Sideshow Theatre Announces Artistic Residency

Sideshow Theatre Company has announced they will be offering a nine-month artistic residency to Chicago-based playwright Preston Choi. Through the residency, Sideshow will provide Choi with artistic and dramaturgical support as he develops his full-length play Drive-In to the End of the World. The residency will culminate in March 2022 with a reading of Choi's final script. This residency strengthens the existing artistic partnership between Sideshow Theatre and Choi, who had previously been selected to participate in Sideshow's new-play development program, "The Freshness Initiative."

Artistic Director Regina Victor expressed their excitement for Sideshow's continued partnership with Choi, "Preston originally joined us in collaboration for The Freshness, but as many of us have experienced, quarantine and working remotely have drastically altered the process. We have instead decided to innovate and devise a residency that would once again center this talented playwright, whom we are fortunate to host. This was a thrilling opportunity to take a step back from the capitalist mindset and center ourselves in practices of process over product and the limitless potential world-building of Black Radical Imagination."

Award-winning director Marti Lyons will serve as Choi's primary mentor through the residency. Together, Marti Lyons and Regina Victor will collaborate with Choi and offer feedback and insight on each incoming draft. Additionally, Choi will participate in regular script consultations with Sideshow Ensemble members and friends of the company for a diversity of perspectives on the piece.

Sideshow will also present the final two installments of its digital House Party Series featuring Fabuloso! by Makasha Copeland streaming Friday, August 20, 2021 at 7 pm CST and The Whisperer's Apprentice by Walt McGough streaming Friday, September 17, 2021 at 7 pm CST. Both events will be streamed on Sideshow's Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/sideshowtheatre. Tickets are pay-what-you-can (suggested donation of $10) and can be purchased online at www.sideshowtheatre.org.

The creative team of Fabuloso! includes Micah Figueroa (Director), Jeremy Pesigan (Dramaturg), Adelina Feldman-Schultz (Casting director) and Estrellita Edwell (Stage Manager).

Armed with all-purpose cleaner and the resilience of that cockroach from Wall-E, three maids and a middle-schooler are tasked with removing the stains from Oak Hill Resort. When their boss is found dead in the master suite, this cleaning crew must launch their own investigation. Who killed whomst, and who gives a sh*t?

The creative team of The Whisperer's Apprentice includes Sydney Charles (Director), Catherine Miller (Casting Director) and Estrellita Edwell (Stage Manager).

In a world where storytelling is magic, an ancient kingdom is collapsing. Two young siblings go searching for the one woman who could help stave off chaos, but she is hiding in the forest, haunted by regrets. Will the tale that shapes the world finally break, once and for all? The Whisperer's Apprentice is a magical, theatrical exploration of who wields power in the stories we tell, and what it costs them to maintain it.

As a companion event to this reading, playwright Walt McGough will lead a group of hale and hearty Sideshow artists through a weekly, and completely ridiculous campaign of Dungeons & Dragons Live Stream, produced by Bo Frazier. Capturing a different (and dice-rolling) kind of magic, this three-session campaign will immerse audiences in an exciting, serialized new form of collaborative storytelling, and highlight just how much is possible when some of the best artists in the city work together to save the world. The campaign will start the week following The Whisperer's Apprentice; dates to be announced soon. For additional information, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org.

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