PILGRIMS PROGRESS, SENDER Premieres and More Set for A Red Orchid Theatre's 2015-16 Season

A Red Orchid Theatre announces its 2015-2016 Season, including the World Premieres of Pilgrims Progress by Ensemble Member Bret Neveu (The Opponent), and Sender by Ike Holter, both directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray (Mud Blue Sky, Accidentally like a Martyr) and The Mutilated by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ensemble Member Dado (Simpatico).

Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald comments, "We are twenty three and kickin' hard. With two world premieres and a classic from arguably the most influential American playwright of the twentieth-century, I am thrilled to be digging ever deeper into the subjects of family, friendship and humanity at its most naked. There is truly nowhere to hide here at A Red Orchid Theatre. This season marks our first exploration of Williams, our eighth collaboration with Brett Neveu and our first with Ike Holter since his time as a box office volunteer many years ago. I could not be more excited about the challenges and the fun that each of these plays presents for our ensemble and our audiences alike."

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A Red Orchid Theatre's 2015-2016 Season includes:

World Premiere

PILGRIMS PROGRESS

by Ensemble Member Brett Neveu

Directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray

Featuring Ensemble Member Kirsten Fitzgerald

October 15 - November 29, 2015

Previews October 15-18

Press Opening Monday October 19

It's Thanksgiving Day and the McKee family is up to its eyeballs in hilarious drama. Between stirring the cranberries and debating pumpkin pie, parents Jim and Melissa relive their glory days. Meanwhile, their earth-poet Son and pregnant-teen Daughter navigate family contracts, holiday power grabs, and decades of thinly veiled deceit. For a family with such a strong appetite for tales, are their stories more important than the truth? With homages to Albee, O'Neal, Williams and Shepard, the tension rides high and the carving knife does more than just cut the turkey.

THE MUTILATED

by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Ensemble Member Dado

Featuring Ensemble Member Mierka Girten *additional ensemble casting TBA*

January 14 - February 28, 2016

Previews January 14-17

Press Opening Monday January 18

It's Christmas Eve in New Orleans and Trinket Dugan is holed up at the Silver Dollar Hotel with a painful secret. Her only friend and confidant, Celeste, has just been released from jail and will stop at nothing to get back into her good graces, her pocket-book and her booze. Can their friendship survive the cruelty, the con men, hookers, cops, sailors and drunks? The Mutilated is one of Williams' funniest and most moving plays, and according to Williams himself is "an allegory on the tragicomic subject of human existence on this risky planet." -Esquire magazine 1965.

World Premiere

SENDER

by Ike Holter

Directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray

Featuring Ensemble Member Steve Haggard

April 14 - May 29, 2016

Previews April 14-17

Press Opening Monday April 18

A World Premiere by one of Chicago's hottest emerging playwrights. It's summertime in Chicago. Over a year after his sensational death, a young man returns to his former apartment: alive, well, and with a new found ambition to fix what went wrong. A miracle reunion turns into a catastrophic disaster as the past catches up with the present and old debts return, expecting payment in full. What does growing-up mean and is it even desired in this day and age?

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A Red Orchid continues the FLASHPASS, giving subscribers a 20% ticket discount, reserved seats, ticket and date flexibility and invitations to special events, readings and more. Three-show Flashpasses are $80 and include three tickets to use anyway during the regular run, excluding opening nights and Red Nights. Three-show Red Night Flashpasses are $130 and include a ticket to each Red Night Opening and a post-show reception with the cast and creative team.

*FLASHPASS' purchased before May 31 include a 4th seat to share with a friend*. Flashpasses may be purchased from the Box Office at 1531 N. Wells Street, Monday through Friday from 12 pm to 5:00 pm. Subscriptions may also be purchased by telephone during office hours by dialing (312) 943-8722, or online at www.aredorchidtheatre.org. Individual tickets will go on sale at a later date.

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993. Chicago Magazine named Red Orchid Chicago's Best Theatre Company of 2010. Over the past 22 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories. In addition to its professional season, the company also produces an annual OrKids (youth) project.

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Dado, Mike Durst, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.

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