Skip to main content
My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

ILLEGAL USE OF HANDS Opens 8/31 at American Blues Theater

By:

American Blues Theater (ABT), Chicago's second oldest Equity ensemble, proudly kicks off the Ensemble's 27th season with the world premiere of Illegal Use of Hands by Emmy Award-winner, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and ABT Artistic Affiliate James Still, directed by Sandy Shinner, August 31 – September 30 at Victory Gardens' Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. Press opening for Illegal Use of Hands is Thursday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $10 - $39. Complete ticket information including ticket on-sale date and performance schedule will be announced at a later date.

In a small town where buzzards feast on a dead Chevy and the local Wal-Mart hires only college graduates, three men [ABT ensemble member Steve Key (Broadway tour of August: Osage County), ABT Artistic Affiliate Dennis Zacek (founding artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater) and Howie Johnson (award-winning Killer Joe at Profiles Theater)] wait out the night in the company of a high school football trophy they have rescued from obscurity. It's a  story about revenge,glory, and being a man-if only the characters could agree on what they can't remember."We're thrilled to present James Still's voice to Chicago audiences for the first time," says Gwendolyn Whiteside, ABT producing artistic director.  "Many of our ensemble have worked with James at other regional theaters, and we're honored to bring him to our own artistic home." 

"This is my first major production in Chicago – a homecoming that is long in the making. Right out of college in the 1980s, I moved to Chicago as a young actor where I got my Equity card doing CLOUD 9 with Steppenwolf.  Doing that play at that time and also sitting in the audience witnessing dozens of other great collaborations going on Chicago made a huge impact on me.  Illegal Use of Hands comes from that instinct.  I deeply admire ABT's commitment to straight-shooting, muscular, hair-raisingly beautiful work with American plays," says ABT Artistic Affiliate James Still.




Need more Chicago Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...


BroadwayWorld TV


Catch as Catch Can in Chicago Catch as Catch Can
Steppenwolf Theatre Company (6/04-7/12)
EWP presents Robbie Fulks & Griffin William Sherry Showcase in Chicago EWP presents Robbie Fulks & Griffin William Sherry Showcase
Raue Center For The Arts (8/07-8/07)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch in Chicago Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Catalyst Ranch (7/09-7/26) PHOTOS
Rotary Rocks The Raue: James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash in Chicago Rotary Rocks The Raue: James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash
Raue Center For The Arts (10/24-10/24)
Good People  By David Lindsay-Abaire in Chicago Good People By David Lindsay-Abaire
4 Chairs Theatre (7/17-8/23) PHOTOS
Bourbon Country in Chicago Bourbon Country
Raue Center For The Arts (11/06-11/06)
Deserted in Chicago Deserted
Redtwist Theatre Company (6/14-8/02)
Memphis The Musical in Chicago Memphis The Musical
The Studebaker Theater (10/24-10/25)
Shreya Ghoshal in Chicago Shreya Ghoshal
NOW Arena (9/11-9/11)
In the Continuum in Chicago In the Continuum
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center (7/25-8/09)