The Gift Theatre to Produce 'W;T'

Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton and Executive Director Daniel J. Ahlfeld proudly announce Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, W;t, to run at The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., May 29-July 6, 2008. The press opening is Monday, June 2, 2008, at 7:30 p.m.

A portion of ticket sales for each Thursday evening show will be donated on behalf of The Gift Theatre to Gilda's Club Chicago, which provides support programs and a network of emotional and social support through meeting places for men, women and children living with cancer, along with their families and friends. 
 
"This is a very personal story for me, as cancer has been an all too often visitor to friends and family. W;t deals with the huge matters of life and death with an intelligence, humour, beauty, and economy that is unparalleled," says Thornton. "We're honored to have this Pulitzer Prize winner on our stage and with ensemble members John Gawlik, Alexandra Main, and Kenny Mihlfried collaborating, it's in prodigiously gifted hands."

Vivian is a brilliant professor of English poetry, a renowned scholar, and a demanding teacher. But a painful experimental treatment for cancer will force her on a quest for spiritual strength. Armed only with her wit, she will venture far beyond her intellectual frontier to conquer death and, in the process, life.

Margaret Edson's W;t was awarded the Pulitzer, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Drama Desk Award, among many others. W;t premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1995 and continued its run at Long Wharf. It had its off-Broadway premiere at MCC with Kathleen Chalfont and moved to Union Square Theatre where Judith Light eventually replaced Chalfont. The play was produced as an HBO film, directed by Mike Nichols, featuring Emma Thompson, and won Emmys for Directing and Outstanding Made for Television Movie and a prestigious Peabody Award.

The production features Gift ensemble members Alexandra Main (Vivian Bearing) and Kenny Mihlfried (Dr. Jason Posner), with Anna Carini (Susie Monahan), Patricia Donegan (E.M Ashford), Ted Jonas (Lab Tech and others), Nick Mikula (Lab Tech and others), Caroline Kingsley Rau (Lab Tech and others), Chuck Spencer (Dr. Harvey Kelekian and Mr. Bearing), and Eliza Stoughton (Lab Tech and others). The production is directed by John Gawlik. The design team includes Courtney O'Neill (scenic), Miles Polaski (sound), John Horan (lighting), and Branimira Ivanova (costume). Dr. Jerry Gawlik is the medical consultant. The stage manager is Sarah Luse.

W;t runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., May 29-July 6, 2008. Tickets are $20-$25 and are available through the Gift Theatre box office, (773) 283-7071 or www.gifttheatre.org. The Gift Theatre is conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood—two storefronts north of Lawrence, on the west side of Milwaukee—and is easily accessible by the Kennedy Expressway, the Lawrence and Milwaukee buses, and the CTA Blue Line. 

For the first time in its 7 year history, The Gift is running two shows simultaneously. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is running at The Gift Theatre through May 18, 2008, and will reopen on June 12, 2008, in a co-production with Victory Gardens at The Greenhouse, 2257 N. Lincoln. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot will run through July 20 (no performances July 10-13), Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Since its 2002 debut, The Gift has consistently established itself as an actors' theatre, eschewing directorial cleverness for honest, powerful connections between the actors and the audience. 

The Gift Theatre is the only professional theatre company in the working class neighborhood of Jefferson Park. As one of Chicago's most exciting theatre companies, The Gift is marked by acting of the highest caliber with continual training in The Lab, and an emphasis on an ensemble approach to making theatre. Recent generous support has been provided by Driehaus Foundation, the Donnelley Foundation, The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Illinois Arts Council.   

W;t
Playwright:    Margaret Edson
Director:        John Gawlik
Featuring:     Ensemble members Alexandra Main and Kenny Mihlfried, with Anna Carini, Patricia Donegan, Ted Jonas, Nick Mikula, Caroline Kingsley Rau, Chuck Spencer, and Eliza Stoughton
Dates:           May 29-July 6, 2008
Location:     The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee
Curtain times:    Thurs-Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets:    (773) 283-7071; www.gifttheatre.org
$20 (Thursdays and Sundays)
$25 (Fridays and Saturdays)

PORTION OF TICKET SALES TO BENEFIT GILDA'S CLUB

NOTES OF INTEREST

•    Margaret Edson won the Pulitzer Prize for W;t in 1999. W;t was inspired by Edson's two-year stint as a unit clerk at an AIDS-oncology research hospital in Washington D.C. Despite her newfound fame as a playwright, she is now fully dedicated to teaching elementary school in Atlanta and does not intend to write another play.

•    W;t was awarded the Pulitzer, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Drama Desk Award. The play was produced as an HBO film, directed by Mike Nichols, featuring Emma Thompson, and won Emmys for Directing and Outstanding Made for Television Movie and a prestigious Peabody Award.

•    A portion of ticket sales for each Thursday evening show will be donated on behalf of The Gift Theatre to Gilda's Club Chicago, which provides support programs and a network of emotional and social support through meeting places for men, women and children living with cancer, along with their families and friends. For more information, www.gildasclubchicago.org.

•    Director John Gawlik is a Gift Theatre ensemble member and the Artistic Director of Noble Fool Theatricals. He has directed at Noble Fool, Collaboraction, Metropolis, among many others. At The Gift, he helmed the Jeff Award-winning production of The Good Thief, as well as Blithe Spirit and Pavilion.

•    Alexandra Main (Vivian Bearing) has appeared in many productions at the Gift, along with other theaters throughout Chicago. With The Gift, she is spearheading an ongoing effort to develop an arts-in-therapy program that will feature an interactive production of The Frog Prince for children at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

•    Dr. Jerry Gawlik is serving as medical consultant to the production. He is the father of director John Gawlik and an M.D. who spends his professional time providing care management for people with multiple chronic illnesses. He has spent most of his career practicing medicine as an oncologist in the western suburbs.

•    Lighting designer John Horan is the recipient of the first-ever Apollo Design Technology Standing O Award for excellence in lighting design and the winner of the 2007 USITT Rising Star Award, sponsored by Live Design and LDI 2007.

•    The Gift continues to deepen its commitment to the idea of 'ensemble' by training together on an ongoing basis. Previous and future instructors in The Lab—an ensemble-only forum dedicated to artistic growth and exploration—include Sheldon Patinkin, Jeff Perry, and Dr. Eric Forsythe.

•    The educational program of The Gift Theatre Company, GiftEd., continues its work at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) by combining theater and speech therapy to combat pediatric oral aversion. GiftEd also works with Chicago Public Schools to stage world premieres and established plays for students.  

•    The Gift is in the planning stages for its first feature-length project under its film division, giftFILM.
 

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