Profiles Theatre Presents JAILBAIT, 8/27-10/17

Profiles Theatre opens its 2010-2011 Season with the Midwest Premiere of the acclaimed new play Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus. The production runs August 27 - October 17, 2010, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway.  The press opening is Wednesday, September 1, 2010, at 8:00 p.m.
 
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.
 
"We're very pleased to bring this witty and perceptive new play to Chicago audiences," says Artistic Director Joe Jahraus.  "Deirdre is a wonderfully talented playwright who tells her story naturally and truthfully.  It's a funny, yet painfully real look at teens who desperately wish they could grow up quicker and the regrets of disillusioned adults who long to be young again."
The cast of Jailbait features Profiles' ensemble member Eric Burgher (Body Awareness, Graceland) as Robert.  The cast also includes Rae Gray (Summer People at The Gift Theatre) as Claire, Zoe Levin (Trust at Lookinglass Theatre) as Emmy and Shane Kenyon (The Tallest Man at Artistic Home) as Mark.
 
The designers are Sotirios Livaditis (set), Jessica Harpenau (lights), Melissa Ng (costumes), and Jeffrey Levin (sound and original music).  The assistant director is Sean Kelly and the stage manager is Corey Weinberg.