RABBIT by Nina Raine & More Set for Stage Left's 31st Season

Stage Left Theatre has announced the programming for its 31st season, which will include IMPENETRABLE, PYGMALION, and RABBIT by Nina Raine. The company will offer three mainstage productions for the first time since moving to their current producing venue at Theater Wit.

The season will examine how societal perceptions and expectations of women affect not only how men perceive women, but how women perceive each other and themselves. “A lot of people are surprised that our society is still having the debates about women's rights that have been prominent in this election cycle,” said Vance Smith, Artistic Director of Stage Left Theatre. “It's dispiriting but a clear indication that discussions of gender roles are as relevant as ever.”

The season begins with the world premiere of Impenetrable, which was developed from a synopsis and sample through a Downstage Left Residency in 2010 and appeared in a workshop production in Stage Left's LeapFest 7. Based on actual local events, Impenetrable marks the return of Stage Left regular and emeritus ensemble member Mia McCullough.

Then, in partnership with BoHo Theatre, Stage Left Theatre will present a winter production of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. “For the past two years as a fellow resident company at Theater Wit, we have developed a lot of respect for the artists of BoHo and the consistently high quality of their work. We could not be happier to partner with them on this project that not only serves the mission of both organizations, but also creates ample opportunities for members of both companies,” Smith said.

The third mainstage production is the Chicago premiere of Rabbit by English playwright and director Nina Raine. First produced at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2006, the play earned Raine both the Critics Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Most Promising Newcomer, and was called by Variety, “an instant contender for debut of the year." The company will close out the Season with LeapFest 10, its annual festival of new work.

the world premiere of
Impenetrable
by Mia McCullough
director: ensemble member Greg Werstler
September 1 – October 7, 2012

In a well-to-do Northshore suburb, a local spa causes outrage with a billboard ad featuring a gorgeous woman in a bikini, superimposed with arrows highlighting “problems” and offering “solutions.”

Impenetrable was developed at Stage Left through a Downstage Left Residency in 2010 and appeared in LeapFest 7 under the title The Face of a Ruined Woman. The script earned McCullough an honorable mention in the Jane Chambers Playwriting Contest.

Born and raised in New York, Mia McCullough has been writing plays for 20 years in Chicago. After migrating to Chicagoland to study theatre and creative writing, Mia opted to stay and make Chicago her artistic home. Her plays have been produced in Chicago at Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Taking Care and Spare Change), Chicago Dramatists (Lucinda's Bed and Since Africa), and Stage Left Theatre (Spare Change, Echoes of Another Man, Chagrin Falls, Cyber Serenade ) where she was an ensemble member for many years. Nationally, Mia’s plays have been produced at theaters such as The Old Globe in San Diego, Actor’s Express in Atlanta, The Victory Theatre in Los Angeles, InterAct in Philadelphia, and the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival.

The production will feature Stage Left ensemble member Melanie Derleth (Talya) and guest artists Kamal Hans (Mourad), Jennifer Pompa (Andie), Emi Clark (Julie) Kyle Johnson (Pete), and Kayla Rea (Cari)

a co-production with Boho Theatre
Pygmalion
by George Bernard Shaw
director: Stage Left Artistic Director Vance Smith; associate director: BoHo Associate Artistic Director Peter Robel
January 5 – February, 10 2013

In this classic play that inspired the musical My Fair Lady, dialect expert Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can teach Cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle to pass as a “proper lady.” Stage Left teams with fellow Theater Wit Resident Company Boho Theatre to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first production of this timeless play.

Founded in 2003, Boho Theatre's mission pledges to create theatre that incorporates the arts as a whole – Art for art’s sake, while their artistic goal involves challenging convention through literary originality and eclectic expression while fostering an ever-evolving artistic environment in which people are inspired to learn, think, dream, and feel.

The production will feature Stage Left ensemble members Mouzam Makkar (Eliza Doolittle), Mark Pracht (Alfred Doolittle), Sandy Elias (Pickering), Lisa Herceg (Mrs. Higgins) and Zev Valancy (Ensemble), as well as Boho company members Stephanie Sullivan (Mrs. Pearce), Rebecca Mauldin (Clara), Charles Riffenburg (Freddy) and Anna Hammonds (Ensemble)

the Chicago premiere of
Rabbit
by Nina Raine
April 20 – May 26, 2013

It's Bella's twenty-ninth birthday party: a wild night at the bar where friends can't stand each other, ex-lovers can't let go, and only one person knows the birthday girl's father is dying. Nina Raine's Rabbit is a brutally funny, surprisingly poignant look at how men and women see each other and relate in a world where nobody knows the rules anymore.

After graduating from Oxford, Nina Raine began her career as a trainee director at The Royal Court Theatre. Her debut play, Rabbit, premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2006 and after a sell out run transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End before being produced as part of the Brits Off Broadway festival in New York. The play earned her the Charles Wintour Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright as well as the Critics Circle Award for most Promising Playwright. Her most recent directorial outing took her back to The Royal Court Theatre for Shades, which went on to win Critics Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Most Promising Newcomer. Her most recent play, Tribes received its world premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2010 and earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Play. Tribes received its US premiere at the Barrow Street Theater in New York in March of 2012 under the direction of David Cromer.

LeapFest 10
Summer, 2013

See what’s next in Chicago theatre - LeapFest’s first nine years have so far graduated fifteen plays to world premiere productions in Chicago and beyond, with three of these receiving the Jeff Award for Best New Work. Help us celebrate the tenth anniversary of our new play development festival, which features workshop productions of exciting new plays in rotating repertory.

All performances will take place at Theater Wit: 1229 W Belmont, except for LeapFest 10. The location of LeapFest 10 is TBA.
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Subscriptions to Stage Left Theatre's 31st season are $50 and include admission to all three mainstage productions as well as other advantages such as guaranteed seating and special subscriber-only events. Subscribers will be offered discounted admission to LeapFest 10, but the festival will not be included as a part of the regular subscription season. For more information or to purchase a subscription, patrons should call 773-883-8830 or visit www.stagelefttheatre.com.

Founded in 1982, Stage Left Theatre is committed to developing and producing plays that raise debate and challenge perspectives on political and social issues. Through a full subscription season and our new play development program Downstage Left, Stage Left strives to ask provocative social and political questions by producing a mix of new works, regional premieres and timeless classics.

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