Steppenwolf's GARAGE REP to Kick Off on Valentine's Day

Performances of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's fifth annual Garage Rep are scheduled to begin February 14, 2014, featuring The New Colony's world-premiere production of reWILDing Genius, Prologue Theatre Company's Chicago-premiere production of Saturday Night/Sunday Morning and Walkabout Theater Company's world-premiere production of The Wild. These innovative storefront companies perform in rotating repertory for ten weeks through April 20, 2013 (press performances are March 8 and 9, 2014). Performances are scheduled Wednesday through Sunday in the Garage Theater (1624 N Halsted St); a full performance schedule, including the line-up for Late Night @ Garage Rep, follows. Garage Rep single tickets ($20) and three-play passes ($45), as well as Late Night single tickets ($5) are on sale now through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

The New Colony presents
reWILDing Genius
By Andrew Hobgood and Megan Johns
Directed by Andrew Hobgood
Featuring Will Cavedo, Caitlin Chuckta, Sarah Gitenstein, Evan Linder, Morgan McNaught, Wes Needham
and Stephanie Shum
World Premiere

"We wanted to create a show about Millennials, for Millennials, by Millennials-so reWILDing Genius is probably one of the most personal shows we have ever created. The opportunity to work with Steppenwolf to develop it even further into the kind of no-holds-barred experience they are known for is absolutely incredible," notes New Colony Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood.

An Uptown Chicago loft becomes a breeding ground for young minds looking to change the world. Self-identified geniuses, cybervigilantes, hacktivists and anarchists cast off the laws of the land as they attempt to alter Humanity's fate. As these Millennials plot against enemies and build complex data schemes, reWILDing Genius asks how far is too far in our quest to save us from ourselves.

The creative team for reWILDing Genius includes William Boles (scenic design), Curtis Cassell (costume design), Sarah Hughey (lighting design), Nick Kawahara (sound design), Kent Cubbage (projections design), Jenny Pinson (properties design), Sarah Collonge (stage manager), Geno Franco (production manager), Christopher Kristant (technical director), Christopher Chmelik (dialect coach), Ben Kaye (assistant director), William Glick (script supervisor) and Jesse Roth (dramaturg).

The New Colony (Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder, Co-Artistic Directors; Sarah Gitenstein, Associate Artistic Director; Stephanie Shum, Managing Director), the 2011 recipient of the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award, strives to contribute original material to the American artistic canon and develop a new kind of theater going audience. Through collaboration with emerging artists of all disciplines, The New Colony continually develops new work and fresh perspectives. With the goal of exploring enticing subject matter and the common language of experience, The New Colony will cultivate the next generation of arts supporters. thenewcolony.org.

Prologue Theatre Company presents
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
By Katori Hall
Directed by TaRon Patton
Featuring Angela Alise, Kona Burks, McKenzie Chinn, Jennifer Glasse, Earliana McLaurin, Kyra Morris, Tyrone Marcus Phillips, Michael Pogue and Krenee A. Tolson
Chicago Premiere

"Prologue is ecstatic to be a part of Garage Rep 2014, and we can't wait to collaborate with Steppenwolf and the other visiting companies" comments Prologue Artistic Director Angela Alise. "We consider it a great honor to present the Chicago premiere of Katori Hall's play Saturday Night/Sunday Morning. The humor and language of this play will grab you from the very start. This show will be unlike anything you have seen in the Garage in the past, and we can't wait to see how Saturday Night/Sunday Morning touches audiences."

Memphis, 1945: Miss Mary's beauty parlor and boarding house is alive and hopping-full of young African American women primping their hair and telling stories of their soldiers overseas. But as the final days of WWII approach, the women wrestle with the uncertainty of what the future will hold when-and if-their men return. Hilarious and historical, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning is a story about finding friendship and love in unexpected places.

The creative team for Saturday Night/Sunday Morning includes Yu Shibagaki (scenic design), Beth Laske-Miller (costume design), Sarah Hughey (lighting design), Curtis Powell (sound design), Sarah Burnham (properties design), Leonicia Berry Bongorno (assistant director/stage manager), Anthony Rodriguez (assistant stage manager), Jennifer McClendon (production manager), Christopher Kristant (technical director) and Margaret Lebron (dramaturg).

Prologue Theatre Company (Angela Alise, Artistic Director; Amanda Renee King, Managing Director) was incorporated in 2008, and is currently in its fifth season of producing untold historical stories from underrepresented voices. Prologue was founded in response to what we saw as an intense segregation within Chicago's theatrical community, and a desire to help build a more diverse and complete understanding of America's historical and dramatic canon. We produce new and forgotten works, focusing on the experiences of women, people of color and LGBTQ populations that have relevance to current issues. prologuetheatreco.org.

Walkabout Theater Company presents
The Wild
Directed by Thom Pasculli
Dramaturgy by Kendra Miller
Created with Nigel Brown, McCambridge Dowd-Whipple, Al Evangelista, Cooper Forsman, Katie Mazzini, Dana Murphy and Paul Scudder
World Premiere

"Walkabout was drawn to the Garage Rep and Steppenwolf through our shared beliefs in ensemble, innovation and citizenship," notes Walkabout Artistic Director Kendra Miller. "We're excited to bring our rigorous training practice and laboratory theater devising process to the Garage as part of an on-going conversation with Chicago about the potential of live performance and how it challenges us to surpass our expectations of ourselves."

Rhythmic, muscular and full of risk, The Wild is the world premiere of a devised laboratory theater performance based on the words of playwright Charles Mee, Dionysian rituals and a pulsing mix of global folk performance. Walkabout Theatre Company examines what happens to people when institutions crumble and deities fail to show up.

The creative team for The Wild includes Stephanie Pasculli (scenic design), Paul Scudder and ensemble (costume design), Delia Baseman (costume advisor), Sarah Hughey (lighting design), Cooper Forsman and Andrew Rovner (sound design), Mikhail Fiksel (sound consultant), Al Evangelista and ensemble (choreography), Glenn Potter (production manager), Christopher Kristant (technical director), Dina Klahn (production stage manager) and Katie Mazzini (rehearsal stage manager).

Since 1999, Walkabout Theater Company (Kendra Miller, Artistic Director; Thom Pasculli, Associate Artistic Director; Lauren Sivak, Managing Director) has performed and produced new site-specific and experimental work in Chicago, challenging traditional theatrical models of production, performance, narrative and story. Through active exploration of the theatrical form and the architecture in which theater is created, Walkabout seeks to deepen the connection between the artist and the Chicago community. walkabouttheater.org.

The 2014 line-up also features Late Night @ Garage Rep, a series of late-night, cross-genre performances, every Thursday night at 11pm starting March 6. The After Party includes performances by Salonathon (March 6); the play with music, Duo: 1 Is 1, 2 Is Math (March 13); Kevin Coval and Young Chicago Authors (March 20); James Anthony Zoccoli's Wiggerlover [whiteboy+blackdad=greyareas] (March 27); Ian Belknap's one-man Bring Me The Head Of James Franco, That I May Prepare a Savory Goulash In The Narrow And Misshapen Pot Of His Skull (April 3); The Gift Theatre's improv group, Natural Gas (April 10); and Chicago Dance Crash's Follow The Reader (April 17). Full schedule on the following page.

Single tickets ($20) and three-play passes ($45) to Garage Rep 2014 are currently on sale through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org. Student Discounts: a limited number of $15 student tickets are available online using promo code "GARAGEREP15". Limit 2 tickets per student; must present a valid student ID for each ticket. For additional student discounts, visit steppenwolf.org/students. Group Tickets: all groups of 10 or more receive a discounted rate for any performance throughout the season. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org/groups.