Miller & Hughes Ends Run of 'Freshly Squeezed' Series at Victory Gardens, 3/21

FRESHLY SQUEEZED will end its run at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago on March 21st.

Tim Miller defines himself as "the gay little sperm that could." His latest work Lay of the Land, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "his most important work to date...a vivid, must-see achievement" is his saucy, sharp-knifed look at the State of the Queer Union during a time of trial. Careening from his sexy misadventures performing in 45 States, to Marriage Equality street protests, to the electoral assaults on gay folks all over the country, to his life as a grade-school flag monitor, to choking on cheap meat caught in his 10 year old gay boys throat, Lay of the Land friskily gets at that feeling of queer people being perpetually on trial, on the ballot, and on the menu. Expect fierce wit and candor as Miller eloquently drives through narratives with more stamina than an honor roll student on Adderall. Don't believe us? Click here to view the online trailer.

Miller's performances have been presented all over North America, Australia, and Europe in such prestigious venues as Yale Repertory Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Art (London), the Walker Art Center, the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, and Chicago's Link's Hall. His original works include Postwar, Cost of Living, Democracy in America, Buddy Systems, Some Golden States, Stretch Marks, Sex/Love/Stories, My Queer Body, Naked Breath, Fruit Cocktail, Shirts and Skin, Glory Box, Us and 1001 Beds. He is the author of the books SHIRTS & SKIN, BODY BLOWS and 1001 BED (winner of the 2007 Lambda Literary Award).

Performances times for Lay of the Land at the Victory Gardens Biograph are Monday, March 15, 2010 at 7:30 pm (press opening); Friday, March 19 at 8 pm; Saturday, March 20 at 8 pm; and Sunday, March 21 at 5 pm.

Later that week, hold on tight when lesbian performer Holly Hughes unleashes her post-racial poodle with the Chicago premiere of her newest work, The Dog and Pony Show (Bring Your Own Pony). Autobiography, animal behavior, and bald-faced lies create this poetic meditation on midlife crisis in the key of canine. After years as a self described "professional homosexual," Hughes gives up preaching to the perverted and pestering the religious right. Rather, she takes a real job at a prestigious university, acquires a small pack of dogs, and discovers that as we age, the thin membrane that divides the animal from the human dissolves entirely.

Former member of the feminist collective WOW Café, Hughes has made a name for herself for plucky solo works, including The Lady Dick, World Without End, Dress Suits for Hire, Preaching To The Perverted and Clit Notes, that fearlessly dig for tangible identity in the wire-crossed world of sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, and socio-political cultures. Hughes will perform The Dog and Pony Show Thursday, March 18 at 7:30 pm (press opening); Friday, March 19 at 9:30pm; Saturday March 20 at 5 pm; and Sunday, March 21 at 7:30 pm.

In addition to performing at the Biograph, Tim Miller is linking up with the Victory Gardens Training Center to teach a week-long workshop exploring the creation of original personal performance. Learn from the master how to mine the tremendous energies and stories in life and transform them into theater. The fierce creativity generated in the workshop will culminate in an ensemble-generated public performance, Monday, March 22 at 7:30 pm. Space in the workshop is limited. To register or for more information, call Training Center Coordinator Barbara Harris at 773.549.5788x2135, or visit victorygardenstheater.org/trainingcenter.

When the NEA revoked funding to four artists in 1990 for work deemed indecent, Miller and Hughes were plaintiffs on the front line. The unprecedented censorship led to a Supreme Court ruling that permanently discontinued all NEA funding to individual artists. As queer performers, Miller and Hughes are no strangers to regressive progress. That's why Victory Gardens invited them to squeeze its audiences fresh and frisky.

"Fresh Squeezed exists for us to encourage new people to come through our doors and poke around," says Will Rogers, Associate Producer of Fresh Squeezed. "Not just young audiences (young audiences certainly) but also new writers and performers and cultures and ideas. We are a theater dedicated to tending new plays, and in our rapidly diversifying cultural landscape Fresh Squeezed allows us to cast a wide net and find the hidden treasures that are relevant to our community. But don't get the wrong idea; it doesn't have to be that heady. We are all about some nonsense and laughter too. And we aren't afraid to show a little leg."

Victory Gardens' 2009-2010 Fresh Squeezed Series is part of the New Audiences for New Plays initiative funded by a Wallace Foundation Excellence Award.

Victory Gardens Theater is home to the bold voices of world premiere theater. The company features the work of its own 14-member Playwrights Ensemble, as well as that of exciting playwrights who are changing theater in the United States and abroad. Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Regional Theatre. The company's dedication to developing, supporting and producing new work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New Plays.

Working with a $3.1 million annual budget in 2009-2010, Victory Gardens continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director Dennis Zacek, Executive Director Jan Kallish, Associate Artistic Director Sandy Shinner, Board President Jeffrey Rappin, a dedicated staff and board, and the support of its loyal subscribers.

The Victory Gardens Biograph Theater is located 1/2 block north of Fullerton in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Discounted parking is available one block south at Children's Memorial Hospital, and Lincoln Park Hospital two blocks south at Children's Memorial Hospital. By CTA train, take the Red, Purple and Brown lines to Fullerton. Walk east on Fullerton, then north on Lincoln 1/2 block. The #8 Halsted, #11 Lincoln, #37 Sedgwick/Ogden, and #74 Fullerton CTA buses all stop at Fullerton and Halsted, 1/2 block south of the theater. See transitchicago.com for times and routes. For complete information, visit victorygardens.org.

 

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