Lifeline Theatre Adds Hainsworth and Walsh to Ensemble

Lifeline Theatre is proud to announce two new members of its artistic ensemble: Chris Hainsworth and Christopher M. Walsh.

Entering its 28th season, Lifeline Theatre specializes in original literary adaptations. Its ensemble of artists uses imaginative, unconventional staging to portray sprawling stories in an intimate space. Lifeline is committed to promoting the arts in its Rogers Park neighborhood and is an anchor of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District.

Founded by five Northwestern graduates in 1982, the theater now employs over 150 artists per year. In addition to the two new members listed above, Lifeline's artistic ensemble is led by Artistic Director Dorothy Milne, and consists of Patrick Blashill, Christina Calvit, Victoria DeIorio, Alan Donahue, Kevin D. Gawley, Peter Greenberg, James E. Grote, John Hildreth, Paul S. Holmquist, Elise Kauzlaric, Robert Kauzlaric, Frances Limoncelli, Katie McLean, Dorothy Milne, Shole Milos, SAndy Snyder Pietz, Suzanne Plunkett, Phil Timberlake, Jenifer Tyler, and Elizabeth Powell Wislar. Lifeline's ensemble determines the company's artistic programming and provides leadership, support and counsel in the play-development process.

Chris Hainsworth has been working in Chicago Theatre since 1994. After leaving Illinois State University, he was accepted into the ISU-Steppenwolf Acting Fellowship for the 1994-1995 Season. He was a part of Wax Lips Theatre from 1996-2000; and in 2000, he joined Strawdog Theatre, serving as Literary Manager from 2001-2007. He is a frequent contributor to the Strawdog Ensemble Writing Initiative, known as the Hit Factory. Hainsworth's first role at Lifeline was Oliver in Talking It Over, in 2008. Since then, he has appeared in the extension of Busman's Honeymoon as MacBride, Treasure Island as Israel Hands/Captain Flint, and most recently as the Marquis De Carabas in Lifeline's Jeff Recommended production of Neverwhere. Other notable roles include Brutus in Julius Caesar, Mike in A Lie of the Mind, Det. Dakis in Detective Story, and Ruddy in Marathon '33 with Strawdog; Frank in Faith Healer with Uma Productions; Mott in The Artist Needs a Wife with the side project; Sheriff Raven in The Dreams in the Witch House with WildClaw Theatre; and Robbie in Scenes from the Big Picture with Seanachaí Theatre Company. Hainsworth was also a finalist in WildClaw's Deathscribe: Ten Minutes of Terror audio play competition in both 2008 and 2009. In 2009, his audio drama Remembrance took home the grand prize of the Bloody Axe.

Christopher M. Walsh moved to Chicago from Michigan in 1994 to attend Columbia College, where he studied under Sheldon Patinkin and Henry Godinez. At Columbia, he developed his interest in stage combat under the tutelage of David Woolley, and received six Examiner's Awards for Excellence from the Society of American Fight Directors. Walsh made his first appearance with Lifeline in the 2008 Theatre Building remount of The Mark of Zorro. Other Lifeline credits include Busman's Honeymoon, Treasure Island, and he was most recently seen as Mr. Vandemar in Lifeline's Jeff Recommended production of Neverwhere. Other notable roles include Dim in Defiant Theatre's A Clockwork Orange; Commandant Ricky in Black Sheep Productions' Camp Freedom!; the villainous henchman Oxenham in BackStage Theatre's Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge; Lt. Trotter in Griffin Theatre's Journey's End; and Dr. Mortimer in City Lit's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Walsh is a freelance fight director, having worked with The Artistic Home, Flush Puppy Productions, The Building Stage (The Ring Cycle), Steep Theatre (In Arabia We'd All Be Kings), and the side project (Faster). Walsh is also a fiction writer; he sold his first short story, a piece of speculative fiction titled Highway Robbery, to online publisher Peridot Books (now Allegory E-zine) in 2001.

Lifeline Theatre's programs are partially supported by Alphawood Foundation; Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; CityArts 3 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; The Rhoades Foundation; The Polk Bros. Foundation; S&C Foundation; Taproot Foundation; and the annual support of businesses and individuals. For more information, lifelinetheatre.com.

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