Photo Flash: First Look at Victory Gardens' APPROPRIATE, Opening Tonight

Victory Gardens Theater kicks off its 2013-14 season with the Co-World Premiere of Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Gary Griffin. Appropriate is presented in association with Actors Theatre of Louisville and was developed, in part, by IGNITION 2012. Appropriate runs now through December 8, with the press performance tonight, November 15, 2013, at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The cast includes: Jennifer Baker, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Cheryl Graeff, Leah Karpel, Keith Kupferer, Theo Moss, Mark Page, Alex Stageand Stef Tovar.

The creative team for Appropriate includes: Yu Shibagaki (scenic), Janice Pytel (costumes), Jesse Klug (lighting), Chris LaPorte (sound),Jesse Gaffney (props) and Ryan Bourque (fight choreography). Dennis J. Conners is the stage manager is Joe Schermoly is the technical director.

When the Lafayettes descend upon a crumbling Arkansan plantation to liquidate their dead patriarch's estate, his three adult children collide over clutter, debt, and a contentious family history. But after a disturbing discovery surfaces among their father's possessions, the reunion takes a turn for the explosive, unleashing a series of crackling surprises and confrontations. Acclaimed director Gary Griffin (Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Sunday In The Park With George and Follies) directs a potent and exciting play about the trouble with inheritance and the art of repression. Appropriate was developed and workshopped through Victory Gardens' IGNITION New Play Festival in 2012.

Appropriate was developed, in part, at Vineyard Arts Project, Ashley Melone, Founder and Artistic Director; the 2012 Sundance Institute Theatre LAB at the Sundance Resort; and Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago, Illinois, Chay Yew, Artistic Director, Jan Kallish, Executive Director, as part of IGNITION 2012.

IGNITION Festival of New Plays, Victory Gardens' innovative and hugely successful new play development program, was conceived to support the theater's mission of new plays and diversity. In the spring of 2010, 120 writers of color from around the United States submitted new scripts for the first phase of IGNITION.

Previews of Appropriate are November 8-14, 2013: Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3 pm. Previews are $20-$40. The Press opening is Friday, November 15, 2013, at 7:30 pm. Regular performances run through November 16-December 8, 2013: Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm; Saturday at 4 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Regular performances are $20-$50.

Performances are at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. For tickets and information, call the Victory Gardens Box Office, 773.871.3000 (TTY: 773.871.0682), email tickets@victorygardens.org, or visit www.victorygardens.org. Ask the Box Office about student tickets ($15), senior, Access, 20 for $20, and rush discounts. For group discounts, call 773.634.9874.

Photo Credit: Michael Courier

Jennifer Baker and Alex Stage

Keith Kupferer and Cheryl Graeff

Kirsten Fitzgerald, Cheryl Graeff and Keith Kupferer

Kirsten Fitzgerald and Kieth Kupferer

Kirsten Fitzgerald, Stef Tovar and Keith Kupferer

Kirsten Fitzgerald, Stef Tovar and Keith Kupferer

Stef Tovar and Leah Karpel