Rivendell Theatre's 2014-15 Season to Include WOMEN AT WAR, RASHEEDA SPEAKING & More

By: Oct. 09, 2014
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Rivendell Theatre Ensemble announces its 2014-15 Season, opening with ensemble member Megan Carney's WOMEN AT WAR directed by Artistic Director Tara Mallen; the World Premiere of Look We Are Breathing by Laura Jacqmin, directed by Megan Schuchman; the remount of Rasheeda Speaking written by Joel Drake Johnson, and directed by Sandy Shinner in the Steppenwolf Garage; and the Midwest Premiere Catherine Trieschmann's How the World Began.

WOMEN AT WAR, Look We Are Breathing and How the World Began will be performed at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, located at 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago. Rasheeda Speaking will be performed in the Steppenwolf Garage, 1624 N. Halsted St.

The Rivendell 2014-15 season is:

WOMEN AT WAR
Written by ensemble member Megan Carney
Directed by Artistic Director Tara Mallen
November 5, 2014-December 6, 2014
Press Opening Saturday November 8, 2014

As a debate rages over whether females should serve on the frontlines, more women are being sent into active combat zones than ever before. Woven from first-person interviews with women who have laid their lives on the front lines, Women at War is the result of four years of intensive research and development. Working closely with veterans and organizations, Megan Carney explores the multifaceted world of women who serve - from enlistment to deployment to the often complicated return home.

The World Premiere of
Look, we are breathing
Written by Laura Jacqmin
Directed by Megan Shuchman
April 2-May 16, 2015
Press Opening: Saturday, April 11, 2015

Those who die young are mourned for their lost potential. But Mike, a high school hockey player who gets drunk and crashes his car before the play begins, did not show much potential. As they learn to grieve, his mother Alice, his AP English teacher Leticia, and Caylee (who had a crush on Mike for years), try to learn who Mike truly was and who he might have become. The three women realize that the day-to-day moments the missed or ignored may show they were wrong about their initial feelings toward Mike.

Rasheeda Speaking
Written by Joel Drake Johnson
Directed by Sandy Shinner
Featuring Artistic Director Tara Mallen, Eric Slater and Steppenwolf ensemble member Ora Jones
Presented in the Steppenwolf Garage, 1624 N. Halsted
May 30-June 28, 2015
Press Opening: Saturday, June 6, 2015

After a critically-acclaimed and sold-out run and a 2014 Jeff nomination for Best New Work, Rasheeda Speaking is remounted in the Steppenwolf Garage, directed by returning director Sandy Shiner and featuring Rivendell Artistic Director Tara Mallen, Rivendell ensemble member Eric Slater and Steppenwolf ensemble member Ora Jones. A doctor, uncomfortable with his black receptionist, enlists the aid of his office manager to get rid of her. Tensions rise as relations between the two women deteriorate. With his trademark wit and incisive humor, Joel Drake Johnson mines the subtleties of "post-racial" America to explore what we are really saying when we refuse to talk about race.

The Steppenwolf Garage is dedicated to emerging artists and new plays and audiences for the American theater. It offers artists the opportunity to present their work with the scale, space and resources it merits. For audiences, it provides opportunities to engage in multigenerational conversation about the new, provocative work emerging from Chicago's diverse and vibrant theater scene.

The Midwest Premiere of
How the World Began
Written by Catherine Trieschmann
Featuring RTE ensemble member Rebecca Spence
September 3-October 17, 2015
Press Opening: Saturday, September 19, 2015

Religion and science collide in a visceral examination of the way in which we navigate interpersonal relationships involving seemingly irreconcilable beliefs - and just how hard it is to truly listen to one another in an increasingly polarized world. Looking to rebuild her fractured life, high school biology teacher Susan relocates from New York City to a small Kansas town reeling in the aftermath of a devastating tornado. Ready for more than a little culture shock, Susan finds herself unprepared for the firestorm that engulfs the town after she makes an off-handed comment about the origin of the universe.



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