The LIVINGroom Returns to Stage 773 with Theatrical, Powerful Solo Performance in 2017

The LIVINGroom and Producing Artistic Director Laura Reitsma announce their 2017 season at Stage 773. Performances will take place over three Sundays during March, May, August, and November 2017. Performance dates are Sundays, March 12, 19, and 26, May 7, 14, and 21, August 13, 20, and 27, and November 5, 12, and 19. All performances are at 7:00 pm in the Cabaret Theater, Stage 773.

Stage 773 is located at 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago. Tickets for each LIVINGroom performance are $10, $7 for students with valid ID, and are available at the box office and at http://stage773.com, or 773-327-5252.

The LIVINGroom is a performance series that brings together solo artists and directors who devise, stage, and perform autobiographical stories based on a theme. Staged in the Cabaret Theater at Stage 773, performances blend spoken word, movement, spectacle, music, and any other device that bridges the personal and the universal.

"We are excited to bring The LIVINGroom's partnership with Stage 773 into its third year, and into a new space in our artistic home," said The LIVINGroom's producing artistic director Laura Reitsma. "We're always seeking to challenge ourselves in the way we tell stories. Performing in Stage 773's intimate Cab Theater next year will amplify the powerful connection solo performance makes with audiences, heightening the personal stories, elements of theatre, and the sense of being in the moment that the LIVINGroom creates."

At its core, the LIVINGroom is a collaboration among all of the artists involved. An ensemble of writer/performers and a director develop their ideas, drawn from or centered on a theme or challenge, through the writing and rehearsal process, creating a theatrical staging of autobiographical stories.

"This year, we have invited directors from a range of backgrounds with diverse perspectives on solo performance and storytelling to shape the four productions, collaborating with solo artists from our resident ensemble and from the Chicago area," said Laura Reitsma. "The LIVINGroom season will move from the traditional monologue form into movement-based explorations, audio enhancement, and Dada."

The Season

March 2017
Sundays, March 12, 19 and 26
7:00 pm Cab Theatre, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago
Directed by Brian Posen

In the first performance of The LIVINGroom's 2017 season, we're going for pure solo. Stage 773 Creative Director Brian Posen will lead LIVINGroom solo artists to create vulnerable, raw, autobiographical solo performance pieces in an intimate ensemble-driven staging.

May 2017
Sundays, May 7, 14 and 21
7:00 pm Cab Theatre, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago
Directed by Abigail Phelps in collaboration with Kasey Foster

In May, the LIVINGroom gets down to the basics and pushes borderlines. Director and LIVINGroom ensemble member Abigail Phelps will partner with Kasey Foster, producer, director, choreographer, and Lookingglass Theatre artistic associate to push the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction, truth and self.

August 2017
Sundays, August 13, 20 and 27
7:00 pm Cab Theatre, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago
Directed by Laura and Joel Reitsma in collaboration with Jeffrey Levin

LIVINGroom co-founders Laura and Joel Reitsma will team up with Jeff Award-winning Sound Designer (Oracle Productions' The Hairy Ape, 2016) Jeffrey Levin for a totally immersive experience. Sound will surround performers and audience, creating an evocative performance that connects the personal and universal.

November 2017
Sundays, November 5, 12 and 19
7:00 pm Cab Theatre, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago
Directed by Stephanie Shaw

In November, The LIVINGroom stages an evening of Dada. There will be no acting. Only Dada. What is Dada? Dada is rejection of definition--in other words, find out what happens when Dada and solo collide, and what Columbia College professor and the "mother" of solo performance Stephanie Shaw and the November ensemble have devised.