THE OTHER PLACE Makes Chicago Premiere at Profiles Theatre Tonight

Profiles Theatre continues its 26th Season with the Chicago premiere of The Other Place by Sharr White, directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus. The production runs tonight, February 13 - April 5, 2015 at Profiles Theatre's The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway. The press opening is Thursday, February 19 at 8pm.

In Sharr White's acclaimed new drama The Other Place, Juliana Smithton, a successful neurologist, finds her life coming apart at the seams. Her husband filed for divorce, her daughter eloped with a much older man and her own health hangs in jeopardy. But in this brilliantly crafted work, nothing is as it seems. Piece by piece, a mystery unfolds as fact blurs with fiction, past collides with present and the elusive truth about Juliana boils to the surface.

The Other Place received its world premiere Off-Broadway at MCC Theater in 2011. The production, starring Laurie Metcalf, was nominated for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play from the Outer Critics Circle Awards. It later premiered on Broadway in a production by Manhattan Theatre Club in 2013, also starring Metcalf, who received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. The Other Place won the 2010 Playwrights First Award and the 2011 Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation's Theatre Visions Fund Award. White's plays have been developed or produced at theatres across the country, including South Coast Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater's Directors Lab and Key West Theatre Festival.

Directed by Profiles Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, the cast of The Other Place features guest artist Lia D. Mortensen as Julianna. Lia was most recently seen in Pericles with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and was seen last season at Profiles in their Midwest premiere of Annapurna. Also featured are guest artists George Infantado, Matt Maxwell, Nina O'Keefe, Steve Silver and Autumn Teague.

"I'm thrilled to have my play The Other Place in Chicago, and with Profiles Theatre," says playwright Sharr White. "The Other Place is about the smartest woman in the world who discovers nothing she knows is true. It takes both technical skill and emotional depth to pull off and I'm excited the artists at Profiles are taking it on just one season after producing my play Annapurna."

The designers for The Other Place are Keenan Minogue (set), Claire Chrzan (lights), Jeffrey Levin (sound and original music), Raquel Adorno (costumes) and Smooch Medina (projections).

Profiles' fifth show of the season, the world premiere production of Genius by Kate Walbert, begins previews on March 13, 2015 at The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway. The 2014-15 season concludes with the Midwest premiere of Our New Girl by Nancy Harris.

Tickets for The Other Place are $35 for Thursdays, $40 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available by phone, (773) 549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 7:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

SHARR WHITE (Playwright) has written plays developed or produced at theatres across the country, including MCC Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater's Directors Lab, Key West Theatre Festival, and more. He has been honored with a Dr. Henry and Lillian Nesburn Award as part of the Julie Harris Award in Playwriting for The Escape Velocity of Savages, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Six Years and the 2009 Skye Cooper New American Play Prize for Sunlight. The Other Place received the 2010 Playwrights First Award, the 2011 Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation's Theatre Visions Fund Award, and was an Outer Critics Circle award nominee for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play in a 2013 production featuring Laurie Metcalf.

JOE JAHRAUS (Director) is an Artistic Director and founder of Profiles Theatre and most recently directed Profiles' 20th Anniversary production of The Cryptogram by David Mamet as well as Midwest Premieres of Gidion's Knot by Johnna Adams, In God's Hat by Rhett Rossi, The Dream of the Burning Boy by David West Read and Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson. His other recent directing credits with Profiles include the American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep by Neil LaBute, the World premiere of Assisted Living by Deirdre O'Connor and the Midwest premieres of Fifty Words by Michael Weller, Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute, Great Falls by Lee Blessing, The Thugs by Adam Bock and the world premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern. Joe directed the American premiere of Apple by Vern Thiessen and the long-running hit Fat Pig by Neil LaBute for which he received a Jeff Award Nomination for Outstanding Director. He directed the Jeff Award-winning Blackbird, Babylon Gardens, the Jeff Award-nominated Carnal Knowledge and Sexual Perversity in Chicago.

GEORGE INFANTADO (Bobby) is premiering in his first Profiles Theatre production. Other Chicago credits include Ching, Chong, Chinaman, My Asian Mom with A-Squared Theatre Workshop, Much Ado About Nothing with Dear Stone Theatre, Six Characters in Search of an Author with Mental Notion Society, Short Acts, Scent of Home, Mr. and Mrs. Laquesta Go Dancing with CIRCA-pintig, Fahrenheit 451 with Otherworld Theatre and El Stories with Waltzing Mechanics. George is an ensemble member with Otherworld Theatre and Chicago Artists Network.

MATT MAXWELL (Richard) is making his Chicago debut with Profiles Theatre. He recently arrived to Chicago from Denver, where his credits include Fawlty Towers with Equinox Theatre, Greetings! at Miners Alley Playhouse, Apple and The Baby Dance with Silhouette Theatre, The Government Inspector at Vintage Theatre, Oliver! at Breckenridge Backstage Theatre, The Crucible at Red Rocks Theatre, Once Upon A Mattress, Footloose and 1776 with Performance Now and the Colorado premiere of August: Osage County with Abster Productions. Matt is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School.

LIA D. MORTENSEN (Julianna) returns to Profiles Theatre after appearing in their Midwest premiere of Annapurna. Her other Chicago credits include An Inspector Calls and Night and Day with Remy Bumppo, Cymbeline with First Folio, Faith Healer with Den Theatre, Rabbit Hole for the Goodman Theatre, Big Meal for ATC, Ten Chimneys, Lady Windermere's Fan, Sky Girls and Talley's Folly with Northlight, Pericles, Measure for Measure and All's Well That Ends Well for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Closer and Faith Healer with Steppenwolf, Fighting Words at Rivendell, Well, A Doll's House, Macbeth and The Illusion at Next Theatre, Jacob, Hiding Place, Spoon River Anthology and Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey with Provision Theatre and Ghosts, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Serious Money for Court Theatre. Lia's directing credits include Bus Stop and Quality of Life for Den Theatre as well as Jacob for Provision Theater. Her film credits include Resurrecting McGinns, Consumed, Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and Blink. Lia's television credits include roles on Empire, Crisis, Easy Abby, Chicago Fire, The Onion, Chicago Code and Family Practice. She is an ensemble member of the Den Theatre and Provision Theatre.

NINA O'KEEFE (Dr. Cindy Teller) is making her Profiles Thetare debut. She most recently appeared in Stupid f-ing Bird at Sideshow Theatre Company. Other Chicago credits include Golden Boy at Griffin Theatre Company (Jeff Nomination for Best Supporting Actress), Bedroom Farce, After the Fall, Democracy, and Candles to the Sun at Eclipse Theatre Company, Heddatron and The Ugly One at Sideshow Theatre, Our Town at Lookingglass Theatre, Enron at Timeline Theatre and Sketchbook at Collaboraction. Her television and film credits include Chicago PD, The Secret Santa and Animal Planet. Nina is represented by Stewart Talent and is a proud graduate of The School at Steppenwolf. She is an ensemble member with Eclipse and an Artistic Associate with Sideshow Theatre.

STEVE SILVER (Ian) is appearing with Profiles Theatre for the first time. His recent Chicago credits include A Christmas Memory with Theatre at the Center [u/s], Bells are Ringing with Porchlight Music Theatre, From Up Here with Towle Theater, Sylvia and It's a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play with Oil Lamp Theater, A Crime in the Neighborhood with City Lit Theater and Anne Frank: Thinking Myself Out with GreatWorks Theatre. Steve has also co-starred in the NBC television series Chicago Fire.

AUTUMN TEAGUE (Laurel/The Woman) is appearing with Profiles Theatre for the first time. Her recent theatre credits include understudying My Name is Asher Lev with Timeline Theatre Company, Hero in Much Ado About Nothing with The Arc Theatre, where she was also featured in the 2014 arciTEXT Festival, The Duchess in Alice with Nothing Without a Company, where she is also a company member, and understudying Trevor with A Red Orchid Theatre. Autumn's television credits include multiple shorts for The Onion and the upcoming Netflix original series Sense8. Autumn holds a BFA in Acting from DePaul University's Theatre School, where her favorite roles included Celimine in The Misanthrope, Richard in Machinal and Annabel in Breach. Autumn is represented by Actor's Talent Group.

PROFILES THEATRE, founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, joined shortly thereafter by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, was formed as an actor-driven theatre ensemble dedicated to creating provocative and emotionally truthful productions. Passionate about shaping an original vision for new works, they focused on performing World, American and Midwest premieres as well as rarely performed plays. Critically acclaimed hits, such as BLACKBIRD, FAT PIG, GRACELAND and the multiple Jeff Award-winning KILLER JOE, established Profiles as a destination for challenging and edgy theatre. Their unique collaboration with playwright Neil LaBute led the ensemble to perform an entire season of his plays in 2007-2008. Now a Resident Artist at Profiles, LaBute remains an unequivocal artistic influence on the ensemble.

After performing at 4147 North Broadway for more than two decades, Profiles acquired an adjacent theatre at 4139 North Broadway in 2012. Profiles' new theatre, The Main Stage, with its larger seating capacity, increased performance space and higher ceilings, accommodates more ambitious and technically demanding productions. Their long-time venue, renamed The Alley Stage, continues as the home for plays strengthened by a more intimate staging. Driven by an undiminished appetite for creating honest and resonant theatre, Profiles still seeks to present work that illuminates the determination and resiliency of the human spirit.

For more information about Profiles Theatre, visit www.profilestheatre.org.

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