New Leaf Theatre Presents Lighthousekeeping at the DCA Storefront Theater

New Leaf Theatre, in association with Chicago DCA Theater, presents the world premiere of Georgette Kelly's adaptation of Jeanette Winterson's beloved novel Lighthousekeeping. The play, directed by Jessica Hutchinson, runs at Chicago DCA Theater's Storefront Theater at 66 E. Randolph Street, from June 8 through July 17, 2011. Members of the press are invited to the opening performance Thursday, June 9, at 7:30 p.m.

In an epic journey of love and longing, a young woman is forced to define herself and her home. After the death of her mother, Silver is sent to apprentice with the blind lighthouse keeper of Cape Wrath, Scotland who enchants her with stories of the town's past. Weaving in the tale of a mysterious minister whose life was torn apart by his own secrets, Silver begins to learn of the power of myth and language on her own life. When Silver and the lighthouse keeper are expelled when the lighthouse becomes mechanized, she sets out to chart a new course on her own in a strange new world. The tale of an orphaned young girl who learns to tell her life like a story, Lighthousekeeping overflows with the possibility of new connections, and the opportunity to discover what it means to find home. This adaptation was featured last season in New Leaf's Treehouse Readings series.

Performances of Lighthousekeeping are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. A post-show discussion with the cast and crew will follow the performance on Thursday, June 16.

Tickets are $25 for general admission and $18 for students and seniors with ID. The preview performance on June 8 costs $15. Discounts are available for Chicago Cultural Center Mosaic Members, theater industry affiliates, military personnel, ADA companions and large groups. All tickets are available by calling 312.742.TIXS (8497), visiting www.dcatheater.org, or stopping by the Chicago Cultural Center Ticket Office in the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington Street, open Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m. Tickets go on sale one hour before each performance at the Storefront Theater.

The ensemble cast includes Ron Butts, Tien Doman, Merrie Greenfield, Tim Martin, Daniel McEvilly, Scott Ray Merchant, Lea Pascal and Caroline Phillips.

Jeanette Winterson (novelist) wrote her first novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, when she was 23. Winterson's subsequent novels explore the boundaries of physicality and the imagination, gender polarities, and sexual identities. Beyond Lighthousekeeping (2004), she has written Sexing The Cherry (1989), Written On The Body (1992), Art & Lies (1994), Gut Symmetries (1997), The.Powerbook (2000), and The Stone Gods (2007). She has won various awards around the world for her fiction and adaptations, including the Whitbread Prize, UK, and the Prix d'argent, Cannes Film Festival. She was made an officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 2006 New Year Honours.

New Leaf Theatre

New Leaf Theatre creates intimate, animate theatrical experiences that renew artist and audience.

They believe that the process of creating theatre and the product that is created bring innumerable opportunities for deep personal engagement with one another and with the challenges that we face as human beings. Collaborators leave the process with a refreshed sense of purpose and commitment to their craft, and audiences leave productions eager to look at the world through a new lens. Our journeys in life and on stage are seldom easy. Renewal does not guarantee a happy ending; it rather offers the possibility of a new beginning.

For more information, visit www.NewLeafTheatre.org.

Production Team

Georgette Kelly (playwright) has adapted and directed short pieces based on works by William Faulkner and Joyce Carol Oates, as well as original performance art based on ethnographic research and interviews. Her first full-length play was a new translation and adaptation of Tahar Ben Jelloun's L'enfant de sable (The Child of Sand), which was produced at Northwestern in May 2007. In preparation for that production, she received a grant to conduct dramaturgical research on halqua storytellers in Marrakech, Morocco in August 2006. Georgette has worked as a freelance stage manager, production manager, and arts administrator with Northwestern University, The Chicago Humanities Festival, Stages Sights and Sounds (The Chicago Humanities Children's Festival), and The Goodman Theatre.

Jessica Hutchinson (director) has served as Artistic Director for New Leaf Theatre since June 2007. Other credits include LiveWire Chicago Theatre (Hideous Progeny at the DCA Storefront), BackStage Theatre Company (Orange Flower Water), 2nd Story with Serendipity Theatre Collective, and Goodman Theatre (assistant to the director, The Crowd You're In With), along with readings for Around the Coyote, Theatre Seven of Chicago, Inchworm Playreading Series, and the Goodman. Jessica is the Director of Outreach for University Theater at the University of Chicago, a proud staff member of the League of Chicago Theatres, and an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Special Events

Lecture: Lighthouses of Chicago Harbor: Their History, Architecture and Lore
Friday, June 17, 2011, at 12:15 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater
The picturesque Chicago Harbor Lighthouse has long held a fascination for residents and visitors. Seemingly afloat some 2,000 feet off historic Navy Pier, this aid to maritime navigation marks the entrance to a port that connects the Great Lakes with shipping interests on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Since 1832, Chicago's harbor has seen a succession of lighthouses, each of them unique, that have helped ships laden with cargo and passengers safely access one of the great historical port cities of the United States. In fact, the history of Chicago is inseparable from its maritime past and the lighthouses that marked the entrance to the city's harbor. Presented by Donald J. Terras, President, American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee.

Chicago DCA Theater

The Storefront Theater and the Studio Theater, its companion theater located in the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington Street, comprise Chicago DCA Theater, an anchor of the downtown theater district. Chicago DCA Theater offers downtown audiences an off-Loop theater experience with an exciting look at the vibrant theater companies that call Chicago home. Proposals for creative and innovative productions for the January to June 2012 season are being accepted now through May 15, 2011.

Discounted parking is available at Wabash Randolph Self Park at 20 E. Randolph. Patrons can receive the $10 rate by validating their ticket at the Storefront Theater box office.

For more information about Lighthousekeeping and Chicago DCA Theater, call 312.742.TIXS (8497) or visit www.dcatheater.org. The enhanced website features more about DCA Theater performances and programs, including a blog, photo galleries, and visitor information.

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is dedicated to promoting an ongoing celebration of the arts; supporting the people who create and sustain them; and marketing the city's abundant cultural resources to a worldwide audience. DCASE, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, programs and promotes thousands of high-quality free festivals, exhibitions, performances and holiday celebrations presented each year at Millennium Park, Grant Park, the Chicago Cultural Center and other venues throughout the city.

Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture
The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC) is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs. COTC supports local artists through grants and other resources and creates vital opportunities for artists of all levels. For more information please visit www.ExploreChicago.org.