THE NIGHT SEASON Makes Its Chicago Premiere 9/8-10/17 At The Theatre Building Chicago

VITALIST THEATRE and PREMIERE THEATRE & PERFORMANCE present the Chicago Premiere of THE NIGHT SEASON, by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz. Press Opening is scheduled for Tuesday, September 8, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., Theatre Building Chicago. Tickets are now on sale for The Night Season, running through Saturday, October 17, 2009.

On a rooftop in Sligo, Ireland, three heartsick sisters yearn for love. Below, their broken Da-the man who would be Lear-chases his visions and his demons, while their dotty Granny curses and dances. When a film star from the States arrives to play the poet Yeats in a biopic being filmed in town, the world beneath their Irish moon turns upside-down. The Night Season is a funny and ferocious praisesong to the search for love.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a playwright, poet, and actress. Her first play Soho: A Tale of Table Dancers won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival, while her second play The Night Season won the 2004 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright and was premiered on the Cottesloe stage at the National Theatre. Lenkiewicz's other plays include Shoreditch Madonna, Blue Moon Over Poplar, a new adaptation of Stravinski's The Soldier's Tale, and Her Naked Skin, which premiered in 2008 on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre, making her the first living female playwright to have an original play produced on the Olivier stage.

Drawing upon Vitalist's distinctive fusion of resonant narrative and compelling physical theatre, Artistic Director Elizabeth Carlin-Metz builds upon her acclaimed productions of The Mill of the Floss, The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol, King Lear, Anna Karenina, Mother Courage and Her Children (three 2007 Chicago After Dark Awards), A Passage to India (2008 After Dark winner, 2008 Jeff Recommended), and last season's world premiere of Anung's First American Christmas to direct this Chicago Premiere.

The ensemble features returning Vitalist artists Don Bender (King Lear) as Patrick, Mary O'Dowd (A Passage to India) as the dotty grandmother, Kelly Lynn Hogan (Mother Courage and Her Children, Anna Karenina, King Lear, and Vitalist inaugural member), Eden Newmark (Anung's First American Christmas), and newcomer Vanessa Greenway as the sisters. Jared Fernley plays the American movie star John and Paul Dunckel performs Gary, the faithful swain. The design team includes Craig Choma (Scenic Design, Anung's First American Christmas, A Passage to India, Anna Karenina), Richard Norwood (Lighting Design, A Passage to India, Mother Courage and Her Children, Anna Karenina), Gregor Mortis (Sound Design, Anung's First American Christmas, A Passage to India, Anna Karenina, Mother Courage and Her Children), Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Design, Anung's First American Christmas, A Passage to India, Mother Courage and Her Children) and Charlie Alves (Videography).

Show Times are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors and students. For information and reservations please call Theatre Building Chicago Box Office: 773-327-5252. Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more by calling Group Sales, 347-804-6509.

The Night Season contains strong language, adult situations and brief nudity.

THE NIGHT SEASON
Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz

September 8-October 17, 2009
at the Theatre Building Chicago
1225 West Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL
Box Office: 773-327-5252
Tickets also available from Ticketmaster
1-800-982-2787
www.ticketmaster.com

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursdays 7:30 p.m.
Fridays 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays 7:30 p.m.
Sundays 2:00 p.m.

TICKET PRICES
$25 adult ticket
$20 student or senior ticket
Group discounts available for 10 or more by calling 347-804-6509

ENSEMBLE
Don Bender as Patrick; Paul Dunckel as Gary; Jared Fernley as John; Vanessa Greenway as Judith; Kelly Lynn Hogan as Rose; Eden Newmark as Maude; Mary O'Dowd as Lily.

DESIGN TEAM
Craig Choma, Scenic Design; Gregor Mortis, Sound Design; Richard Norwood, Lighting Design; Rachel Sypniewski, Costume Design; and Charlie Alves, Videography.

ABOUT VITALIST THEATRE
Vitalist Theatre is dedicated to theatre that challenges us as artists and audience to lead a considered life. We choose plays from a wide spectrum of dramatic literature for content and context: ideas that are explored viscerally, are relevant, and which move us. It is the space in between our perception of reality and reality itself that we seek to explore and make manifest. www.vitalisttheatre.org

ABOUT PREMIERE THEATRE & PERFOMANCE
The mission of Premiere Theatre & Performance (PTAP) is to present new plays and original performance by directors of vision and originality. PTAP creates a home for stage directors, in an environment that encourages development, creativity and artistic integrity. www.ptapchicago.org