Next Theatre Company Announces 31st Anniversary Season

Next Theatre Company announces their 31st anniversary season main stage productions. The season includes one of the most talked about productions at the 2011 Humana Festival, Maple and Vine by JorDan Harrison and directed by Damon Kiely, the United States premiere of The Girl in the Yellow Dress by South African playwright Craig Higginson and directed by Joanie Schultz and the Midwest premiere of After the Revolution by Amy Herzog and directed by Kimberly Senior. All main stage productions are presented at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes Street in Evanston. To find out information about subscribing to the season, please visit the website at www.nexttheatre.org or call the box office at 847-475-1875 x2.
The Next Theatre Company's 31st Anniversary Main Stage Season is:

Maple and Vine By JorDan Harrison, directed by Damon Kiely
Midwest Premiere
October 27 - December 4, 2011
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.*
Opening Night: Monday, October 31 at 7 p.m.

The hit of the 2011 Humana Festival, Maple and Vine introduces audiences to Katha and Ryu, a successful NYC couple who have become allergic to their 21st-century lives. After they meet a charismatic man from a community of 1950s re-enactors, they forgo cell phones and sushi for cigarettes and Tupperware parties. Once sucked in by this compulsively authentic world, Katha and Ryu are surprised by what their new neighbors-and they themselves-are willing to sacrifice for happiness.

The Girl in the Yellow Dress By Craig Higginson, directed by Joanie Schultz
United States Premiere

January 19 - February 25, 2012
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.*
Opening Night: Monday, January 23, 2012 at 7 p.m.

South African dramatist Craig Higginson's tour de force new play pairs dark, sexually charged psychological drama with uncompromising wit. Set in contemporary Paris, this gripping new play explores the tense relationships of class, race and language between Celia, a beautiful young white English teacher and Pierre, her French-Congolese pupil.

After the Revolution By Amy Herzog, directed by Kimberly Senior
Midwest Premiere
April 5 - May 13, 2012
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.*
Opening Night: Monday, April 9, 2012 at 7 p.m.
Cast features Mike Nussbaum, MaryAnn Thebus and Christine Stulik

The young, brilliant Emma Joseph (Stulik) proudly carries the torch of her family's Marxist tradition by devoting her life to the memory of her famously blacklisted grandfather. When history reveals a shocking truth about the man himself, the entire family is forced to confront questions of honesty and an allegiance they thought had been long resolved. After the Revolution is a bold and hilariously moving portrait of an American family, forced to reconcile a thorny and delicate legacy.

*All Sunday performances include talkbacks with affiliated parties and/or artistic staff.

ABOUT Next Theatre Company
Next Theatre Company produces socially provocative, artistically adventurous work. It is Next's vision to become a national destination for audiences and artists who share this vision that theatre can promote awareness and provoke change with more power than any other medium of expression.

Since its founding in 1981, the 167-seat space has been home to over a hundred productions, serving nearly a quarter of a million theatergoers and winning Jeff Awards in nearly every category. The theater's adventurous spirit and great conviction prompted Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune to announce that Next is "a resounding reaffirmation of what faith, dedication and talent can accomplish. It is what distinguished Chicago theatre in its Early Stages more than a quarter century ago, and it is what continues to make Chicago theater so exciting."

Since its founding in 1981, the 167-seat space has been home to over a hundred productions, serving nearly a quarter of a million theatergoers and winning Jeff Awards in nearly every category. The theater's adventurous spirit and great conviction prompted Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune to announce that Next is "a resounding reaffirmation of what faith, dedication and talent can accomplish. It is what distinguished Chicago theatre in its Early Stages more than a quarter century ago, and it is what continues to make Chicago theater so exciting."

The Next serves over 15,000 patrons annually, including students, elderly, and everyone in between. The Next audience includes locAl Evanstonians as well as Chicago and North Shore residents, and they have come to expect artistic excellence in the pursuit of culturally progressive work.
All subscriptions are available and may be purchased at nexttheatre.org or by calling 847-475-1875 x2.

Next Theatre box office hours are from noon to 6 p.m. weekdays and two hours prior to curtain. The box office is closed Monday unless a show is scheduled. Unless you purchase in person, tickets are held at will-call until pick-up on the day of performance.

 

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