Stage Left Theatre Announces 29th Season: What does it mean to be Strong?, 10/19

Stage Left Theatre (SLT) is pleased to announce the programming for its 29th season, which also marks its first season as one of the resident companies at Theater Wit and the first full season under new Artistic Director Vance Smith.

Maintaining it's commitment to developing and producing new work, Stage Left will open Season 29 with the world premiere of Kingsville by Andrew Hinderaker. Kingsville was developed through Stage Left's Downstage Left program, received a workshop production as part of LeapFest 6, and was recently named a finalist for the prestigious Newman/Woodward Award.

Our second production will be Arthur Miller's adaptation of Henrik Ibsens's An Enemy of the People, Stage Left's first revival of this sort since 2002. This selection reflects an expanded vision of Stage Left's programming, stemming from discussions amongst the ensemble and reflecting Smith's vision of Stage Left, which blends productions of world and regional premieres, with timely revivals of classic scripts that serve our mission of raising social and political debate.

About this pairing, Smith says, "Both of these plays ask: 'What does it mean to be strong?' This is an extremely potent question, given our nation's shifting place in the world community and the divisive political climate that surrounds it. We look forward to engaging our audience in meaningful dialogue with these exciting productions."

ABOUT THE PLAYS

Kingsville
by Andrew Hinderaker, directed by Artistic Director Vance Smith
October 19 - November 21, 2010

The day after the Virginia Tech shooting, radio shows were flooded with calls from listeners, repeating the same argument, over and over: if the students had only been armed, the shooter would've been killed and no one else would have died. Kingsville dares to explore whether maybe, just maybe, those callers had a point. In a hypothetical America where children legally carry guns to class, one teacher must choose between opposing a policy he abhors and putting his own son at risk.

Andrew Hinderaker is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists and a nominee for the 2010 New Voices in American Playwriting Award. Notable recognitions include Finalist/Semi-Finalist status at Sundance, PlayLabs, the Princess Grace Award, the Heideman Award, and the Austin Film Festival. His plays have been produced or developed in New York, Los Angeles, and throughout his hometown of Chicago, at such theaters as Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, American Theater Company, the side project, and many others. His play, Suicide, Incorporated was selected for development at the 2008 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and will premiere at Chicago's The Gift Theatre in June 2010. Hinderaker holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from Stanford University and is currently pursuing his M.F.A. in Playwriting at the University of Texas in Austin.

An Enemy of the People
by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Arthur Miller, directed by ensemble member Jason Fleece
March 1 - April 3, 2011

What happens when one man's quest to do right is at odds with the best interests of his community? Can reason and science win out over rumor and fear? Arthur Miller asks these timeless questions in his powerful adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic, An Enemy of the People. When Dr. Stockmann makes a literally poisonous discovery, his brother, the Mayor, begins a war of innuendo and half-truths that threatens to tear their family-and their community-apart.

LeapFest 8
June 14 - July 2, 2011
For 8 straight years, LeapFest has been presenting new plays about to "take the leap" towards production in a three week workshop festival. Five plays, each fitting Stage Left's mission of spurring debate on political or social topics, are each presented in rotating repertory, with each performance followed by a discussion with the playwright and director. The festival serves as both a final developmental step for each play, as well as a potential launching board to send those plays on to World Premieres. See what's next in Chicago Theatre!

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Founded in 1982, Stage Left Theatre is committed to nurturing voices for the American theatre by developing and producing plays that raise debate and challenge perspectives on political and social issues.

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