Eclipse Theatre Company Announces 2009 Season

Eclipse Theatre Company of Chicago announces that their 2009 season, including four full productions, will be the second and final year of celebrating their past ten years focusing on one playwright per season.  Eclipse Theatre's 2009 Season: Celebration Series Part II will showcase some of Eclipse's past featured playwrights, including works by Rebecca Gilman, Pearl Cleage, John Guare and Romulus Linney.  Eclipse will once again present their entire calendar season at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL.

Eclipse Artistic Director Nathaniel Swift said, "The Eclipse ensemble is pleased to continue the celebration of the remarkable writers we have featured since 1997. The second year of this two-year celebration - our first four show season since 1997/1998 - will honor the contemporary writers featured by Eclipse over the last decade, including the Midwest premiere of Pearl Cleage's 'A Song for Coretta,' Romulus Linney's rarely produced 'Democracy,' and revivals of John Guare's 'Six Degrees of Separation' and Rebecca Gilman's 'Blue Surge.'"

Eclipse Theatre's 2009 Season: Celebration Series Part II begins by honoring the work of Rebecca Gilman, opening with a revival of "Blue Surge" (March 19 – May 3, 2009), directed by ensemble member Anish Jethmalani. The story of two small-town cops who try to arrest and then help a pair of prostitutes working at a local massage parlor, "Blue Surge" examines issues of class and social dynamics with brutal honesty and surprising humor. Gilman explores the small space between hope and hopelessness as her characters struggle to find an American Dream in which they can believe.

Next, the 2009 Season: Celebration Series II will revisit the work of playwright Pearl Cleage with the Midwest premiere of "A Song for Coretta" (June 4 – June 28, 2009), directed by ensemble member Sarah Moeller. Inspired by the long line of mourners who came by Ebenezer Baptist Church to pay their respects to Coretta Scott King, "A Song for Coretta" introduces five fictional African-American women, aged 17 to 57, waiting in the rain to say their final good-byes. Cleage shows the impact that Mrs. King had on the lives of these women, and the connections that they build with one another through her memory and legacy.

In summer 2009, Eclipse will focus on the work of John Guare by presenting "Six Degrees of Separation" (July 23 – August 30, 2009), directed by ensemble member and Goodman Theatre Associate Producer Steve Scott.  Inspired by a true story, the play follows the trail of a young black con man, who insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy New York couple, claiming that he is the son of actor Sidney Poitier. Captivated by his intelligence and his fascinating conversation, the couple invites him to stay, but slowly discover that not everything is what it seems on the surface. In this award winning, off-beat play, Guare examines the threads of chance that link one person to another and the consequences of lives that collide unexpectedly.

Finally, Eclipse will celebrate the work of Romulus Linney by presenting "Democracy" (November 12 – December 20, 2009), directed by ensemble member Steven Fedoruk.  In Washington's political society of spring 1875, two beautiful American women must decide whether to marry two dashing American men, knowing they will also marry what their men believe about America, religion, truth and success.  Linney's theatrical adaptation of two novels mixes Henry Adams' tales of love and ambition in Washington with scandals from the Ulysses S. Grant administration. This insightful vision of American democracy is scathing, passionate and funny.

Eclipse Theatre is currently presenting the work of writer Neil Simon for their 2008 Season Celebration Series Part I, with their Jeff-recommended production of "Plaza Suite," directed by Steve Scott, running through August 31, 2008, at the Greenhouse Theater Center. The season will conclude this fall with Lillian Hellman's "The Autumn Garden," directed by Eclipse Artistic Director Nathaniel Swift, running November 13 – December 21, 2008, at the same venue.

Eclipse Theatre Company has recently received five Non-Equity Jeff Awards, including Outstanding Production ("Blues for an Alabama Sky"), Outstanding Director (Steven Fedoruk for "Blues for an Alabama Sky"), Outstanding Actress (Michelle Courvais for "Boy Gets Girl"), Outstanding Supporting Actress (Charlette Speigner for "Blues for an Alabama Sky"), and Outstanding Supporting Actor (Alfred Kemp for "Blues for an Alabama Sky").  In addition, Eclipse received a 2007 Black Theatre Alliance Award for Leading Actress (TayLar for "Blues for an Alabama Sky"), and four 2008 BTAA nominations. Since 1992, Eclipse, a member of the League of Chicago Theatres, has received a total of 14 Jefferson Awards, 36 Jefferson nominations, and one Black Theatre Alliance Award.

Eclipse's current 2008 season: Celebration Series Part I, is partially supported by The Illinois Arts Council, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Alphawood Foundation, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (City Arts I), The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Foundation, The Leo S. Guthman Fund, Turner Construction Company, and the ongoing support of businesses and individuals.

The Eclipse ensemble is Cecil Averett, Cheri Chenoweth, Chris Corwin, Julie Daley, Steven Fedoruk, Anish Jethmalani, Thomas Jones, CeCe Klinger, Sarah Moeller, Kevin Scott, Steve Scott, Nathaniel Swift, Katie Vandehey and Frances Wilkerson.

A non-profit organization founded in 1992, Eclipse Theatre Company presents the work of one playwright each season. Eclipse offers the audience an opportunity, unique in the Midwest, to journey with them through the playwright's works. They explore the breadth and depth of a playwright's artistic worlds. One playwright, one season, one illuminating journey. Playwrights that have been featured with Eclipse include Jean Cocteau, Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, Romulus Linney, John Guare, Neil Simon, Keith Reddin, Lanford Wilson, Rebecca Gilman, and Pearl Cleage.  For more information about the company, please visit www.eclipsetheatre.com

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