Strawdog Offers Fully Accessible Performance of FAIL/SAFE at Victory Gardens Tonight

Strawdog Theatre Company, Hugen Hall and Victory Gardens' Access Project, announce a fully accessible performance of the world premiere of Strawdog Theatre's Hugen Hall production of Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler's Fail/Safe, adapted for the stage by ensemble members Nikki Klix and Anderson Lawfer, tonight, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m., direction by Anderson Lawfer, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, in the Prince Charitable Trust Rehearsal Room, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. This performance will be fully wheelchair accessible. Audio description, open captioning and a touch tour of elements from the production will also be provided. Immediately following that night's performance there will be a post show talk back with the playwright and director. This performance is $15 with reservations requested. Reservations may be made at boxoffice@strawdog.org or 773.528.9696. The performance schedule for the production running through October 14 at Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N. Broadway St., is Sundays at 12 p.m. and Sundays-Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Single tickets are $15 and are currently on sale. Subscriptions, group, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866.811.4111.

Critics and audiences alike have lauded this world premiere production. Fail/Safe is a political thriller where a system failure threatens to trigger World War III, adapted from the acclaimed 1964 film. As time runs out, the president of the United States and his advisors scramble to find a strategy that will save the planet from total annihilation.

"We're excited to welcome Strawdog Theatre into our access programming here at Victory Gardens Theater. Through this collaboration with the Access Project, the disability community is not only able to experience the richness of another theater company committed to new plays, but are able to do so in our wheelchair accessible performance and rehearsal spaces," said Victory Gardens Artistic Director Chay Yew.

The cast includes Strawdog ensemble members Carmine Grisolia and Tom Hickey with guest artists Mark Pracht, Conor Burke, Stuart Ritter, Brian Amidei, Lee Russell, Joe Mack, Jim Heatherly, and Dave Skvarla.

The production team also includes Strawdog Company members Mike Mroch, set design; Jordan Kardasz, light designer; Heath Hays, sound designer; Kyle Hamman, projection design; with guest artists Elizabeth Lovelady, assistant director/dramaturg; Anthony DeMarco, stage manager; Rebecca Grossman, production manager and Delia Ridenour, costume design.

ABOUT FAIL/SAFE

Fail/Safe is the best selling novel from the team of Burdick and Wheeler originally published in 1962. The story was initially serialized in three installments in the Saturday Evening Post on October 13, 20, and 27, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The popular and critically acclaimed novel was adapted in a 1964 movie, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, Dan O' Herlihy and Walter Matthau. In 2000, the novel was adapted for television and aired in black and white with an introduction by Walter Cronkite and starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Richard Dreyfuss and Noah Wyle. The book so closely resembled the 1958 novel Red Alert by Peter George, which was adapted by George and Stanley Kubrick into Dr. Strangelove, that George filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement. The case was settled out of court.