The Long Christmas Ride Home at Strawdog Theatre Company

CHICAGO - Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland are proud to announce the second main stage production in its 2015 - 2016 season, Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home, October 30 - December 12, directed by Josh Sobel, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St. Preview performance tickets are $15 with performances Thursday, Nov. 5, Friday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. There is a Board Preview Event Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. with $50 tickets that include access to a post-performance reception. Opening Night performance is Monday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. An industry performance is Monday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. and a fully accessible performance in conjunction with the Access Project at Victory Gardens is Thursday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m.* Single Tickets are $28 and on sale now. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111. Past, present and future collide for a troubled family on a snowy Christmas Eve when their car spins out of control after a disastrous holiday dinner. This hauntingly beautiful and poetic play by Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel is told with actors and the centuries-old form of Japanese puppetry, Bunraku. The Long Christmas Ride Home deftly navigates the lasting impact of a moment in the lives of three siblings Stephen (Sam Hubbard), Claire (Kristen Johnson) and Rebecca (Sarah Gitenstein) that sets the rest of their lives in motion. Additional cast includes Ensemble Member John Taflan with guest artists Ed Dzialo and Lorretta Rezos. The production team also includes Strawdog Company Ensemble Members Sarah Goeden, assistant director; Mike Mroch, scenic designer; John Kelly, lighting designer; with guest artists Raquel Adorno, costume designer; Alexa Berkowitz, stage manager; Peter Carpenter, choreographer; Stephanie Diaz, puppet designer; Jamie Karas, properties designer; Jeffrey Levin, sound designer, and Michelle Underwood, projection designer. *FULLY ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCE Strawdog Theatre Company continues its partnership with the Access Project at Victory Gardens to present The Long Christmas Ride Home at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, in the Prince Charitable Trust Rehearsal Room, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Thursday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m., with a touch tour at 6:45 p.m. The performance is fully wheelchair accessible with audio description and open captioning. ABOUT PAULA VOGEL, PLAYWRIGHT Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and chair of the playwriting department at the Yale School of Drama. A proficient playwright since the 1970s, Vogel first gained national attention for her play The Baltimore Waltzthat won the Obie Award for “Best Play.” Not just a renowned playwright Vogel has taught a menagerie of esteemed playwrights including, Pulitzer Prize winners Nilo Cruz, Lynn Nottage and Quiara Algeria Hundes. ABOUT JOSH SOBEL, DIRECTOR Josh Sobel is an ensemble member and literary manager of Strawdog Theatre Company, where he directed the world premieres of The Hunting of the Snark(subsequently remounted with Chicago’s “Night Out In The Parks” and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Best Beloved: The Just So Stories and The Pied Piper in Hugen Hall. Directing credits include work at Victory Gardens, Steep Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Collaboraction, The Ruckus, LiveWire, WildClaw, Tympanic, Polarity Ensemble, Fine Print Theatre, Citadel, the side project and New Leaf. He is also currently the artistic director at Haven Theatre and the former associate director of the National Theater Institute summer program at the O’Neill Theater Center. Sobel is currently an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected. Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland are proud to announce the second main stage production in its 2015 - 2016 season, Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home, October 30 - December 12, directed by Josh Sobel, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St. Preview performance tickets are $15 with performances Thursday, Nov. 5, Friday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. There is a Board Preview Event Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. with $50 tickets that include access to a post-performance reception. Opening Night performance is Monday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. An industry performance is Monday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. and a fully accessible performance in conjunction with the Access Project at Victory Gardens is Thursday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m.* Single Tickets are $28 and on sale now. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111. RUSH TICKETS Strawdog Theatre Company offers six tickets at a 50% discount one hour before every production. The rush ticket must be purchased in person, exclusively at the Strawdog Box Office. Limit of two tickets per person, not applicable with other discounts, offers or on previously purchased tickets, first come, first served. The neighborhood has limited paid parking and is easily accessible by public transportation (via the Red Line Sheridan stop, plus 36-Broadway, 80-Irving Park, and 151-Sheridan buses). # # # Strawdog Theatre Company is supported in part by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, The Saints, the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency) and the annual support of businesses and individuals.