HAND TO GOD, World Premieres & More on Tap for Victory Gardens' 2016-17 Season

Victory Gardens Theater, under the continued leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew, announces the lineup for its 2016-2017 Season. Victory Gardens' 42nd Season will include the Chicago Premieres of Hand to God by Robert Askins, directed by Gary Griffin; Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias, directed by Marti Lyons; and the World Premieres of Roz and Ray by Karen Hartman, directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew; A Wonder in My Soul by Ensemble Playwright Marcus Gardley, directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew; and Queen by Madhuri Shekar, directed by Artistic Associate Joanie Schultz. The 42nd Season will also include a Bonus Series featuring the Chicago Premieres of Wrestling Jerusalem written and performed by Aaron Davidman, directed by Michael John Garcés; St. Jude written and performed by Ensemble Playwright Luis Alfaro; and A Little Bit Not Normal written and performed by Arlene Malinowski.

"It is with tremendous excitement that we welcome friends, old and new, to be a part of our 42nd season at Victory Gardens Theater," notes Artistic Director Chay Yew. "We continue to be a home for the boldest and most electrifying voices in the American theater. And these new dramas and comedies will entertain as well as create essential dialogue with our Chicago audiences on our nation's most pressing issues of faith, environment, race and citizenship."

The 2016-17 Victory Gardens Theater Mainstage Season up close:

Chicago Premiere

Hand to God

By Robert Askins

Directed By Gary Griffin

September 16-October 16, 2016

The God-fearing children of Cypress, Texas spend their after-school hours practicing Christian Puppet Ministry at the local church. When one devout young boy discovers that his hand puppet has a life of its own, all hell breaks loose. Literally. In this sidesplitting and lightning-paced comedy, a satanic sock puppet named Tyrone shows the children, minister, and school bully who's really in charge. Declared "flat-out hilarious" by The New York Times and described as "Sesame Street meets The Exorcist" by The New Yorker; Hand to God by Robert Askins and directed by Gary Griffin (Never the Sinner, Appropriate) makes its Chicago premiere after thrilling audiences on Broadway last season and receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Play.

Co-World Premiere with Seattle Repertory Theatre

Roz and Ray

By Karen Hartman
Directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew
November 11-December 11, 2016

In 1976, Ray, a newly single parent of twin hemophiliac boys, has only one goal: keep his sons alive. His days are filled with endless trips to the hospital, rigorous testing, and frequent blood transfusions. This all changes when Ray meets Roz, an optimistic and caring doctor with a miracle drug. Roz appears to be Ray's savior until the miracle turns into a nightmare. Roz and Ray tells the profound story of love, trust, sacrifice, and forgiveness between two friends. Victory Gardens Theater's Artistic Director Chay Yew (The Gospel of Lovingkindness, Death and the Maiden) pairs with playwright Karen Hartman to unearth a tragic and little-known event in medical history.

World Premiere

A Wonder in My Soul

By Ensemble Playwright Marcus Gardley

Directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew

February 10-March 12, 2017

The artistic team that brought you The Gospel of Lovingkindness and An Issue of Blood, director Chay Yew and playwright Marcus Gardley, now explore the Great Migration from the Deep South to Chicago in the early 1900s. On a frigid winter's night, a 90-year-old woman is admitted to an ICU in Bronzeville. Over the final hours of Queen's life she teaches those around her lasting lessons of history, from the Jim Crow south to Chicago's nightclub scene. Told through music, poetry and dance, A Wonder in My Soul is a beautiful story of one Queen's journey home.

World Premiere

Queen

By Madhuri Shekar

Directed by Artistic Associate Joanie Schultz
April 14-May 14, 2017

PhD candidates Sanam and Ariel have spent the better part of the last decade exhaustively researching vanishing bee populations across the globe. Just as these close friends are about to publish a career-defining paper, Sanam stumbles upon a miscalculation. What appears to be a small error could cause catastrophic damage to their reputations, careers, and friendship. Now, Sanam is confronted with an impossible choice: look the other way or stand by her principles and accept the consequences. Directed by Joanie Schultz (Cocked, The Whale) Queen by Madhuri Shekar returns to Victory Gardens Theater after enthralling audiences last summer at the 2015 IGNITION Festival of New Plays.

Chicago Premiere

Native Gardens

By Karen Zacarias

Directed by Marti Lyons

June 2-July 2, 2017

Pablo, a high-powered lawyer and his pregnant wife Tania, a doctoral candidate, think they have hit the jackpot with their new home. It seems to have everything they dreamed of: a nice neighborhood, plenty of bedrooms for their growing family, outdoor space, and friendly neighbors. When Pablo and Tania decide to upgrade the eyesore chain link fence in their backyard, neighbors Virginia and Frank couldn't be happier. Happy until they think their new neighbors are taking more than they deserve. A disagreement over a property line quickly spirals into a war of taste, class and entitlement in Native Gardens, a hilarious new comedy by Karen Zacarias and directed by Marti Lyons.

The 2016-17 Victory Gardens Theater Bonus Series:

Chicago Premiere

Wrestling Jerusalem

Written and Performed by Aaron Davidman

Directed by Michael John Garcés

Set in America, Israel and Palestine, Wrestling Jerusalem follows one man's journey to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Written and performed by Aaron Davidman, this tour de force solo performance is a personal story that grapples with the complexities of identity, history and social justice. Giving voice to over a dozen different characters, Davidman sheds light on one of the most entrenched conflicts of our time.

Chicago Premiere

St. Jude

Written and Performed by Ensemble Playwright Luis Alfaro

Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater Playwrights Ensemble member Luis Alfaro (Mojada, Oedipus el Rey) returns to Chicago to perform his emotionally charged solo work. St. Jude takes us on a personal and powerful journey with Luis as he learns of his father's stroke and is summoned home to the California Central Valley of his childhood. As his family gathers, Alfaro conjures memories of his youth, from picking grapes to gospel-infused big tent revivals, from family celebrations to running away from home. In Alfaro's words, St. Jude takes us from "who I am" to "who I was."

Chicago Premiere

A Little Bit Not Normal

Written and Performed by Arlene Malinowski

The autobiographical solo performance A Little Bit Not Normal revolves around a family secret that was kept silent for over six decades. With her trademark humor, Arlene Malinowski confronts her personal demon - depression. She explores the shame and secrecy that comes from mental illness, and the stigma that is attached to it. A Little Bit Not Normal is a poignant life-affirming journey from mental illness to recovery, and the process of naming it, claiming it and standing to be counted.

Subscriptions

Mainstage subscriptions start at just $126 and include access to resident theater productions, many rental company productions and all additional public programming at the theater. Five-show mainstage subscriptions are on sale at www.victorygardens.org and by phone at the Victory Gardens Box Office at The Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln, 773.871.3000. Bonus Series packages will be on sale June 1, 2016.

Victory Gardens 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 seniors, educators, younger audiences and persons with disabilities and pre- and post-show deals at nearby restaurants and businesses.