Second City’s UP Comedy Club To Host 5th Annual Bob Curry Fellowship Showcase and 4th Annual NBCUniversal Break Out Comedy Festival This June

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

The Second City presents

5th Annual Bob Curry Fellowship Showcase

Wednesday, June 6 at 8 pm in Second City’s e.t.c. Theater

4th Annual NBCUniversal Break Out Comedy Festival

Hosted by Godfrey, David Pompeii and Azhar Usman

June 7 - 9 at Second City’s UP Comedy Club

The Second City will bring diverse new voices to the forefront of the comedy world with a series of events June 6 - 9, 2018. The weekend kicks off with the 5th annual Bob Curry Fellowship Showcase, featuring 16 of the best and brightest new voices in comedy. The 4th annual NBCUniversal Second City Break Out Comedy Festival, which spotlights rising talent from across the country, will be hosted by incomparable comic Godfrey (Comedy Central, VH1, BET), Second City alumnus David Pompeii (Comedy Central, Key and Peele) and special guest Azhar Usman (Comedy Cellar of NY).

“The Diversity and Inclusion program was formally introduced over 25 years ago as part of Second City’s ongoing mission. We couldn’t be more thrilled with the Bob Curry and Break Out Festival events, which are the centerpieces of the initiative and a vital part of the overall programming at Second City,” said Dionna Griffin-Irons, Director of Diversity Talent and Development. “No fan of comedy should miss out on this weekend exploding with fresh, diverse voices.”

The Bob Curry Fellowship Showcase
Second City’s e.t.c. Theater (230 W North Ave, 2nd Floor of Piper’s Alley)
Wednesday, June 6 at 8pm
Tickets, $15, 312-337-3992, www.secondcity.com

The 5th annual cohort of the Bob Curry Fellowship program, comprised of 16 of the best and brightest new voices in comedy, will perform together in the Bob Curry Fellowship Showcase, directed by Second City Co-Artistic Director, Matt Hovde. The showcase will highlight ten weeks of master improv training, with original material and best of Second City archival scenes.

The 2018 Bob Curry Fellows are: Angela Alise, Trumane Alston, Damian Anaya, Aaron Branch, Menaka Delekar, Jillian Ebanks, George Elrod, Steve Han, Maya Haughton, Jarid Igbal, Asia Martin, Julia Morales, Yazmin Ramos, Ana Silva, Max Thomas and Shadee Vossonghi.

Building upon a unique partnership established with Universal Television, the Bob Curry Fellowship is a professional mentoring and development program focused on cultivating the best new voices in improv and sketch comedy. A highly competitive and rigorous process, applicants must audition to be considered for the program. In 2018, over 250 applicants submitted with sixteen diverse actors and improvisers from a diverse, array of multicultural, ethnic backgrounds being selected. The Bob Curry Fellowship is offered bi-annually at Second City Toronto, and an inaugural program launches at The Second City Hollywood this summer.

The success of The Bob Curry Fellowship program is felt on Second City’s stages, as several participants in the fellowship have been cast in The Second City’s professional companies. Tyler Davis and Tien Tran are graduates of the fellowship who now perform in the current Second City Chicago Mainstage production of Dream Freaks Fall from Space, with numerous other fellows touring with the Second City Touring Company and Second City Theatricals.

4th Annual NBCUniversal Second City Break Out Comedy Festival
Second City’s UP Comedy Club (230 W North Ave, 3rd Floor of Piper’s Alley)
June 7 - 9, 2018
Tickets: $10-$25, 312-337-3992, www.secondcity.com

Thursday, June 7 at 7:30pm ($20-$25): Hosted by David Pompeii
with special guest Azhar Usman
Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 at 7:30pm and 10pm ($20-$25): Hosted by Godfrey
Saturday, June 9 at midnight ($10): Hosted by Azhar Usman

Back for its fourth year, this dynamic partnership with NBCUniversal and Second City will again showcase some of the hottest emerging and seasoned diverse comedic acts in stand-up, sketch and improv from around the country. This year’s Break Out Comedy Festival includes hosts Godfrey (Comedy Central, VH1, BET), David Pompeii (Comedy Central, Key and Peele), Azhar Usman (Comedy Cellar of NY) and a lineup of Chicago favorites and emerging comedic acts.

On Thursday, June 7, veteran Chicago stand-up comics Calvin Evans and Alex Kumin will perform, along with up-and-coming new talent. Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 performances will include New York-based comics Paul Elia (Conan), Adam Mamawala (Funny or Die’s Top 30 Under 30 Comedians to Watch) and Kerry Codett (BET’s The Rundown with Robin Thede), Toronto-based comedian Carol Zoccoli and newcomer Max Desolhn from Seattle. All shows will also feature select graduates of the Bob Curry Fellowship Program.

About Bob Curry
Bob Curry was Joseph Jefferson Award-winning actor and director. In 1966, Curry became the first African-American to join The Second City’s resident company before joining what evolved into the first-ever touring company. In 1986, he received a Jeff Award for the Northlight Theatre production of Boesman and Lenam, tying for Best Supporting Actor with Danny Glover. An inspired director, Curry coached many actors of color in the Chicago theatre community on several projects, and he directed Paul Robeson at Kennedy-King College shortly before his death in 1994.

About NBCUniversal Talent Development & Inclusion
NBCUniversal Talent Development & Inclusion hosts a variety of programs and events and partners with other entertainment entities to develop, nurture, showcase and provide networking opportunities for new and diverse actors, writers, directors and other talent.  The programs include Late Night Writers Workshop, NBCUniversal Short Film Festival, NBCU Emerging Directors Program, Writers on the Verge, StandUp NBC, Scene Showcase, the Casting Apprentice Program and the Diverse Staff Writer Initiative, among others.  For more information, please log onto www.nbcunitips.com.

About The Second City
Since opening its doors 1959, The Second City has grown to become the world’s premier comedy club, theater and school of improvisation, entertaining 1 million theatergoers a year around the globe. Alumni of The Second City’s resident stages, touring companies, and theatrical divisions include some of the biggest names in entertainment, and in addition to the sold-out shows playing nightly on resident stages in Chicago and Toronto, the comedy empire has staged productions with a wide range of illustrious creative partners and theatre companies, including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Goodman Theatre, Center Theater Group Los Angeles, Portland Center Stage, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, La Jolla Playhouse, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and even the Chicago Bulls.

Monsieur D'Eon is a Woman at Trap Door Theatre Through June 30, 2018

Monsieur D'Eon is a Woman

Written by: Mark Brownell

Directed by: Nicole Wiesner
May 24 through June 30, 2018

Featuring: Maryam Abdi, Dennis Bisto, Ty Easley, Bill Gordon, Miguel Long, Emily Lotspeich, Michael Mejia, Ann Sonneville, Keith Surney, Nora Lise Ulrey, and featuring David Lovejoy as D'eon.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Runs: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8PM until Saturday, June 30th
Admission:  $20 on Thursday/Friday, $25 on Saturday 
Special: 2 for 1 Admission on Thursday



"Monsieur D'Eon is a Woman" is a madcap romp following the extraordinary life and adventures of the Chevailere D'eon, an eighteenth century French diplomat, soldier, spy and a celebrated figure for Transgender and Women's rights."

Where:  TRAP DOOR THEATRE 1655 West Cortland Ave.  Chicago, IL 60622
For Information/Reservations: 773-384-0494 To purchase online www.trapdoortheatre.com

Performances Thurs, Fri and Sat at 8PM

Admission: $20 on Thursdays and Fridays, $25 on Saturdays. Special 2 for 1 admission on Thursdays.

For More Information/Reservations:773-384-0494

Where: TRAP DOOR THEATRE 1655 West Cortland Ave. Chicago, IL  60622

Playwright: Mark Brownell is a Toronto-based playwright and co-artistic director of the Pea Green Theatre Group with his wife and partner Sue Miner. Awards: Nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for his play, Monsieur d’Eon. He also received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his libretto Iron Road and a Dora Mavor Moore Award Nomination for Medici Slot Machine. In 2010 he was also the recipient of the infamous Harold Indie Theatre Award. Other award-winning work includes The Barbeque King, The Martha Stewart Projects, Playballs, High Sticking-Three Period Plays, The Chevalier St. George, The Storyteller’s Bag and The Weaving Maiden.

Director: Nicole Wiesner has been a member of the Trap Door Theatre since 1999. Directing credits include Jean Racine’s Phedre, Meg Miroshnik’s Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, and Howard Barker’s Minna. Favorite Trap Door acting credits include First Ladies, (dir. Zeljko Djukic, Joseph Jefferson Citation: Outstanding Actress); OVERWEIGHT; unimportant: MISSHAPE, (dir. Yasen Peyankov); and the title roles in The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and Nana, (dir. Beata Pilch); and Alice in Bed. (Director Dado). Other credits include 2666 (dir. Seth Bockley and Robert Falls), Shining City, (dir. Robert Falls); Passion Play, (dir. Mark Wing-Davy, After Dark Award, Outstanding Performance) at The Goodman Theatre; The Book Thief (dir. Hallie Gordon), South of Settling (dir. Adam Goldstein) and Dublin Carol (Dir. Amy Morton) at Steppenwolf Theatre; Shining City, (dir. Robert Falls) at the Huntington Theatre in Boston; Passion Play (dir. Mark Wing-Davy) at Yale Repertory Theatre; Passion Play (dir. Mark Wing-Davy) at the Epic Theatre in NYC; Dying City (dir. Jason Loewith) at Next Theatre, Great Men of Science (dir. Tracy Letts) at Lookingglass Theatre.

Assistant Director Skye Fort / Set Designer J. Michael Griggs / Lighting Design Richard Norwood / Costume Design Rachel Sypniewski / Sound Design Danny Rockett / Fight Design Almanya Narula / Assistant Fight Design  Bill Gordon / Make-Up Design Zsófia Ötvös / Graphic Design Michal Janicki / Dramaturg Milan Pribisic / Stage Manager Anna Klos / Renaissance Man Gary Damico

Presenting Trap Door Off-Night!

shs poster with textSad Happy Sucker

Written by: Lee Kirk

Directed by: Mike Steele

What if you found yourself standing in your backyard, stuck to the earth, unable to move? Funny, and unexpectedly touching, Lee Kirk’s absurdist comedy explores the meaning of life, gravity, and cupcakes.

Cast: Logan Hulick, Emily Lotspiech, and Alex Stein

Sundays, June 17th thru July 8th at 8PM

Saturday, June 22nd at 10:30PM

Monday, July 9th at 8PM

Lighting Design Gary Damico/ Sound Design Mike Steele / Production Assistant Nora Lise Ulrey

Admission: $5 for advanced online reservation and $10 donation suggested at the door. For Information/Reservations: 773-384-0494

Where: TRAP DOOR THEATRE 1655 West Cortland Ave. Chicago, IL 60622

Check out Trap Door's 24th Season!

OPENING: Waiting for Godot Via Ireland's Druid Theater Company at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar

Acclaimed Version of Beckett's Waiting for Godot 

Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ireland's prestigious Druid theatre company is back with an enthralling new interpretation of Beckett’s seminal work. In one of the most acclaimed plays of the 20th century, two friends wait on a bare road in the middle of nowhere for the arrival of the mysterious Godot. To pass the time, they debate life’s great unanswered questions, when two figures appear at dusk. Druid, recognized as one of the world’s greatest acting ensembles, returns after its previous CST engagements of The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Walworth Farce with this universally acclaimed production of Beckett’s classic.

Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon. 

All Production Photos by Matthew Thompson.

WAITING FOR GODOT exemplifies Chicago Shakespeare Theater's commitment to importing the world's most exciting theatrical events to Chicago and exporting the Theater's productions to global destinations through WorldStage at Chicago Shakespeare.

Two friends wait on a bare road in the middle of nowhere for the arrival of the mysterious Godot. To pass the time, they debate life's great unanswered questions, until two figures appear at dusk. The Irish Times lauds it as "the freshest, funniest and most affecting production of the play in at least a quarter of a century."

Through its many successes, Druid has maintained a core group of actors, designers, and production crew who work closely on the company's acclaimed artistic program, including long-form projects such as DruidSynge and DruidShakespeare.

 Aaron Monaghan as Estragon. Photo by Matthew Thompson.

Aaron Monaghan as Estragon, Garrett Lombard as Lucky, and Marty Rea as Vladimir. 

THE IRISH TIMES lauds Druid's WAITING FOR GODOT as "the freshest, funniest and most affecting production of the play in at least a quarter of a century."

A. Birkett as Boy and Marty Rea as Vladimir. 

Internationally recognized as a groundbreaking theater company, Druid returns to Chicago Shakespeare after previous engagements of THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN (2011) and THE WALWORTH FARCE (2009). 

 Pictured: Rory Nolan as Pozzo.

To date, WorldStage at Chicago Shakespeare has featured over 1,000 artists from 22 countries spanning five continents--including artists from South Africa, China, India, Belarus, France, Russia, and the UK. 

Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon.

The Waiting for Godot company includes Garret Lombard (Lucky), Aaron Monaghan (Estragon), Rory Nolan (Pozzo), and Marty Rea (Vladamir)-all members of the Druid Ensemble. Joining Garry Hynes on the creative team are Francis O'Connor (Design), James F. Ingalls (Lighting Design), Greg Clarke (Sound Design), and Nick Winston (Movement Director).

WAITING FOR GODOT is directed by Garry Hynes, the first woman to ever win the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, for her production of Martin McDonagh's debut work THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE, which premiered in 1998.

Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon. 

The Druid theatre company production of Beckett's masterpiece WAITING FOR GODOT takes the stage at Chicago Shakespeare for a limited engagement, May 23-June 3, 2018.

Waiting for Godot exemplifies Chicago Shakespeare Theater's commitment to importing the world's most exciting theatrical events to Chicago and exporting the Theater's productions to global destinations through WorldStage at Chicago Shakespeare. To date, the program has featured over 1,000 artists from 22 countries spanning five continents-including artists from South Africa, China, India, Belarus, France, Russia, and the UK. Many of the globe's most iconic troupes have made Chicago their stage, including: The Abbey Theatre from Dublin, Shakespeare's Globe from London, the Chekhov International Theatre Festival from Moscow, La Comédie Française from Paris, and The Farber Foundry from South Africa.

For more information, visit www.chicagoshakes.com/godot.

Waiting for Godot will be presented in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater for a limited engagement, May 23-June 3, 2018. Single tickets are on sale now for $68-$88 (subject to change). Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

ABOUT Chicago Shakespeare Theater

A global theatrical force, Chicago Shakespeare Theater is known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare's genius for storytelling, musicality of language, and empathy for the human condition. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, Chicago Shakespeare has redefined what a great American Shakespeare theater can be, putting forward a company that delights in the unexpected and defies theatrical category. A Regional Tony Award winner, the Theater produces acclaimed plays at its home on Navy Pier, throughout Chicago's schools and neighborhoods, and on stages around the world. In 2017, the Theater unveiled a new stage, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Together with the Jentes Family Courtyard Theater and the Thoma Theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare, The Yard positions Chicago Shakespeare as the city's most versatile performing arts venue.

OPENING: Buried Child Via Writers Theatre Through June 17, 2018

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Writers Theatre presents 

BURIED CHILD

Written by Sam Shepard

Directed by WT Resident Director Kimberly Senior

Featuring Shannon Cochran, Allen Gilmore, Arti Ishak, Timothy Edward Kane, 

Shane Kenyon, Mark L. Montgomery and Larry Yando

May 9 – June 17, 2018

I'll be ChiILin' just north of Chi, IL in Glencoe, with the acclaimed Writers Theatre, for the press opening of Buried Child on May 16th. Writers Theatre has long been a favorite of mine, for stellar seasons, award winning productions, and world class talent. I'm eager to catch their latest since Kimberly Senior is directing and I've long enjoyed her work. With the incomparable Larry Yando as Dodge, and an excellent cast all around, this is sure to be one to see.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, presents Buried Child, written by Sam Shepard and directed by WT Resident Director Kimberly Senior. Buried Child runs May 9 – June 17, 2018 in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. 

On a cross-country trip from New York to the west coast, Vince and his girlfriend Shelly decide to make a stop at his grandparents’ rural Illinois home. But when they arrive, neither his grandparents, Dodge and Halie, nor his father Tilden and uncle Bradley seem to recognize or remember him. As Vince searches for answers, truths begin to emerge that reveal a deep corrosion of this fragmented family living in a forgotten America.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece will be newly invigorated for the WT stage by Resident Director Kimberly Senior (Hedda Gabler, The Diary of Anne Frank, Marjorie Prime, The Scene), drawing audiences deeply into the story of a family fighting to come to grips with an America that may have left them behind.

Dates:
First performance: Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Press opening: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 7:30pm
Closing performance: June 17, 2018

Schedule:
Tuesdays – Fridays: 7:30pm
(with select 3:00pm Wednesday matinees)
Saturdays: 3:00pm and 7:30pm
Sundays: 2:00pm and 6:00pm

Location:
The Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre
325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

Prices:
Prices for all performances range from $35 - $80
Purchase early for best prices

Box Office:
The Box Office is located at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe; 
847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org

WT’s production of Buried Child represents the first major Chicago production of a Sam Shepard play since his death in July of 2017. 

“Part of the Writers Theatre mission is to revive plays from the existing dramatic canon,” says artistic director Michael Halberstam “As a company that eschews overly conceptual stagings, the opportunity to look at that canon with fresh eyes is essential to keeping these plays relevant.  Shepard’s writing has a decidedly masculine perspective and yet, thematically, his play seems to signal the death of the patriarchy, the dwindling of the American Dream and it offers empathic insight into a segment of the population that the mainstream largely ignored, until they made themselves viscerally heard in the most recent election. It is therefore very worthy of revival.  

Buried Child is Director Kimberly Senior’s sixth production at Writers Theatre. She previously directed The Scene, Marjorie Prime, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler and The Letters.

“Kimberly Senior is the perfect director to guide this play into life on the Nichols Theatre stage.  She has assembled a superb team of artists to realize her vision.  It’s a play that ignites her passion on a personal level and fires up her fierce intellectual curiosity.  For those who have not seen the play before, this will be a perfect introduction to a fiercely complex and consciously imperfect playwright. For those who have experienced Buried Child previously, this will be a new realization.  Either way, expect the unexpected.  As she did with Hedda Gabler and The Diary of Anne Frank, Kimberly will find an emotionally blisteringly and thrillingly sharp way to bring this text into the hearts and souls of audiences with absolute present-day currency.”



Two cast members are making their Writers Theatre debuts in this production: Arti Ishak (Shelly) and Shane Kenyon (Vince).

The cast of Buried Child includes: Shannon Cochran (Halie), Allen Gilmore (Father Dewis), Arti Ishak (Shelly), Timothy Edward Kane (Bradley), Shane Kenyon (Vince), Mark L. Montgomery (Tilden) and Larry Yando (Dodge).

In creating the set for Buried Child, the WT production team imported 150 cubic yards of “stover” a mix of dirt and corn debris that is left over after a field has been harvested but not cleared for the next crop. That 150 cubic yards represents 350 plowed stalks of corn, which is cured and treated for bugs before use on stage.

The designers are Jack Magaw (scenic), Mieka van der Ploeg (costumes), Heather 

Gilbert (lighting), Mikhail Fiksel (sound) and Scott Dickens (props). The fight director is Matt Hawkins and the production stage manager is David Castellanos.

Tickets are priced $35 - $80. Subscriptions and individual tickets may be purchased online at www.writerstheatre.org, by phone at 847-242-6000 or in person at the box office at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.


Sam Shepard’s Buried Child premiered at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in 1978 and had its New York premiere at Theater for the New City later that year. The play won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as Shepard the 1979 Obie Award for Playwriting. The 1996 Broadway production, directed by Gary Sinise, was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Play. Buried Child was revived Off-Broadway by The New Group in 2016. The production was nominated for two Lucille Lortel Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actor (Ed Harris) and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Paul Sparks). It transferred to the West End for a limited engagement in November 2016 starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan of the Off-Broadway production.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Sam Shepard (Playwright) ranks as one of America's most celebrated dramatists. Prior to his death in 2017, he wrote nearly 50 plays and saw his work produced across the nation, in venues ranging from Greenwich Village coffee shops to regional professional and community theatres, from college campuses to commercial Broadway houses. His plays are regularly anthologized, and theatre professors teach Sam Shepard as a canonical American author. Outside of his stage work, he achieved fame as an actor, writer and director in the film industry. With a career that spanned nearly 40 years, Sam Shepard gained the critical regard, media attention and iconic status enjoyed by only a rare few in American theatre. Throughout his career Shepard amassed numerous grants, prizes, fellowships and awards, including the Cannes Palme d'Or and the Pulitzer Prize. He received abundant popular praise and critical adulation. While the assessment of Shepard's standing may evidence occasional hyperbole, there can be little doubt that he has spoken in a compelling way to American theatre audiences and that his plays have found deep resonance in the nation's cultural imagination.

Several members of the Buried Child cast and creative team (including director Kimberly Senior, scenic designer Jack Magaw, lighting designer Heather Gilbert, and actors Shane Kenyon and Larry Yando) have personal connections to Shepard’s work and Buried Child, specifically, and have noted the influence Shepard’s work has had on their careers. 

Kimberly Senior (Director) returns to Writers where she previously directed The Scene, Marjorie Prime, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler and The Letters. Chicago credits include: Disgraced and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Goodman Theatre), Discord, 4000 Miles, The Whipping Man (Northlight Theatre), Want, The North Plan (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Inana, My Name is Asher Lev, All My Sons, Dolly West's Kitchen (TimeLine Theatre Company), Disgraced (American Theatre Company), among others. New York credits include: Disgraced (2013 Pulitzer Prize, Broadway), Chris Gethard's Career Suicide (Judd Apatow Productions), Discord (Primary Stages), Engagements (Second Stage Uptown), The Who and The What and Disgraced (Lincoln Center Theater 3). Regional credits include: Sheltered (Alliance Theatre), The Niceties (Contemporary American Theatre Festival), Other Than Honorable (Geva Theatre Center), Sex with Strangers (Geffen Playhouse), Disgraced (Mark Taper Forum, Berkley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre), The Who and The What (La Jolla Playhouse), Little Gem (City Theatre), Games Afoot, Murder on the Nile, A Few Good Men (Peninsula Players), among others. Upcoming shows include Support Group for Men (Goodman Theatre), The Niceties (Huntington Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre) and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Milwaukee Repertory). Kimberly also directed Chris Gethard's Career Suicide (HBO). Kimberly was awarded the prestigious Alan Schneider Award at the 2016 TCG Conference. She is also a 2013 Finalist for the SDCF Joe A. Callaway Award. She is the recipient of the 2016 Special Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for her Chicago career achievements as a trail blazer, champion and role model for emerging artists.

Returning to Writers Theatre are Shannon Cochran (Halie), Allen Gilmore (Father Dewis), Timothy Edward Kane (Bradley), Mark L. Montgomery (Tilden) and Larry Yando (Dodge).

Shannon Cochran (Halie) has previously appeared at Writers Theatre in The Importance of Being Earnest, The Dance of Death, Hamlet, A Little Night Music, The Lion in Winter, The Father and Private Lives (Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination). Her recent theatre work includes the world premiere of A Doll's House, Part 2 (South Coast Repertory), The Christians (Steppenwolf Theatre Company) and the Roundabout National Tour of Cabaret. She performed in the National Tour of August: Osage County, for which received a Helen Hayes nomination and Chicago Theatre award. She is an Obie and TheatreWorld Award winner for the role she created in Bug (Gate Theatre-London, Barrow Street Theatre). Other theatre credits include The Old Globe, Long Wharf Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Court Theatre, Victory Gardens, Route 66 Theatre, The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Playhouse on the Square, Barbican (London). Her directing credits include Fallen Angels (Remy Bumppo), Dirty (Zephyr Theatre, West Coast premiere), Bug (Barebones Productions), The Rivalry, The Real Dr. Strangelove and Judgement at Nuremberg (LA Theatreworks), Therese Raquin (greasyjoan) and Private Passage (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble). Film credits include Captive State (in production), The Ring, Star Trek: Nemesis, Be Good for Rachel, The Perfect Family, Flowers and Weeds, and Fenton Black. Television credits include Modern Family, Scandal, Grey's Anatomy (ABC), NCIS: LA, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (CBS), The Office, Law and Order: SVU (NBC) and others.

Allen Gilmore (Father Dewis) previously appeared at Writers Theatre in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.  Most recently, Allen was seen in An Enemy of the People, as Alternate Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Yasmina’s Necklace, Objects in the Mirror (all at Goodman Theatre) and Man in the Ring (Court Theatre). Last summer he was A Clown in The 39 Steps and The Duke in Two Gentlemen of Verona (Santa Cruz Shakespeare). He began the 2017/18 season at The Jewel Theater in Santa Cruz as Joe Keller in All My Sons. Allen has performed at theaters in Chicago and across North America including Lookingglass Theatre Company, Congo Square Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, The Shakespeare Theater DC, Arena Stage, Portland Stage, Citadel Theater in Edmonton, National Arts Center in Ottawa, Atlantic Theater Festival in Nova Scotia and on Broadway. He is a native of Houston, a US Army Infantry veteran, a 2015 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow and a 2015 3Arts awardee.

Director Kimberly Senior has noted that in the context of today’s world, Buried Child feels more like it is “Shelly’s play” to her in ways different than before, emphasizing the themes of gender and generational power politics. In the Writers Theatre production, Shelly is played by Arti Ishak in her WT debut. 

Arti Ishak (Shelly) is an actor, writer and teaching artist originally from Detroit. Recent Chicago credits include Men On Boats (American Theater Company), Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter (Chicago Dramatists), Venus in Fur (Circle Theatre), Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno (The Second City), Harbur Gate (16th Street Theatre) and A Story Told in Seven Fights (The Neo-Futurists). She is a graduate of Western Michigan University's Theatre and Business schools.

Timothy Edward Kane (Bradley) previously appeared at Writers Theatre in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Arms and the Man. Other Chicago credits include All My Sons, Harvey, One Man Two Guvnors, An Iliad (2011 & 2013), The Illusion, Wild Duck, Titus Andronicus, Uncle Vanya, The Romance Cycle, Hamlet (Court Theatre), Faceless, Lost in Yonkers, The Miser, She Stoops to Conquer (Northlight Theatre), Blood and Gifts (TimeLine Theatre Company), The North Plan (Steppenwolf Garage) and fifteen productions at Chicago Shakespeare Theater including Tug of War: Civil Strife, The Comedy Of Errors, A Flea In Her Ear and Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (CST and at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon). Regional credits: The Mark Taper Forum, Notre Dame Shakespeare, Peninsula Players and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. TV: Chicago Fire (NBC). Education: BS, Ball State University; MFA, Northern Illinois University. He is the recipient of a Joseph Jefferson award and an After Dark award.

Shane Kenyon (Vince) recently appeared in Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare in Love and As You Like It (Utah Shakespeare Festival). Shane has a Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor in If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Steep Theatre). Other Chicago credits include Buzzer (Goodman Theatre), Where We’re Born, Hushabye, Betrayal, Sex With Strangers (u/s) (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), The Who and The What (Victory Gardens Theater), Shining City, The Seafarer (Jeff Award Winner – Best Ensemble), Shadow of a Gunman (Irish Theatre of Chicago, Ensemble Member), Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight (Windy City Playhouse), Season on the Line (The House Theatre of Chicago), Trainspotting USA (Book & Lyrics), Big Love (Strawdog Theatre), and Mary’s Wedding (Rivendell Theatre). Regional theatre credits include Hedda Gabler (Studio Theatre), Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre). Shane has been on screen in Chicago Med, Chicago Justice, Chicago PD (NBC), Empire, Chicago Code (Fox), Mind Games (ABC) along with multiple SAG independent films and commercials. Shane received his BFA in Theatre Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Mark L. Montgomery (Tilden) has appeared at Writers Theatre in The Scene, Hedda Gabler, The Letters, and The Beats. Mark has appeared in more than a dozen productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater including: Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida and Rose Rage: Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3. Other Chicago credits include Camino Real, Stage Kiss, A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre), Fascination (About Face Theatre), Want, The Time of Your Life (Steppenwolf Theatre), In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play, Equivocation (Victory Gardens), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Apple Tree Theatre), and In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison (The Journeymen Theater Company) as well as shows with Remy Bumppo and Northlight, among others. New York credits include: The Seagull, Mamma Mia! (Broadway), Macbeth (The Public), The Runner Stumbles (The Actors Company Theatre) and The Madras House (Mint Theater Company). Regional credits include: Julius Caesar (American Repertory Theater and French tour) and Emma (Cleveland Playhouse). Television credits include: Boss, Law & Order and Guiding Light.

Larry Yando and Shannon Cochran play opposite each other for the first time on a WT stage since their Joseph Jefferson Award-winning performances in the 2014 production of The Dance of Death by August Strindberg, adapted by Conor McPherson and directed by Henry Wishcamper.

Larry Yando (Dodge) has appeared at Writers Theatre in The Dance of Death, Hamlet, As You Like It, Bach at Leipzig, Rocket to the Moon and Nixon’s Nixon.  Chicago credits include Ebenezer Scrooge in nine productions of A Christmas Carol, The Little Foxes, The Jungle Book, Candide (Jeff Award) (Goodman Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Defiant Theatre), Shakespeare in Love, The Tempest, King Lear, Julius Caesar, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Cymbeline, Timon of Athens, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry IV Parts I and II, Antony and Cleopatra, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Angels in America (Jeff Award), Travesties, An Ideal Husband, Ghosts, Electra, Measure for Measure, The Importance of Being Earnest, Travels with My Aunt (Court Theatre), Fake, Mother Courage and Her Children (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Pegasus Players, Jeff Award), I Hate Hamlet and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Royal George Theatre). Regional credits include Angels in America, Arcadia and Amadeus at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Mr. Yando performed as Scar in the national tour of The Lion King for three years. He was honored as Chicago magazine’s Best Actor in Chicago, received DePaul University’s Excellence in the Arts Award and was the recipient of the 2014 Sarah Siddens Award for Chicago’s Leading Man. Mr. Yando has taught advanced acting classes at The Theatre School at DePaul University, Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago and Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Classical Training Program. In 2010, he was one of nine actors chosen for the Lunt- Fontanne Fellowship Program, an acclaimed program serving regional theater actors and the future of American theater.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

Accessible Performances:
ASL-Interpreted performance: Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 7:30pm 
Open-Captioned performance: Friday, June 15, 2018 at 7:30pm


Sunday Spotlight — Sunday, June 3, 2018 after the matinee performance

Are you curious about the world that surrounds your favorite plays? Sunday Spotlight offers access to the finest speakers, scholars and cultural leaders. This one-hour event extends the conversation on our stages by featuring an expert in an area connected to the play. Seating is limited. RSVP is required. Save the date!


The Making of… Series— Monday, June 11, 2018 at 6:30pm

Writers Theatre will once again host its popular The Making of… Series, providing insight into a different aspect of creating the productions seen on our stages. Enjoy a short and lively presentation by our actors, designers or other experts who will walk you through the process of preparing for and executing a production. The Making of… events are FREE and open to the public. Seating is limited. RSVP is required.


Post Show Conversation: The Word

Join us after every Tuesday evening performance (excluding First Week and extensions) for a 15-minute discussion of the play, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team. 

Post Show Conversation: The Artist

Join us after every Wednesday evening performance (excluding First Week and extensions) for a 15-minute talk-back featuring actors from the production, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team. 

Pre-Show Conversation: Up Close

Join us at 6:45pm before every Thursday evening performance (excluding First Week and extensions) for a 15-minute primer on the context and content of the play, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team.

For more information about Writers Theatre Audience Enrichment programs visit writerstheatre.org/events.



RIDE METRA TO WRITERS THEATRE

In an effort to promote taking public transit to the Theatre, Writers Theatre launched a new promotion in 2013. Any audience member who purchases a ticket to a Writers Theatre production and rides Metra’s Union Pacific North Line to the Theatre may snap a photo of themselves on the train and post it to their Facebook or Instagram page or their Twitter feed with a tag of @WritersTheatre and #[the title of the show], and upon showing the post at the Writers Theatre Box Office, receive $5 in cash to put toward the cost of your fare as a thank you for going green. 

This promotion is available for a limited time only, and may end without warning. Ticket must have been paid for in advance. Not valid on comp tickets. More information available at writerstheatre.org/metra

WRITERS THEATRE PARTNERS
Writers Theatre is pleased to recognize BMO Harris Bank as the 2017/18 Season Sponsor and ComEd as the Official Lighting Sponsor of the 2017/18 Season. The Corporate Sponsor for Buried Child is United. Major Production Sponsors are Jennifer and Alec Litowitz. The Artists Council Sponsors are Susan and Don Belgrad and Gail and Tom Hodges. Additional support for Buried Child is provided by the Director’s Society Sponsors.

For more information about Writers Theatre’s 2017/18 partners, visit writerstheatre.org/our-supporters.



ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE
For more than 25 years, Writers Theatre has captivated Chicagoland audiences with inventive interpretations of classic work, a bold approach to contemporary theatre and a dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible.

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Halberstam and the executive leadership of Kathryn M. Lipuma, Writers Theatre has grown to become a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called the top regional theatre in the nation by The Wall Street Journal. The company, which plays to a sold-out and discerning audience of more than 60,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry—providing the finest interpretations of both classic and contemporary theatre in its two intensely intimate venues. 

In February 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility. This established the company's first permanent home—a new theatre center in downtown Glencoe, designed by the award-winning, internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by Founder and Design Principal Jeanne Gang, FAIA, in collaboration with Theatre Consultant Auerbach Pollock Friedlander. The new facility has allowed the Theatre to continue to grow to accommodate its audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy. The new facility resonates with and complements the Theatre’s neighboring Glencoe community, adding tremendous value to Chicagoland and helping to establish the North Shore as a premier cultural destination.

Find Writers Theatre on Facebook at Facebook.com/WritersTheatre, follow @WritersTheatre on Twitter or @Writers_Theatre on Instagram. For more information, visit www.writerstheatre.org.

FREE With RSVP: Babes With Blades' First Fighting Words Festival at Strawdog Theatre 5/19 & 5/20/18

Fest Alert: Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Two Days...

Three Great New Plays.

Want to see the newest woman-centered plays featuring the art of stage combat? Be there for BWBTC's first ever 

Fighting Words Festival!

Farce, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy...all in one weekend!

ChiIL Mama will be there... will YOU?!

May 19-20, 2018
Strawdog Theatre (1802 W Berenice Ave., Chicago)

Saturday 5/19:
12:00pm -
The Lady Demands Satisfaction* by Arthur Jolly
2:30pm -
Women of 4G by Amy Tofte

Sunday 5/20:
7:00pm -
The Witches of Birnam by Sara Murdock

FREE ADMISSION! Refreshments and a talkback follow each reading.

To reserve your FREE SEAT, go here.

*Winner of Joining Sword & Pen 2017-18




Check Out These Babes

Chloe Baldwin is off to California this summer to apprentice with Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, appearing in their productions of Othello and Two Noble Kinsmen.

Barbara Lhota's new play GIRL FOUND, produced by Idle Muse Theatre Company, with Alison Dornheggen directing, intimacy design by Jennifer L. Mickelson, and featuring Kathrynne Wolf, plays at The Edge Theater from May 17 thru Sunday, June 10th, Previews: May, 12th, 13th, 16th.

Barbara Lhota's play RAEANN'S GOTTA WIN: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DRAGON SLAYING, will be read at Prop Theater's Church of the New Play on Sunday, July 15th at 11AM. 

Check out Artistic Associate Elizabeth MacDougald in Down the Rock Road and all the Way to Bedlam with Otherworld Theatre, running through May 13th at Fox Arca Theatre. 

OPENING: FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1, 2 & 3) at Goodman's Owen Theatre Through JUNE 24

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM SET FOR 

FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1, 2 & 3), 

SUZAN-LORI PARKS’ “BLAZINGLY ORIGINAL” (WASHINGTON POST) CIVIL WAR EPIC, AT GOODMAN THEATRE 

MAY 25 – JUNE 24, 2018

***DIRECTED BY NIEGEL SMITH, THE CAST FEATURES CHICAGO FAVORITES KAMAL ANGELO BOLDEN, WILLIAM DICK,

ERNEST PERRY JR., JACQUELINE WILLIAMS—PLUS BLUES MUSICIAN MELODY ANGEL, WHO APPEARS ON STAGE NIGHTLY***

Goodman Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. Parks, in her “finest work yet” (New York Times), serves up “an American story as much about our present as it is about our past” (Los Angeles Times). Filled with wit, poetry and original music composed by Grammy Award winner Justin Ellington and performed on stage nightly by Chicago native blues musician Melody Angel, the production follows Hero (Kamal Angelo Bolden), a Texas slave, who faces a simple yet monumental choice: join his master in the Confederate army to win his freedom—or remain enslaved at the plantation. 

Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) appears May 25 – June 24, 2018 (opening night is June 4 at 7pm) in Goodman Theatre’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. The estimated run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Tickets ($10 - $40; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Father, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor and American Airlines is the Contributing Sponsor.

“The Goodman has brought together a stellar cast to interpret Suzan-Lori Parks’ masterwork,” said Director Niegel Smith, Artistic Director of New York’s The Flea Theater and a former fellow at The Public Theater during the play’s development and 2014 world premiere production. “I’m excited to create, with these actors, a panoply of enslaved folks—joyful, fearful, nurturing, overwhelmed and yet resilient. This is a necessary work, one of black love, black joy and black pain. We need plays like this that look deeply at our history, and how we continue to perpetuate it. I am thrilled by artists like Suzan-Lori who make it part of their work to give us these stories in which we investigate truthfully.”
Smith’s cast also features William Dick as Colonel; Aimé Donna Kelly as Penny, Hero’s devoted love; Jaime Lincoln Smith as Homer, whose rivalry with Hero is defined by a betrayal. Rounding out the cast are Sydney Charles (Second), Ronald L. Conner (Third), Bernard Gilbert (Runaway), Nicole Michelle Haskins (Runaway), Ernest Perry Jr. (The Oldest Old Man), Tyrone Phillips (Runaway), Michael Aaron Pogue (Fourth), BrittneyLove Smith (Odyssey Dog), Demetrios Troy (Smith) and Jacqueline Williams (Leader). The creative team also includes Courtney O’Neill (set), Linda Cho (costumes) and Keith Parham (lighting). 

In addition, Chicago-based blues musician Angel makes her Goodman Theatre debut as a contemporary narrator who comments on the circumstances and setting to direct the audience’s focus.

“I consider Suzan-Lori Parks a super hero, and to have my theatrical debut in one of her plays at one the best theaters in the world is an honor,” said Angel, who kicks off the Chicago Blues Festival performing the national anthem on Friday, June 8. “Father Comes Home From the Wars is a story about choices and how one decision can either lead you or change you completely. In my own music, I live by a quote from Nina Simone, ‘it's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.’ This is what this role has given me through the music Suzan-Lori created—an opportunity to reflect the times.”

ABOUT THE ARTISTS 

Suzan-Lori Parks (Playwright) was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New Wave” in 2002, Parks was the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her Broadway hit Topdog/Underdog. A MacArthur “Genius” Award and Gish Prize recipient, she has also been awarded grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her play Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) made its world premiere at The Public Theater in New York, followed by a run at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA, and Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. The play was named a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was awarded the 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, as well as the 2014 Horton Foote Prize. Parks’ work on The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was honored with the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Her numerous plays include The Book of Grace, In the Blood (2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Venus (1996 Obie Award), 365 Days/365 Plays and The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, among others. Parks’ novel Getting Mother's Body was published by Random House. Her first feature-length screenplay was Girl 6, written for Spike Lee. She’s also written screenplays for Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, as well as adapting Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which premiered on ABC’s Oprah Winfrey Presents. Parks is currently writing an adaptation of the film The Harder They Come for a live stage musical. She is the master writer chair at The Public Theater, A Residency One playwright at Signature Theatre and serves as a professor in dramatic writing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Niegel Smith (Director) is a Bessie Award winning theater director and performance artist. He is the artistic director of New York’s Obie-Award winning The Flea Theater, board member of A.R.T./New York and ringleader of Willing Participant (WillingParticipant.org), an artistic activist organization. His theater work has been produced by The Alley Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem, The Flea Theater, HERE Arts Center, Hip Hop Theatre Festival, The Invisible Dog, Luna Stage, Magic Theatre, Mixed Blood, New York Fringe Festival, New York Live Arts, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, Playwrights Horizons, Pomegranate Arts, The Public Theater, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Summer Play Festival, Todd Theatre and Under the Radar, and his participatory walks and performances have been produced by Abrons Arts Center, American Realness, Dartmouth College, Elastic City, The Invisible Dog, Jack, The New Museum, Prelude Festival, PS 122, the Van Alen Institute and Visual AIDS. He often collaborates with playwright/performer Taylor Mac and with artist Todd Shalom. Smith is co-director of the critically acclaimed A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, winner of the Kennedy Prize for Drama, Bessie Award, the Edwin Booth Award and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He was also the associate director of the Tony Award-winning musical FELA! – restaging that production in London, Lagos and its world tour. He assistant directed the off-Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and both the Broadway and off-Broadway productions of Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change. He has worked on the artistic staffs of The Public Theater, Trinity Repertory Company and Providence Black Repertory Company. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Smith has received residencies, grants and/or fellowships from Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the MAP Fund, New York Stage and Film, Sundance Theatre Lab, Theater Communications Group, Tucker Foundation, Van Lier Fund and VoxFest. NiegelSmith.com

TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Tickets ($10-$40) – GoodmanTheatre.org/Father; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829
Box Office Hours – 12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain
MezzTix – Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) 
$10Tix – Student $10 advance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)
Teen Arts Pass (TAP) – $5 day-of-performance tickets for teens ages 13-19; subject to availability; limit two, with valid TAP identification. Sign up at TeenArtsPass.org (promo code TAP) 
CityKey – CityKey Cardholders access half-price mezzanine tickets; limit four, with valid CityKey ID. Sign up at ChiCityClerk.com/ChicagoCityKey (promo code CITYKEY)
Group Sales are available for parties 10+; 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates – Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates

ACCESSIBILITY AT THE GOODMAN

Touch Tour, June 17 at 12:30pm – A presentation detailing the set, costume and character elements
Audio Described Performance, June 17 at 2pm – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset
ASL Interpreted Performance, June 23 at 2pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played 
Open Captioned Performance, June 24 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance
Visit Goodman Theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

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.