Cast Announced For A PAIR OF LUNATICS By PrideArts

Casting has been announced for A PAIR OF LUNATICS, the third production of PrideArts' four-show virtual fall season called REIGNITE! Chicago director/producer/choreographer Zoe Lesser will direct her own new adaptation of the comedy by W.R. Walkes.

In A PAIR OF LUNATICS, which premiered in London in 1898, He and She meet for the first time in an asylum and each mistakes the other for an inmate. "He" will be played by Jayson Lee, winner of the "Most Promising Actor" award in the Black Theatre Alliance Awards last year for HOODED: OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES with First Floor Theatre.

The role of "She" will be performed by Kya Brickhouse, who has appeared in the 2019 feature film TRICK and the CBS-TV limited series THE RED LINE. Gracie Meier will be videographer. It will be streamed twice only - on Thursdays, November 19, and December 3; at 7:00 pm each evening.

Lesser explains her reasons for creating a new adaptation of the comedy. "The two-sentence summary of A PAIR OF LUNATICS states: 'He and She meet for the first time in a lunatic asylum and each mistakes the other for an inmate. An old stand-by that's always fun!' This summary, however succinct it may be, forces us to question, what is funny about mistaking someone for a 'lunatic'? What even is a 'lunatic'?

"In this adaptation of WR Walkes's play, we break open, investigate, and explode this play's grasp of "lunacy." In a time in which the future of live performance is uncertain, this staged adaptation takes place in a desert with two actors grasping at the straws of their own sanity and explores how the stories we tell ourselves somehow persevere." A PAIR OF LUNATICS is being shot in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the two cast members, director and videographer are quarantining together.

The final play of the virtual fall season will be Anton Chekov's THE PROPOSAL, to be streamed twice only - on Thursday, December 17 and Wednesday, December 30; at 7:00 pm each evening. In this one-act Chekov comedy, Ivan, an hypochondriac, has a proposal for Natalya the neighbor. That is, if they can ever agree on anything. Cast to be annpunced.

Costs to view are $15.00 for either of the two remaining plays in the season. Tickets are available at www.pridearts.org.

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