OverUnder Collective Opens OVER THE RIVER/UNDER THE TREES Tonight

Exploring themes of mental health, sensationalist journalism, and Confederate Generals, OverUnder Collective is pleased to announce its premiere production of "Over the River/Under the Trees" by Ray Nelson starting tonight, March 28, 2014. "Over the River/Under the Trees" runs Fridays and Saturdays from tonight, March 28 through April 5, 2014 at 7:30 pm. All performances take place at Gorilla Tango Bucktown, 1919 N Milwaukee, Chicago IL, 60647. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at gorillatango.com/bucktown or by calling 773-598-4549.

Directed by Australia-native Rebecca Willett, OverUnder Collective seeks to elucidate this dark comedy with an international perspective. Focusing on the main character of Polly, "Over the River/Under the Trees" follows her story as she attempts to help her friend TJ donate a kidney out of the kindness of his heart. But things don't go according to plan when TJ's estranged father, a reformed Jehovah's Witness, shows up to help.

Willett says she is excited to step into American culture for this project: "A lot of what you know about America growing up comes from whatever television made its way over," she says. "But there was so much more to research, and the more I did, the more I found the play's themes were more than American. They connect us all."

Ray Nelson, playwright and co-founder of OverUnder Collective, says that "Rebecca brings an objective opinion whereas it could be easy to let what you learned in history class change how you see the characters. With the combination of Rebecca's background and our extraordinary group of performers, we have been able to focus on the story looking at the characters as real people with their own views and experiences of the world. We can't wait to share this story with Chicago."

Photo by Jenn Alons

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