Michael Shannon Will Lead TURRET at A Red Orchid Theatre

A Red Orchid Theatre  has announced the cast and creative team behind the World Premiere of TURRET, written and directed by Ensemble Member Levi Holloway. TURRET holds previews May 2 - 11 and runs May 12 – June 9, 2024 at The Chopin Theatre, 1543 W Division in Chicago. Tickets ($45 - $55 previews, $70 regular run) will be available to season subscribers Tuesday March 19, and on sale to the general public Tuesday April 2, by calling the theatre box office at (312) 943-8722 or visiting www.aredorchidtheatre.org.  

Two men survive in a facility deep underground somewhere in the wild woods of the Pacific Northwest, hiding away from something terrible looming just outside. Ensnared in a relentless loop of endless tomorrows, they discover the wolf isn’t at the door, he’s already inside, waiting in the creeping darkness all around them. TURRET is an excavation of masculinity, love, loss and isolation; a claustrophobic carnival of carnage, carrier pigeons, cribbage, whiskey, music, mischief and mayhem.   

The production features Ensemble Member Michael Shannon (Green), Associate Artistic Director Travis A. Knight (Rabbit), and Ensemble Member Lawrence Grimm (Birdy).    

The creative team includes Ensemble Member Grant Sabin (scenic design), Ensemble Member Karen Kawa (costume design), Ensemble Member Mike Durst (lighting design), Jeffrey Levin (sound design), Paul Deziel (projection design), Rowan Doe (Props Design), Max Fabian (violence director), Tom Daniel (technical director), JC Widman (stage manager), Faith Locke (assistant stage manager), Taylor Owens (assistant stage manager), Patrick Starner (production manager), Ensemble Member Sadieh Rifai (assistant director), and Hilary Williams (dramaturg/script supervisor).  

About the Artists  

Levi Holloway (Playwright & Director) [he/him] is a Chicago-based artist. As a playwright, world premieres include Pinocchio at Chicago Children’s Theatre, Haven Place and Grey House (Jeff Award, Best New Work) at A Red Orchid Theatre, with which he is an ensemble member. His play Grey House ran on Broadway in 2023. After Turret, his next play, Paranormal Activity: Alive in London, will premiere in the summer of 2024 at the Leeds Playhouse before a run in the West End. Levi is the co-founder of Neverbird Project, a youth based Deaf and hearing theatre company. He spent a decade devising theatre with the Sign/Voice theatre program at Chicago’s Bell Elementary, one of the country’s oldest and most prolific Deaf and hearing integrated schools, founded in 1917. He is repped by CAA and Anonymous Content. 

Michael Shannon (Green) [he/him] is a founding ensemble member at A Red Orchid Theatre and has done just about every job here at some point including designing our very first poster. You may have seen him on stage here in Victims of Duty, Pilgrim’s Progress, Simpatico, Mistakes Were Made, Gagarin Way, Mr. Kolpert, BUG, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, The Killer, The Persecution of Arnold Petch, Canus Lunis Balloonis, and Drinking in America, among others. Also at A Red Orchid, Michael directed the world premiere of Brett Neveu’s Traitor and Ionesco’s Hunger and Thirst. Elsewhere around Chicago, he has worked at Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Northlight, Famous Door (RIP), and the Next Lab, birthplace of Killer Joe, in which he originated the role of Chris Smith and performed it a gillion times all over God's green earth. Mike currently lives in NYC where he recently performed in Waiting for Godot at Theatre for a New Audience and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune on Broadway.  Michael recently made his film directing debut with Eric LaRue by fellow ensemble member Brett Neveu.  Select film credits include The Bikeriders, Amsterdam, Bullet Train, Knives Out, Take Shelter, Mud, Machine Gun Preacher, Premium Rush, The Iceman, Man of Steel, 99 Homes, Free Held, Elvis & Nixon, The Shape of Water, Fahrenheit 451, Groundhog Day, Jesus' Son, 8 Mile, Revolutionary Road, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done?, The Woodsman, World Trade Center, Cecil B. Demented, Zamboni Man, and more. On TV: George and Tammy, Boardwalk Empire, Waco, Room 104, and Nine Perfect Strangers, among others.   

Travis A. Knight (Rabbit) [he/him] is a proud member of the artistic ensemble and serves as the Associate Artistic Director. He recently made his directorial debut on the world premiere of Revolution by fellow ensemble member Brett Neveu. Previous acting credits at A Red Orchid include The Malignant Ampersands, Grey House, and Small Mouth Sounds. Other Chicago credits include: The Crucible (Steppenwolf); Toni Stone, Ah, Wilderness!, Christmas Carol, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Measure for Measure, and Camino Real (Goodman); How a Boy Falls (Northlight) and Camelot (Drury Lane). Regional credits include The Brothers Size (Milwaukee Chamber), A Streetcar Named Desire (Uprooted), and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Forward Theatre). Selected credits from his five seasons at American Players Theatre are: The Tempest, Glass Menagerie, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Troilus and Cressida, and Richard III. TV and web series: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Mind Games, and Dad Man Walking. Film credits: Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, Runner, and Soldier, Survivor, Sinner, Savior. Motion capture credits: Mortal Kombat 1. 

Lawrence Grimm (Birdy) [he/him] is pleased to be back on stage with A Red Orchid where he last appeared in Do You Feel Anger?, Small Mouth Sounds, Traitor, 3C, Trevor (Jeff Award nom.), In A Garden, Solstice, Megacosm, Abigail’s Party, Pumpgirl, The Meek, The Physicists, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Mr. Kolpert, and Born Guilty among others. Other select theatre credits: Marriott Lincolnshire (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Chicago Shakespeare Theater (King Charles III, The Tempest), Goodman (2666, The Upstairs Concierge), Timeline (My Name is Asher Lev), Victory Gardens (In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play), Shattered Globe (The Heavens Are Hung in Black, Hannah & Martin), Next Theatre (Maple & Vine, Welcome Home Jenny Sutter), Court (Orlando), Lookingglass (The Brothers Karamazov, 1984, The Naked King), Steppenwolf (I Never Sang for My Father, Wolf Lullaby), Piven Theatre Workshop (King Lear, Two by Pinter),  Raven Theatre (Glass Menagerie - Jeff Award Supporting Actor). Film: Eric Larue (written by AROT’s Brett Neveu and directed by Michael Shannon), Night’s End (written by Brett Neveu), Captive State, Welcome to Me, Perfect Manhattan, and Cicero in Winter. TV: Chicago Med, PD, and Fire, Somebody Somewhere, The Red Line. Lawrence is a devoted lifelong Arts Educator of Theatre and believes in its power to sustain, inspire and engage all populations. Please consider subscribing to A Red Orchid to ensure a promising theatrical future for all. More at grimmactor.com. 

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