Photos: The Comrades Present The Midwest Premiere Of Mike Bartlett's CONTRACTIONS

The Comrades launch their 2019/2020 season with the one-weekend Midwest premiere of CONTRACTIONS, by Mike Bartlett, the British author of c*ckand EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON. CONTRACTIONS is a surreal two-character play concerned with the balance of power in the employer-employee relationship. The four-performance run, opening Thursday, October 10 and closing Sunday, October 13 is directed by Adrienne Matzen. This marks the Chicago premiere of this play that was first seen at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2008.

The Midwest premiere features Melissa Reeves in the role of The Manager and Comrades company member in the role of Emma. Melanie Kulas serves as Production Stage Manager, Adrienne Matzen serves as Costume Designer, Becca Venable serves as Technical Director/Sound Designer, and Carley Walker serves as Lighting Designer. Comrades Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen serves as Props Coordinator.

About the show: Emma's been seeing her coworker Darren. She thinks she's in love. Her boss thinks she's in breach of contract. In a series of cordial but increasingly tense conversations, the two dissect the differences between "sexual" and "romantic," negotiate the length of Emma's interoffice relationship, and face the consequences of shrinking privacy and binding contracts.

Photo Credit: Derek Betelsen