sound Design), Kirsten Baity (Intimacy Choreographer), Gigi Buffington (Company Voice & Text Coach), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting Director), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, visit steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/seasons-/2022-23/last-night-and-the-night-before/.

 

Artist Biographies:

Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Playwright) is the author of Where We Stand (Lucille Lortel, Drama League, and AUDELCO award nominee), Last Night and the Night Before, Warriors Don’t Cry, Laid to Rest and The Review or How to Eat Your Opposition. She is the recipient of The Whiting Award for Drama, Helen Merrill Playwright Award, The National Theater Conference’s Stavis Playwright Award, Lilly Award, Todd McNerney National Playwriting Award and the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award. For television, she has staffed on Spectrum’s Manhunt, FX’s Y: The Last Man and served as Executive Story Editor on Joe Vs. Carole for Peacock. Broadway acting credits include The Skin of Our Teeth, In The Next Room, or the vibrator play and Well. Off-Broadway: Where We Stand (WP Theater/Baltimore Centerstage), Men on Boats (Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb) O, Earth (The Foundry Theatre), In the Footprint (The Civilians, as an Associate Artist) and Shipwrecked! An Entertainment (Primary Stages). Film: The Book of Henry, Wild Canaries, The English Teacher and The Wrestler. TV: Recurring roles on New Amsterdam, Happy, Rubicon, Mercy and Law and Order: SVU. And guest starring roles on High Maintenance, The Night Of, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, A Gifted Man, Law & Order, Law & Order: CI and The Sopranos.

Valerie Curtis-Newton (Director) is currently Head of Directing at the University of Washington School of Drama and serves as the Founding Artistic Director for The Hansberry Project, a professional African American theatre lab. She has worked with professional theatres across the country including: The Guthrie Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle Rep, Playmakers Repertory Company, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop and Southern Repertory Theatre, among others. Awards: 2020: Seattle Times Most Influential People of the Last Decade; 2019: Theatre Puget Sound - Gregory Falls Award for Sustained Achievement; 2016: Seattle Times Footlight Award (Best in Show); 2014: Stranger Genius Awards in Performance and the Crosscut Courage Award for Culture; 2012: Gypsy Rose Lee Award for Excellence in Direction; 2001: Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s (SDCF) Gielgud Directing Fellowship; 1997-1999: NEA/TCG Career Development Fellowship for Directors.

 

The Expanded Steppenwolf Campus

Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s trailblazing new 50,000 square foot theater building and education center, the Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center, was designed by world-renowned architect Gordon Gill FAIA of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, with construction by Norcon. The centerpiece of the new Arts and Education Center is the new 400-seat in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell—one of its kind in Chicago—with theater design and acoustics by Charcoalblue.

The expanded Steppenwolf campus is a cultural nexus for Chicago, offering bold and ambitious opportunities for creative expression, social exchange, unparalleled accessibility, and arts-driven learning for Chicago youth in The Loft, Steppenwolf’s first-ever dedicated education space. The campus expansion also features bright new lobbies and two new full-service bars for socializing designed by fc STUDIO, inc. The $54 million new building is part of Steppenwolf’s multi-phase $73 million Building on Excellence expansion campaign. Learn more about Steppenwolf’s campus expansion at steppenwolf.org/buildingonexcellence.

A Safe Return

As the Chicago theatre community continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Steppenwolf Theatre remains committed to the safety of its patrons and staff. For the most up-to-date information on our venue’s COVID precautions, please visit steppenwolf.org/welcomeback.

Accessibility

Steppenwolf offers accessible services to ensure all audience members have access to our work, including American Sign Language interpretation, Spanish Language captions, wheelchair accessible seating and more. With questions, email access@steppenwolf.org.

Sponsor Information 

Last Night and the Night Before is supported in part by Conagra Brands Foundation. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from Northern Trust, Allstate Insurance Company, Amazon, ComEd, JPMorgan Chase, PNC and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America’s ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation’s premier ensemble theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Deeply rooted in its ensemble ethos, the company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to all. Groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and August: Osage County to Downstate and Pass Over—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary. Artistic programming includes a main stage season; a Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; LookOut, a multi-genre performance series; and the Steppenwolf NOW virtual stage. The nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education engages more than 20,000 participants annually in Chicagoland communities promoting compassion, encouraging curiosity and inspiring action. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. 2021 marked the opening of Steppenwolf’s landmark Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts & Education Center—deepening the company’s commitment to Chicagoland teens and serving as a cultural nexus for Chicago. Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis are the Artistic Directors and E. Brooke Flanagan is Executive Director. Keating Crown is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees.

Steppenwolf’s Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.        

 

BTE Presents "Andy Warhol's Tomato" Feb. 2 Through March 5, 2023

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Andy Warhol's Tomato

Directed by Steve Scott 

Please note: This play contains adult themes and language.

In anticipation of the upcoming exhibition “Warhol: Featuring Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop / Works from the Bank of America Collection” hosted by the Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA) and McAninch Arts Center (MAC), Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center presents Vince Melocchi’s “Andy Warhol’s Tomato.” Guest director Steve Scott directs this 80-minute fictitious tale of unlikely friendship and inspiration

 running Feb. 2 – March 5.

It is 1946 in Pittsburgh. An 18-year-old Andy Warhol finds himself in the basement of the working-class bar. Over a summer, Andy gives and gets inspiration, guidance, and friendship from a surprising source. Splash Magazines calls “Andy Warhol’s Tomato,” “a not-to-be-missed study of what goes into achieving the goals of self-understanding and acceptance…an entertaining and often humorous evening out.” The Santa Monica Press says, “If you didn’t know this was fiction, you’d think you were watching Andy’s origin story. A Delicious Tomato.”

“With the highly anticipated ‘Warhol’ exhibition coming the CCMA and MAC later this year, this is the perfect time for BTE to produce this play,” says BTE Managing Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard. “And in the hands of guest director and long-time BTE friend Steve Scott, the play’s timely message of understanding and tolerance will transform into something audiences will find highly entertaining.”

Melocchi’s first draft of “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” featured a cast of seven. Based on workshop audience feedback, subsequent drafts reduced that to five, then four and ultimately two. This version received its world premiere as part of the Road Theatre Company’s 1981 Summer Playwrights Festival, ushering in the Pacific Resident Theatre’s 1999-2000 season. Said Melocchi in an Aug. 19, 2019 interview in Stage and Screen, “I do hope people walk away from ‘Andy Warhol’s Tomato’ looking at not only Andy in a different light, but also all artists from all walks of life.”

BTE’s production of “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” features BTE Ensemble member and Glen Ellyn’s Bryan Burke +* as Mario "Bones" Bonino, and Wheaton’s Alexander Wisnieski as Andy.

The design team hails from Chicago and Naperville, Ill. and Stoughton, Wisc. and includes Steve Scott (Direction), Jack Magaw (Scenic Design), Rachel Lambert (Properties Design), Aly Renee Amidei+^ (Costume Design), Garrett Bell (Lighting Design) and Christopher Kriz+^ (Sound Design). Stage Manager is Jennifer J. Thusing*. Assistant Stage Manager is Christopher Lindquist. Student Assistant Stage Manager is Carolyn Goldsmith.

Tickets

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble presents Vince Melocchi’s “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” in the Playhouse Theatre of the McAninch Arts Center located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage Feb. 2 – March 5. There will be a preview performance 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2. Press opening is 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday – Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $42. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For group sales information email sarther@cod.edu or call 630.942.4525. For more information about BTE’s season, visit AtTheMAC.org or call the Box Office 630.942.4000. The Box Office is open Tuesday-Saturday noon-6 p.m. and three hours prior to performance.

Related Special Events:

• Pre-show discussion with director and designers: 6:30 – 7:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2

• Post-show discussion with director, actors and crew: Friday, Feb. 10.

ASL (American Sign Language) Performance: Thursday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m.

ASL interpreters will be located near the stage for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, seated in an area of the theater that gives the best sight lines to follow the interpretation and the action on stage. To access reserved seating in view of the interpreters for a signed performance, call the Box Office at 630.942.4000 or 630.858.9692 (TDD), or visit AtTheMAC.org for additional information.

About Buffalo Theatre Ensemble

The mission of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is to provide a forum in which artists, scholars, writers, students and community members explore new ideas and provocative issues through the production of quality theater for the enjoyment of its audiences. Since 1986 BTE has staged more than 120 productions.  

The Ensemble members are Aly Renee Amidei, Robert Jordan Bailey*, Amelia Barrett* (Associate Artistic Director), Bryan Burke* (Business Manager), Robyn Coffin, Rebecca Cox, Lisa Dawn, Nick DuFloth, Jon Gantt, Loretta Hauser, Connie Canaday Howard* (Managing Artistic Director), Christopher Kriz^, Kimberly Morris, Michael W. Moon, Kurt Naebig*, Laura Leonardo Ownby, Galen G. Ramsey*, William “Sandy” Smillie, Kelli Walker and Norm Woodel. For more information about BTE, visit btechicago.com.

*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity; +Denotes member of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble; ^Denotes member of United Scenic Artists

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The DuPage Foundation, Benevity, Choose DuPage, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, The Norm Woodel Inspiration Fund, The Illinois Arts Council, and a gift from Dr. Thomas R. Scott and the late Shirley Klein Scott of Glen Ellyn through the College of DuPage Foundation and the generous support of the College of DuPage Trustees and the McAninch Arts Center Staff.

About “Warhol" Featuring Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop / Works from the Bank of America Collection (June 3 – Sept. 10, 2023)

The Warhol exhibition will feature 94 works from “Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop / Works from the Bank of America Collection” on loan through Bank of America’s Art in our Communities® program. In addition to the Bank of America collection, which will be on display in a dedicated space in the exhibition, there will also be over 100 works from the College of DuPage Permanent Art Collection.

The exhibition will encompass both the CCMA and the MAC, unfolding across roughly 11,000 square-feet of exhibition space. Educational and interactive elements will include a biographical exhibition highlighting key points in Warhol’s life and career, video installation, interactive mural, children’s print factory area, Studio 54 and Silver Cloud Room experiences and Central Park-inspired outdoor café, creating an immersive, multifaceted exhibition focused on the life and work of one of the most influential artists of the past century. For more information visit Warhol2023.org.

About The MAC

McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), the outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.  For more information visit AtTheMAC.org.

 

Biographies

Vince Melocchi (Playwright) is originally from Western Pennsylvania. While attending Penn State University, and short on credits, he took the only class still open, "Principles of Playwriting." Having never written a play before, he called his late father Ronald who advised him, "Write what you know, son." That night Melocchi began work on his one-act play "Making Moves", about a group of janitors in a Western Pennsylvania hospital. "Making Moves" was produced at Penn State the next year. He went on to attend the Professional Training Program for actors at the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco. While at ACT, he worked in the "Plays in Progress" unit, focusing on the reading and development of new plays. Eventually, he moved to Southern California to act professionally in film, television and stage. Soon, Melocchi become a member of the award-winning Pacific Resident Theatre Ensemble (PRT), where he was given a chance to hone his skills as both actor and writer. As a member of PRT, Vince co-created "The Writers Group at PRT" with fellow actor/writer Valerie Dillman. It was in that writer’s workshop that his critically acclaimed, Ovation award-nominated full play "Lions" was born. After various workshop stagings and readings, “Lions” was produced as part of PRT's 2008 season. After its sold out run at PRT, "Lions" was published by Samuel French. Along with his full-length plays, “Julia,” “Lions,” “Figures,” “The Pact,” “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” and “Saints,” Melocchi’s writing includes a number of one act plays, including: “Bully,” “The Last Linen Day” and “Making Moves.” Melocchi is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Steve Scott (Director) returns for his ninth production at BTE, where he most recently directed “The Cake” in 2019. For over 30 years he served as Producer at the Goodman Theatre, and is currently an artistic associate and board member at the Goodman. His directing credits there include “The Santaland Diaries,” “Ah, Wilderness,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” Horton Foote’s “Blind Date,” the world premiere of Tom Mula’s “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” and six editions of “A Christmas Carol.” Scott has directed at a wide variety of professional companies in Chicago. Recent productions include “Mothers and Sons” at Northlight, “Richard III at Promethean,” “King Lear” and “The Humans” at Redtwist (where he is a company member), “Why Torture is Wrong…and the People Who Love Them” at Eclipse Theatre, “Next to Normal” at the Dunes Summer Theatre (where he is artistic director),” Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the Skokie Theatre, and “Summer and Smoke” and “Stage Door” at the Theatre Conservatory of the College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he has been on the faculty for over two decades. He has also taught at Columbia College Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University, and the Latin School of Chicago; and serves on the board of Season of Concern. For his work as a director, Steve has received six Jeff nominations, an After Dark Award, and numerous Broadway World nominations. He received the 2017 Special Jeff Award for his contributions to the Chicago theater community and the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the League of Chicago Theatres.

FREE Streaming and Cheap In Person Adult Puppet Fun With Nasty, Brutish and Short: A Puppet Cabaret.

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

Chicago Puppet Fest, Rough House, and Links Hall present:

Nasty, Brutish & Short

January 20-21 & 27-28, 2023 at 10:30pm

Suggested for Ages: 16 and up

 

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Chicago's being taken over by a puppet invasion for the now annual Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Don't miss this! We caught Friday night's Nasty, Brutish & Short (named for Thomas Hobbes infamous 1651 quote on life without art and society) and were well entertained by this adult puppet cabaret.

Acts ranged from shadow puppets to life-sized 3D creations, potty mouthed muppet types on MC duty, a giant plush vagina with a chatty clit, a female puppet doctor taking actual medical questions from the audience, and more. Our favorite piece was Mother Water, a gorgeous and moving shadow puppet film. Check out all the nights of on Nasty, Brutish & Short: A Puppet Cabaret on YouTube, now available for free streaming any time HERE.

BRITTANY CLEMONS & MAISIE O'BRIEN: "Mother Water" is a shadow puppetry short film pilot exploring racism, African-American and African folklore and Reconstruction through a supernatural lens.

Puppet cabaret line-up this Friday (Jan 20) at 10:30pm! Links Hall Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

LINDSEY BALL: This shortened version of "Kopfkino" features a suitcase crankie story of the real history and science of crickets, infusing them with a heroic sweetness and a bit of magic.

(photo by Evan Barr)

MYRA KALAW: "The Soup & the Crumbs" is a shadow puppetry piece about two mismatched creatures caught in an act of communion.

MADIGAN BURKE: Magican is a filmmaker, artist, and engineer whose work aims to explore queerness, encourage curiosity, and spread joy.

Also check out Les Anges, Rocio "Chio" Cabrera, Dana Kogan and more!

If you're short on time and/or money, Chicago’s favorite late-night puppet cabaret, Nasty, Brutish & Short at Links is a great place to start. This special festival edition, featuring the charming and furry host, Jameson, is home to raucous, raunchy, dark, sassy, sad, and mostly hilarious puppet theater, highlighting more experimental work by out of towners as well as local favorites in four different nights of puppet revelry. Every night features a different lineup and all are available live as a ticketed event or streaming free. Catch the live stream show nights at 10:30 on YouTube or watch later at your leisure.

Location: Links Hall, 3111 N. Western Ave.

Cost: $18/$15 students & seniors

Running Time: 85 mins

ADA Accessible

Extend your festival experience by hitting Chicago’s favorite late-night puppet cabaret, Nasty, Brutish & Short. This special festival edition, featuring the charming and furry host, Jameson, is home to raucous, raunchy, dark, sassy, sad and mostly hilarious puppet theater, highlighting more experimental work by out of towners as well as local favorites in four different nights of puppet revelry.

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've been catching Nasty, Brutish & Short year round for nearly a decade. Some of the off season shows are uneven, with some brilliant pieces and some that... need work. Still, that's the point. Like everything, puppetry takes practice, and we love that Nasty, Brutish & Short is a place where beginners as well as seasoned professionals come to play together in a safe place to workshop new material or puppet for the first time. During the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival most of the pieces are phenomenal and it's a great place to catch excerpts from multiple International show that are playing around town. Highly recommended.

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

Nasty, Brutish & Short

January 20-21 & 27-28, 2023 at 10:30pm

January 20th at 10:30pm

January 21st at 10:30pm

January 27th at 10:30pm

January 28th at 10:30pm

(and streaming any time HERE)

About the Co-Presenters

Rough House connects individuals and communities through art that celebrates the weird things that make us unique, and the weirder things that bring us together. We create puppet art that captures the heart through the eye. Our work use puppetry, music, and human performance to tell stories that are intimate, strange, and sincere. Based in Chicago, Rough House has been presented at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, The National Puppetry Festival, Physical Festival Chicago, and Open Eye Figure Theater’s Toy Theater After Dark. Rough House has toured across the United States, performing in auditoriums, lotion factories, funeral homes, basements, bars, galleries, punk houses and even the woods of Appalachia. Through Collaboration, Education, Art-making, Curating and Performance, Rough House seeks to make a bizarre and loving home for puppet makers and audiences alike. roughhousetheater.com

Links Hall encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Through its residency programs, artist-curated festivals, co-presentations with self-producing artists, cabarets, performance series, workshops, and low-cost studio rentals, Links provides a home for artists across all performance disciplines, at all stages of their careers. Founded in 1978 by choreographers Bob Eisen, Carol Bobrow, and Charlie Vernon, Links Hall became a National Performance Network partner in 1998 and received a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2016. In April 2013, Links and musician/presenter Mike Reed created a collaborative arts venue as the shared home of Constellation Arts and Links Hall. See Chicago Dance named Links Hall as the “Fearlessly Inspired” organization of 2020 noting the adaptive spirit and unfailing desire to support artists of all kinds. www.linkshall.org

Hell in a Handbag Productions’ Chicago premiere of I Promised Myself to Live Faster

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Chicago Premiere!

I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER

Conceived and Created by Pig Iron Theatre Company

Text by Greg Moss and Pig Iron

Directed by JD Caudill

March 23 – April 16, 2023 at The Chopin Theatre

PHOTO CREDIT: The cast of Hell in a Handbag Productions’ Chicago premiere of I Promised Myself to Live Faster includes (top, l to r) Kim Boler, David Cerda, Taylor Dalton, Lolly Extract and Sydney Genco (bottom, l to r) Caitlin Jackson, Tyler Anthony Smith, Emmanuel Ramirez, Ben Stacy and Robert Williams.

 

Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to continue its 21st season with the Chicago premiere of I Promised Myself to Live Faster, an intergalactic queer extravaganza featuring closeted extraterrestrials, high stakes pursuits and nuns from outer space, created and conceived by Pig Iron Theatre Company, with text by Greg Moss and Pig Iron and directed by JD Caudill*. I Promised Myself to Live Faster will play March 23 – April 16, 2023 at The Chopin Upstairs Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are now on sale at buytickets.at/hellinahandbagproductions/825817 or handbagproductions.org. I'll be out for the press opening March 26th, so check back shortly after for my full review. 

The cast includes ensemble members David Cerda*, Sydney Genco*, Caitlin Jackson*, Tyler Anthony Smith* and Robert Williams* with Kim Boler, Taylor Dalton, Lolly Extract, Emmanuel Ramirez and Ben Stacy. Understudies include Connar Brown, Andres Coronado, Abbey Demorow, Ashley Graham, Rebecca Husk, Brian Knoll, Michael Radford and Scott Sawa (performing March 30 – April 2).

This space epic tells the tale of our reluctant hero Tim (Robert Williams*) who’s been put through an emotional ringer these past few months. Tim’s life takes a radical turn when an order of intergalactic nuns charge him with a quest: retrieve the Holy Gay Flame from the clutches of the evil emperor to save the race of Homosexuals and restore the balance of power in the universe. Once Tim is captured by the fabulously androgynous Ah-Ni (David Cerda*), Tim goes places he never dreamed in this ridiculous and delirious allegorical adventure.

The production team includes Jonathan Berg-Einhorn (Scenic Designer), Beth Laske-Miller and Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Designers), Liz Cooper (Lighting Designer), Danny Rockett (Sound Designer), Bren Coombs (Props Designer), Jamal Howard (Choreographer), Lolly Extract/Jabberwocky Marionettes (Puppet Designer and Puppetry), Sydney Genco* (Make-up Designer), Keith Ryan* (Wigs Designer), Carly Belle Cason (Violence Designer), Spencer Douglas Clark (Intimacy Designer) and Leo Batutis and Scott Sawa (Assistant Directors).

*Denotes Handbag Ensemble Member

COVID safety: Masking is recommended, but not required. COVID guidelines may change in accordance with public health guidelines.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Kim Boler (Mother Superior), David Cerda* (Ah-Ni), Taylor Dalton (Nun #2), Lolly Extract (Ensemble/Puppetry), Sydney Genco* (King Trout), Caitlin Jackson* (Nun #1), Tyler Anthony Smith (Movie Star Boy), Emmanuel Ramirez (Ensemble), Ben Stacy (Ensemble) and Robert Williams* (Tim).

Understudies: Connar Brown (Ensemble/Puppetry), Andres Coronado (Movie Star Boy), Abbey Demorow (Nun #1), Ashley Graham (Mother Superior), Rebecca Husk (King Trout), Brian Knoll (Tim), Michael Radford (Ensemble) and Scott Sawa (Ah-Ni, performing March 30 – April 2).

Location: The Chopin Downstairs Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago

Previews: Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 pm, Friday, March 24 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, March 25 at 7:30 pm

Opening/Press performance: Sunday, March 26 at 7 pm

Regular run: Thursday, March 30 – Sunday, April 16, 2023

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

Tickets: $24 previews. $42 general admission ($25 Thursday special), $61 VIP/reserved seating with drink ticket. Group rates $34 for 10 or more. Tickets are now on sale at buytickets.at/hellinahandbagproductions/825817 or handbagproductions.org. 

About the Artists     

Pig Iron Theatre Company (Creator, Text) has been creating original performance works in Philadelphia since 1995, making plays about live music, dead people, neuroscience and thwarted love affairs. A unique method of performance research and collaborative creation, plus a signature physical approach to character, has led to 29 plays, cabaret-ballets, hoaxes and installations over two decades. Past collaborations include work with the legendary director Joseph Chaikin, playwright Toshiki Okada, choreographer David Brick, composer Cynthia Hopkins and the rock band Dr. Dog. Pig Iron's work has been presented by FringeArts in Philadelphia and by theatres and festivals around the world. The company has won two Obie Awards, a Total Theatre Award and eight Barrymore Awards. Other scripts by Pig Iron are anthologized in Pig Iron: Three Plays, published by 53rd State Press. pigiron.org

Greg Moss (Text) is a writer, educator and performer from Newburyport MA. His work has been produced at Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, Steppenwolf, La Comédie-Française, EST-LA, Clubbed Thumb, Capital T Theatre and South Coast Rep, among others. His plays include Indian Summer, punkplay, Reunion, Billy Witch, House of Gold and sixsixsix. Upcoming: The Unauthorized Unofficial Hunter S. Thompson Musical at La Jolla Playhouse in September 2023. gregorymoss.com

JD Caudill (Director) is a queer director, artistic director, literary manager and music director, whose recent direction includes After the Blast (Broken Nose Theatre), Southern Comfort (Pride Films and Plays), Bechdel Fests 4-6 + 8 (Broken Nose Theatre), Book of Shadows (Broken Nose Theatre) and other plays at The New Colony, Haven Theatre, The Runaways Lab Theatre, New American Folk Theatre, Hobo Junction, 20% Theatre, Paragon Theatre, Otherworld Theatre, Arc Theatre, 16th Street Theatre, Stage Left, The Syndicates and Red Theatre. They are a proud ensemble member of Hell in a Handbag, where they have music directed countless shows, and recently became interim artistic director of Broken Nose Theatre, where they’ve served as a literary manager and ensemble member for the past five years.

 

About Hell in a Handbag Productions

Hell in a Handbag is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music and homage. Handbag is a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit. For additional information, visit handbagproductions.org.

 

Barbara Gaines' Final Production as Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Artistic Director: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS March 9–April 16, 2023

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces 

the cast and creative team of

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 

March 9–April 16, 2023

Barbara Gaines celebrates a legacy of joyful collaboration in her final production as artistic director

 

In her final production as Chicago Shakespeare Theater artistic director, Barbara Gaines stages Shakespeare’s riotous The Comedy of Errors, imprinting her legacy of inventive and captivating interpretations of the Bard’s work for today’s audiences. The production features original framing scenes penned by Second City veteran Ron West and showcases an ensemble cast of beloved Chicago Shakespeare collaborators whose combined credits span the Theater’s 37-year history—from the first production on the rooftop of the Red Lion Pub to last fall’s searing Measure for Measure. The Comedy of Errors runs March 9–April 16, 2023, in the Courtyard Theater.

An eccentric group of stage and screen actors gather on a London movie set in 1941 to film Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors as much-needed comic relief for the troops. Backstage antics and hilarious complications abound as Antipholus and Dromio search for their long-lost identical twins. In over three decades with Chicago Shakespeare, Gaines has directed scores of productions, including nearly all of Shakespeare’s 38 plays and six world premieres. She now revisits Shakespeare’s high-spirited comedy with longtime collaborator Ron West, newly adapted from the Theater’s 2008 production.

"This project is a love letter to theater making—that ineffable process of an ensemble coming together to create something wholly new and magical," said Gaines. "That’s true in our framing of Shakespeare’s comedy on a film set, but it’s also reflected in our incredible company, a group of esteemed artists that I so admire and who embody the collaboration that has infused my time in the theater with joy and love."

Each cast member performs both a role on the London movie set and a character in The Comedy of Errors. The cast includes: Breon Arzell (David/Angelo), Adia Bell (Fanny/Merchant), Melanie Brezill (Alice Boggs/Luciana), Lillian Castillo (Marian/Courtesan), Dan Chameroy (Phil Sullivan/Antipholus of Ephesus), William Dick (Charles Chittick/Second Merchant), Kevin Gudahl (Brian Hallifax/Dromio of Ephesus), Ora Jones (Doris/Aemilia/Abbess), Bill Larkin (Eddie Philpot/Dr. Pinch), Ross Lehman (Dudley Marsh/Dromio of Syracuse), Michael E. Martin (Tom/First Officer), Steve McDonagh (Cyril/Nell), Russell Mernagh (Patch/Balthasar), Susan Moniz (Veronica Marsh/Adriana), Robert Petkoff (Emerson Furbelow/Antipholus of Syracuse), Maya Vinice Prentiss (Priscilla/First Merchant), Greg Vinkler (Admiral Philpot/Egeon), and Bruce A. Young (Monty/Duke Solinus). Understudies include Isabella Abel-Suarez, Michael Joseph Mitchell, Ian Reed, and Jonathan Schwart.

As long-separated twins the Dromios, Jeff Award-winners Ross Lehman and Kevin Gudahl boast over 75 Chicago Shakespeare credits combined. Lehman’s notable roles include Feste in Twelfth Night and the Fool in King Lear, and he appeared on Broadway in The Tempest, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Gudahl was recently seen on the Chicago Shakespeare stage in Measure for Measure and As You Like It; other memorable credits include Hal in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Fredrik in A Little Night Music, and title roles in Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Troilus and Cressida. The play’s other set of twins, both named Antipholus, will be played by Dan Chameroy—who has performed in 15 seasons at the Stratford Festival and as Miss Trunchbull in the US national tour of Matilda the Musical—and Robert Petkoff, whose Chicago Shakespeare credits include Buddy in Follies, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and title roles in Sunday In the Park with George, Hamlet, and Troilus and Cressida. Petkoff appeared in Broadway’s Anything Goes and Ragtime and the US tours of Fun Home and Spamalot.

Jeff Award-winner Susan Moniz was last seen on the Chicago Shakespeare stage in an acclaimed performance as Sally in Follies and has played feature roles in US tours of Fun Home and The Phantom of the Opera, and on Broadway in Grease. In addition to appearing in last season’s hit As You Like It, Melanie Brezill’s credits include work at Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Writers Theatre, along with the Broadway production and US Tour of The Book of Mormon. In addition to appearing on Broadway in Matilda the Musical and Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Ora Jones has been on the Chicago Shakespeare stage numerous times in roles such as Katherine of Aragon in Henry VIII, Queen Charlotte in The Madness of George III, and Maria in Twelfth Night, and most recently as the Countess of Rossillion in last season’s All’s Well That Ends Well. Lillian Castillo, recently seen in Drury Lane’s Steel Magnolias, appeared in Gaines’ The Taming of the Shrew and the US premiere of Ride the Cyclone at Chicago Shakespeare.

Bruce A. Young memorably spoke the first line of Chicago Shakespeare’s inaugural production of Henry V at the Red Lion Pub. He has returned to Chicago Shakespeare many times and performed on Broadway in Macbeth. Greg Vinkler has performed in dozens of Chicago Shakespeare productions, including as Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Falstaff in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, and titular roles in King John and King Lear. William Dick’s Chicago Shakespeare credits include last year’s All’s Well That Ends Well, The Wizard of Oz, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and many more; he recently performed in the Jeff Award-winning ensemble of Choir Boy at Steppenwolf Theatre.

Bill Larkin is a comedian and actor who has performed with the Second City and played Genie in Chicago Shakespeare’s production of Aladdin. Russell Mernagh appeared in Chicago Shakespeare’s Ride the Cyclone and was last seen in Broadway in Chicago’s The Play That Goes Wrong. An actor and choreographer, Breon Arzell was recently listed as one of Newcity’s 50 Players of 2023—he has worked with theaters across the city and performed with Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks in 2021. Adia Bell performed in last summer’s Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks ShakesFest and her additional credits include work at Paramount Theatre and Music Theater Works. Both an actor and a Jeff Award-winning fight choreographer, Maya Vinice Prentiss has worked with Chicago Shakespeare in both capacities, most recently on Measure for Measure. Rounding out the cast are Steve McDonagh—a celebrated Food Network chef and actor with credits at the Kennedy Center, Royal George Theatre, and Drury Lane—and Michael E. Martin, who has appeared at Paramount Theatre and in the Jeff Award-winning ensemble of United Flight 232 at the House Theatre of Chicago.

Ron West has created new dialogue for the production to frame Shakespeare’s play. West’s illustrious career includes writing for shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and serving as writer and associate artistic director at The Second City. West collaborated with Gaines on an earlier adaptation of The Comedy of Errors, which garnered Jeff Awards for Best Production and Best Adaptation, as well as The Taming of the Shrew in 2017. West also wrote The Second City’s Romeo and Juliet Musical: The People vs. Friar Laurence, The Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet, which had a wildly popular run at Chicago Shakespeare.

Joining Gaines on the creative team are Scenic Designer James Noone, Costume Designer Mieka van der Ploeg, Lighting Designer Ken Posner, Composer & Sound Designer Lindsay Jones, Hair & Make Up Designer Richard Jarvie, Verse Coach Larry Yando, Music Director Charlotte Rivard-Hoster, Associate Director Peter G. Andersen, Intimacy Director Gregory Geffrard, Fight Choreographer Bruce A. Young, Dialect Coach Kathy Logelin, Dramaturg Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Assistant Intimacy Director Courtney Abbott, Production Stage Manager Katrina Herrmann, and Assistant Stage Manager Elisabeth Schapmann.

Chicago Shakespeare makes its facility and performances accessible to all patrons through its Access Shakespeare programs. Accessible performances for The Comedy of Errors include:

Audio-described Performance – Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.

A program that provides spoken narration of a play’s key visual elements for patrons who are blind or have low vision.

Open-captioned Performance – Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 1:00 & 7:30 p.m.

A text display of the words and sounds heard during a play, synced live with the action onstage.

ASL Duo-interpreted Performance – Friday, April 14, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

All dialogue and lyrics are translated into American Sign Language by two certified interpreters.

For more information, visit www.chicagoshakes.com/comedy or on social media at @chicagoshakes at #cstComedy.

The Comedy of Errors will be presented March 9–April 16, 2023, in Chicago Shakespeare’s Courtyard Theater. Single tickets ($35–$92) are on sale now. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater’s website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Regional Tony Award-recipient Chicago Shakespeare Theater produces a bold and innovative year-round season—plays, musicals, world premieres, family productions, and theatrical presentations from around the globe—alongside nationally recognized education programming serving tens of thousands of students, teachers, and lifelong learners each year. Founded in 1986, the Theater’s onstage work has expanded to as many as twenty productions and 650 performances annually. Chicago Shakespeare is dedicated to welcoming the next generation of theatergoers; one in four of its audience members is under the age of eighteen. As a nonprofit organization, the Theater works to embrace diversity, prioritize inclusion, provide equitable opportunities, and offer an accessible experience for all. On the Theater’s three stages at its home on Navy Pier, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare is a multifaceted cultural hub—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that connect and inspire. www.chicagoshakes.com.