LOOKING FORWARD Chicago Shows We're Excited About
Continuing our support of productions that embrace inclusion for artists and audiences, below are shows that you can buy tickets to THIS WEEK that we feel are moving our community in the right direction. Let your wallet do the talking. Buy tickets to shows that celebrate inclusion. Then write to producers and tell them you want to see more of it. Decision makers are led by numbers and this is one way we can all make a difference.
Hatfield and McCoy
Directed by House Theatre Ensemble Member Matt Hawkins
Written by House Theatre Ensemble Member Shawn Pfautsch
Playing now through March 11
Chopin Theatre 1543 W Division St
This modern love letter to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet lands us in a philosophically polarized America emerging from the Civil War. But conflict reverberates at home. Gunfire and romance erupt when young Rose Anna McCoy and Johnse Hatfield fall in love, marry in secret, and vow to reconcile their feuding families against all odds. Their tale of woe is served up with a heaping helping of original Americana tunes, connecting times past to our familiar present.
Tickets for Hatfield and McCoy are $20-50. Get your tickets here.
The cast, artistic and production teams include Marika Mashburn, Haley Bolithon, Anish Jethmalani, Desmond Gray, Stacy Stoltz, Jamie Vann, Tobi Mattingly, Michael E Smithy, Collin Quinn Rice, Jacob Fjare, Jeff Mills, Khloe Janel, Andy Monson, Jenni M. Hadley, Tommy Malouf, Ethan Peterson, Tia Pinson, Royen Kent, Matthew Muñiz, Jake Saleh, Jess McIntosh, Patrik Ahlberg, Noah Applebaum, Tia Pinson, Ann Delaney, Kyle Ryan, Bradley Grant Smith, Adam Benjamin, Lauren Batson, V Bustoz, Coco Ree Lemery, Madison Smith, Carlos Olmedo, Chloe Baldwin, Amalie Vega, Laura Duncan, Tracee Bear, Kenny Cole, Caswell James, Jerica Hucke, Jason SHivers, Lee Keenan, Matt Kahler, Emily McConnell, Grover Hollway and Katherine Scott.
We're Gonna Be Ok
Directed by ATC Artistic Director Will Davis
Written by Basil Kreimendahl
Playing now through March 4
American Theatre Company 1909 W. Byron Street,
Straight from Actors' Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays, Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay confronts the fears of the American middle class as two families wrestle with macrame, female empowerment and a shared property line. Will Davis directs this Chicago premiere.
Tickets for We're Gonna Be Ok are $20-38 and industry and student discounts are available. Get your tickets here.
The cast, artistic and production teams include BrittneyLove Smith, Penelope Walker, Saraí Rodriguez, Adithi Chandrashekar, Kelli Simpkins and Avi Roque, , Havalah Grace, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, Mia Vivens, Gaby Labotka, William Bles, Rachel Levy, Melissa Ng, Jeffrey Levin, Jamie Karas, Katie Klemme Majel Cuza, Andrew Glasenhardt, Billy Murphy, Andy Kauff, Nadya Naumaan, Jenna Meyers, Madeline Scott, Topher Leon, Julia Rufo and Yinzhou-Peter Chen.
Fear and Misery in the Third Reich
Directed by Haven Artistic Director Josh Sobel
Written by Bertolt Brecht, Translated by Eric Bentley
Playing now through March 11
The Den Theatre 1331 N Milwaukee
As Germany careens toward war, an entire society begins to crack, and the seeds of chaos and tragedy take root in the minds of its citizens. Artistic Director Josh Sobel (We're Gonna Die) helms an ensemble-driven production of Brecht's 1938 classic with a contemporary eye – a warning of how insidiously a culture can make space for atrocity, and a call to never allow it to happen again.
Tickets for Fear & Misery in the Third Reich are $18, with a pay-what-you-can performance Monday March 5. Get your tickets here.
The cast, artistic and production teams include Joe Bianco, Amanda De La Guardia, Alys Dickerson, Elizabeth Dowling, Simon Hedger, Niko Kourtis, Kyla Norton, Siddartha Rajan, Alexis Randolph, Jessica Dean Turner, Daniel Chenard, Alex Elam, Amy Gorelow, Hilary Jimenz, Ben Kaye, Ian Maryfield, Corbin Paulino, Yu Shibagaki, Claire Chrzan, Izumi Inamba, Sarah D Espinoza, Jeffrey Levin, Sasha Smith, Angela Salinas, Bobby Huggins, Jenifer L'Amour Dorman, Marika Mashburn, Abhi Shrestha, Anna Sung En Medill and Madisen Dempsey
Hinter
Directed by Steep company member Brad DeFabo Akin
Written by Calamity West
Playing now through March 17
Steep Theatre 1115 W Berwyn Ave
Whispers and rumors had been swirling around the Gruber family farm long before the bodies were discovered on that cold April day. It's 1922, and a remote community in Bavaria is reeling in the aftermath of World War I: gender roles are shifting, a generation gap is emerging, and farmers are battling poverty in the shadow of a growing urban intelligentsia. Inspired by a chilling and true unsolved crime, Hinter is a darkly comic thriller by one of Chicago’s most exciting new playwrights.
Tickets for Hinter are $27-38. Get your tickets here.
The cast, artistic and production teams include Aurora Adachi-Winter, Alex Gillmor, Peter Moore, Jim Poole, Melissa Riemer, Lauren Sivak, Sasha SMith, SIgrid Sutter, Nate Whelden, Eunice Woods, Lauren Lassus, Lauren Nigri, Pete Dully, Thomas Dixon, Mieka van der Ploeg, Kathryn Johnson, Sasha Smith, Neena Arndt, Almanya Narula and Catherine Allen
Pillars of the Community
Directed by Strawdog Theatre ensemble member Elly Green
Written by Henrik Ibsen, New Version by Samuel Adamson
Playing through March 3
Strawdog Theatre 1802 W Berenice
The return of a fugitive brother puts the future of wealthy businessman Karsten Bernick in peril. Details of a long-buried sex scandal and embezzlement come to the surface and force Bernick to face his family, his community and his demons. Adamson's version of Ibsen's 1877 moral drama was first produced at the National Theatre in 2005 to critical acclaim.
Tickets for Pillars of the Community are $26-40. Get your tickets here
The cast, artistic and production teams include Nicole Bloomsmith, Casey Bond, Kamille Dawkins, Kroydell Galima, Annamarie Giordano, Carmine Grisolia, ASia Jackson, Patrick Kelly, Michael Kingston, Robert Koon, Aaron Lamm, Allison Latta, Kimberly Logan, Alyssa Maldonado, Dan McGeehan, Priya Mohanty, Michaela Petro, John Henry Roberts, Londen Shannon, Gage Wallace, Schanora Wimpie, Arianna Soloway, John Wilson, John Kelly, Kate Hardiman, Uriel Gomez, Leah Hummel, Morgan Lake, Stacey Palmberg, Becca Levy, Taylor Ovca and Peter WIlde
Anna Karenina
Directed by Amanda Link
Written by Leo Tolstoy, Adapted by Jessica Wright Buha
Playing through April 8
Lifeline Theatre 6912 N Glenwood Ave
As a wave of profound upheaval sweeps through Russian society, it is a time of impossible choices. Anna is torn between raising her cherished son and languishing in a lifeless marriage, or sacrificing everything to follow her lover Alexei into disgrace. Konstantin struggles to reconcile his existential torment with his enduring passion for Kitty. Innocents will suffer, hearts will be broken, and families will be torn apart as two couples learn that living truthfully is no simple thing. A world premiere meditation on the complexities of love based on the 1877 novel by Leo Tolstoy.
Tickets for Anna Karenina are $40. Get your tickets here
The cast, artistic and production teams include Dan Cobbler, Lindsey Dorcus, Eric Gerard, Gay Glenn, Dan Granata, Aneisa Hicks, Brandi Lee, Jason Prereira, Michael Reyes, Michele Stine, Ilse Zacharias, Ashley Agbay, Diana Coates, Isabella Karina Coelho, Zoe DePreta, Blake Holen, Rachel Mock, Bruce Phillips, Roy Samra, Eric Backus, Abigail Cain, Savannah Clements, Stephanie Diaz, DIane D Fairchild, Kasey Foster, Izumi Inaba, Joanna Iwanicka, Zev Valancy and Emily Willis
