OPENING: Chicago Premiere! of YOU FOR ME FOR YOU Via Sideshow Theatre Company at Victory Gardens Theater

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Chicago Premiere!

Sideshow Theatre Company Presents

YOU FOR ME FOR YOU

By Mia Chung 

Directed by Ensemble Member Elly Green

March 4 – April 8, 2018 at Victory Gardens Theater

Running Time: 90 minutes/no intermission

Sideshow Theatre Company is pleased to launch its eleventh season with the Chicago premiere of Mia Chung’s absurdly inventive smash-hit YOU FOR ME FOR YOU, directed by ensemble member Elly Green*, playing March 4 – April 8, 2018 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office. 

I'll be ChiILin' at Chi, IL's Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater for the press opening of YOU FOR ME FOR YOU on March 8th, so check back soon for my full review. 

YOU FOR ME FOR YOU features Sideshow ensemble member Katy Carolina Collins* with Patrick Agada, Gordon Chow, Helen Joo Lee, John Lu and Jin Park.

Two North Korean sisters plan an elaborate escape from the “Best Nation in the World,” only to be separated at the border. Now in two strange and separate worlds filled with outrageous characters, they must navigate barriers of language and bureaucracy, reckon with the ways that culture and country can shape us, and discover that survival requires sacrifice. Playwright Mia Chung weaves myth and striking imagery into a deeply affecting and surprisingly funny adventure, portraying the endless lengths to which two sisters will go to find one another again.

Artistic Director Jonathan L. Green comments, “Mia's play is one we've been chasing for a few years. You for Me for You is fast-moving, funny and daring; in the hands of Sideshow's Elly Green, it's going to be a tour de force.”

The production team for YOU FOR ME FOR YOU includes: William Boles* (scenic design), Izumi Inaba (costume design), Cat Wilson (lighting design), Christopher M. LaPorte* (sound design), Jessica Mondres (properties design), Ben Chang (dramaturg), Chad Hain (technical director), Ellen Willett* (production manager) and Jean E. Compton (stage manager).

Location: Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago
Dates: Previews: Sunday, March 4 at 2:30 pm and Wednesday, March 7 at 8 pm
Regular run: Friday, March 9 – Sunday, April 8, 2018
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 2:30 pm
Tickets: Previews: Pay-what-you-can (online or at the door). Regular run: $20 – $30.  Students/seniors/industry: $15 for all performances (excluding opening). Tickets go on sale Monday, January 22, 2018 at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office.

*Denotes Sideshow Company Member.

About the Creative Team:

Mia Chung’s (Playwright) plays include You For Me For You, Catch as Catch Can and This Exquisite Corpse. She recently received the Stavis Playwright Award, the Frederick Loewe Award in Music-Theatre, and a Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship. You For Me For You had a UK premiere at The Royal Court Theatre, a U.S. premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and multiple productions around the U.S., including Company One (Boston), Crowded Fire Theater (San Francisco), InterAct (Philadelphia), Mu Performing Arts/Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis), Portland Playhouse (Oregon); the play is published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. In 2018, the play will run in Chicago, Michigan, and upstate NY. Mia’s work has been supported by awards, commissions, fellowships, residencies and workshops, including BAPF, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, Blue Mountain Center, Civilians’ R&D Group, Hedgebrook, Huntington Theatre, Icicle Creek, Inkwell, JAW, LAByrinth, Ma-Yi Writers Lab, NEA, Playwrights Realm, RISCA, South Coast Rep, Southern Rep, Stella Adler Studio, and TCG. During the coming year, she will develop work with the support of the Orchard Project, P73, NYTW and the Playwrights’ Center. She is a New Dramatist.

Elly Green (Director) is a freelance director, whose previous work with Sideshow includes the co-world premiere of Hansol Jung’s No More Sad Things and a Freshness Initiative workshop series of Janet Burroway’s Boomerang. She recently directed The Distance by Deborah Bruce for Haven Theatre and After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber for Strawdog Theatre. Other Chicago credits include: The Woman Before (Trap Door), Rabbit (Stage Left – Jeff nominated), Happy (Redtwist), Unwilling and Hostile Instruments (Theatre Seven) and The Tomkat Project (Playground Theatre & NY Fringe). Elly was assistant director on Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare Theater) and Proof (Court Theatre). She is an artistic associate with Stage Left theatre and a reader for Steppenwolf theatre. Elly originally trained in London on the MFA in Theatre Directing from Birkbeck College. Her UK directing credits include: Our Country’s Good, My Balloon Beats Your Astronaut, Beyond Therapy, About Tommy, Copenhagen, Skylight, The Beach and The Zoo Story. ellygreendirector.com.



About Sideshow Theatre Company:
Sideshow Theatre Company: Theatre for the Curious. It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine the collective unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

Over its 10+ year history, Sideshow is proud to have distinguished itself as a vital member of the Chicago theatre community. Sideshow was awarded the 2016 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award by the League of Chicago Theatres. Sideshow is a multiple Jeff Award-winning theatre and has been listed on the “Best of” lists in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times. Sideshow continues its multi-year residency at Victory Gardens in the historic Biograph Theater in the 2017/18 season.

Sideshow is also the producer of Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular fundraiser held in benefit of Sideshow Theatre Company and other local community organizations. CLLAW has been featured in local and national press, including The Washington Post, Reuters, Penthouse Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times and on WGN Morning News, ABC 7’s Windy City Live and CBS 2. For more information about CLLAW, visit cllaw.org.

For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company, visit sideshowtheatre.org.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE: STACY KEACH RETURNS AS ERNEST HEMINGWAY IN THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED RESCHEDULED PAMPLONA AT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

THIS SUMMER, STACY KEACH RETURNS AS ERNEST HEMINGWAY IN THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED RESCHEDULED 

PAMPLONA

 BY JIM MCGRATH, DIRECTED BY ROBERT FALLS AT GOODMAN THEATRE

THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION APPEARS 

JULY 10 – AUGUST 19, 2018; 

***TICKETS NOW ON SALE***

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we were there on the ill-fated opening night when PAMPLONA was postponed. We're thrilled to have another chance to see Stacy Keach as Ernest Hemingway, in a role built for him, directed by Artistic Director Robert Falls.

Goodman Theatre announces the Summer 2018 return of Jim McGrath’s Pamplona starring stage and screen veteran Stacy Keach as Ernest Hemingway, directed by Artistic Director Robert Falls. Originally scheduled for Spring 2017, Pamplona appeared for 11 preview performances but closed prematurely after its star suddenly fell ill on Opening Night and doctors ordered recuperation. Keach’s return to Pamplona marks the stage and screen actor’s second exploration of the literary legend: he earned a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Hemingway in the eponymous 1988 television mini-series. Pamplona appears July 10 – August 19 in the Owen Theatre. Tickets now on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org/Pamplona and by telephone, 312.443.3800, or in person at the Goodman Box Office (170 N. Dearborn).



“I’m thrilled to reunite with Stacy Keach and Jim McGrath for what I know will be a triumphant return to this beautifully rendered work about one of our most charismatic yet complicated literary titans—and a Chicagoland native—Ernest Hemingway,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls. 

Falls and Keach previously collaborated King Lear (2006) and Arthur Miller’s final play, Finishing the Picture (2004).

“I’m deeply grateful to Robert Falls, Goodman Theatre, and the good people of Chicago for encouraging me and allowing me to ‘get back on the horse,” said Stacy Keach. “I’m so excited to be returning to Pamplona and the great city.”

In Pamplona, after the prize comes the pressure. Basking in the glory of career-defining awards—the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and the coveted Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954—legendary writer Ernest Hemingway insists his best work is yet to come. Five years later, holed up in a Spanish hotel with a looming deadline, he struggles to knock out a story about the rivalrous matadors of Pamplona. But his real battles lie outside the bullfighting arena; in declining health, consumed by his troubled fourth marriage and tormented by the specter of past glories, he must now conquer the deepening despair that threatens to engulf him. 

Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961) was born in Oak Park, IL, and got his start as a journalist writing for The Kansas City Star after attending Oak Park and River Forest High School. Shortly after, he joined the Red Cross during World War I, receiving the Italian Silver Medal of Bravery in 1918 for assisting soldiers, an experience that would inspire one of his most beloved works A Farewell to Arms (1929). Following the war, he spent time in Paris, befriending the likes of Gertrude Stein, James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and published his first collection of stories Three Stories and Ten Poems (1923). Next came his first novel The Sun Also Rises (1926), about a group of British and American expatriates traveling to Pamplona, Spain. Among his many other great works are the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Old Man and the Sea, For the Whom Bell Tolls (Pulitzer Prize nomination), Green Hills of Africa, Death in the Afternoon and To Have and Have Not. On assignment, Hemingway was also present for some of World War II’s most noted events including the liberation of Paris, and received a Bronze Star for bravery for his coverage of the war. Following the war, he spent an extensive amount of time in Cuba and in 1954, shortly after publishing The Old Man and the Sea, received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Hemingway was married four times, often tumultuously, to Elizabeth Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gelhorn and Mary Welsh Hemingway. He had three sons, Jack, Patrick and Gregory. Troubled by financial issues, familial burdens and alcohol abuse, Hemingway took his own life in Idaho in 1961.

Stacy Keach (Ernest Hemingway) performed in top motion picture and television projects while continuing to add to his stage work, both classical and Broadway. His most recent motion picture, Gotti, starring John Travolta, is set to premiere in 2018. Other recent films include director Stephen Gaghan’s Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey, Edgar Ramirez and Bryce Dallas Howard; Truth, teamed with Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford; and the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel Cell, also starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. Keach’s filmography also includes John Huston’s Fat City co-starring Jeff Bridges, Alexander Payne’s Academy Award-nominated Nebraska, If I Stay, The Bourne Supremacy, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, The Ninth Configuration,; The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, Doc, Up In Smoke, American History, and the classic western The Long-Riders, which he produced with his brother James Keach. Keach recently finished filming the second season of the CBS award-winning comedy series Man With A Plan, alongside Matt LeBlanc and Kevin Nealon. He was one of the stars of the NBC comedy series Crowded, and he guest-starred on Showtime’s Ray Donovan, starring Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight. He also guest-starred on Starz’s second season of Blunt Talk, starring Sir Patrick Stewart, and continues on a recurring role on CBS’ Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck. His prior television series credits include his title role performance in Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer and Titus. He has been seen on many hit shows such as Two and a Half Men, Prison Break, NCIS: New Orleans and Hot In Cleveland. As a narrator, he has been heard in many documentaries and books on tape. He is also the narrator on CNBC’s American Greed. Keach is considered a pre-eminent American interpreter of Shakespeare, with his Shakespearean roles including Hamlet, Henry V, Coriolanus, Falstaff, Macbeth, Richard III and King Lear (at Goodman Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., directed by Robert Falls). He also led the national touring company cast of Frost/Nixon, portraying Richard M. Nixon. Keach’s memoir, All in All: An Actor’s Life On and Off the Stage, was an initial recipient of the Prism Literary Award for work addressing overcoming addictive behavior. His performance honors include a Best Actor Golden Globe Award, three OBIE Awards, three Vernon Rice Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, three Helen Hayes Awards, the prestigious Millennium Recognition Award and the Will Award, and he has been nominated for Emmy and Tony Awards. In 2015, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2016, Keach received a Hollywood Film Award for Best Ensemble in the film Gold. He also received the 2016 Best Narrator Award from the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences in the category of Crime and Thriller for his work on the Mike Hammer  audio novels. Keach was a Fulbright scholar to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and attended the University of California at Berkeley and the Yale School of Drama. Keach has been married to his wife Malgosia for 31 years, and they have two children, son Shannon and daughter Karolina.

Jim McGrath’s first short play, Trail of the Westwoods Pewee, was presented at the West Bank Theatre in New York City in 1987. The next year saw the production of his first full-length play, Bob’s Guns, at the Director’s Company in New York. In 1992, New Jersey’s Passage Theatre produced his play Roebling Steel. In 1995, the Met Theatre in Los Angeles premiered The Ellis Jump, which won McGrath the Ovation Award for Best Writing of a World Premier Play. For television, he wrote detective stories for Simon & Simon, The Father Dowling Mysteries, Matlock, Mike Hammer and Over My Dead Body, as well as the children’s series Wishbone and Liberty Kids, science fiction series Quantum Leap, Codename Eternity and Dark Realm and the television films Elvis: The Early Years and Silver Bells (starring Anne Heche). He also co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film Kickboxer: Vengeance. In 2012, he produced and wrote the documentary Momo: The Sam Giancana Story, which won Best Documentary Awards at the Bel Air Film Festival and The Monaco International Film Festival. He has taught creative writing courses at Patton State Prison in San Bernardino, California State Home for Veterans in Los Angeles and The Center Theater in Chicago. He was trained as an artist leader with Imagination Workshop, by founders Margaret Ladd and Lyle Kessler in 1983, for which he worked with mentally ill and homeless clients for decades as a theater artist. In 2010, he became Executive Director of Imagination Workshop. McGrath is a native of Dallas, Texas. After graduating SMU, he attended Princeton Theological Seminary for two years before embarking on his playwriting career.

Robert Falls (Goodman Theatre Artistic Director) previously directed at the Goodman the world premiere of Rogelio Martinez’s Blind Date, the Chicago premiere of Rebecca Gilman’s Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976, and partnered with Goodman Playwright-in-Residence Seth Bockley to direct their world premiere adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 (Jeff Award for Best Adaptation). Falls will direct a new production of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People (March 10 – April 15, 2018) at the Goodman, and also remount his Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for the Dallas Opera (April 2018). Recent productions also include The Iceman Cometh for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Rebecca Gilman’s Luna Gale for the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, Measure for Measure and the world and off-Broadway premieres of Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian. Among his other credits are The Seagull, King Lear, Desire Under the Elms, John Logan’s Red, Jon Robin Baitz’s Three Hotels, Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio and Conor McPherson’s Shining City; the world premieres of Richard Nelson’s Frank’s Home, Arthur Miller’s Finishing the Picture, Eric Bogosian’s Griller, Steve Tesich’s The Speed of Darkness and On the Open Road, John Logan’s Riverview: A Melodrama with Music and Rebecca Gilman’s A True History of the Johnstown Flood, Blue Surge and Dollhouse; the American premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s House and Garden; and the Broadway premiere of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. Mr. Falls’ honors for directing include, among others, a Tony Award (Death of a Salesman), a Drama Desk Award (Long Day’s Journey into Night), an Obie Award (subUrbia), a Helen Hayes Award (King Lear) and multiple Jeff Awards (including a 2012 Jeff Award for The Iceman Cometh). For “outstanding contributions to theater,” Mr. Falls has been recognized with such prestigious honors as the Savva Morozov Diamond Award (Moscow Art Theatre), the O’Neill Medallion (Eugene O’Neill Society), the Distinguished Service to the Arts Award (Lawyers for the Creative Arts), the Illinois Arts Council Governor’s Award and induction into the Theater Hall of Fame.

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

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

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

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

OPENING: The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Northlight Theatre 3/15/18- 4/22/18

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Northlight Theatre continues its 2017-18 season with

The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Written by Martin McDonagh

Directed by BJ Jones

Featuring Kate Fry, Nathan Hosner, Casey Morris and Wendy Robie

March 15 – April 22, 2018

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, continues its 2017-18 season with The Beauty Queen of Leenane, written by Martin McDonagh and directed by BJ Jones.  The Beauty Queen of Leenane runs March 15 – April 22, 2018 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.

The play premiered Off-Broadway in February 1998, presented by the Atlantic Theatre Company. It transferred to Broadway in April 1998 and received six Tony Award nominations, winning four: Best Supporting Actor (Tom Murphy); Best Actress (Marie Mullen); Best Supporting Actress (Anna Manahan); and Best Director (Garry Hynes). Hynes was the first female recipient of a Tony Award for directing a play.

This Tony Award-winning dark comedy is set in the provincial Irish town of Leenane. Forty-year-old spinster Maureen Folan lives with her manipulative aging mother Mag, stuck in a caretaking relationship that has them both seething with resentment. When a romantic encounter finally sparks Maureen’s hopes for an escape from her dreary existence, Mag’s interference sets in motion a chain of events that is as tragically funny as it is terrifying. 

“I find Martin McDonagh’s sense of humor adolescent and amusing; I love his ability to shock for shock's sake, and I relate to his quirky characters built on a landscape of loneliness and isolation. From the fable like period piece of The Cripple of Inishmaan, through the Leenane trilogy with a side trip to the gory Lieutenant of Inishmore, he has remained true to his own stylistic voice,” comments BJ Jones. “My attraction to The Beauty Queen of Leenane is McDonagh's style: theatrical fireworks that light up a dark landscape and reveal even darker crevices, much like the Burren region of western Ireland. So many of his works echo Synge, Beckett, and in more modern synchronicity Tarantino and even Letts. With the gifted artists Kate Fry and Wendy Robie, I take on this overdue date with McDonagh's seminal masterpiece.”

The cast of The Beauty Queen of Leenane includes Kate Fry (Maureen Folan), Nathan Hosner (Pato Dooley), Casey Morris (Ray Dooley) and Wendy Robie (Mag Folan).

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), JR Lederle (Lighting Design) and Andre Pluess (Sound Design). The stage manager is Michelle Medvin.

Northlight’s production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane is supported in part by Freddi Greenberg and Dan Pinkert, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, and Tom Stringer Design Partners.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane is the first play in playwright Martin McDonagh’s trilogy set in Leenane, a small village on the west coast of Ireland where he spent his holidays as a child. The other two parts of the trilogy are A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West. A second trilogy is set across the Aran Islands, off the coast of County Galway, and includes The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Banshees of Inisheer, which was never published.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Martin McDonagh (Playwright) is an award-winning writer/director. His latest film is Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. Plays: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Lonesome West, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Pillowman, A Behanding in Spokane, Hangmen. As writer/director: Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri; Seven Psychopaths; In Bruges; Six Shooter (short film).

Playwright, screenwriter, and director Martin McDonagh is among the most acclaimed living playwrights in Ireland. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Six Shooter and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for In Bruges. His most recent film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Original Screenplay. The film also was nominated for nine BAFTA Awards (winning five including Best Screenplay, Film and Outstanding British Film of the Year) and six Golden Globe Awards (winning four including Best Screenplay).

BJ Jones (Director) is in his 20th season as Artistic Director of Northlight where he commissioned and directed the world premieres of Faceless, Charm, White Guy on the Bus,  Stella & Lou, The Outgoing Tide (Jeff Nomination – Best Director), Better Late, and Rounding Third. Notably he has directed productions of Outside Mullingar, Grey Gardens, The Price (Jeff Nomination- Best Director), A Skull in Connemara, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. As a producer he has guided the world premieres of Shining Lives, The Last Five Years, The Gamester, and Studs Terkel’s ‘The Good War’. From Second City to Shakespeare, BJ has directed Pitmen Painters (Jeff Nomination – Best Director, TimeLine), A Number (Next), 100 Saints You Should Know (Steppenwolf), and The Dresser (Body Politic). Regional: Glengarry Glen Ross (Suzie Bass Nominee – Best Director, Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre), Enchanted April (Asolo Theatre), and productions at Cherry Lane Theatre NY, Galway Arts Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, and Utah Shakespeare Festival. As a performer, Mr. Jones is a two-time Joseph Jefferson Award winner and has appeared at Northlight, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, and other theatres throughout Chicago. Film/TV credits include The Fugitive, Body Double, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Early Edition, Cupid, and Turks, among others.

Kate Fry (Maureen Folan) returns to Northlight, where she performed in Outside Mullingar and The Miser.  Most recently, she played Emily Dickinson in The Belle of Amherst at Court Theatre, where she has appeared in many productions over the years.  Other Chicago credits include work with Writers’ Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and Victory Gardens Theatre.  She has also worked with Center Theatre Group in LA, McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and Lincoln Center.  She is the recipient of three Joseph Jefferson awards, the local Sarah Siddons award, an After Dark award, and Chicago Magazine’s actress of the year.  Kate is married to actor/teacher Timothy Edward Kane, with whom she has two sons.

Nathan Hosner (Pato Dooley) returns to Northlight after appearing in Discord. Chicago credits include productions with Lookingglass, Court, Writers, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman, Paramount, About Face, First Folio, Shaw Chicago and Shakespeare Project of Chicago. Other credits include Peter and the Starcatcher (first national tour) and productions with American Players Theatre, New Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, BoarsHead Theater, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Door Shakespeare. Nathan is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London.

Casey Morris (Ray Dooley) is making his Northlight Theatre debut! Last fall, you may have seen Casey in the role of Mike Danver in Janine Naber's Welcome to Jesus at American Theater Company. Other Chicago theatre credits include: Ah, Wilderness! (Goodman Theatre, u/s), What of the Night? (Stage Left & Cor Theatre), Hand to God (Victory Gardens, u/s), The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre), EOM (Ignition Festival '16, Victory Gardens), Voyage (Cock and Bull), The Revel (The House Theatre of Chicago, u/s), Post Apocalypto (Sketchbook ’15, Collaboraction), In a Little World of Our Own (Irish Theatre of Chicago, u/s), and Charlotte's Web (Emerald City Theatre). Casey received his MFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Wendy Robie (Mag Folan) returns to Chicago after an extended visit to the West Coast to appear in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return (Showtime) reprising her role as “Nadine Hurley.”

Wendy Robie (Mag Folan) is back in Chicago after an extended visit to the West Coast to appear in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return (Showtime) reprising her role as “Nadine Hurley.” In Chicago, Robie has appeared at Drury Lane, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman Theatre, Remy Bumppo, and Next Theatre. As a Company Member for Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Ontario, Robie played Regan in Brian Bedford’s King Lear in 2007.  Most recently in Seattle, Robie played Volumnia in the critically acclaimed all-female production of Coriolanus: Fight Like A Bitch. Film: Wes Craven’s The People Under The Stairs, Vampire In Brooklyn, The Attic Expeditions, Lost Voyage, Devil In The Flesh, The Dentist II, Were The World Mine. TV: Star Trek DS9, Any Day Now, Party Of Five, Quantum Leap, Dark Skies, C-16, Baywatch, Prophet Of Evil, A Place For Annie, and two seasons as Nadine in the original Twin Peaks.

The Box Office is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, in Skokie. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm, and Saturdays 12:00pm-5:00pm. On performance days, the box office hours are extended through showtime. The Box Office is closed on Sundays, except on performance days when it is open two hours prior to showtime.

Curtain times are: Tuesdays: 7:30pm (March 20 only); Wednesdays: 1:00pm (except April 4) and 7:30pm; Thursdays: 7:30pm; Fridays: 8:00pm; Saturdays: 2:30pm (except March 17) and 8:00pm; and Sundays: 2:30pm (except April 1) and 7:00pm (March 18 and April 8 only).

The Beauty Queen of Leenane received its world premiere presented by the Druid Theatre Company in Galway it February 1996. It then toured Ireland and transferred to London's West End, where it opened at the Royal Court Theatre. It was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Play.

Northlight is continuing its popular special event series in conjunction with each production. All events are free.

Backstage with BJ: The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Friday, March 9 at noon
at Northlight Theatre
9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, IL
Backstage with BJ is a mid-day discussion with Artistic Director BJ Jones, featuring special guest artists, actors, directors and designers, offering behind-the-scenes insight into each production while it is still in rehearsal. Backstage with BJ for The Beauty Queen of Leenane will last approximately one hour. The event is free but reservations are required. Visit https://northlight.org/events/backstage-with-bj/ to reserve your spot.

Martin McDonagh in Theatre and Film
Tuesday April 3 at 7pm 
at the Irish American Heritage Center
4626 N Knox Ave, Chicago, IL 
Explore the worlds created by the brilliant mind of Martin McDonagh - from his critically acclaimed film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri to the Tony Award-winning The Beauty Queen of Leenane, we will discuss what makes McDonagh one of the most celebrated writers of his time.

Inside Look: The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Tuesday, April 17 at 2:00pm
Skokie Public Library
5215 Oakton St, Skokie, IL
Explore the social and historical context of The Beauty Queen of Leenane through a discussion and Q&A session with artists related to the production.

Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community. 

Now in its 43rd season, the organization has mounted over 200 productions, including nearly 40 world premieres. Northlight has earned 202 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 34 Awards. As one of the area’s premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality. 

Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions from Allstate Insurance; the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation; BMO Harris Bank; Henrietta Lange Burk Fund; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; ComEd, An Exelon Company; The Davee Foundation; Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays Award; Evanston Community Foundation; Full Circle Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Melvoin Award for Playwriting; Modestus Bauer Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Niles Township; The Offield Family Foundation; The Pauls Foundation; Room & Board; Sanborn Family Foundation; Dr. Scholl Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; The Sullivan Family Foundation; and Tom Stringer Design Partners.


Dates: Previews: March 15 – March 22, 2018

Regular run: March 24 – April 22, 2018

Schedule:
Tuesdays: 7:30pm (March 20 only)
Wednesdays: 1:00pm (except April 4) and 7:30pm
Thursdays: 7:30pm 
Fridays: 8:00pm
Saturdays: 2:30pm (except March 17) and 8:00pm
Sundays: 2:30pm (except April 1) and 7:00pm (March 18 and April 8 only)

Location:
Northlight Theatre is located at the North Shore
Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd,
Skokie

Tickets:
Previews: $30-$57
Regular run: $30-$81
Student tickets are $15, any performance 
(subject to availability)

Box Office:
The Box Office is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie.
847.673.6300; northlight.org

OPENING: World Premiere of The Green Book Via Pegasus at Chicago Dramatists 3/1/18-4/1/18

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

The Green Book

By Calvin A. Ramsey | March 1-April 1, 2018 | Chicago Dramatists

A co-production with ShPIeL Performing Identity

I'll be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's Pegasus Theatre in association with ShPIeL Performing Identity for the opening performance this Sunday, March 4th. Check back soon for my full review. I remember how astonished I was to learn of The Green Book, a few years back. As much as I thought I knew of the history of racism in our country, I'd never contemplated the actual logistics of trying to road trip through miles of country where stopping for a bite to eat, gas, lodging or even a bathroom was forbidden, based on skin color or ethnicity. This very topic just came up again on stage at Black Ensemble Theatre in their excellent current production, Hail, Hail Chuck: A Tribute To Chuck Berry. Like many others, he toured the country in an era where it was illegal for him to stay in the hotels where his shows were selling out. Even famous performers often had to travel miles away to the outskirts of town to find room and board. With states again making noises about legalizing exclusion based on race, religion, and sexual orientation, this play is quite timely. We must know and own our past history as a country, to move forward and not repeat past mistakes. I'm looking forward to catching this one.

Pegasus Theatre Chicago, in association with ShPIeL Performing Identity, announce the Chicago premiere of The Green Book, inspired by Victor Green’s historical, “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” March 1 – April 1 at Pegasus’s resident home Chicago Dramatists, 765 N. Aberdeen. The Green Book is written by Calvin A. Ramsey, and directed by Pegasus’ Producing Artistic Director Ilesa Duncan. Previews are Thursday, March 1 and Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with added Sunday 6 p.m. performances. Tickets are $18 - $30 and are available at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Discounts available for groups of ten or more at Group Theater Tix, 312-423-6612. 

All Tickets: $18-30

Group and student pricing available!

THE GREEN BOOK
On March 1, Pegasus Theatre Chicago—the recipient of seventy-seven Joseph Jefferson awards— will present  The Green Book by Calvin A. Ramsey. Produced in association with ShPIeL Performing Identity Theatre, tickets are now on sale for the Chicago premiere and the unveiling of a new full-length version.

The play is an homage to the historical travel guide, “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” published by Victor Green from 1936 – 1967, and centers on the Davis’, an African-American family who open their home to Negro travelers needing during Jim Crow segregation and the dawn of civil rights activism. The Green Book takes place during a weekend when the Davis’ are hosting three travelers while anticipating the arrival of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois. Their plans are interrupted by the sudden, unexpected arrival of a Holocaust survivor seeking a room.

PRICES
Adult $30 | Seniors $25 | Students $18
Group Rates Available – Call Group Tix at 312.423.6612

About the Production Team
CALVIN A. RAMSEY (Playwright) is an Atlanta-based playwright, photographer, and folk art painter whose plays include Bricktop, The Musical; Damaged Virtues; Canada Lee; Sherman Town, Baseball, Apple Pie and The Klan; Enlightenment; Sister Soldiers; Kentucky Avenue; Somewhere In My Lifetime; Johnny Mercer: A Man and His Music, and The Age of Possibilities. His plays have been performed throughout the United States. Ramsey grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and Roxboro, North Carolina. He is a recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major for Justice Award. His children’s books are “The Last Mule of Gee’s Bend” and “Ruth and The Green Book.”

ILESA DUNCAN (Director) is the producing artistic director at Pegasus. Her recent directing work includes SHAKIN’ THE MESS OUTTA MISERY (Jeff Recommended), RUTHERFORD’S TRAVELS (co-adapter, Jeff Nominated), FOR HER AS A PIANO and BLACULA: YOUNG, BLACK & UNDEAD at Pegasus, DARLIN’ with Step Up Productions, BROKEN FENCES at 16th Street Theater, the Jeff Award-nominated NATIVITY with Congo Square, and the Jeff Award-winning JAR THE FLOOR at ETA Creative Arts. Duncan has also worked with Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Lifeline Theater, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). Ilesa’s creative nonfiction short stories have been published (Columbia College Chicago), and she’s written poems and screenplays.  For the stage, she was a co-writer and director of BLAKK LOVE: STOEEZ OF A DARKER HUE,  and facilitated the group writing project PORTRAITS (2007) for the Chicago Foundation for Women and the devised project DO YOU SEE WHAT I’M SAYING for Chameleon.

David Y. Chack (ShPIeL/Co-Producer) is Artistic Director of ShPIeL–Performing Identity Theatre in Chicago and the Bunbury-ShPIeL Identity Theatre Project in Louisville. He directed A Jewish Joke by Phil Johnson and Marni Freedman at Victory Garden and Skokie Theatre; and produced The Timekeepers from Israel. He teaches “Holocaust Theatre”; “Jewish-American Performance”; “Identity Theatre” at DePaul University. His doctoral work was under Elie Wiesel at Boston University; MA work at Tufts University in Drama and Holocaust Theatre; BFA from NYU / Circle-in-the-Square Theatre. He has written numerous articles on theatre and advised/curated exhibitions including the first exhibition on “The Yiddish Theatre and New York Theatre” at the Museum of the City of New York. He is also the Executive Director of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre.

Joan Mazzonelli (ShPIeL/Script Dramaturg) has produced, directed, and designed original works in Chicago and New York City.  She has served in leadership roles with City Lit Theater, Griffin Theatre, Midwest New Musicals, Athenaeum Theatre, Theatre Building Chicago, On Stage Productions, Opera Shop at the Vineyard Theatre, and National Shakespeare Company. Her musical books include: Bottom’s Dream with James L. Kurtz, the adaptation for the stage of All in the Laundry by Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Reasonable Terms with Karena Mendoza and Marianne Kallen, and High Fidelity, The Proposal, Dorabella’s Daughters and The Passion of John with Philip Seward, as well as the co-adaptation of Border Crossing with Marianne Kallen.

CAST





Dan Davis……………………………………………… Henri Watkins
Barbara Davis…………………………………………Stacie Doublin
Neena Davis……………………………………… Demetra Drayton
Keith Chenault……………………………………… Malcom Banks
Jacob Levinsky……………………………………….Michael Stock
Cpt. George Smith/Samuel……………………… Terence Sims
Jacqueline Smith…………………………………… Quenna Lené

PRODUCTION TEAM

Scenic Design/TD…………………………………….Nick Schwartz
Lighting Design…………………………………………Carley Walker
Costume Design………………………………………….Uriel Gomez
Sound Design…………………………………Devonte Washington
Props Design………………………………………………… Katy Vest
Production Manager…………………….. Noelle Hedges-Goettl
Master Electrician…………………………………………Becs Bartle
Stage Managers………………………………………..Taylor Hobart
……………………………………………………………..Auden Granger

Artists
Malcom Banks (Keith Chenault) is a film, television and stage actor.  Recent credits include Jitney at Congo Square Theater.  Film/TV credits include NBC’s Chicago PD and the independent film Side Effects. Malcom also wrote and directed his first film, 7Svens Law, available on Amazon.

Stacie Doublin (Barbara Davis) was recently in Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery with Pegasus Theatre. Other Chicago credits include:  Streetcar Named Desire, The Room, and Diner Tales (Raven Theatre); MacBeth, Twelfth Nite, Taming of the Shrew (Oak Park Festival Theatre); Skin of Our Teeth, Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness (The Artistic Home); Love Child (Live Bait Theatre, Chicago Theatre Company); and Elephant Man (The Side Project). Stacie has also worked with Victory Gardens, Next Theatre and ETA Creative Arts.

Demetra Drayton (Neena Davis) is honored to work with Pegasus Theatre Chicago for the first time! She last performed in ETA Creative Arts’ The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves. Demetra graduated from East Carolina University where she received her BFA in Professional Acting. A few of her credits include Miss Pat, Topsy and Normal Jean in The Colored Museum, Lillian Stride in Migration, Vixen in Dracula with the Loessin Playhouse, The Lady in Orange in For Colored Girls with the Joyner Theatre, A Fury in The Furies with the Loessin Playhouse, Lorraine in All Shook Up with Trumpet in the Land Theatre and many more; she was assistant director for Woman from the Town, Drowsy Chaperone, and Three Penny Opera.

Quenna Lené (Jacqueline Smith) is a Chicago native who received her BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch and a Masters in Applied Theatre from the University of Southern California. Recent Chicago credits include: Theatre Unspeakable’s Moon Shot, Cor Theatre’s Late Company, The Runaways Theatre Lab’s Dead Youth, or The Leaks, Pegasus Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival 30, , good friday at Oracle, and a starring role as Dr. Beverly Long in Nikkole Salter’s Lines in the Dust at eta Creative Arts Foundation. 

Terence Sims (Cpt. George Smith) is thrilled to make his Pegasus Theatre debut. Previous credits include Skeleton Crew (U/S Northlight Theatre); Barbecue (Strawdog Theatre); Force Continuum (Eclipse Theater); Monster (Steppenwolf Theatre); Between Riverside and Crazy (u/s, Steppenwolf Theatre); To Kill A Mockingbird (Children’s Theatre Madison); He has studied American Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford College in London, and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Terence is also a member of Kinfolk Collective, an afrofuturist aesthetic tribe of artists & scholars working to rewrite the present and remaster the narrative of the African diaspora.

Michael A. Stock (Jacob Levinsky) has performed extensively in Chicago, regionally, as well as Off-Broadway and in the NYC Indie Theater scene.  Michael is also a playwright, director, teacher, visual artist, and founding artistic director of Sideway Theater.    Piven Alum.  School At Steppenwolf Alum.  Certified Practitioner of Lessac Voice and Body Training.  BS Performance Studies, Northwestern University.  MFA Acting, Theatre School at DePaul University.  Visit Michael A Stock: www.michaelAstock.com  

Henri Watkins (Dan Davis) is very excited to be doing his first production with Pegasus Theatre.  Chicago credits include Jitney, Misanthrope, and Waiting for Godot (Court Theatre), CCX for Modofac Productions at Rivendell Theatre, and The Marvin Gaye Story (Black Ensemble Theater).  Regional: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Piano Lesson (Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, Sarasota, Florida).  Film credits include Sundance award winners: “Chameleon Street” and “Detroit Unleaded.”

ABOUT ShPIeL PERFORMING IDENTITY, co-producer
ShPIeL develops and deepens the theatre artist and performance projects through cultural identities and narratives; provides professional networks for theatre and performing art; and is dedicated to creating a transformative community. David Y. Chack is the Producing Artistic Director of ShPIeL, now in its 5th year and a professor in Holocaust Theatre and Jewish Theatre at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Joan Mazzonelli is a co-producer and dramaturg with ShPIeL.

ABOUT PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO, co-producer
Pegasus Theatre Chicago has been a mainstay in the Chicago theater community for nearly 38 years. Its mission is to produce boldly imaginative theatre, champion new and authentic voices and illuminate the human journey. The theatre adheres to the core values of community engagement, social relevance, boldness, adventure and excellence.

Pegasus is also committed to initiating important conversations through the arts with strong community engagement and socially relevant programming, including the Young Playwrights Festival for high school-age scribes, which celebrated its 31st Anniversary this year. Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received seventy-seven Joseph Jefferson Citations since its inception.

The Green Book Chicago premiere is made possible in part by The Chicago Community Trust and Affiliates. Pegasus Theatre Chicago is also generously supported by the MacArthur Fund at Richard Driehaus Foundation, the Albert Pick, Jr. Fund, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and a CityArts grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (Rahm Emanuel, Mayor).

The Anti-Defamation League is also a production partner.

Productions
Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery
31st Young Playwrights Festival
The Green Book

OPENING: WORLD PREMIERE OF ONE MAN SHOW, I’M FALLING IN LOVE ALL THE TIME

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

THE AGENCY THEATER COLLECTIVE PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 

I’M FALLING IN LOVE ALL THE TIME, 

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY JACK SCHULTZ AND DIRECTED BY CORDIE NELSON, 

MARCH 2 – MARCH 31 

AT THE PENDULUM SPACE

The running time is 60 minutes, without intermission. 

The Agency Theater Collective is pleased to announce its spring production of the world premiere of I’m Falling In Love All The Time, written and performed by Jack Schultz and directed by Cordie Nelson, March 2 – March 31, at the The Pendulum Space, 1803 W Byron St #216. Opening night is Friday, March 2 at 10:00 p.m. The performance schedule is every Friday and Saturday in March at 10:00 p.m. Ticket prices are pay what you can with a $5 minimum $15 suggested donation. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit WeAreTheAgency.org or call 773.680.4596.

Coffee. Romance. Heroin. There’s a first time for everything and a last. In his heartfelt solo show, Jack Schultz weaves together personal stories of the highs and lows of love.

The artistic and production staff of I’m Falling In Love All The Time includes: Jack Schultz*, performer and playwright; Cordie Nelson, director; Sara Faye stage manager; Daimon Hampton, projection designer; Andrew Gallant, artistic director of The Agency; Sommer Austin, managing director of the Agency; and Tim Touhy, company manager of The Agency; Cody Lucas, marketing director and graphic designer of the Agency.

*indicates The Agency Theatre Collective Company member
  
In the wake of an unexpected tragedy, Jack started to rely on coffee for a daily dose of dopamine. This new caffeine addiction inspired Jack to reevaluate his relationship with the pleasure chemical and write a show exploring his drug of choice. First kisses, long walks, and inevitable goodbyes, I’m Falling In Love All the Time asks, "What do we do with the love for the people we’ve lost?"

ABOUT JACK SCHULTZ,performer and playwright
Jack Schultz is a proud company member of The Agency Theatre Collective wherehe produces the Basement Series. Performance credits with The Agency include Hellcab, The Spirit of ’76, and I Wish to Apologize to the People of Illinois. His storytelling has been seen throughout Chicago at events like Story Club Northside, The Moth StorySLAM, and The Best of No Shame Theater. Jack is an instructor at Green Shirt Studio and on staff with Sideshow Theatre Company. 

ABOUT CORDIE NELSON, director
Cordie Nelson is excited to be working once more with The Agency Theatre Collective on such a personal and important piece of art. She’s directed several pieces for their Basement Series and Assistant Directed Chagrin Falls with them in fall 2016. She is a Meisner Instructor for Green Shirt Studio.

ABOUT THE AGENCY THEATER COLLECTIVE
Founded in 2010, The Agency Theater Collective creates relevant, authentic work with a focus on new or rarely produced plays. Past productions include a new take on Will Kern’s Hellcab, Mia McCullough’s Chagrin Falls, Copi’s Four Twins, Clifford Odets’ Paradise Lost, Out of Tune Confessional, I Wish to Apologize to the People of Illinois, At the Center, Truth in Context (Non-Equity Jeff Award nominee for Best New Work in 2015/2016) and The Spirit of ’76. The Agency also hosts “No Shame Theatre,” a weekly theatrical open mic, every Saturday night at The Lincoln Loft. The Agency Theater Collective hold the follow principles sacred: revelation, paradox, humor, mischief and collaboration.

OPENING: World Premiere of HANG MAN at The Gift Theatre Through 4/29/18

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

The Gift Theatre Presents the World Premiere of

 HANG MAN

By Stacy Osei-Kuffour

Directed by Jess McLeod

March 2 – April 29, 2018

I'll be out to review for ChiIL Live Shows on Friday 3/9/18. Check back soon for our take on this world premiere production. 

The Gift Theatre is pleased to launch its 17th season with the world premiere of Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s haunting and often-humorous drama HANG MAN, directed by guest artist Jess McLeod, playing March 2 – April 29, 2018 at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Single tickets and season subscriptions are currently available by calling the Gift’s box office at 773-283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org. 

HANG MAN will feature ensemble members Paul D’Addario, Gregory Fenner and Martel Manning with Andy Fleischer, Jennifer Glasse, Mariah Sydnei Gordon and Angela Morris.

The community of a backwoods Southern town grapples with the murder of a black man who is found hanging in a tree. As events unfold, the hanging mystifies the people of the community, forcing them to confront their complicity in this man’s horrific demise. Osei-Kuffour’s darkly comical, heartbreaking play, which recently made the prestigious 2017 Kilroy’s List, uses absurdity to explore racism, sexuality and the parts of American history we would all like to forget.

Comments Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton, "The Gift is honored to produce the world premiere of HANG MAN. Stacy Osei-Kuffour's voice is singular, bold, incisive and humorous. The moment we finished her play, we were shook, terrified, and knew we had to embrace it. HANG MAN demands to be experienced right now; experiencing it in the intimacy of The Gift will simply be unforgettable." 

The production team for HANG MAN includes: Arnel Sancianco (scenic design), Alarie Hammock (costume design), Mike Durst (lighting design), Stephen Ptacek (sound design), John Nichols III (props design), Rachel Flesher (violence/intimacy design) and Cori James (stage manager).


Dates: 
Previews: Friday, March 2 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, March 4 at 2:30 pm and Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Friday, March 9 – Sunday, April 29, 2018
Curtain Times: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2:30 pm. Please note: there will not be a 3:30 pm performance on Saturday, March 10.
Tickets: $30 – $40. Single and season subscriptions are currently available by calling the Gift’s box office at 773-283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org. 

About the Artists

Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s (Playwright) previous plays include The Painter (Samuel French Festival finalist); Breathless, workshop productions at the Dream Up Festival & Downtown Urban Theater Festival (both at Theater for the New City); Dirty Blood, reading at Rattlestick Theater; Animals (Irv Zarkower Award winner through Hunter College), readings: Lark Development Center, NYTW, Blank Theatre and IAMA Theatre; The Pearl and The Black Sea (Honorable Mention in The Kilroy’s 2015 The List); Hang Man, Bay Area Playwrights Festival finalist, Boston Court New Play finalist, O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist and The Kilroy’s 2017 The List. This past year, Stacy was accepted into EST in LA, Youngblood, New Georges the Jam, Nashville Repertory Theatre’s Ingram Play Lab alongside Christopher Durang and Humantias PLAY LA Workshop. In addition, Stacy became a two-time Van Lier finalist at the Lark Development Center. Stacy just finished writing for the TV show Happy!, which will air on the SYFY network this December. Currently, Stacy is writing for the HBO TV show Watchmen, set to air in 2019. Stacy’s goal is to bring untold stories to the stage and screen, stories that challenge our political, societal and stereotypical views of the Black experience. She holds a BFA in Acting from NYU and an MFA in Playwright from Hunter College.

Jess McLeod (Director) is the Resident Director of Hamilton (Broadway in Chicago), a Resident Director at Victory Gardens Theater and the Goodman Theatre’s 2017 Michael Maggio Directing Fellow. Chicago credits include 2 1/2 seasons with Chicago Voices (Lyric Opera of Chicago), a revamped Marry Me A Little (Porchlight Music Theatre), Idris Goodwin’s How We Got On (Haven Theatre), Lauren Yee’s in a word (Strawdog Theatre Company), Shawn Pfautch’s Season on the Line (The House Theatre of Chicago, Jeff Nomination); poet Kevin Coval’s one-man show L-vis Live! (Victory Gardens); Venus (Steppenwolf’s Next Up!); Bathsheba Doran’s Kin (Griffin Theatre); Jenni Lamb’s Suicide Kills (American Theater Company); Babes In Arms (Porchlight Revisits); and Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen’s Fugitive Songs, Zanna, Don’t, and The Pajama Game (The Music Theatre Company). She has directed workshops of new plays or musicals for the Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, American Theater Company, Steep Theatre and The American Music Theatre Project, and served as Labrunner for Timber Lake Playhouse's Summer Playwrights Lab (2011-12). From 2005-2008, McLeod served as Director of Programming for The New York Musical Theatre Festival, where she oversaw all curating and directed pop/musical theatre fusion concerts such as The Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds. New York directing credits include Joyce Carol Oates’ The Corn Maiden, Harrison David Rivers’ Fell, Rachel Axler’s Kitchen Sink (Cherry Lane Studio), Joe Keenan and Brad Ross’ The Times (Sonnet Repertory Theatre) and The Last Five Years (Arthur Seelen Theatre). An avid teaching artist and believer in youth and community engagement, McLeod also recently served as Festival Coordinator for Young Chicago Authors’ Louder Than A Bomb Poetry Festival (the world’s largest youth poetry festival), worked as a Teaching Artist for Storycatchers Theatre and will direct Short Shakes! A Midsummer Night’s Dream this winter for Chicago Shakespeare Theater. McLeod holds an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University and a BA from Williams College, and has taught or lectured at both, as well as at NYU, Yale University, NSLC, and The Calhoun School in New York.

About The Gift Theatre
The Gift’s 17th season consists of Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s world premiere of Hang Man, directed by Jess McCleod (March 2 – April 29, 2018); Shakespeare’s Hamlet, directed by Monty Cole (June 1 – July 29, 2018); and the Midwest premiere of Tony Award-winning playwright and ensemble member David Rabe’s Cosmologies, directed by Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton (October 12 –December 9, 2018). The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071. 

OPENING: WORLD PREMIERE OF TREVOR DAWKINS’ A STORY TOLD IN SEVEN FIGHTS VIA THE NEO-FUTURISTS

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

THE NEO-FUTURISTS ANNOUNCE ENSEMBLE MEMBER TREVOR DAWKINS’ 

A STORY TOLD IN SEVEN FIGHTS, DIRECTED BY TONY SANTIAGO, MARCH 1 – APRIL 7

Running Time: 80 minutes

The True Story of Fist Fights and Theater Riots within the Dadaist and Surrealist Movements in the early 20th Century Comes to Life in The Neo-Futurists’ Next World Premiere

I've adored The Neo-Futurists since I first discovered them during their Live Bait Theatre days in the early 90's. My teenage son and I will be out for the press opening of A Story Told in Seven Fights on 3/5, so check back soon for my full review. We're looking forward to this one!

The Neo-Futurists present Ensemble Member Trevor Dawkins’ A Story Told in Seven Fights, directed by Tony Santiago, playing at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., March 1 – April 7. Previews are Thursday, March 1 – Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m., with opening night Monday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices for previews and Thursdays are pay-what-you-can; for the regular run, tickets are $10-25. Tickets and information are available at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255.

A Story Told in Seven Fights finds Creator and Neo-Futurist Ensemble Member Trevor Dawkins leading a group of stage combatants smashing their way through the true stories of fist fights and theater riots that erupted within the Dadaist and Surrealist movements at the turn of the 20th century. This will be Dawkins’ second full-length Prime Time production after his 2014 summer blockbuster Haymaker and the Neo-Futurist debut for former Oracle Productions’ Tony Santiago.

"When thinking about art and its role in society today, the ensemble and I wanted to look at, celebrate and scrutinize the actions of icons from the early modern art movements,” says Dawkins.  “By looking at the provocations and conflicts of the past, we hope to create a strategy to fight for the future. " 

A Story Told in Seven Fights features performances from Trevor Dawkins*, Jen Ellison**, Rasell Holt, Arti Ishak, TJ Medel, Kendra Miller, Stephanie Shum and Jeff Trainor.

A Story Told in Seven Fights’ production team consists of Tony Santiago (director), Olivia Wallace (stage manager), Gaby Labotka (fight director), Alon Stotter (lighting designer), Eleanor Kahn (scenic designer), Steve Labedz (sound designer) and Kate Hardiman (production manager).

ABOUT TREVOR DAWKINS* creator/performer
Trevor Dawkins has worked as a Neo-Futurist Ensemble Member since 2011, where he has written and performed for Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind and more recently the late-night hit, The Infinite Wrench. Dawkins also created and performed in Haymaker, which The Chicago Tribune’s "On the Fringe" column listed as one of "The Best of 2014." Other Neo-Futurist Prime Time credits include Chalk and Saltwater: The Ladder Project, Daredevils Hamlet, Analog and Redletter. He has performed original work around Chicago, across the United States and at the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe. He has appeared in the films Operator and Bite Radius, as well as the Netflix series Easy. Dawkins is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.F.A. in Performance.

ABOUT TONY SANTIAGO, director
Tony Santiago moved from Virginia in 2008 and works in Chicago as an artist, educator and producer. Santiago worked at Oracle Productions programming award-winning theatre available to the public free of admission. Credits include Kasey Foster’s Romulus, Red Theatre’s R+J The Vineyard, Monty Cole’s The Hairy Ape, Kristiana Rae Colón’s good friday and Joe Varisco’s QUEER, ILL, & OKAY. He directed A Chorus of Hope, commissioned by the Lyric Opera in collaboration with Chicago Voices and Harmony, Hope and Healing in 2016. Santiago is the executive producer of a pop-up production company, The Roustabouts. Roustabouts credits include, Winehouse: A Tribute to Amy, and Ike Holter’s Stay Lit and Put Your House In Order. Currently, he is a program manager at Chicago Arts Access, a nonprofit dedicated to building and connecting audiences with free tickets and accessibility services with its website, freetix.org.

* denotes an active member of The Neo-Futurist Ensemble
** denotes an artistic associate of The Neo-Futurists

A Story Told in Seven Fights
March 1 – April 7
Created by Neo-Futurist Ensemble Member Trevor Dawkins
Directed by Tony Santiafo
Previews: Thursday, March 1 – Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Monday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Run: Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket Prices: Thursdays and Previews Pay-What-You-Can, Regular Run: $10-$25 

Tickets and information are available at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255

About The Neo-Futurists
The Neo-Futurists are a collective of writer-director-performers creating theater that is fusion of sport, poetry and living-newspaper. Originating over 10,071 plays within the newly launched The Infinite Wrench, 28 years of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, and more than 65 full-length productions within their immediate, non-illusory aesthetic, The Neo-Futurists have grown to become one of the most highly regarded experimental theater companies in the United States. From humble beginnings as the first late-night theater production in Chicago, they launched what became Chicago’s longest running show and today sustain multifaceted programs such as Neo-Access, The Kitchen (a micro-festival on art and performance), Prime Time, exchanges with branches in New York and San Francisco, Neo-Lab, and The Infinite Wrench, their flagship ongoing late-night show running 50 weekends every year. For more information visit www.neofuturists.org

The Neo-Futurists present Ensemble Member Trevor Dawkins’ A Story Told in Seven Fights, directed by Tony Santiago, playing at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., March 1 – April 7. Previews are Thursday, March 1 – Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m., with opening night Monday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. The running time is currently 80 minutes. Performances run Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices for previews and Thursdays are pay-what-you-can; for the regular run, tickets are $10-25. Tickets and information are available at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255.

The Neo-Futurists are partially supported by grants from Alphawood Foundation Chicago, The Chicago Community Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.