Photo Flash: First Look at SIX CORNERS at American Blues Theater

American Blues Theater announces casting for the World Premiere of Six Corners, written by Keith Huff and directed by Gary Griffin. The production features Brenda Barrie, Ensemble member Manny Buckley, Peter DeFaria, Monica Orozco, Lyric Sims and Byron Glenn Willis. Six Corners runs February 16, 2018 - March 24, 2018 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. The official press opening is February 22, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

Penned by Emmy Award nominee Keith Huff (Broadway's A Steady Rain) and directed by Gary Griffin (Broadway's The Color Purple): late one night, two burnt-out violent crimes unit detectives try their damnedest to close the puzzling murder of a CTA employee. What should be a simple open-and-shut case, however, evolves into a horrifying mystery and unearths a legacy of violence stretching back years. Six Corners was awarded a 2017 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.

The creative team includes Joe Schermoly (scenic), Alex Ridgers (lights), Janice Pytel (costumes), Lindsay Jones (sound), and Mary O'Dowd (props). The stage manager is Kate Ocker.

Playwright Keith Huff comments, "It's a great privilege and an honor to be working with Peter DeFaria and Gary Griffin once again. Peter, as many know, co-starred in both the Chicago Dramatists and The Royal George productions of A Steady Rain (with Jeff Award winner Randy Steinmeyer), and Gary directed the world premiere of The Detective's Wife (with Jeff Award winner Barbara Robertson). Having the co-star of the first play and the director of the second both working on the third is an accidental poetry that Blues Artistic Director Wendy Whiteside made happen and just seems right - an artistic coup."

Winner of the American Theatre Wing's prestigious 2016 National Theatre Company Award, American Blues Theater is a premier arts organization with an intimate environment that patrons, artists, and all Chicagoans call home. American Blues Theater explores the American identity through the plays it produces and communities it serves.

The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Equity Ensemble theater in Chicago. The 36-member Ensemble has 530+ combined years of collaboration on stage. As of 2017, the theater and artists received 195 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and over 35 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.

American Blues Theater programs and activities are made possible, in part by funding by The MacArthur Funds for Arts & Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, SMART Growth Grant, Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Anixter Foundation, Actors' Equity Foundation, and the Chip Pringle Fund. ComEd is the Season Lighting Sponsor.

Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow