Shattered Globe Theatre Announces 2011-2012 Season

Shattered Globe Theatre Company turns 20 this season and marks this notable milestone with an exciting move to Stage 773 as a Resident Company.

Stage 773 is located at 1225 West Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

The move not only coincides with the Company's 20th Anniversary Season, but also reflects the continued rejuvenation of SGT under Artistic Director Roger Smart. The year-long celebration will pay homage to SGT's illustrious history, while pointing to the theatre's evolving artistic vision. In addition to a "Greatest Hits" series of staged readings, beginning on October 23rd, Shattered Globe will present a reimagining of the Tennessee Williams', Orpheus Descending, directed by guest artist Julieanne Ehre, and the Midwest Premiere of Her Naked Skin by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, directed by Roger Smart, during their 2011-2012 Season.

Artistic Director Roger Smart says, "SGT's 20th Anniversary season reflects both the theatre's history and its future, with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tennessee Williams' - a playwright with whom the theatre has a long association - and the production of the first full length play written by a woman to be seen on the Olivier stage at The National Theatre in London, illustrating SGT's expanding global perspective. While both plays are dynamic and entertaining, and while both plays are love stories, they also pose challenging questions that are very much questions of today." Of the move to Stage 773, SGT Managing Director Doug McDade says, "This is a solid fit. Mutually beneficial for both Shattered Globe and Stage 773, whose vision runs parallel to SGT's."

Orpheus Descending will open Friday, February 10th and Her Naked Skin on Friday, May 4th, at Stage 773. Tickets are $18 - $34 for the Main Stage series, and $12 for the "Greatest Hits" staged reading series with group, industry and student discounts available. Subscriptions are available for the Main Stage series ($60), all five "Greatest Hits" ($35) or a combination ($85). For more information, or to purchase tickets, please call the Stage 773 Box Office at 773-327-5252 or visit www.shatteredglobe.org.

The 2011-2012 Season at Shattered Globe 2.0

Orpheus Descending, inspired by the Greek myth, features a young, charismatic musician who descends on a small, repressive Southern town. There, he forms a relationship with a passionate woman who has a tragic past and is trapped in a loveless marriage. Williams' story of loneliness and desire, sexuality and repression and the ever-present longing for freedom continues to shock and entertain audiences 50 years after its debut.

Of Her Naked Skin, set against the backdrop of the women's suffrage movement in England in 1913 - the London critics said: "This is a big play with a big heart and I recommend it with a matching warmth." Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph. "Really, what we have is a classic English love affair: class, cowardice and cruelties." The Sunday Times. "Lenkiewicz...explor[es] the hunger for political and personal emancipation that fuelled the suffragette movement in 1913...her play colonises this daunting space with bravura confidence." Michael Billington, The Guardian.

SGT 2.0 will open their season on October 2nd in the Stage 773 Cabaret Theater with a staged reading by our senior ensemble member and two-time Jeff Award Winning Actor, Maury Cooper and Paul Condylis, entitled Two Public Enemies. A presentation taken from Bertolt Brecht's Galileo and Henrik Ibsen's Enemy of the People adapted by Arthur Miller, it is a chilling reminder of the forces that continuously threaten to shatter our world today.

For the "Greatest Hits" series, the company will present four of their most popular works from the last 20 years, all of which ran for 6 months or more when they were first produced by Shattered Globe. These staged readings will be performed in the Stage 773 Cabaret Theater: Judgment at Nuremburg on October 23; The Manchurian Candidate on November 20; Talk Radio on December 18; and A View From the Bridge on January 22, 2012. The readings will feature a significant number of the original cast members and will be directed by the original directors.

About Shattered Globe Theatre
Shattered Globe Theatre was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street 20 years ago. Since then, SGT has produced more than 60 plays, including 9 American and World premieres, garnered an impressive 42 Jeff Awards and 97 Jeff Award Nominations as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. Shattered Globe presents an eclectic mix of plays, intimate character driven selections, which speak to the universal aspect of what it means to be a part of the human experience.

About Stage 773
Stage 773 operates a multi-theatre performing arts venue that serves our community through the arts. We strive to offer support to artists as they develop their voices and talents. We provide rehearsal and performance space, our knowledge and experience, and a nurturing environment to help actors, directors, designers, writers and other artists reach their potential. We remember every day that art is transformative - whether we make someone laugh hysterically or consider the world in a new way, whether our work brings people to tears of empathy or joy - and that the artists and audiences who entrust themselves to us, for an evening or for years, create that shared experience.