The Artistic Home SUMMER ON THE PATIO Series To Offer Free Workshop Productions And Open Rehearsals Of Three Plays

The Artistic Home is inviting the public to share in their process of play selection this summer by offering free admission each weekend to staged readings and open rehearsals of three contemporary plays. Dubbed SUMMER ON THE PATIO, the series will include the plays MUD by María Irene Fornés, a contemporary classic delving into poverty and emancipatory feminism that is ultimately undercut; IRONBOUND by Martyna Majok, an intimate story of an immigrant woman's fight to survive in the United States; and THE PAVILION by Craig Wright, an existential treatise on ordinary life, rife with poetry and humor.

Virtual "table read" rehearsals via Zoom began in early June and will continue through the end of the month. All are invited to view these table reads via links that are listed on the company's website at www.theartistichome.org. In July, the series will move to the company's new space at 3054 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the Avondale/Logan neighborhood. Audiences can view rehearsals in-person at the space as the artists block the scripts. In August, staged readings will be presented at the space throughout the month. Rehearsals and performances will be on Fridays for MUD, on Saturdays for IRONBOUND, and on Sundays for THE PAVILION. Full schedule is listed below and at www.theartistichome.org.

As these events are "work-in-progress" rehearsals and workshop performances, we request that journalists not review any of the events.

MUD will be directed by Diego Ramos and performed by ensemble members Ernest Henton, Karla Corona, and Scott Westerman; and Linnea Groh will be Stage Manager. Artistic Associate Lauren Valice will direct ensemble member and 2020 Jeff Award winner (for the company's ADA AND THE ENGINE) Brookelyn Hebert along with guest artists David Goodloe, Daniel Shtivelberg, and Jackson Maldonado, in IRONBOUND; and Dakota Periset will be Stage Manager. Julian Hester will helm fellow ensemble members Kristin Collins, Todd Wojcik, and John Mossman in THE PAVILION. Hester's team will also include Melodi Thomas as Stage Manager and Steven Cooper as Assistant Director.

Associate Artistic Director Kayla Adams says, " We are excited to welcome audiences back to the theatre with our Summer on the Patio series! During the lockdown, we read countless plays together as an ensemble, and have chosen three contemporary scripts to spend the summer workshopping. As part of our commitment to being better neighbors and getting to know our new community, the entire rehearsal process will be open to the public, and performances will be free to all."

Prior to moving to 3054 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the Avondale/Logan neighborhood, The Artistic Home had been located for several years at 1376 W. Grand Avenue in Chicago. The company's lease at that location had expired in the months just before the pandemic began and the company was able to use the quarantine time to plan its move to the Milwaukee Avenue space.

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