The Gift Theatre Presents SUICIDE, INCORPERATED 6/10-7/25

A World Premiere by Andrew Hinderaker SUICIDE, INCORPORATED, directed by Jonathan Berry. The show is featuring Gift Artistic Director and ABC's Private Practice's Michael Patrick Thornton
Runs June 10th-July 25th. Special "Come Closer" Performance on Sunday, July 18th.

With guest artists Josh Rollins, Mike Harvey, Ed Flynn, Jay Worthington and Jim Farruggio.

It's been a tough week at work. Profits are down, lawsuits are up, and you totally forgot to bring something to the staff potluck. But none of that is even a minor concern compared to this: your boss is onto you. He's begun to suspect the truth, that you're trying to ruin the Company By keeping its clients alive. Nominated for the New Voices in American Playwriting Award and following successful staged readings at Steppenwolf and Victory Gardens Theaters, SUICIDE, INCORPORATED receives its world premiere production at the Gift.

Previews for Suicide, Incorporated are June 11th-13th. The Press Opening is Monday, June 14th at 7:30 p.m. The production opens to the public on Thursday, June 17th at 7:30 p.m., and runs through July 25th, 2010. Show times are Thursdays and Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm with Sunday matinees at 2:30.

Come Closer Performance will be on Sunday July, 18th at 2:30 P.M. Performance will be immediately followed with appetizers and a beer and wine reception. Ticket holders will participate in a panel discussion with the cast including Gift Artistic Director and ABC's Private Practice's Michael Patrick Thornton, playwright Andrew Hinderaker, and director Jonathan Berry. Tickets are $50.
For tickets: (773) 283-7071 or buy online @ www.thegifttheatre.org

The Gift Theatre
4802 N. Milwaukee
The Gift Theatre is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood-two storefronts north of Lawrence, on the west side of Milwaukee-and is easily accessible by the Kennedy Expressway, the Lawrence and Milwaukee buses, and the CTA Blue Line.

Preview tickets are $15.
Regular run prices are $25 (Thursdays and Sundays) and $30 (Friday and Saturday) Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more by calling the Box Office. $20 tickets are available at all Sunday performances for students, seniors, and industry with proper identification.

The Set Designer is Dan Stratton. The Lighting Designer is Sarah Hughey. Costume Designer is Emily McConnell and the Sound Designer is Matt Chapman.

ANDREW HINDERAKER is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists and a nominee for the 2010 New Voices in American Playwriting Award. Additional recognitions include Finalist/Semi-Finalist status at Sundance, PlayLabs, The Princess Grace Award, the Heideman Award, and the Austin Film Festival. His plays have been produced or developed in New York, Los Angeles, and throughout his hometown of Chicago, at such theaters as Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, American Theater Company, Stage Left, the side project, and many others. His play, Suicide, Incorporated was selected for development at the 2008 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and will premiere at Chicago's Gift Theatre in June 2010. Excerpts from the play are available in the Best Mens' Stage Monologues & Scenes (Smith & Kraus).

The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Since its 2002 debut, The Gift has consistently established itself as an actors' theatre, consistently eschewing directorial cleverness for honest, powerful connections between the actors and the audience. With the conception of The Lab-an ensemble-only forum dedicated to artistic growth and exploration-The Gift continues to deepen its commitment to the idea of ‘ensemble' by training together on an ongoing basis. Previous and future instructors in The Lab include Sheldon Patinkin, Jeff Perry, and Dr. Eric Forsythe.

Previous productions include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Almost, Maine, Santa's Great American Depression Holiday Show! America 2: Son of Santa's Great American Depression Holiday Show! America, Summer People, The Ruby Sunrise, Talk Radio, Stop/Kiss, Santa's Great American Depression Holiday Show! America, Natural Gas, Streamers, W;t, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, White People, Three Sisters, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Blithe Spirit, 365 Days/365 Plays, The Halloween Show, Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Glass Menagerie (Remount-Theatre On the Lake), The Good Thief, The Clearing, Hurlyburly, The Glass Menagerie, The Pavilion, A Young Man In Pieces, Language of Angels, 6, County Fair, The Countess, Alcatraz (Abbie Hoffman Festival), Orestes 2.0, Boys' Life, and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (giftSYDNEY).

The educational program of The Gift Theatre Company, giftED., continues its work at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) by combining theatre and speech therapy to combat pediatric oral aversion in addition to its work through Chicago Public Schools, staging extant productions such as Pecos Bill as well as creating new pieces for the theatre, such as HOME / ROOM. The Gift is also beginning to secure equipment for its first feature-length project under its film component, giftFILM.

The Gift Theatre is the only professional theatre company in the working class neighborhood of Jefferson Park. As one of Chicago's most exciting theatre companies, The Gift is marked by acting of the highest caliber with continual training in The Lab, the important educational work being done at RIC through giftED., and sold-out houses on the northwest side of Chicago. Recent generous support has been provided by the Donnelley Foundation and Driehaus Foundation as well as The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Illinois Arts Council.