Sideshow Theatre Company Announces 2016/17 The Freshness Initiative Playwrights & New Company Members

As it embarks on its 10th Anniversary Season, Sideshow Theatre Company is pleased to announce the playwrights for "The Freshness Initiative," the company's commissioning and new play development program, now in its third year. The 2016/17 season will feature public readings of brand new plays by J. Nicole Brooks, Selina Fillinger and Isaac Gomez. The readings will take place at Victory Gardens Theater during May, June and July of 2017. Two of the world premiere productions featured in Sideshow's 2016/17 Season were developed through "The Freshness Initiative," Philip Dawkins' The Happiest Place on Earth and CalamiTy West's Give It All Back.

Sideshow is also pleased to welcome six new artistic associates, William Boles, Philip Dawkins, Elly Green, David Lawrence Hamilton, Noël Huntzinger and CalamiTy West, as well as new ensemble member Ann James.

"The Sideshow ensemble has been so inspired by these bold, fearless artists, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our 10th season than by inviting them into the fold," comments artistic director Jonathan L. Green. "These playwrights, actors, directors and designers represent the very best of Chicago theatre and we are proud to welcome them to our stage."

For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company's 10th Anniversary Season, please visit sideshowtheatre.org.

BIOGRAPHIES

"The Freshness Initiative" Playwrights:

J. Nicole Brooks is an actor, playwright, director and demigod. Recent acting credits include the critically-acclaimed Immediate Family directed by Phylicia Rashad (Mark Taper Forum) and Death Tax (Lookingglass Theatre). As a scribe, her debut play Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten (published Methuen Drama 2013, Joseph Jefferson Award nominations) about female rebel fighters in Liberia was commissioned and produced by the Lookingglass Theatre to critical acclaim. She also penned a retelling of Jean Racine's Phedre called Fedra: Queen of Haiti (published University of Wisconsin Madison 2016, Black Theatre Alliance Award) and Kamala: Masterclass. New works in development include The Untitled Yuri Kochiyama Project (with support from NEA), Brer Rabbit (with Abbie Phillips) and Her Honor Jane Byrne (commissioned by Lookingglass). Trophies include: TCG Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship, American Theatre Wing Tony Award with Lookingglass Theatre Ensemble, Black Theatre Alliance Award Best Actress, LA Ovation Award Best Featured Actress, and grant from National Endowment For the Arts. In 2011, she was invited by the ITI-Worldwide global theatre congress in Xiomen, China as a U.S. delegate to write and act in an original production collaborating with artists from 13 other countries around the world. The NPG (New Project Group) was directed by Frank Düwel and under artistic advisement of Gunther Beelitz and Emilya Cachapero. Directing credits include Black Diamond: The Years The Locusts Have Eaten (Lookingglass), Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting (Joseph Jefferson nominations, African American Arts Alliance winner, produced by Lookinglass), Sex with Strangers (associate director to David Schwimmer, 2nd Stage New York), new work development with Lower Depth Theatre in association with Geffen Playhouse, and the world premiere of Thaddeus & Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure in 2016 at Lookingglass Theatre.

Selina Fillinger is a Chicago-based actress and playwright. She is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, where she completed the playwriting module under the mentorship of Laura Schellhardt. Her original work includes The Armor Plays, Three Landings and a Fire Escape and The Coho Salmon Pub & Grub. Selina was a two-time winning playwright in the university's Agnes Nixon Festival. Three Landings and a Fire Escape was awarded the 2015 Judith Barlow Prize and received a reading in New York under the direction of Kathleen Chalfant. Selina's current play, Faceless, was a Northlight Theatre commission and will premiere in February as part of Northlight's 2016/17 mainstage season.

Isaac Gomez is a writer and dramaturg currently working as the literary manager at Victory Gardens Theater, where he curates the Public Programs series, directs the new play development department and heads the IGNITION Festival of New Plays. His dramaturgy credits include Cocked, The Who & The What, An Issue of Blood, The House that Will Not Stand (Victory Gardens Theater); My Mañana Comes and Between You, Me, and the Lampshade (Teatro Vista); The Hairy Ape, good friday (Oracle Productions); Badfic Love (Strange Bedfellows) and assistant dramaturg on Luna Gale and The Solid Sand Below (Goodman Theatre). As a playwright, his work includes La Ruta (Goodman Theatre's Latina/o Theatre Celebration, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Latino Play Project; Austin Critics Table New Play Award 2013; Pivot Arts Incubator Series); The Displaced (ALTA Chicago - workshop, Definition Theater Company workshop) and The Way She Spoke: A Docu-mythologia (Greenhouse Theater Center). He is the creative director at the Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists (ALTA) in Chicago, where he runs and is a participant of El Semillero: ALTA Chicago's Latino Playwrights Circle, an artistic associate of Teatro Vista, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a steering committee member of the Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC) and an artistic community member at The Hypocrites.

New Artistic Associates:

William Boles is a Chicago-based scenic designer. Chicago: Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Second City, Lyric Opera, Victory Gardens Theater, The Hypocrites (community member), American Theater Company, A Red Orchid Theatre, About Face Theatre (associate artist), Chicago Children's Theatre, Sideshow (artistic associate), Steep Theatre Company, Step-Up Productions (Jeff-nominated design for Barefoot in the Park), First Floor Theatre, Opera Northwestern. Regional: Children's Theatre Company, Wolftrap Opera, Minnesota Opera, Milwaukee Rep, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Arizona Broadway Playhouse. International: Stockholm Vocal Academy and Opera Siam in Bangkok. William has assisted on Broadway productions including: Scandalous (designer: Walt Spangler) and Of Mice and Men, This is Our Youth, and Fish in the Dark (designer: Todd Rosenthal). Upcoming productions include The Sneetches at Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis and King of the Yees by Lauren Yee at Goodman Theatre. MFA, Northwestern. williambolesdesign.com.

Philip Dawkins is a Chicago playwright whose plays have been produced all over the country and the world. His critically acclaimed works include Charm (Northlight Theatre), Le Switch (About Face Theater) and Miss Marx: Or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living (Strawdog Theatre), which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work, as well as The Homosexuals (About Face Theater) and Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens Theater), both of which received Joseph Jefferson nominations for New Work. This fall, he will be performing in the world premiere of his one-man play, The Happiest Place on Earth, at the Greenhouse Theater Center with Sideshow Theatre Company. Look for his musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss's The Sneetches (with composer David Mallamud) at Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis next winter. Philip teaches playwriting at Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, his alma mater, and through the Victory Gardens ACCESS Program for writers with disabilities. Most of his plays, including his plays for young performers, are available through Playscripts, Inc. and Dramatic Publishing.

Elly Green is a freelance director, whose previous work with Sideshow includes the co-world premiere of Hansol Jung's No More Sad Things and a Freshness Initiative workshop series of Janet Burroway's Boomerang. She recently directed The Distance by Deborah Bruce for Haven Theatre and After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber for Strawdog Theatre. Other Chicago credits include: The Woman Before (Trap Door), Rabbit (Stage Left - Jeff nominated), Happy (Redtwist), Unwilling and Hostile Instruments (Theatre Seven) and The Tomkat Project (Playground Theatre & NY Fringe). Elly was assistant director on Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) and Proof (Court Theatre). She is an artistic associate with Stage Left theatre and a reader for Steppenwolf Theatre. Elly originally trained in London on the MFA in Theatre Directing from Birkbeck College. Her UK directing credits include: Our Country's Good, My Balloon Beats Your Astronaut, Beyond Therapy, About Tommy, Copenhagen, Skylight and The Beach and The Zoo Story. ellygreendirector.com.

David Lawrence Hamilton has been performing in Chicago for several years and has been seen in Sideshow's Antigonick and The Golden Dragon. Other credits include: The Firestorm (Stage Left), The Bloodhound Law (City Lit), CCX (MODOFAC Prod), Down Range (Genesis Theatrical Prod), To Kill A Mockingbird (Chase Park Theatre) and A Lesson Before Dying (Lincoln Square Theatre).

Noël Huntzinger hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a graduate of Oklahoma University. For the past five years, she has enjoyed working in Chicago's vibrant storefront theatre community. She is a proud to be an artistic associate with Sideshow, where she recently designed the remount of Stupid F##king Bird and Antigonick. Noël is a resident artist at Filament Theatre (Van Gogh Café, Pinocchio: A Folk Musical, Hank Williams: Lost Highway and others) and ensemble member at Interrobang Theatre (Still, The North Pool, The Pitchfork Disney, and others). Noël has also designed shows with Muse of Fire, Two Pence Shakespeare, The Poor Theatre, Shattered Globe, Livewire and Collective Theatre Ensemble. In addition to theatre, she has designed pieces for chorographers Ginny Sykes (Bodies of Memory), Wendy Clinard (Watershed), and the Antony Tudor Trust (Fandango). Noël wrapped her first full-length film design with Olympia: An Instruction Manual for Everything in the summer of 2016.

CalamiTy West is a Chicago-based award-winning playwright and a proud company member of Jackalope Theatre Company. She is currently developing new plays for the Goodman and Steep Theatre Company. Her Kilroys-cited play Give It All Back was developed with Sideshow Theatre Company and Victory Gardens Theater in 2015. Her full-length plays include: Rolling (2016, Jeff Award-nominated for best new work); Ibsen is Dead (2014); The Peacock (2013, Kilroys honorable mention); The Gacy Play (2012); and Common Hatred (2012). Calamity's short plays have been seen with Victory Gardens Theatre, The Inconvenience, Chicago Dramatists, Rhinofest, Abbie Fest, Commission Theatre Company, LiveWire, The Chicago One-Minute Play Festival, Jackalope Theatre Company, Broken Nose Theatre Company, Fight Night, First Floor Theatre Company and The Good Night Ladies. She is represented by The Gersh Agency.

New Ensemble Member:

Ann James is an ensemble member with Sideshow, where she has been seen in Caught, Antigonick, Idomeneus and Maria/Stuart. Other companies she has worked with include the 16th Street, Goodman, Jackalope, Lifeline, Organic, Profiles, Provision, Shattered Globe, Side Project, Stage Left and Collaboraction. She is the founding director of Chicspeare Production Company (www.chicspeare.org), which has brought Shakespeare alive for more than 100,000 Chicagoland residents, age 3 to 93, in the past 20 years.

About Sideshow Theatre Company:

It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine The Collective Unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

From its first production, 2008's Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird) to its Jeff Award-winning productions of Roland Schimmelpfennig's Idomeneus (named one of the best plays of 2012 by Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times) and Elizabeth Meriwether's runaway robotic hit Heddatron at Steppenwolf Theatre, to the recent re-mount of its smash hit Stupid F##king Bird, Sideshow has consistently produced engaging, transcendent works across Chicago. Sideshow continues its multi-year residency at Victory Gardens in the historic Biograph Theater in the 2016/17 season.

Sideshow also produces the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular interactive fundraising event that benefits Sideshow Theatre Company and other local charities. CLLAW has been featured in local and national press, including The Washington Post, Reuters, Penthouse Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times and on WGN Morning News, ABC 7's Windy City Live and CBS 2. For more information about CLLAW, visit cllaw.org.

For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company, visit sideshowtheatre.org.