TOM & ELIZA And EVERY BRILLIANT THING Set for TUTA Theatre Summer Repertory

TUTA Theatre, which began its post-pandemic production in 2024 with the Jeff award-winning ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE, followed by the critically acclaimed THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER, has announced a two-play repertory of recent plays for summer 2025.

The summer rep will begin on June 26 with the Chicago Premiere of TOM & ELIZA by Celine Song, whose directorial film debut PAST LIVES (2023) received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. TUTA Co-Artistic Director Aileen Wen McGroddy will direct. The following week, EVERY BRILLIANT THING, a one-character play by British theatre artists Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahoe that incorporates extensive audience participation will begin performances, under the direction of TUTA Co-Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone. The two plays will be performed in repertory through mid-August at TUTA Theatre, 4670 N. Manor Avenue, Chicago.
 
TOM & ELIZA, which premiered at Brooklyn New York's JACK theater in 2016, examines a young couple from their ordinary first date toward the end of civilization. In little more than an hour, with no intermission, the two characters use rapid-fire language to chronicle their entire relationship, mercilessly withholding nothing. A teethy battle of wills that centers on obsessions with bathing and book-burning, the play wakens both ecstasy and disgust with life. TUTA Co-Artistic Director Aileen Wen McGroddy, who was Jeff-nominated for her direction of the Jeff Award-winning ensemble of TUTA's ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE in summer 2024, is directing this Chicago premiere.

The two-hander will be played by Clifton Frei and Seoyoung Park, who were both members of the Jeff Award-winning ensemble cast of ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE. Keith Parham, Jeff-nominated for his lighting design of ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE, is Lighting Designer. Tatiana Kahvegian, a 2024 Tony Award nominee for the scenic design of THE OUTSIDERS, is Set and Costume Designer. TOM & ELIZA will open to the press on Sunday, June 29 and Monday, June 30 at 7:30 pm both evenings following previews from June 26. It will play an irregular schedule through August 18.

EVERY BRILLIANT THING, an interactive monologue, was performed for three years at the Edinburgh Festivals and has toured worldwide. It was filmed by HBO during its run at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York City and will receive its London West End premiere in August. The single character of the play is “The Narrator,” who begins the performance by telling the audience how he began the project of creating a list of things to live for at age seven, following a suicide attempt by his mother. The project continued over decades, and as The Narrator describes the key events of his life – like a first kiss, or loss of a pet – the audience is asked to play the roles of the people involved in these important life moments. The result is a play about depression that is joyous and life-affirming.

TUTA Company member Huy Nguyen, who is a featured cast member on the new hit Hulu series DELI BOYS and has appeared with the company in THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER, will play The Narrator. Set and lighting design are by Obie Award-winning designer Keith Parham, who was recently nominated for a Jeff Award for his lighting design of TUTA's ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE. Joe Court is Sound Designer. Nguyen and director Stone are designing costumes and Becky Warner is Stage Manager. EVERY BRILLIANT THING will open to the press on Monday, July 7 and Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 pm, following previews from July 5. It will play an irregular schedule through August 14, 2025.

Seats for all performances of TOM & ELIZA and EVERY BRILLIANT THING can be reserved by purchasing in advance. Prices for all performances (excluding opening nights) are $20,  $45 and $60 (plus a $3.00 per ticket fee). Any seating not reserved in advance will be available the day of the performance for in person, pay-what-you-choose tickets at the door 30 minutes before curtain time.