Casting Announced For Sideshow Theatre's HELA

Sideshow Theatre Company, in partnership with the Greenhouse Theater Center, has announced casting for the world premiere of J. Nicole Brooks' dazzling new play HeLa, directed by artistic director Jonathan L. Green*.

HeLa will feature Sideshow ensemble members Matt Fletcher* and Ann James*, artistic associate David Lawrence Hamilton*, with Ayah Sol Masai Hall, Nicole Michelle Haskins, Carolyn Nelson and Deanna Reed-Foster.

Launching Sideshow's 2018-19 Season, HeLa will play November 18 - December 23, 2018 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at greenhousetheater.org, in person at the box office or by calling (773) 404-7336. The press opening is Friday, November 23, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

1951: A mother of five visits the "colored" gynecology ward of Johns Hopkins, knowing something unusual is happening in her body. 1981: A child watches Carl Sagan's Cosmos on a basement television in Chicago as her auntie plays bid whist upstairs with the neighbors. The Distant Future: A gold-plated flying saucer hovers over the Earth, its pilot watching and waiting patiently as stars gently twinkle in her hair. All three stories connect, collide and expand, blending Afrofuturism with the true story of Henrietta Lacks and one little girl's love of science. This winter, journey from East Baltimore to Chicago's West Side to outer space, as J. Nicole Brooks' new play explores who has the power over the stuff we are made of.

HeLa was commissioned and developed by Sideshow Theatre Company.

Comments Sideshow artistic director Jonathan L. Green*, "J. Nicole Brooks and Sideshow have been fans of each other for over a decade now, and we've spent years finding the right project for a collaboration. I feel lucky to be able to work with Nicky on this fascinating new play, commissioned and developed through Sideshow's Freshness Initiative, about race, science, time and the effects they have on each other."

The production team for HeLa includes: Yu Shibagaki (scenic design), Noël Huntzinger* (costume design), Sim Carpenter (lighting design), Michael Huey* (sound design/composer), Justin J. Sacramone (dramaturg), Catherine Allen (production manager) and Emily Ioppolo (stage manager).

Tickets: Previews: Pay-what-you-can (online or at the door). Regular run: $20 - $35. Students/seniors/industry: $15 for all performances (excluding opening). Tickets are currently available at greenhousetheater.org, in person at the box office or by calling (773) 404-7336.

*Denotes Sideshow Company Member.