OPENING: The World Premiere of Through the Elevated Line at Silk Road Rising Through April 15, 2018

Silk Road Rising Presents

Through the Elevated Line

The World Premiere

Written by Novid Parsi

Directed by Carin Silkaitis

March 7th - April 15th, 2018

Silk Road Rising (Chief Programming Officer Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani) is proud to announce the World Premiere of Through the Elevated Line, written by Novid Parsi and directed by Carin Silkaitis. The production will run from March 7th to April 15th, 2018 at Silk Road Rising located at 77 W. Washington St., Lower Level, Chicago, IL, 60602. 

I'll be out for the press opening on March 17th, so check back soon for my full review.

Synopsis

Having fled Iran where he was imprisoned for being a gay man, a damaged Razi arrives at his sister’s doorstep in Chicago only to disrupt the life she and her American husband built together. As the Chicago Cubs vie to make history, rivalries of a different kind simmer in the Uptown two-flat that Razi tries to call home. With echoes of A Streetcar Named Desire, Novid Parsi’s world premiere drama probes the boundaries between family, loss, prejudice, and desire.

Artistic Statements

“With Through the Elevated Line, I wanted to complicate our easy distinction between good and bad immigrants by exploring two immigrant siblings not as types, but as individuals. Razi Gol, like Blanche DuBois, is an unwanted traveller: caught between two worlds, accepted by neither. Attitudes toward our own Blanches, our own others, have progressed … and haven’t. Through the Elevated Line looks at our idea of ourselves as inherently different from others, and above them. It considers the effects of believing ourselves not only exceptional but superior—elevated. In the end, it poses this question: Who do we count among our own?” - Playwright of Through the Elevated Line, Novid Parsi

“In the next few years, we’ll be hearing a lot about playwright Novid Parsi. He’ll be championed as an exciting new voice in the American theatre and his plays will be produced nationally. He’ll be in the company of playwrights being lauded for bringing new energy and new consciousness to theatrical storytelling. And I say this knowing just two of Novid’s plays, both profound in how they negotiate vulnerability and courage: Our Mother’s Meal and Through the Elevated Line.

Whether or not I’m a reliable prognosticator, only time will tell. But I believe my predictions are more than just wishful thinking. On American stages, the complicated, the questioning, and the curious, are enjoying newfound currency. Novid Parsi, with his impressive capacity to create characters that are charming, prickly, compromised, and resilient, understands that one can be challenged by adversity without being defined by adversity.” - Chief Programming Officer and Mission Trustee, Jamil Khoury

Cast/Crew

The creative team for Through the Elevated Line includes Novid Parsi (Playwright), Carin Silkaitis (Director), Corey Pond (Associate Producer), Kelly Butler (Production Manager), Joshua Baggett* (Stage Manager), Joe Schermoly (Set Designer), Elsa Hiltner (Costume Designer), Lindsey Lyddan (Lighting Designer), Jeffrey Levin (Sound Design and Original Music), Abigail Cain (Props Master), Harrison Ornelas (Tech Director), Kate Cuellar (Dramaturg), Kristen Osborn (Assistant Director), and Stephen Kossak (Assistant Stage Manager).

The cast includes Salar Ardebili as Razi, Catherine Dildilian as Soraya, Joshua J. Volkers as Chuck, Alison Plott as Beth, Scott Shimizu as Ben, Philip Winston as Sean, and Christian Castro as Vendor/Cesar/Immigration Officer. Understudies include Ninos Baba, Christina El Gamal, Bobby Bowman, Amy Gray, Tim Yong, Reed Willard, and Armando Reyes.

* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

About the Artists

Novid Parsi (Playwright) has authored plays that have been produced or developed at Golden Thread Productions, The New Group, Paines Plough, Playwrights Foundation, Silk Road Rising, Stephen Joseph Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, and the Young Vic, among others. His plays have been recognized by the Playwrights Foundation’s Bay Area Playwrights Festival (finalist and semifinalist) and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference (semifinalist). A son of Iranian immigrants, Novid was born in New York, grew up in Texas, and studied literature at Swarthmore College and Duke University. Also a freelance writer, Novid is known for starting a conversation on theatre and diversity when he co-authored the Time Out Chicago cover story that asked: “Why is theater in Chicago so white?” Novid lives in Chicago with his husband.

Carin Silkaitis (Director) previously directed two readings of Mosque Alert for Silk Road Rising. Carin is the Founding Artistic Director of Other Theatre where her credits include I Do Today and The Realm (actor), and Others: A 24 Hour Play Festival (director). A few of her notable directing credits include: La Boheme, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, Madame Butterfly (Music By The Lake), In Her Footsteps (Greenhouse Theater Center), The Laramie Project, Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, and others (North Central College). Carin is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, and she received her MFA in acting from the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University. Carin is proud to be represented by Gray Talent Group, and equally proud to be a member of Actors Equity Association.

Performance Schedule

Through the Elevated Line will run from March 7th to April 15th, 2017.

During previews, performances will occur Wednesdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 4:00pm, and Sundays at 4:00pm.

After opening, performances will occur Tuesdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 4:00pm, and Sundays at 4:00pm.

Previews: March 7 - March 16, 2018

Press Opening: March 17, 2018 at 4:00pm

Regular Run: March 17 - April 15, 2018

Tickets

Preview Performances: $28 for adults ($25 if purchased online), $15.50 for students ($12.50 if purchased online)

Regular Performances: $38 for adults ($35 if purchased online), $20.50 for students ($17.50 if purchased online)

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at www.SilkRoadRising.org or by calling the Silk Road Rising Box Office at 312.857.1234 x201.

Production Sponsors and Supporters

The world premiere production of Through the Elevated Line is proudly sponsored by: 150 North Michigan, The Bass Fund, and ComEd.

This production is supported in part by the Chicago Community Trust.

This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Location

All performances will take place at:

Silk Road Rising

77 W. Washington St, Lower Level

Chicago, IL 60602

KUDOS TO JO CATTEL, MICHAEL MAGGIO DIRECTING FELLOW AT GOODMAN THEATRE

JO CATTELL NAMED 2017/2018 MICHAEL MAGGIO DIRECTING FELLOW AT GOODMAN THEATRE

***FORMER MICHAEL MAGGIO FELLOW VANESSA STALLING DIRECTS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF THE WOLVES, NOW EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH 18TH***

Goodman Theatre announces Jo Cattell as the recipient of the 2017/2018 Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship, an honor reserved for early-career Chicago-based directors. Cattell will gain complete access to the artistic process at the Goodman, including the opportunity to assist on a Goodman production—from early research and design through the casting and rehearsal process to the opening. The annual fellowship was established in 2002 to honor the memory and artistry of Goodman Associate Artistic Director Michael Maggio (1951 – 2000) who directed a total of 22 productions at the Goodman and more than 60 productions around the country.

“Exposure is part of an artist’s process, so it is thrilling to be gifted a year submerged in the expertise of the Goodman’s creative and production team(s), and I eagerly anticipate the many ways in which my work will be, consequently lifted,” said Cattell. “My artistry is taking me on adventures exploring different theatrical forms and how that impacts both the space we share and storytelling. Now, more than ever, it is imperative for us to create space for people to come together and share experience.”

Cattell is currently creating An Epic Tale of Scale for Chicago Children’s Theatre, with Goodman Artistic Associate Henry Wishcamper, for a performance later this year. She is part of the LightPoets (along with dandypunk and Darin Basile), whose immersive theater show, HEARTCORPS: Riders of the Storyboard, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and is currently in development for a full production. Recent credits include associate director on Shakespeare in Love (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Tumbao (Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s 1700 Theatre) and Don Chipotle: Origin, a pilot webisode. Cattell has worked with numerous theater and television companies, including the BBC, Sky Television, Cirque du Soleil, Chicago the musical (West End, Korean/Japanese tour), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (West End), Stomp Out Loud (Las Vegas), Pentabus Theatre, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Route 66, Origin Theatre, Leviathan Lab and Culture Project. Cattell was awarded the 3Arts Award for her work as a theatermaker in 2016.

Former Michael Maggio Directing Fellow Vanessa Stalling (2015/2016) launches the 2018 Owen Theatre season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves. Hailed as a “smart, hilarious, delightful meditation on society, sex and soccer” (The Village Voice), the play features a 10-member all-female, all-Chicago cast and follows a suburban soccer girls team as they navigate life’s big questions and wage their own tiny battles. The Wolves is now extended through March 18, 2018 in Goodman Theatre’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Tickets ($10 - $47; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/TheWolves by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn).

Previous Maggio Fellows also include: Jess McLeod (2016/2017), Marti Lyons (2014/2015), Erica Weiss (2013/2014), Jimmy McDermott (2012/2013), Anna Bahow (2011/2012), Joanie Schultz (2009/2010), Anthony Moseley (2007/2008), Dado (2006/2007), Ann Filmer (2005/2006), Mignon McPherson-Nance (2003/2004) and Lynn Ann Bernatowicz (2002/2003).

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 celebrated 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.

SAVE THE DATES: RIVENDELL THEATRE ENSEMBLE CONTINUES 2018 SEASON “THE RECKONING”

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Including the Midwest Premiere of

The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter

and the World Premiere of The Scientific Method by Jenny Connell Davis

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble 2018 Season, “The Reckoning” continues. The season includes three plays about women who come face to face with an essential truth that threatens to shatter the things they love most. The 2018 Season will be performed at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago.

The 2018 Season kicked off with the Midwest premiere of William Francis Hoffman’s Cal in Camo, directed by RTE ensemble member Hallie Gordon and featuring RTE members Ashley Neal, Keith Kupferer and Eric Slater. The season continues with the Midwest premiere of The Cake by Bekah Brunstetter, directed by Lauren Shouse, and featuring RTE Founders Keith Kupferer and Tara Mallen. The season concludes with the world premiere of The Scientific Method by Jenny Connell Davis and directed by Jessica Holt. 



What happens when a deeply held belief is revealed as a lie we've told ourselves? How do we change in the face of such revelations? Rivendell’s 2018 Season explores that moment of reckoning—the collision between the outer world and the core self—with three plays about women who come face to face with an essential truth that threatens to shatter the things they love most.

"Rivendell was born out of a specific need: women are vastly underrepresented in American theatre, a situation which limits the range of stories and perspectives available to audiences. We counteract these circumstances by serving as advocate, ally, and artistic home for women theatre artists and by offering our audiences a fuller and more realistic representation of the American experience, and this season is no exception,” comments Artistic Director Tara Mallen. “I am delighted to introduce these fresh new voices to Chicago audiences as we present a slate of relevant and timely new work centered on three women at wildly different moments in their lives--each colliding with a deep-seated personal bias they didn't even know they held." 

The Rivendell 2018 Season continues as follows:


  
The Midwest Premiere of
The Cake
Written by Bekah Brunstetter
Directed by Lauren Shouse
Featuring RTE Founders Keith Kupferer and Tara Mallen
April 11 - May 20, 2018

Jen lives in New York but has always dreamed of getting married in her small North Carolina hometown, so she heads down south with her partner to ask Della, her late mother's best friend, to do the honors of making the wedding cake at her bakery. Della's cakes are legendary,­ even earning her a spot as a contestant on the "Great American Baking Show." She is overjoyed at Jen's request­ until she realizes there's not just one bride, but two, forcing her to re-examine some of her deeply-held beliefs, as well as her own marriage. Faith, family and frosting collide in this touching and timely new play.

Bekah Brunstetter (Playwright) hails from Winston-Salem, North Carolina and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her plays include The Cake (Ojai Playwrights Conference), Going to a Place where you already are (South Coast Repertory), The Oregon Trail (Portland Center Stage Fall 2016, O'Neill Playwrights Conference; Flying V) Cutie and Bear (Roundabout commission), A Long and Happy Life (Naked Angels commission), Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova, Collaboraction, The Old Globe), Oohrah! (Atlantic Theater, Steppenwolf Garage, Finborough Theater/London), Nothing is the end of the World (except for the end of the world) (Waterwell Productions), House of Home (Williamstown Theater Festival) and Miss Lilly Gets Boned (Ice Factory Festival). She is an alumna of the CTG Writers Group, Primary Stages Writers Group, Ars Nova Play Group, The Playwright's Realm, and the Women's Project Lab. She is currently a member of the Echo Theater¹s Playwright's Group. She has previously written for MTV (Underemployed; I Just Want My Pants Back,) ABC Family's Switched at Birth and Starz's American Gods. She is currently a Co-Producer on NBC's This Is Us. She received her B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill and her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from the New School for Drama.

Lauren Shouse (Director) is a director, dramaturg and teacher. She is currently the Artistic Associate and Literary Manager at Chicago's Northlight Theatre. Her recent directing credits include: The Legend of Georgia McBride at Northlight Theatre, Nice Girl and Betrayal at Raven Theatre, Rapture, Blister, Burn, Superior Donuts, and A Christmas Story at Nashville Repertory Theatre, the world premiere of Long Way Down with 3Ps productions (nominated for American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award 2011); the world premiere of Religion and Rubber Ducks with Ovvio Arte; Parallel Lives, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Last Five Years and Chess in Concert with Street Theatre Company; the world premiere of Rear Widow at Chaffin's Barn Theatre, and Sylvia Plath’s 3 Women. As Artistic Associate at Nashville Rep, Lauren directed the Ingram New Works Play Lab and Festival, which developed new works by John Patrick Shanley, David Auburn, Steven Dietz and Victoria Stewart. Lauren also co-founded Ten Minute Playhouse, a company that produces short plays by local playwrights. Before moving to Nashville, Lauren lived in London, UK and worked with Producer/Director Hugh Wooldridge. Her work abroad includes: Production Executive for The Night of 1000 Voices (celebrating John Kander and Fred Ebb and starring Joel Grey with Avenue Q) at The Royal Albert Hall; Production Executive of An Evening with Michael Parkinson at The Theatre Royal - Windsor, Children's Director/Assistant to the Director of A Gift of Music, and Assistant Director of The Night of 1000 Voices at The Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland. Lauren holds an MA in Performance Studies from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill where she adapted and directed The Time Traveler’s Wife. She received her MFA in theatre directing at Northwestern University where she directed Stop Kiss, Eurydice and In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play. In Chicago, Lauren has also worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, The Gift Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, and Stage Left Theatre.

The Cake was originally produced by The Echo Theater Company, Los Angeles, California; Chris Fields, Artistic Director and Jesse Cannady, Producing Director. The Cake received a developmental reading at The Alley Theatre, Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director and Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director. The Cake was developed at The Ojai Playwrights Conference, Robert Egan, Artistic Director/Producer




The World Premiere of
The Scientific Method
Written by Jenny Connell Davis
Directed by Jessica Holt
Cast TBD
October 18 – December 2, 2018 

Amy's on the cutting edge of a major scientific breakthrough...and on the brink of a nervous breakdown. When a handsome young grad student upsets the balance in one of the country's top research labs, he throws everything Amy thought she knew about science—and herself—.into question. A serio-comedy about work, life, and scientific progress.

Jenny Connell Davis (Playwright) has had her work developed and/or produced with The Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Playwrights Center, Icicle Creek, ACT (Seattle), American Theater Company (Chicago), SPACE at Ryder Farm, Ars Nova, NAATCO, Theater MITU, Articulate Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Shrewd Productions, Scriptworks, and The Gift Theatre, among others. She has been a finalist or semi-finalist for the Heideman, PlayPenn, Seven Devils, BAPF, the Nicholl Fellowship and the O'Neill. Jenny's short film, Fatakra, with writer/director Soham Mehta, played at over 75 festivals worldwide, including Toronto and SXSW, and was recognized with more than a dozen audience awards and jury prizes, including the Student Academy Award. She currently has screenplays in development with Maven Pictures and Co-op Entertainment. Jenny is an Affiliated Artist with The Playwrights' Center, and an alumna of Ars Nova Play Group, UT Austin's MFA Playwriting program, The School at Steppenwolf, the Court Theatre Resident Apprentice Program, and The University of Chicago.

Jessica Holt (Director) is a New York-based director. Recent projects include Speech and Debate by Stephen Karam at Barrington Stage Company (Boston Globe's Critics Pick), Rich Girl by Victoria Stewart at Florida Studio Theatre, Venus in Fur by David Ives at Virginia Stage Company, Ugly Lies the Bone by Lindsey Ferrentino at the Alliance Theater, Significant Other by Joshua Harmon at Actor’s Express, and the West Coast premiere of Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield at Magic Theatre.  She also directed a multimedia, live immersive project with advertising agency BBDO and their pro bono client Street Grace to tell a powerfully impactful story that shined a light on the horrific realities of domestic minor sex trafficking. Jessica is currently a National Directing Fellow with the O'Neill/National New Plays Network, and is working with Rivendell in Chicago and Magic Theatre in San Francisco as part of her fellowship. She was the 2015-2016 Yale Directing Fellow at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, under the mentorship of Artistic Director Susan Booth. She developed new work by Bekah Brunstetter, Will Arbery, Mark Kendall, and Edith Freni. She has developed, produced and directed work at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Alliance Theatre, the American Academy of Dramatic Art in NYC, Theater Emory, Playwrights Center SF, Cutting Ball Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, Magic Theatre, New Conservatory Theater Center, and Piano Fight. Currently she is working with a number of playwrights and composers on exciting new projects including: Edith Freni's The Mystic, a time-travel comic drama about the 12th century mystic Hildegard von Bingen, Megan Cohen's Truest, a feminist absurdist fantasia of Sam Shepard's True West mashed with Thelma & Louise, and the new musical Danny and the Rocket by Marella Martin (Book/Lyrics) and Casey O'Neil (Music).  

This production is sponsored in part by Dan Cyganowski in memory of Carol K Cyganowski, scholar and theatre lover.

Subscription Packages
Subscription packages may be purchased at any time and include one ticket to the next three Rivendell mainstage productions. The Preview Pass is priced at $59 and the Performance Pass is $80. Benefits include: no-fee ticket exchange up to 48 hours prior to the performance, reserved seating, exclusive invites to Rivendell events, and a 10% discount for additional family and friends tickets purchased through the box office. Cal in Camo ticket purchase may be applied to the cost of a subscription. Please contact the box office.

Single Tickets
General Admission
Previews: $28
Regular Run: $38
Student, Senior, Active Military, Veteran
Preview: $18
Regular Run: $28

Pay What You Can: Five seats (10% of the house) are available for each performance. Reservations are made on a first come, first served basis.

Location: Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago.

Box Office: (773) 334-7728 or www.RivendellTheatre.org

Parking and Transportation: Free parking is available in the Senn High School parking lot (located a block and a half from the theatre behind the school off Thorndale Avenue). There is limited paid and free street parking in the area and the theatre is easily accessible via the Clark (#22) or Broadway (#36) bus, and is a short walk from the Bryn Mawr Red Line El station.

About Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Founded in 1994, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble advances women’s lives through the power of theatre. Rivendell cultivates the talents of women artists—writers, actors, directors, designers and technicians—
by seeking out innovative plays that explore unique female experiences and producing them in intimate, salon environments.

Rivendell fills an important role in the Chicago region as the only Equity theatre dedicated to producing artistically challenging and original plays created by and about women. After years of being an itinerant company, RTE moved into its own theater space in 2010 in Edgewater. As new members of the neighborhood, the company is focused on becoming an integral community partner and serving as a catalyst to engage audiences in a discussion of local social issues.

For more information about Rivendell Theater Ensemble, visit http://rivendelltheatre.org. Follow RTE on Facebook at Facebook.com/rivendelltheatre and on Twitter @RivendellThtr.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble is supported by generous grants from: The Lester and Hope Abelson Fund; The Alphawood Foundation; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; The Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development; The Chicago Community Trust; The Chicago Foundation for Women; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; The Reva and David Logan Foundation; The Jenny and Alexander Luria Foundation; The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust; SIF Fund at The Chicago Community Trust; Cultural Outreach Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events; and the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

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.