Abraham Lincoln and More to Take the Stage in Shattered Globe Theatre's 2017-18 Season

Shattered Globe Theatre has announced its 2017-18 Season, featuring three Chicago premiere productions!

The season kicks off this fall with Pulitzer Prize nominee James Still's fevered, emotional epic THE HEAVENS ARE HUNG IN BLACK, a theatrical rendering of Abraham Lincoln's struggle as a man of conscience to lead a divided country. Directed by SGT Ensemble Member Louis Contey*, the Chicago premiere will feature Lawrence Grimm as Abraham Lincoln and SGT Ensemble Member Linda Reiter* as Mary Todd Lincoln.

Shattered Globe's season continues this winter with Rachel Bonds' new play FIVE MILE LAKE directed by Cody Estle. In this Chicago premiere, five friends approaching their 30s try to seize the moment and take a step toward adulthood.

The season concludes next spring with the Chicago premiere of Will Snider's HOW TO USE A KNIFE, directed by SGT Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner*. In this fast-paced, gritty drama, a once-renowned chef strikes up an unlikely friendship with a reticent immigrant dishwasher while trying to manage his unruly and hilarious kitchen staff.

Comments Sandy Shinner, "Shattered Globe is excited to present three Chicago premieres with all three playwrights - Rachel Bonds, Will Snider and James Still - involved in the productions. This is a first for SGT! The central characters in their plays are all caught in a particularly critical moment in time - political, personal or professional: Abraham Lincoln still mourning his young son, a small town woman with larger dreams, and a chef climbing back from addiction are all ready to make a change. Their worlds are about to undergo seismic shifts. Will the past hold them back?"

The full 2017-18 Season will be presented at Shattered Globe's resident home, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets for THE HEAVENS ARE HUNG IN BLACK go on sale Saturday, August 1, 2017 at www.shatteredglobe.org, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. Discounted group sales for all three productions are currently available at groupsales@shatteredglobe.org or by calling (773) 770-0333.

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Shattered Globe Theatre's 2017-18 Season includes:

September 7 - October 21, 2017

THE HEAVENS ARE HUNG IN BLACK

By James Still

Directed SGT Ensemble Member Louis Contey*

Featuring feature SGT Ensemble Members Kelsey Melvin*, Linda Reiter*, Drew Schad*, Brad Woodard* and SGT Artistic Associate Darren Jones+, with Don Bender, Zach Bloomfield, Jennifer Cheung, Lawrence Grimm, Kate Harris, Tim Kough and Tim Newell. Additional casting to be announced.

Press opening: Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 3 pm

Presented for the first time in the "Land of Lincoln," THE HEAVENS ARE HUNG IN BLACK is James Still's personal interpretation on the months leading up to Abraham Lincoln's signing of The Emancipation Proclamation. This theatrical epic explores Lincoln's humanity, conscience and leadership through the troubled times of 1862 - as dreams of his famous adversaries and unnamed soldiers walk through his waking life. Sprinkled with text pulled from Lincoln's prolific letters and speeches, this play explores the heart of the man who led America in a war that we're still fighting today.

January 11 - February 24, 2018

FIVE MILE LAKE

By Rachel Bonds

Directed by Cody Estle

Press opening: Sunday, January 14 2018 at 3 pm

In a style reminiscent of Chekhov, five friends approaching thirty try to navigate the emotional undercurrents of unrequited love, loss and possibility. The unexpected return of a sibling sets in motion an inadvertent winter reunion in their small Pennsylvania town. This is the kind of claustrophobic town that kids grow up to leave, but not everyone feels the same way. These old high school friends each aspire to make the right choice, and come face-to-face with the choices they have already made.

April 26 - June 9, 2018

HOW TO USE A KNIFE

By Will Snider

Directed by SGT Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner*

Press opening: Sunday, April 29 at 3 pm

In the chaotic kitchen of a Wall Street restaurant, Chef George is trying to stay sober and keep the trash talking cross-cultural kitchen staff churning out orders on time. While managing two Guatemalan line cooks, a pot smoking white busboy and dealing with a jerk of a boss, George strikes up a surprising friendship with a reserved Ugandan dishwasher. Raw, fast paced and suspenseful, HOW TO USE A KNIFE boils over when personal and moral issues from their pasts are exposed. This high energy drama is fresh off a rolling world premiere shared by four theaters in the National New Play Network.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

James Still's (Playwright - The Heavens are Hung in Black) award-winning plays have been produced at theatres throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, China and Australia. He is the playwright-in-residence at the Indiana Repertory Theatre, artistic affiliate with American Blues in Chicago, a winner of the William Inge Festival's Otis Guernsey New Voices in American Theatre Award, the Medallion for Sustained Achievement from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America and the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award for Distinguished Body of Work. He is an elected member of the National Theatre Conference and a member in the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Three of Still's plays have received the Distinguished Play Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. His work has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His plays have been developed and workshopped at the Sundance Playwrights Lab, the New Harmony Project, the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the Lark Play Development Center, Telluride Playwrights Festival, the Bonderman Playwriting for Youth National Competition & Symposium and New Visions/New Voices at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Still's plays featured by Dramatic Publishing include The Heavens are Hung in Black, The Velvet Rut, Iron Kisses, Searching for Eden: the diaries of adam and eve, A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters, Looking Over the President's Shoulder, He Held Me Grand, And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, A Village Fable, Hush: An Interview With America, The Gentleman From Indiana,The Velocity of Gary, I Love to Eat, The House that Jack Built and Illegal Use of Hands. In addition to his work in theatre, Still also works in television and film.He has been nominated for five Emmy awards and an award from the Television Critics Association. He was also twice a finalist for the Humanitas Prize. Still was a producer and head writer for the Discovery Kids series Paz, head writer of the television series Frog & Friends for Amsterdam-based Telescreen and writer for the children's film Miffy. For Nickelodeon, he was a writer and story editor for Maurice Sendak's long-running Little Bear and the Bill Cosby series Little Bill. He wrote The Little Bear Movie and the feature film, The Velocity of Gary. Still grew up in a small town in Kansas, graduated from the University of Kansas and lives on the West Coast.

Louis Contey (Director - The Heavens are Hung in Black) recently rejoined the ranks of Shattered Globe Theatre as an ensemble member. The Heavens are Hung in Black marks his 22nd collaboration with SGT, where he has also directed The Tall Girls, In the Heat of the Night, A View From The Bridge, The Manchurian Candidate, A Streetcar Named Desire, All My Sons, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Peter Pan, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Warhawks and Lindberghs, Holy Ghosts, Judgment at Nuremberg, Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Whaleship Essex, Meet John Doe, The Lower Depths, Escape >From Happiness, Real Classy Affair, Rocket to the Moon, Anna Karenina and Brilliant Traces. He has directed over 75 plays, among them The Master & Margarita, Marriage Play, The Diviners, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Hamlet. He is an Associate Artist at TimeLine Theatre, where he directed Frost/Nixon, Awake And Sing!, The General from America, Lillian, Copenhagen, It's All True, Pravda, Paradise Lost, A House With No Walls, The Apple Family Plays and The Price. He has also worked at The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Theatre at the Center, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Provision Theatre, Eclipse Theatre and American Theater Company. He is a twelve-time Jeff nominee and has received seven Jeff Citations, as well as an After Dark Award. He teaches part-time at The Theatre School/DePaul University where he received his MFA in Directing.

Rachel Bonds' (Playwright - Five Mile Lake) plays have been developed or produced by South Coast Rep, Ars Nova, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, Roundabout Underground, Atlantic Theater Company, Studio Theatre, New Georges, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and New York Stage & Film, among others. Her plays include: Curve of Departure (Upcoming South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre); Five Mile Lake (South Coast Rep, McCarter, Weissberger Award); The Wolfe Twins (Studio Theatre, Kilroys List 2015); Swimmers (Marin Theatre Co., Sky Cooper Prize, Kilroys List 2014); Sundown, Yellow Moon (Ars Nova/WP); Alma (Atlantic Theatre Company commission); Firecracker (Kilroys List 2016); At the Old Place (La Jolla); Michael & Edie (NY Times Critic's Pick, 2010); Winter Games (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Heideman Award); and Anniversary (EST, Sam French OOB Festival Winner). She is an Alumna of the EST's Youngblood, Ars Nova's Play Group and SPACE on Ryder Farm's Working Farm Writers' Group. She was the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright in Residence at Ars Nova. Current commissions include The Geffen and McCarter. Bonds is a graduate oF Brown University.

Cody Estle (Director - Five Mile Lake) is a Chicago-based freelance director. Directing credits include By The Water at Northlight Theatre; The Assembled Parties, A Loss of Roses, Dividing the Estate, Vieux Carré (named by Chicago Tribune as one of the Year's Best in 2014), Good Boys and True, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Boy Gets Girl and Dating Walter Dante at Raven Theatre; American Hero at First Floor Theatre; Scarcity at Redtwist Theatre; The Seagull and Watch on the Rhine at The Artistic Home; Don't Go Gentle at Haven Theatre; Uncle Bob at Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company and Hospitality Suite at Citadel Theatre. He's had the pleasure of assistant directing at Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Court Theatre, Writers Theatre, Next Theatre and Strawdog Theatre. Estle is the Associate Artistic Director at Raven Theatre, an associate member of SDC and a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

Will Snider (Playwright - How To Use a Knife) was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. His plays include How to Use a Knife, Extinction, Sundowners and The Old Man Is Dead, and have been produced or developed at MCC, Ensemble Studio Theatre, #serials@ theflea, FringeNYC, The Claque, SPACE on Ryder Farm, MAKEHOUSE, Columbia University and Wabash College. He was a semi-finalist for the Princess Grace Award and the Page 73 Fellowship and is an MFA Playwriting candidate at UC San Diego and member of the Obie Award-winning playwrights group Youngblood at EST. He studied African history at Columbia and spent three years working in agricultural development in East Africa.

Sandy Shinner (Director - How To Use a Knife) joined Shattered Globe Theatre in October 2013 as the theater's first Producing Artistic Director. She directed Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room in 2015 and Sally Nemeth's Mill Fire at SGT in 2014 for SGT. The former Associate Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater, she created the nationally known IGNITION! Festival, served as co-director of the Access Project, and accepted the 2001 Regional Theater Tony Award on behalf of VG with former Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and former Managing Director Marcelle McVay. Her other recent directing credits include: the world premiere of Rasheeda Speaking by Joel Drake Johnson (Rivendell Theater Ensemble) and Creditors by August Strindberg (Remy Bumppo Theater Company). She has directed over 80 plays at theaters including Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, American Blues, the University of Virginia, Actors Theater of Louisville's Humana Festival, Steppenwolf's First Look Repertory of New Work, New York's 78th Street Theater Lab and the Sacramento Theater Company, among others. Her production of Trying by Joanna McClelland Glass transferred to New York and her direction was nominated for the Joe A. Callaway Award. Shinner received the 2013 Kathryn V. Lamkey Spirit Award from the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of Actors' Equity Association for her commitment to diversity and non-traditional casting. She has been recognized as one of "50 Top Players" by Newcity and a "Chicagoan of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune. She is an adjunct professor at DePaul's Theatre School, an At Large Ambassador for the National New Play Network and an Artistic Affiliate at American Blues Theater.

Shattered Globe Theatre (Sandy Shinner, Producing Artistic Director; Doug McDade, Managing Director) was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 60 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 42 Jeff Awards and 106 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. Shattered Globe is an ensemble driven theater whose mission is to create an intimate, visceral theater experience that challenges the perspective of audience and artist alike through passionate storytelling. Shattered Globe is inspired by the diversity of our city and committed to making the theater available to all audiences. Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience.

For more information on Shattered Globe Theatre, visit www.shatteredglobe.org.

* Denotes SGT Ensemble Member
+ Denotes SGT Artistic Associate

Pictured: Shattered Globe Theatre's 2017-18 season playwrights James Still, Rachel Bonds and Will Snider.