Photo Flash: First Look At Chicago Premiere Of Dominique Morisseau's PIPELINE

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 44th season with the Chicago Premiere of Pipeline, written by 2018 MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce. Pipeline runs through March 3, 2019 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Nya, a public high school teacher, is committed to her students but desperate to give her only son, Omari, opportunities her students will never have. When a controversial incident at his private school threatens to get him expelled, Nya must confront his rage and her own choices as a parent. But will she be able to reach him before a world beyond her control pulls him away? With profound compassion and poetry, Dominique Morisseau's (Skeleton Crew, Detroit '67, and the Broadway-bound Ain't Too Proud) Pipeline brings to light a powerful and important conversation about parenthood, the state of our public school system, and the prison pipeline that claims so many of our youth.

In the United States, the school-to-prison pipeline is the disproportionate tendency of minors and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated, because of harsh school and municipal policies," says Chay Yew, artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater. "In Dominique Morisseau's timely and powerful Pipeline, she explores an important conversation about the state of our public school system, parenthood, and the pipeline that claims so many of our youths of color. Speaking truth to power and using theater to create meaningful civic dialogue, Dominique tells stories of communities grappling with the ever evolving social, political and economic shifts that define them. I can't think of a more ideal artist who's in line with our fight for an equitable world than Dominique."

The cast of Pipeline includes Tyla Abercrumbie (Nya), Ronald L. Conner (Dun), Matthew Elam (Omari), Aurora Real de Asua (Jasmine), Mark Spates Smith (Xavier), and Janet Ulrich Brooks (Laurie).

The creative team includes Andrew Boyce(scenic design), Kristy Hall (costume design), Eric Southern (lighting design), Josh Schmidt (sound design), Eleanor Kahn (props design), Skyler Gray (dramaturg), Amanda Davis (production stage manager).

Photo Credit: Liz Lauren Photo