SILENCIO Announces Projects For 2019

SILENCIO, a theatre company making site-specific projects in Chicago, announces two brand-new projects that will be debuting in 2019. Both productions will be Midwest premieres.

In September, SILENCIO will produce the Midwest premiere of HOME INVASION by Christopher Chen (Caught, Passage, The Late Wedding), a sci-fi noir set in real living rooms in Chicago. Jane's sister has been murdered and a detective has been sent to investigate - meanwhile, something watches from the shadows. Christopher Chen deconstructs film-noir tropes and the DIY-house-play to create a mind-bending exploration of how well you can truly know the people you love. The production will be directed by Sammy Zeisel, who previously directed Christopher Chen's The Late Wedding with The Neighborhood and John Michael Colgin's Meatball Seance with Steppenwolf's Lookout Series. Cast includes Ella Pennington, Ann James, and Caleb Fullen. Space and lighting design by Simean Carptenter, costume design by Alexis Chaney, and sound design by Sam Graves. The play will be produced in several Chicago apartments for 10 performances from September 7th through September 22nd.

In December, SILENCIO will produce the Midwest premiere of THE DOG, THE NIGHT, AND THE KNIFE by Marius von Mayenburg (Martyr, The Ugly One) and translated by Maja Zade, a surreal nightmare play about guilt and identity. After a dinner with friends, M finds himself in a frightening world he doesn't recognize. The clocks are all stuck at 5:05am, wolves roam the city, the hospital is filled with sand, and people are eating each other to stay alive. Is tenderness possible in a world that's given itself over to unfettered hunger? This production will be directed by Silencio artistic director Michael Rogerson, who previously directed Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs for SILENCIO. Cast includes Tom DeFrancisco and Sophie Neff, with space and lighting design by Sean Gundersen, and movement design by Collin Quinn Rice. The play will be produced in a TBA site-specific space in Chicago for 12 performances from December 5th through December 22nd.

SILENCIO generates a small number of personal site-specific projects every year. SILENCIO works outside of theatrical spaces because it removes elements that would conventionally be givens, and forces the company to interrogate its choices: Why a set? Why lights? Why an audience? SILENCIO hopes that that through this process its audiences and creative teams will be pushed beyond their assumptions into something that feels liberating and brand-new. For more information about SILENCIO, visit www.silenciochicago.com

PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Marshall. Pictured, Sophie Neff (L) and Tom DeFrancisco (R), in SILENCIO's 2018 production of Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs.