Route 66 Theatre Company's 2015-16 Season to Include Chicago & World Premieres

Route 66 Theatre Company announces an exciting 2015-2016 Season. In their seventh year as a company and third year as a resident company at Greenhouse Theater Center, Route 66 Theatre Company will present two Chicago premiere plays, a world premiere, the second year of its new play development workshop, Test Drive, and its continued Monthly Reading Series, The Driver's Seat at Murphy's Irish Bistro.

"It's a huge step forward for us as a company. We're moving to the downstairs main stage at Greenhouse and I wanted give our audiences three completely different, exciting evenings of theatre," Artistic Director Stef Tovar says. "Our season is really in tune with our commitment to new plays and embracing risk."

After the previously announced Goldfish by John Kolvenbach, which plays in June (directed by Damon Kiely and featuring Francis Guinan, Shannon Cochran, Alex Stage and Tyler Meredith), Route 66 Theatre Company will move to a fall, winter, spring schedule of performances. Goldfish is a story of a young man who raises his father, then leaves home. He meets a young woman who undoes him, but the young woman has her own story: a mother who is a force of nature. It's a play about legacy and leaving home. We raise our children to leave us, to walk out into the world. But then they do. Performances begin June 11, 2015.

The fall show will be the Chicago premiere of Cops and Friends of Cops by Ron Klier. A man walks into a bar on that bar's busiest night -- Cops and Friends of Cops -- an evening set aside for St. Louis City and County police officers and their friends. He's neither. What follows is a dangerous, suspense-fueled ride, part morality play, part neo-Western, a meditation on masculinity, regret, loss, and race relations in contemporary urban law enforcement. Set in Ferguson, Missouri, and written before the riots, Cops and Friends of Cops has proved sadly prescient. Casting and creative team to be announced soon. Performances begins October 8, 2015.

In January 2016, Route 66 Theatre Company will present the Chicago premiere of No Wake, by William Donnelly, directed by Kimberly Senior. In No Wake, Edward and Rebecca have moved on since their divorce-she to a new husband and he to a series of failed relationships. However, when an unexpected tragedy brings them back together, they're forced to navigate a web of grief and guilt that leads to tears, laughter and ultimately, hope. At once deeply touching and filled with humor, No Wake takes an honest look at the grieving process and the unexpected consequences it can bring. No Wake features Lia Mortensen, Raymond Fox and Artistic Director Stef Tovar.

The final play of Route 66's 2015-2016 is Quiver by Jenni Lamb, the winner of their inaugural new play development workshop Test Drive. Quiver will be directed by Frances Limoncelli. Quiver is the story of twin siblings Adam and Diane's annual bow hunting trip, which is interrupted when Cassie, Adam's wife, arrives with their daughter, Pearl, who has been suspended from school for drinking. Cassie leaves it to Adam to watch over Pearl for the week and keep her out of trouble. She also leaves Adam with the task of telling Pearl that their marriage is ending. The play explores our relationship to our surroundings and habitat. It also delves into the way we experience the end of relationships, childhood, and life itself. Performances begin in Spring 2016. Casting to be announced soon.

Tovar also announces that Frances Limoncelli will become Route 66 Theatre Company's New Play Development Director. Limoncelli curated the inaugural new play workshop Test Drive, which had a public reading on March 16. "Frances' new play development process is exactly what I've been looking for-a process completely focused on the playwright to put them in the best possible position to succeed. I'm thrilled she has made the commitment to Route 66 to make it truly "Where the Road Begins" for new work."

After receiving over 330 submissions in its first year, Route 66 will begin taking submissions in November 2015 for a March 2016 Test Drive workshop, curated by Limoncelli.

Since its inception, Route 66 Theatre Company has always involved its patrons in the season selection process with its Monthly Reading Series, The Driver's Seat. "We've always chosen plays to produce that were given a public reading first because in the end, we are doing the work for our patrons who come to see us. I've always believed that involving them in our season selection is crucial to choosing important work that is topical and meaningful for our audience, while creating a sense of family. Beth Murphy and Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro established a beautiful venue to continue the monthly tradition of reading new plays" says Tovar.

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