2nd Annual Mercy Street Affair to be Held 11/9

Mercy Street Theatre kicks off its second season with THE MERCY STREET AFFAIR, a classy soiree and new plays festival featuring live music, pastries, and craft cocktails inspired by the plays in the upcoming 2015/16 season. THE MERCY STREET AFFAIR takes place November 9, 2015 at The Foxhole Chicago, 2444 W. Montrose Ave. at 7:30 pm. The event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $15. To RSVP, please visit www.mercystreettheatre.org.

Sure to be a killer party, THE MERCY STREET AFFAIR will kick off its night by presenting four brand new short plays from our resident playwrights. These plays include Dean is a Motherf***ing Pedophile by EJC Calvert directed by artistic director Julia Rohed, Drink the Kool-Aid by Dusty Wilson directed by ensemble member Francisco Lopez, Dinner Date by Rachel DuBose directed by Cody Spellman, and Alpha/Omega by Ian Michael James directed by Arianna Soloway. Following the performance, the audience will get a chance to meet the ensemble while enjoying live jazz music, tasty treats, raffle contests and craft cocktails.

"The Second Annual Mercy Street Affair is our kickoff party to a new year! It's a chance for the community to see what this season is all about and support us in our future endeavors," comments artistic director Julia Rohed.

About the Playwrights:

E.J.C. CALVERT is from St. Louis, Missouri. Recent productions include Happy 3rd Birthday Siobhan (First Laugh Festival, Piccolo Theatre), Fast in Fire (Theatre HAN, Theatre for the New City), Sarazad and the Monster-King (The TRUF, Canal Park Playhouse), Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes (Lookingglass Theatre), Testify! (Audience Favorite Award, Roy Arias Studios), The Bear (A Tragedy) (Winner of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival, 2010), Cadaver Synod (The Brecht Forum). Most recently, she developed and performed the shadow puppet play The Infinity Carrot with the Meowsner Players at the Piccolo Theatre in Evanston, IL. Publications include Calamity with YouthPlays LLC, The Bear (A Tragedy) in Samuel French's Off-Off Broadway Festival Plays 35th Series, and A Dinner Party Goes Awry in the 31 Plays in 31 Days Project anthology. E. J. C. holds an MFA in Playwriting from the New School for Drama.

RACHEL DUBOSE returned to the Chicago area by way of Atlanta, GA. After finishing her undergraduate career at Spelman College, Rachel went on to work with NinaHoliday Productions and BET. Some of her work, Eve Within and Alkie's Anonymous have received stage readings at Spelman with the latter being showcased at The Alliance Theatre during the Spelman Salon. Most recently, Lonely Hearts participated in The Fade 2 Black Festival in Houston, TX. Rachel holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University.

IAN MICHAEL JAMES is an actor, playwright, and dramaturg living and learning in Chicago. Ian graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Theater (Concentration - Acting) and a Minor in Playwriting. As an actor, Ian appeared in All My Sons (as George), The Arsonists (as Beidermann), A Thousand Clowns (as Nick) and Cass Rose's Dictionary Project, Vol. II. Ian's dramaturgy credits include The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (No Stakes Theater Project), Rotpeter (Mercy Street Theatre Company), Travesties (asst., Remy Bumppo) and Hairspray (Columbia College Chicago). Ian has had several plays developed and produced as a part of Columbia's Fresh Ink and Manifest Performance Festivals ('13, '14). Ian is the Resident Dramaturg for No Stakes Theater Project.

DUSTY WILSON is a resident of Chicago and a graduate of Northwestern University's MFA Writing for the Screen and Stage program. His play Ephebophilia was a finalist in On the Brink Productions' Search for the Next Great (Young) American Playwright Competition (New York City, 2013), Quiet Productions' New Works Festival (Seattle, WA, 2013), and was produced by The Phebe Project (Chicago, IL, 2014). He was a semi-finalist in Reverie Productions' Next Generation Playwriting Contest (Deus Ex Machina, New York City, 2007), won the Actors' Choice Award in the Bite-Size International 10-Minute Playwriting Contest (Beige Tea, Brighton, United Kingdom, 2008), and placed 1st in Dramatis Personae's St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Navy Pier Sunrise, Chicago, IL, 2010).

Mercy Street Theatre (Julia Rohed, Artistic Director; Danielle Stack, Producing Director; Jake L. Fruend, Associate Artistic Director) is an ensemble driven theatre dedicated to telling stories that examine the modern myth; stories of everyday interaction with the epic, iconic and divine. Mercy Street seeks to produce work that transcends the familiar by bringing the spectacular to life on stage, and scrutinizes the orthodox by putting key ideas and events of our world on display. By providing stories from unfamiliar places, cultures and times, MSTC aims to cultivate unity. Finally, MSTC strives to bring the house down by presenting an entertaining theatrical experience. For more information, please visit www.mercystreettheatre.org.