THE AWAKE, ANIMALS COMMIT SUICIDE & More Set for First Floor Theater's 2015-16 Season

First Floor Theater has announced its 2015/16 season, a bold selection of cutting-edge plays, featuring one world premiere, two Chicago premieres, and the return of its annual literary festival of new plays. FFT's fourth season demonstrates the company's commitment to the presentation of urgent, relevant new work to Chicago's theatergoing community.

The season opens with ANIMALS COMMIT SUICIDE, the world premiere of J. Julian Christopher's high-octane and darkly comic story of guilt, disease, addiction, and contemporary queer life, directed by Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel. Next up is the Chicago premiere of Ken Urban's THE AWAKE, a lyrical and highly theatrical exploration of interrogation, government control, and the compulsive power of dreams, directed by Josh Altman. Closing out the mainstage season is the Chicago premiere of Johnna Adams' WORLD BUILDERS, an intimate portrayal of two individuals trying to balance mental illness and meaningful human connection, directed by Company Member Jesse Roth. Finally, in the summer FFT's Annual LitFest returns, promising new work from celebrated Chicago playwrights based on the life and work of a classic author, to be selected by the attendees of FFT's fourth season kick-off party.

After an extremely successful third season, which presented a smash-hit comedy by Mindy Kaling, the explosive Chicago premiere of a work by an up-and-coming playwright, and a topical world premiere created by the company, FFT's fourth season reaffirms its desire to produce exciting new work which faces challenging societal issues head on. Taken as a whole, this season addresses the major themes and questions facing 21st century America. How do disease and illness reshape individuals and communities? How much control should governments and institutions exert over daily life? How can individuals respond and reshape their lives in the face of personal and societal crisis?

First Floor Theater will return as a Resident Company with Collaboraction Theatre for the entire 2015/16 Mainstage Season, performing all shows in Room 300 of The Flat Iron Arts Building.

First Floor Theater's 2015/16 Season:

The World Premiere of
ANIMALS COMMIT SUICIDE
By J. Julian Christopher
Directed by Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel
November 15 - December 12, 2015

Chance Stevens is a young gay man who has almost everything...but he wants something more. He dives deep into the city's seedy sexual underbelly and picks up a drug habit, while also beginning a relationship with a handsome, HIV-positive baker, claiming falsely to be positive as well. But as those close to him begin to call his motives into question, Chance is forced to decide what he values in a dangerous world. New York playwright J. Julian Christopher, winner of the 2009 Public Theater Emerging Playwright award, explores bug-chasing - a complicated and little-discussed subculture within the contemporary queer community - through the lens of desire, guilt, and redemption. Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel, who directed last year's hit production Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, will helm this sharp, challenging, and haunting new play.

The Chicago Premiere of
THE AWAKE
By Ken Urban
Directed by Josh Altman
February 14 - March 12, 2016

Malcolm, a devoted son, floats on a bed with his mother on an endless sea, as Gabrielle, an Eastern European actress, awakes to a new life in America. Meanwhile, Nate, an Arab-Canadian, is on the run from a faceless interrogator. These three strangers discover that a mysterious corporation bonds them together. Moving between dreams and reality, Ken Urban's award-winning play explores the unspoken culture of fear that is the new normal of American life. Josh Altman, the dramaturg for Ike Holter's nationally acclaimed Exit Strategy, joins FFT to direct this surreal and moving Chicago Premiere.

The Chicago Premiere of
WORLD BUILDERS
By Johnna Adams
Directed by Company Member Jesse Roth
June 5 - July 2, 2016

A new drug has been developed that suppresses the complex internal worlds of those with schizoid personality disorder, allowing them to focus instead on the challenges of reality. Max and Whitney are two participants in its first clinical trial, and as the drug begins to work, they must choose which dream to pursue: their disparate fantasies or a future together. This Chicago premiere by Johnna Adams, writer of Gideon's Knot, which ran to critical acclaim at Profiles Theatre, asks probing questions about fantasy, reality, and intimacy. Her generous and loving style compliments the play's narrative of the frightening choice between pursuing our own dreams and investing our energy in the dreams of others. Company Member Jesse Roth, collaborator with New Colony, A Red Orchid Theatre, and The House Theater, helms this intimate Chicago premiere, her first mainstage production with FFT.

First Floor Theater Adds Two New Company Members
First Floor Theater is pleased to announce the addition of two new company members, Amanda Cantlin and Helen Benke-Hanson. Cantlin recently lighting designed The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Tollbooth: A Clown Show, and assistant lighting designed Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them. Benke-Hanson, who recently stage managed Matt & Ben and The Paranoid Style in American Politics, joins FFT as the company Production Manager.