Circle Mirror Transformation Plays Victory Gardens 2010-11 Season

Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Executive Director Jan Kallish announce the final selection for the 2010-2011 Victory Gardens season. The season will include Circle Mirror Transformation, winner of the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play by Annie Baker, in the Richard Christiansen Theater, February 25-April 10, 2011. The previously announced season includes work by Edward Albee, Joel Drake Johnson, Julie Hébert and Charles Smith.

"I find it to be a great season," says Dennis Zacek, Artistic Director. "It is an effective balance of male and female writers, featuring the work of two of our ensemble writers, two extraordinarily gifted women playwrights and Edward Albee-arguably America's greatest living playwright."

Subscriptions and Flex Passes for Victory Gardens 2010-2011 season, offering up to 35% savings on single tickets, are now on sale on the company's website, www.victorygardens.org. Subscriptions are also available at the Victory Gardens Box Office at The Biograph, 2243 N. Lincoln, 773.871.3000 (TTY: 773.871.0682).

The Victory Gardens Biograph Theater is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Benefits of subscribing include convenient parking; easy access via CTA, ticket exchange privileges; invitations to special events, discounted series for educators, younger audiences and persons with disabilities; pre- and post-show deals at nearby restaurants and nightclubs; and a complimentary subscription to Victory Magazine.

The 2010-2011 Victory Gardens Season is:

The Chicago Premiere of
At Home At The Zoo
By Edward Albee
Directed by Dennis Zacek

October 1-31, 2010
Press opening: Monday, October 11, 2010
Zacek McVay Theater

America's greatest living playwright pairs his provocative classic, A Zoo Story, the one-act that launched his career fifty years ago, with a new prequel titled Homelife. The lives of three New Yorkers are changed forever as revelations and confrontations of one sunny afternoon send them down surprising new paths. With shocking secrets to reveal, sharp truths to confront and hearts bursting with all the complexities of humanity, experience the intensity that is true Albee. At Home at the Zoo will feature Tom Amandes (Peter), Annabel Armour (Ann), and Marc Grapey (Jerry).

The World Premiere of
The Boys Room
By Joel Drake Johnson
Directed by Sandy Shinner

January 21-February 20, 2011
Press opening: Monday, January 31, 2011
Zacek McVay Theater

When the American Dream is out of reach, what is a man to do? In The Boys Room, ensemble playwright Joel Drake Johnson walks the line exquisitely between laughter and tears. Two middle aged brothers try to escape their responsibilities and race each other back to their boyhood bedroom-that sanctuary where they can dream and scheme without the pressure of the outside world. One is unemployed; the other is making a living but is not sure why he should live. The women in their lives are knocking on the door, filled with questions and, sometimes, love. The Boys Room will feature beloved Chicago actress Mary Ann Thebus as the mother of the "boys" and rising star Allison Torem.

The Chicago Premiere of
Circle Mirror Transformation
By Annie Baker
Directed by Dexter Bullard

February 25-April 10, 2011
Press Performances: Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, 2011
Richard Christiansen Theater

What do a flirty former actress, a pouty 16-year-old, a hippie husband and a divorced carpenter have in common? Very little, or at least that's what they think until they take a six week community acting class. In this hilarious and touching play we catch glimpses of the poignant drama that animates ordinary lives. Called an "absorbing, unblinking and sharply funny play" by the New York Times, Circle Mirror Transformation celebrates the subtle and surprising power of creativity.

Circle Mirror Transformation recently premiered in New York at Playwrights Horizons, won the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play and was voted one of the top ten plays of 2009 by The New York Times, Time Out New York, and The New Yorker. It was recently named one of the best plays of 2009-2010 in the latest edition of The Best Plays Theater Yearbook.

The Chicago Premiere of
Tree
By Julie Hébert
Directed by Andrea J. Dymond

April 1-May 1, 2011
Press opening: Monday, April 11, 2011
Zacek McVay Theater

Julie Hébert's provoking and powerful new play depicts three generations divided by race, culture, time, and place. A divorced chef, Leo, is caring for his aging mother with the help of his college-age daughter when Didi, a southern white woman, barges into their lives with a provocative cache of love letters. Written by her deceased father, the letters reveal a compelling family secret. In search of the truth, Leo must sift through the addled memories of his mother and surprising and contradictory stories of her dangerous interracial romance. Eloquently melding realism and poetry, Tree fosters a deep, true conversation between people who are linked in many ways, but separated by race.

The Chicago Premiere of
The Gospel According To James
By Charles Smith
Directed by Chuck Smith

May 14-June 12, 2011
Press opening: Monday, May 23, 2011
Zacek McVay Theater

It's 1930 in Indiana and five young people are eager to break out of their small town. They need a car. They have a gun. But years later, contradictory memories are all that's left of their grand plans. The Gospel According to James is based on the double lynching immortalized by the iconic Lawrence Beitler photograph. The play creates a fictional meeting between the man who survived the lynching and the only woman with them that night. As The Gospel According to James dramatizes the events leading up to the crime, it also explores how unreliable personal memory underlies what we believe to be an immutable public history. The Gospel According to James features two-time Tony nominated actor Andre DeShields (The Full Monty and Play On!).

About Victory Gardens Theater
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Executive Director Jan Kallish, Victory Gardens Theater is home to the bold voices of world premiere theater. The company features the work of its own 14-member Playwrights Ensemble, as well as that of exciting playwrights who are changing theater in the U.S. and abroad. Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. The company's dedication to developing, supporting and producing new work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New Plays.

In 2006, Victory Gardens completed an $11.8 million renovation of Chicago's famed Biograph Theater, one of the city's most celebrated historic landmarks. Renamed Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, this beautiful new space is home to two theaters, which expand the company's artistic flexibility and provide very different audience experiences. The Zacek McVay Theater is a state-of-the-art 299 seat space. The new Richard Christiansen Theater is an intimate 109 seat space, named in honor of the Chicago Tribune chief critic emeritus and longtime champion of Chicago's live theater scene. This theater was dedicated with a moving tribute in March 2010 which included the launch of Victory Gardens $1 Million Campaign for Growth. Visit www.victorygardens.org/campaignforgrowth for more information.

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Allstate Insurance Company, Alphawood Foundation, Motorola Foundation, REAM Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies. Additional funding is provided by: National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council (IAC), a State Agency, CityArts Program 4 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, and by 3Arts, Harry S. Black and Allon Fuller Fund, Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Elizabeth Cheney Foundation, John R. Halligan Fund, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), James S. Kemper Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation and Wrightwood Neighbors Association.

For complete information, visit www.victorygardens.org.