AstonRep Announces FOUR BY TENN­ A Tennessee Williams One-Act Festival

AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to present FOUR BY TENN - A Tennessee Williams One-Act Festival, featuring four one-act plays by one of the greatest playwrights of the twentieth century. FOUR BY TENN will play March 26 - April 4, 2018 at the new Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice in Chicago. Tickets are currently available www.astonrep.com.

Kicking off on what would have been Williams' 106th birthday, FOUR BY TENN explores some of the playwright's lesser-known works, ranging from his early years as an unknown writer to later in life, offering a fascinating perspective on what made him one of our all-time great writers.

The FOUR BY TENN Line-Up includes:

 

FAT MAN'S WIFE (1938)

Directed by Dana Anderson*

Featuring Terry Gallagher (Joe), Liam MacDougall (Dennis) and Claire Yearman (Vera)

New Year's morning 1938. The play tells the story of Vera Cartwright, a sophisticated Manhattan society lady who is forced to choose between her boorish husband, a theatrical producer and a young playwright who has become her admirer.

 

AT LIBERTY (1941)

Directed by Heather Branham Green

Featuring Tracey Green (Gloria), Liam MacDougall (Charlie) and Mary Mikva (Mother)

The story of a once-successful actress who retreats to her childhood home in Mississippi, with fantasies of resuscitating her career.

 

TALK TO ME LIKE THE RAIN AND LET ME LISTEN (1953)

Directed by Georgette Verdin

Featuring Nick Bryant (Man) and Sara Pavlak McGuire* (Woman)

Two unnamed characters, Man and Woman, live in a crumbling flat on the Lower East Side. He is a drunk and she is purposefully wasting away - but between them there is an intimacy of desperation.

 

I CAN'T IMAGINE TOMORROW (1970)

Directed by Amy Kasper*

Featuring Michelle McKenzie-Voigt (One) and Christopher Meister (Two

The characters "One" and "Two" are the each other's only friends. They carry out the same evening ritual of card playing and watching the news on TV in an effort to avoid any real confrontation but an eventual emotional breakdown is inevitable.

The production team for FOUR BY TENN includes: Samantha Barr* (lighting design, production manager), Robert Tobin* (sound design), Jeremiah Barr* (technical director), Derek Bertelsen* (producer), Sara Pavlak McGuire* (casting director) and Kaitlyn Salemi (stage manager).

*Denotes AstonRep Company Members.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: FOUR BY TENN - A Tennessee Williams One-Act Festival

Playwright: Tennessee Williams

Directors: Dana Anderson*, Heather Branham Green, Amy Kasper* and Georgette Verdin

Cast (in alphabetical order): Nick Bryant, Terry Gallagher, Tracey Green, Liam MacDougall, Michelle McKenzie-Voigt, Christopher Meister, Mary Mikva, Sara Pavlak McGuire* and Claire Yearman.

Location: Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice, Chicago

Dates: Monday, March 26 - Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Curtain Times: Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm. Please note: there will not be performance on Monday, April 2.

Tickets: $15. Tickets are currently available at www.astonrep.com or by calling (773) 828-9129.

About the Directors

Dana Anderson (Fat Man's Wife) is a proud company member with AstonRep and is very excited to be on board for this festival. Previous directing credits include Jamie Shriner's Little Miss, Belle of Austin (RhinoFest 2018) and The Agency's Dirty Little Secrets 24 Hour Play Festival. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare Corrected, a program that works with female offenders in Decatur Correctional Center to perform full-length Shakespeare plays. Credits with SC include Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She is also a teaching artist and directs shows with Mudlark Theater Company.

Heather Branham Green (At Liberty) is an actress, director, stage manager and playwright from Prestonsburg, KY. She holds an M.A. from University of Kentucky, BFA from Western Kentucky University and diploma from North Carolina School of the Arts. Heather recently moved to Chicago from Manhattan, Kansas where she served as Artistic Director for the historic Columbian Theatre. Career credits include over 20 years working with Kentucky theatre institutions such as Jenny Wiley Theatre, Lexington Children's Theatre, Morehead State University, The Upward Bound Program and The Mountain Arts Center. She was a featured finalist in Kentucky Playwrights Festival for her play Gene Pool. Other writing credits include Still, Rose and The Jumping Cow, The Legend of Jenny Wiley and Down in a Valley High on a Hill.

Amy Kasper (I Can't Imagine Tomorrow) is delighted to direct for AstonRep. Usually she is seen acting, most recently in AstonRep's fall production of 1984. Some favorite past directing projects include: Much Ado About Nothing, A Kind of Alaska by Harold Pinter and I Stand Before You Naked by Joyce Carol Oates.

Georgette Verdin (Talk To Me Like The Rain...) is a freelance director, arts integration specialist and the Co-Artistic Director of Interrobang Theatre Project. Her recent Interrobang credits include Katrina: Mother-In-Law of 'Em All and Jeff Recommended Recent Tragic Events, as well as the 2013 Yale Drama Series Winner Still by Jen Silverman. She is grateful to be returning to AstonRep after having directed Time Stands Still (Jeff Recommended) last spring. Upcoming projects include Grace by Craig Wright for Interrobang, as well as Assistant Directing Lookingglass' production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Georgette holds a Bachelor's in Theatre Performance from McNeese State University and a Master's in Directing from Roosevelt University.

About AstonRep Theatre Company:

AstonRep Theatre Company was formed in the summer of 2008. Since then, the company has produced 19 full-length productions and eight annual Writers' Series. AstonRep Theatre Company is an ensemble of artists committed to creating exciting, intimate theatrical experiences that go beyond the front door to challenge audiences and spark discussion where the show is not the end of the experience: it is just the beginning.

PHOTO CREDIT: Four by Tenn Directors (pictured) AstonRep's FOUR BY TEN - A Tennessee Williams One-Act Festival is directed by (front, l to r) Amy Kasper and Georgette Verdin (back, l to r) Heather Branham Green and Dana Anderson.