Bogosian's TALK RADIO Opens At The Gift 4/2-5/30

TALK RADIO by Eric Bogosian

Directed by Gift ensemble member Maureen Payne Hahner

Assistant Directed by Gift ensemble member Alexandra Main

April 2nd - May 30th, 2009

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 8pm; Sundays at 3:30pm.

Featuring Gift Ensemble Members Paul D'Addario (Non-Eq Jeff Award winner) Hillary Clemens, and John Kelley Connolly. With Ed Flynn, Evan Lee, Lucas Neff,

John Ruhaak, Justine Serino, Laura Shatkus, and Kyle Zornes.

Eric Bogosian's Pulitzer-nominated play orbits around adrenaline-fueled shock jock Barry Champlain, star of Cleveland's #1 talk radio program "Night Talk". On the evening of its national syndication, Barry is challenged by a barrage of desperate callers, isolating him and forcing a confrontation with his own vulnerability.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20TH, IS A "COME CLOSER" PERFORMANCE OF TALK RADIO WITH A RECEPTION AND POST-SHOW Q & A WITH THE PLAYWRIGHT, Eric Bogosian. TICKETS FOR THE "COME CLOSER" PERFORMANCE--SPONSORED BY GALE STREET INN--WILL GO ONSALE APRIL 1ST AT WWW.THEGIFTTHEATRE.ORG
Previews for TALK RADIO are April 2nd - 5th , 2009. The Press Opening is Monday, APRIL 6TH, AT 8:00PM. The production opens on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 and runs through May 31st, 2009. Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 8pm; Sundays at 3:30pm.

For tickets: (773) 283-7071 or buy online @ www.thegifttheatre.org
The Gift Theatre

4802 N. Milwaukee

The Gift Theatre is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood-two storefronts north of Lawrence, on the west side of Milwaukee-and is easily accessible by the Kennedy Expressway, the Lawrence and Milwaukee buses, and the CTA Blue Line.

Preview tickets are $15.

Regular run prices are $20 (Thursdays and Sundays $25 (Friday and Saturday nights). Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more by calling the Box Office. $15 tickets are available at all performances for students, seniors, and industry with proper identification.

Director Maureen Payne-Hahner cites this Joanna Macy quote:

"When we open to the pain of our world, we discover our interconnectedness in the web of life. This is the gift of dark and dangerous times; to find again our mutual belonging."

"Talk Radio kind of surprised people, because they revived it last year, twenty years after it had been written and it felt fresh. But that's because I don't really write about topical stuff; I write about American attitudes, American values, my values, my attitudes. And to the degree that anybody sees things the way I see things, they

can relate."

--playwright Eric Bogosian on the play's New York revival
Jeff Award winner Courtney O'Neil is the set designer, Scott Pillsbury is the lighting designer, Driehaus Award For Fashion Excellence Winner Branimira Ivanova is the Costume Designer, Jeff Award-nominee Miles Polaski is the Sound Designer.

"TALK RADIO" is the second production of The Gift's '09 season. The Gift concluded a successful 2008 season with White People, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, W;t,, and Streamers, and Santa's Great American Depression Holiday Show! America.
The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Since its 2002 debut, The Gift has consistently established itself as an actors' theatre, eschewing directorial cleverness for honest, powerful connections between the actors and the audience. With the conception of The Lab-an ensemble-only forum dedicated to artistic growth and exploration-The Gift continues to deepen its commitment to the idea of ‘ensemble' by training together on an ongoing basis. Previous and future instructors in The Lab include Sheldon Patinkin, Jeff Perry, and Dr. Eric Forsythe.

Previous productions include Stop/Kiss, Santa's Great American Depression Holiday Show! America, Streamers, W;t, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, White People, Three Sisters, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Blithe Spirit, 365 Days/365 Plays, The Halloween Show, Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Glass Menagerie (Remount-Theatre on the Lake), The Good Thief, The Clearing, Hurlyburly, The Glass Menagerie, The Pavilion, A Young Man In Pieces, Language of Angels, 6, County Fair, The Countess, Alcatraz (Abbie Hoffman Festival), Orestes 2.0, Boys' Life, and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (giftSYDNEY).
The educational program of The Gift Theatre Company, giftED., continues its work at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) by combining theatre and speech therapy to combat pediatric oral aversion in addition to its work through Chicago Public Schools, staging extant productions such as Pecos Bill as well as creating new pieces for the theatre, such as HOME / ROOM. The Gift is also beginning to secure equipment for its first feature-length project under its film component, giftFILM.

The Gift Theatre is the only professional theatre company in the working class neighborhood of Jefferson Park. As one of Chicago's most exciting theatre companies, The Gift is marked by acting of the highest caliber with continual training in The Lab, the important educational work being done at RIC through giftED., and sold-out houses on the northwest side of Chicago. Recent generous support has been provided by the Donnelley Foundation and Driehaus Foundation as well as The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Illinois Arts Council.