Haven Theatre Announces Line-Up For DIRECTORS HAVEN 2018

Haven Theatre is pleased to present its fourth DIRECTORS HAVEN, the company's ever-growing initiative annually showcasing the talents of three rising directors. This season, Charlotte Drover directs Madame Rachilde's surreal horror ballet THE CRYSTAL SPIDER, with translation by Daniel Gerould; Airos Sung-En Medill helms Josefina Lopez' heartfelt and healing SIMPLY MARIA, OR THE AMERICAN DREAM; and Dani Wieder directs an imaginative take on William Inge's drama PEOPLE IN THE WIND. The three productions, which will have the support of a full production team, will run back-to-back in one program. DIRECTOR'S HAVEN 2018 will play October 15 - 31, 2018 at Haven Theatre's resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. All performances are pay-what-you-can. Tickets go on sale Saturday, September 1, 2018 at haventheatrechicago.com.

Comments Artistic Director Josh Sobel, "I have been overwhelmed by how the Director's Haven continues to evolve and grow year after year, and this year is no exception with our 4th cohort of early-career directors. These are three exceptionally exciting burgeoning visions, distinctly contemporary, curious about the sheer potential of the art form and deeply, immensely personal. I invite you to join us at the ground floor of what's next as we showcase some of the next generation's emerging artistic leaders and visionaries. Join Haven Theatre as we continue our mission to invest in the future."

DIRECTORS HAVEN 2018 includes:

THE CRYSTAL SPIDER
By Madame Rachilde, translated by Daniel Gerould
Directed by Charlotte Drover

Mentor: Krissy Vanderwarker

The Crystal Spider is a surreal horror play that dives into the mind of Terror-Stricken, a young person plagued by their Mother's social and sexual pressures and haunted by their strange and paralyzing fear of mirrors. They revive this story for their Mother, awakening the suppressed memories trapped within the looking glass. This story - told through poetry, dance and physical theatre - forces Terror-Stricken into a final confrontation with their mirror self and every demon they run from.

SIMPLY MARIA, OR THE AMERICAN DREAM
By Josefina Lopez
Directed by Airos Sung-En Medill

Mentor: Jess McLeod

Simply Maria, or the American Dream is an episodic telling of Maria and her family's migration from Mexico to the United States and what it means to be a woman in her family in the past, present and future. Desperate to change their story, Maria is forced to face the collision of her family and her new home while navigating the definitions of gender and culture that are passed on from one generation to the next.

PEOPLE IN THE WIND
By William Inge
Directed by Dani Wieder
Mentor: dado

Girl is traveling cross-country to Hollywood on a Greyhound bus for a screen test when a man starts bothering her. When the bus stops at a roadside diner somewhere in the Midwest, she tries to get help. Maybe no one understands what danger she is in, maybe they are too absorbed in their own problems - either way, her pleas go unanswered. Girl must figure out how to protect herself if no one else will. Later, she tries to piece together what happened, and wonders if there had been a better way. The piece will be a physically-driven re-imagining of William Inge's People in the Wind, supported by material generated with the ensemble.

The production team for DIRECTOR'S HAVEN 2018 includes Will Tople (scenic design), Amanda Rabito(costume design), Emily Boyd (props design), Sarah D. Espinoza (sound design), Jurrell Lewis (object design, People in the Wind), Angela Salinas (production manager), Charlie Lovejoy (stage manager, People in the Wind), Corbin Paulino (stage manager, Simply Maria, or The American Dream) and Haley Schmidt (stage manager, The Crystal Spider).

About the Directors

Charlotte Drover is a director, choreographer, and teaching artist (Lookingglass, Northlight Theatre), working in Chicago since 2013 after graduating from Drew University with a BA in Theatre Arts. Directing credits include: Deathscribe X (WildClaw Theatre), Venus in Fur (Circle Theatre), Van Gogh: After Dark (Art Institute Chicago), Associate Director on Octagon (Jackalope Theatre) and choreography for Bobby Pin Girls (Nothing Without A Company), The After (Collaboraction), Jerusalem (Profiles Theatre) and the Chicago Home Theatre Festival - Garfield Park.

Airos Sung-En Medill (they/them/theirs) is a theatre director, Equity Diversity and Inclusion facilitator and a teaching artist. They work to make space for QTPOC, centering them in the stories they tell; moving bodies in space as a means to heal. They work to change the world around them by gathering family, infusing spaces with joy, breath and imagination. They are currently a company member at For Youth Inquiry (FYI), a teaching artist with the Goodman and an Adult Educator for ICAH.

Dani Wieder is a director of movement and object driven performance in Chicago. Recent theater credits include La Ronde (American Theatre Company, CORE), Josephine the Mouse Singer by Franz Kafka (Curious Theatre Branch, Rhinofest), Look Down, Keep Counting (The Runaways), Miley Cyrus is Still Twerking, or I Know You (Women's Theatre Alliance), Miss Julie and All choiceless She (University of Chicago). Dani has assistant directed and dramaturged plays across Chicago at theaters such as at The Goodman Theatre, American Theater Company, Walkabout Theatre Company, Steep Theatre Company, the House Theatre, and Court Theatre. She studied Theater and Performance Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Chicago, where she was granted the 2016 Performance Studies Award for her critical writings on the performer-spectator relationship. Coming up: In the Canyon by Calamity West (dramaturg, Jackalope Theatre), Cool for Five Seconds by Calamity West (director, short film). www.daniwieder.com

PHOTO CREDIT: (left to right) Charlotte Drover, Airos Sung-En Medill and Dani Wieder will helm Haven Theatre's DIRECTORS HAVEN 2018.