Profiles Theatre Announces its 2010- 2011 Season

Artistic Directors Joe Jahraus and Darrell W. Cox announce Profiles Theatre's 2010-2011 Season. Profiles, one of Chicago's longest-running storefront theatres, is presenting its 22nd season of new and challenging works, beginning with the Midwest Premiere of the acclaimed new play Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor.

The Profiles Theatre season also includes the Midwest Premiere of Neil LaBute's Broadway triumph, reasons to be pretty, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder; the World Premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern, author of the long-running Chicago hit, Hellcab; and the Midwest premiere of Fifty Words by Michael Weller. Profiles will also host a return engagement of An Evening with Neil LaBute: Live and in Person, a one-night event featuring all new readings and a talk back with the celebrated playwright.

Profiles Theatre is following up its hugely successful 21st season, which featured an extended run of Ellen Fairey's World Premiere Graceland, Midwest Premieres by Neil LaBute and Annie Baker, as well as the Jeff Award-winning production of Killer Joe by Tracy Letts, which transferred to the Royal George for an extended run.

"We are thrilled to announce the four premieres we have lined up for our 22nd season," says Joe Jahraus. "Our friend and collaborator Neil LaBute is back with his most acclaimed play yet, reasons to be pretty, his first to be produced on Broadway and the recipient of several Tony nominations including Best Play. We are continuing our quest to add work from the most anticipated, up-and-coming female playwrights in the country, as we have in the past couple of seasons with Ellen Fairey (World Premiere of Graceland) and Annie Baker (Midwest Premiere of Body Awareness). This season, Deirdre O'Connor will be the one to watch with her smart, funny and bittersweet new play, Jailbait."

Darrell W. Cox adds, "Will Kern took Chicago by storm back in the 90s with his smash hit Hellcab, and we're very excited to be presenting the World premiere of his new play, Kid Sister. Michael Weller is one of the most respected writers in American theatre, and his new play Fifty Words is a funny, frightening and ultimately touching look at modern marriage. All of the plays we've chosen for our 22nd Season are fierce, provocative and ultimately controversial - all things audiences have come to expect from Profiles."

The 2010-2011 Profiles season includes:

JAILBAIT
MIDWEST PREMIERE
By Deirdre O'Connor
Directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus
Featuring ensemble member Eric Burgher
Previews: August 27- September 1, 2010
Press Opening: Wednesday, September 1, 2010, at 8:00 p.m.
Run: September 3 - October 17, 2010
Through the course of one dizzying night at a club, Jailbait follows the parallel stories of two fifteen-year-old girls, desperate to grow up, and two thirty-something men who are looking to be twenty-one again. High-school sophomores Claire and Emmy make a game of posing as college students in order to meet older men. Brash bachelor Mark thinks a night out with attractive girls will be just what his friend Robert needs to recover from his recent breakup. When this unlikely foursome collides, they discover some surprising and dangerous compatibilities. Smart, funny, and disturbing, Jailbait asks the question: When do you really become an adult?

Jailbait was developed by Deirdre O'Connor in 2008 as part of the Cherry Lane Theatre's Mentor Project, with distinguished playwright Michael Weller serving as her mentor. In March 2009, it received its World Premiere as the inaugural production for its newest venue, the Cherry Pit Theatre. O'Connor is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA Playwriting program where she received the John Golden Playwriting Award.

KID SISTER
WORLD PREMIERE
By Will Kern
Directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus
Featuring ensemble members Eric Burgher, Darrell W. Cox and Allison Torem
Previews: November 2-6, 2010
Press Opening: Sunday, November 7, 2010, at 7:00 p.m.
Run: November 7- December 19, 2010

Demi Williams, a sexy 19-year-old single mom and American Idol wannabe, believes only one thing stands between herself and singing superstardom-her stalker, ex-boyfriend, Kendall Fritch. To get this psycho out of her life forever, she elicits the aid of her brother Cassius, recently returned from a stretch in Florida's Gainesville Prison. But ex-con Cassius wants more than she's willing to give-custody of her newborn baby girl. This "dime novel in two acts" tells the story of a deadly ambitious sister who stops at nothing on her quest for musical stardom as well as her kind-but-cunning brother's desperate shot at redemption.

Will Kern is best know for his play, Hellcab, one of the longest running shows in Chicago's history. Originally produced by Famous Door Theater Company in 1992, it ran for over nine years. Performed coast-to-coast and worldwide, Hellcab won numerous awards, including a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival. His newest play, Mothers and Tigers: True Stories of Korean Women, received its World premiere from the Chaimoo Theater Company in Seoul, South Korea, where he teaches Communications at the Sookmyung Women's University.

Kid Sister marks the first unsolicited script to receive a full production in Profiles' twenty-two year history.

REASONS TO BE PRETTY
By Neil LaBute
MIDWEST PREMIERE
Directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder
Featuring Profiles ensemble members Somer Benson and Darrell W. Cox
Previews: January 21- 26, 2011
Press Opening: Thursday, January 27, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.
Run: January 27- March 13, 2011

In reasons to be pretty, Greg's tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworker's pretty face and his own girlfriend Steph's lack thereof get back to Steph. But that's just the beginning. Greg's best buddy, Kent, and Kent's wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?
reasons to be pretty, produced by MCC Theater and directed by Terry Kinney, premiered off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater in June 2008. It received three Drama Desk Award nominations including Outstanding Play. reasons to be pretty became Neil LaBute's first play ever to be staged on Broadway when it opened in March 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre. The comedy-drama was nominated for three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Play and received the 2009 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play.

This marks Profiles Theatre's eighth Midwest premiere of LaBute's work following its acclaimed productions of The Mercy Seat, In a Dark Dark House and Fat Pig.

FIFTY WORDS
By Michael Weller
MIDWEST PREMIERE
Directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus
Featuring ensemble member Darrell W. Cox
Previews April 15-20, 2011
Press Opening: Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.
Runs April 21- June 5, 2011

While their nine-year-old son Greg is away for the night on his first sleepover, Adam and Jan have an evening alone together, the first in years. Adam's attempt to seduce his wife before he leaves on business the next day begins a suspenseful nightlong roller-coaster ride of revelation, rancor, passion and humor that explores a modern-day marriage on the verge of either a breakup or deepening love and understanding.

Fifty Words received its lauded World premiere at the MCC Theater in September 2008 where it was nominated for several Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play. Academy Award-nominee Michael Weller shot to stardom with his powerful anti-war drama, Moonchildren, in 1971. Weller's unique voice, at once moving and revelatory, garnered acclaim throughout three decades of productions at distinguished theaters such as Steppenwolf Theatre Company and New York's Circle-in-the-Square.

SPECIAL EVENT: An Evening with Neil LaBute 2011: Live and in Person
January 8, 2011

Profiles will present a special return engagement of An Evening with Neil LaBute 2011: Live and in Person, on January 8, 2011. This one night only event will feature a pre-show reception, selected readings of LaBute's work and a post-show audience talkback with Mr. LaBute. This is a rare opportunity for audiences in Chicago to see and hear up close and personal, one of most unique and prolific writers of our generation. Profiles presented its first highly successful evening of LaBute readings and talkback in January 2009.

Tickets to An Evening with Neil LaBute are $60 and will be on sale later this fall. One complimentary ticket will be given with each FLEX PASS purchased before August 31, 2010.

TICKETS
All productions are held at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. Parking is available for $10 - $12 at 4100 N. Clarendon (one block east of the theatre at the corner of Clarendon and Belle Plaine). Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $25 - $35. FLEX PASSES offer discounts on the season and are now available at www.profilestheatre.org or (773) 549-1815. A Four Ticket Pass is $100; Eight Ticket Passes are available for $180 (a savings of over $100) when ordered before August 31, 2010. Tickets can be used in any combination of quantity and date throughout the season with advance reservations.

Profiles Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre company founded in 1988 by five Eastern Illinois University alumni. Profiles brings new works to Chicago that illuminate the determination and resiliency of the human spirit. The company produces World, US and Midwest Premieres by new playwrights, as well as established writers whose work has been seen across the country and around the world. Profiles is particularly drawn to playwrights with a unique narrative style and use of language. The company takes pride in carefully selecting scripts that combine integrity with risk. Profiles Theatre is committed to producing plays that tell a story in a captivating way with productions that complement the ensemble and speak to its audience.

For more information about Profiles and its 22nd Season, visit www.profilestheatre.org.

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