Saint Sebastian Players Announce Upcoming Season: MEASURE FOR MEASURE, LEFTIES and More

The Saint Sebastian Players announce the company's 32nd season-opening with an American classic, continuing with a world premiere and concluding with Shakespeare.

The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney opens the season October 19–November 11, 2012. Featuring a small ensemble of actors playing 57 diverse characters, the play is, according to Gurney, an "anthropological study" of upper middle class "WASPs" from a time gone by. The 18 scenes are both poignant and funny: families "meet to eat, converse, quarrel, make up and do all the other myriad activities of American family life" during the mid-20th century.

SSP presents the world premiere of Lefties by Lee Johnson of Aurora, Illinois, running February 15–March 10, 2013. This drama primarily examines the relationship of a father and son: one an immigrant from Russia, the other a native-born American. Although a father's influence over his son is strong, sooner or later the boy becomes a teen and then a man with his own ideals and philosophies. Will the influence of capitalism destroy a family bond or can the love of baseball remain a constant to keep these two men together?

Measure for Measure, which runs April 26–May 19, 2013, is one of William Shakespeare's most intriguing, provocative works. To investigate the moral decay in his community, the Duke of Vienna disguises himself as a friar and empowers his trusted deputy Angelo to rule in his "absence." Resorting to an old law against fornication to enforce his strict standards of morality, Angelo condemns Claudio for impregnating his beloved Juliet. When Claudio's sister Isabella, in training to become a nun, pleads for her brother's life, Angelo hypocritically uses his power to try to blackmail Isabella into his bed. As Isabella confronts an impossible decision, a clever plot emerges, leading to several surprising twists and a measure of justice for all.

SSP began producing theatre in 1982 at its original home, the St. Sebastian parish, located at the corner of Halsted Street and Wellington Avenue on Chicago's North Side. When the parish closed, SSP relocated to its current home, St. Bonaventure, at 1625 W. Diversey. During its history, the company has produced original and previously produced dramas, comedies and musicals; original audience-participation murder mysteries for special events; and the Monologue Matchup Competition, as well as provided support for smaller Sebastian Studio Projects produced by company members.

Performances of each production are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey, at Marshfield just west of Ashland, in Chicago. Free parking is available in two lots. Subscription packages for the three-play season are $30, $20 for seniors. Full-priced single tickets are $15, $10 for students with valid IDs and $7 for seniors and children younger than 12. Group rates also are available.

All programming is subject to change. For information, call 773-404-7922 or visit saintsebastianplayers.org.

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