For Immediate Release - Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CHICAGO

For further information, contact:

Michael Colucci 773-728-7529,

Redtwist Announces Season of Premieres, Powerful Dramas

Redtwist Theatre is delighted to announce a truly exciting 2017-2018 season, built around the theme “The Way We Are,” featuring a world premiere, two Chicago premieres, a new take on a classic and a powerful historical drama.

Redtwist founder and Artistic Director, Michael Colucci notes that one of the primary artistic goals of the Edgewater-based storefront theatre is to produce more new work, and Redtwist’s new Associate Artistic Director, James Fleming is a big part of that effort. “James has been an incredible asset to the company from the moment he came aboard last year. He is the primary architect of this thrilling new season, and I think our best years are still to come,” says Colucci.

Redtwist will be bringing in each of the playwrights involved in its three premieres to Chicago to assist in those productions. Building upon the company’s respected foundation of producing explosive plays from the American canon in a uniquely intimate space, this season will feature a rich tapestry from an eclectic mix of new plays and modern classics.

Leading off the season on Sept. 9 will be a fresh look at Thornton Wilder’s, Our Town, which director Fleming brings into the 21st century, and calls “a love letter to Chicago’s many communities.” The show features Redtwist ensemble members Adam Bitterman, Johnny Garcia, Jacqueline Grandt, and Brian Parry heading a terrific cast that captures the diverse essence of Chicago's vibrant communities.

The Chicago premiere of I Saw My Neighbor on the Train and I Didn’t Even Smile by LA-based, British playwright/screenwriter, Suzanne Heathcote, opens November 18, and will bring the writer to Chicago, where the play is actually set. Called an "engrossing ride" by the Boston Globe, the dark comedy features a trio of vastly different women coming to terms with a sticky situation that has been thrust upon them. Jeff-award winners Jacqueline Grandt and Kathleen Ruhl lead a great cast in this delightful new play by Heathcote, who also writes for the television series Fear the Walking Dead.

Redtwist's third show, Surely Goodness and Mercy, by Chisa Hutchinson is part of a Rolling World Premiere event, opening Feb. 17, and sponsored by the National New Play Network. The production will feature an African-American cast and director in a powerful drama about an unlikely friendship that develops between a Newark adolescent, living with an abusive aunt after his mother's violent death, and a cantankerous, school lunch-lady, who has been diagnosed with MS. The ways in which each is able to help the other, in difficult circumstances, form the basis of a lovely, heartwarming story. Hutchinson will be coming to Chicago from New York during the production to aid in her show's world premiere.

The fourth show in the Redtwist lineup features long-time ensemble member Brian Parry, a Jeff-award winner, as former President Richard Nixon in the timely drama Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan. Directed by ensemble member and Jeff Award-winner, Scott Weinstein, this production explores the cat-and-mouse planning and debate between Frost and Nixon over the abuse of power by a president in the context of the now-infamous television interviews that sealed the legacies of both men.

The 17-18 finale is the second Chicago premiere of the season, Sagittarius Ponderosa by MJ Kaufman, opening June 30. Set in rural Eastern Oregon, this drama focuses on Archer (still Angela to his family) who returns home to care for his sick father. This is a moving story about the journey of personal identity that we all must take to become ourselves. Playwright MJ Kaufman will be joining Redtwist when the show goes into previews, to help in fine-tuning the production.

It's about familiar people who navigate timeless challenges.

What we do informs who we are...in our growing up, and in our living, and in our dying.

Our Town

by Thornton Wilder

Directed by Redtwist’s Associate Artistic Director, James Fleming

Sept 9 to Oct 8, 2017 (Previews Sept 6, 7, 8)

A Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece of the 20th century is brought lovingly into the 21st century. Redtwist Associate Artistic Director James Fleming directs an intimate production of this American classic as a love letter to Chicago’s many communities and a reminder that life’s most ordinary moments are often the most profound.

I Saw My Neighbor on the Train

and I Didn’t Even Smile

by Suzanne Heathcote

Directed by Erin Murray

Nov 18 to Dec 18, 2017 (Previews Nov 15, 16, 17)

Note: There is no show on Thu, Nov 23. Closing show is on Monday, December 18 at 7:30pm

Chicago premiere. A charming, funny drama about the challenges of three generations of alienated women in a family with vastly different personalities. They immediately disrupt each others’ lives, then drastically change each others’ worlds, and finally enrich each others’ souls.

Surely Goodness and Mercy

by Chisa Hutchinson

Directed by Wardell Julius Clark

Feb 17 thru Mar 18, 2018 (Previews Feb 14, 15, 16)

Rolling World Premiere. A powerful new drama with incredible heart and humor. Tino is a Newark schoolboy sent to live with an abusive aunt after his mother dies protecting him in a street fight. Seeking solace, Tino befriends the cantankerous lunch lady at school who has been diagnosed with MS. The moving, heartwarming climax shows these two unlikely friends helping each other navigate a harsh world.

Frost/Nixon

by Peter Morgan

Directed by Scott Weinstein

Apr 21 thru May 20, 2018 (Previews Apr 18, 19, 20)

A riveting historical drama with David Frost, as the failing, sizzle talk-show host forging his respected reputation on live television as a legendary interviewer. The dashing Brit playboy spars with—and checkmates—the disgraced president into admitting that he not only broke the law, but was still in abject denial that he did anything wrong.

Sagittarius Ponderosa

by MJ Kaufman

Directed by James Fleming

Jun 30 thru Jul 29, 2018 (Previews Jun 27, 28, 29)

Chicago premiere. Archer (still Angela to his family) returns home to the forests of eastern Oregon to care for his sick father. At night under the oldest Ponderosa Pine, he meets a stranger who knows the history of the forests. Sagittarius Ponderosa reveals the enduring ties between the roots beneath our feet and the mysteries of the human heart…and the journey of personal identity we all must take to become ourselves.

Showtimes: Thu, Fri, Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 3pm

Tickets: Thursdays, $35; Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, $40 (seniors & students $5 off)

Website/Tickets: www.redtwist.org

Call: 773-728-7529

LOCATION/PARKING

Redtwist is located at 1044 W Bryn Mawr, 2 blks W of LSD, 2 blks E of the Red Line EL station. Valet parking for Redtwist is available across the street in front of Francesca’s Bryn Mawr for most performances—hours vary. Dining is not required. Limited FREE street parking is available on side streets. There is paybox street parking via ParkChicago.com app. The paybox is 3-hours on Bryn Mawr and 2-hours on side streets. Paybox parking is free on Sundays, and after 10pm Mon thru Sat.

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