Tickets Now On Sale For Babes With Blades' THE S PARADOX

Babes With Blades Theatre Company's 2024 season will open with The S Paradox, written by Joining Sword & Pen International Playwright Competition and Margaret W. Martin Award Winner Jillian Leff, directed by Morgan Manasa with fight direction by Samantha Kaufman, April 7 - May 18, at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St. Previews are Thursday, April 11 – Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m. and Thursday, April 18 and Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m. The press opening is Saturday, April 20 at 8 p.m. with a performance schedule of Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with select performances available for streaming.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company says why wait for summer for the spy and sci-fi thrillers? Experience the action and mystery this spring with The S Paradox. BWBTC, known for using thrilling stage combat skills as a storytelling tool on Chicago stages for more than 20 years, is jumping down the rabbit hole to see if the character of ‘S' can jump back in time to prevent the wrongs she made as her naïve younger self, Sloane. Complete with an interwoven storyline featuring our protagonist at two very different points in her life, a hilarious tech-nerd sidekick, and the wisdom of Sloane's level-headed, librarian girlfriend, the audience witnesses Sloane as she works with the hope of making positive changes versus what the future is telling her.

“Babes With Blades Theatre Company's audiences have consistently asked for more sci-fi adventures over the years and our new audiences have also embraced these productions,” states Artistic Director Hayley Rice. “Sadly, theater is still suffering from the after effects of the pandemic and audiences are reluctant to venture out on a new script or production that they are not familiar with. However, we hope that BWBTC's reputation for taking risks both with stage combat and with storytelling will remind people why Chicago has continued to be the epicenter of new play development.” 

The ensemble cast of 12 artists includes Elisabeth Del Toro (she/her, Dez); Luz Espinoza (she/her, Dez U/S and Older Dez); Cat Evans (any with respect, Ava); Kayla Marie Klammer (she/her, Sloane); Sonja Lynn Mata (she/her, Older Dez); Deanna Palmer (she/her, Nameless 1, Sloane U/S); Steve Peebles (he/him, William); Jessica Pennachio (she/her, Nameless 2, S U/S); Thomas Russell (he/they, Nameless 4, William U/S); Emily Sturge (she/they, Nameless U/S) Hershey Suri (she/her, Nameless 3, Ava U/S); and Maureen Yasko* (she/her, S.)

The production team includes BWBTC Ensemble Members Line Bower* (they/them, technical director), Jillian Leff* (she/her, playwright) and Morgan Manasa* (she/her, director) as well as Evy Burch (they/her, props designer), Rose Hamill (she/her, production manager), Rose Johnson (they/them, scenic designer); Samantha Kaufman (she/her, fight choreographer), LJ Luthringer (he/him, sound designer); Payton Shearn (she/they, production assistant), Taylor Stageberg (she/they, stage manager); Rachel M. Sypniewski (she/her, costume designer) and Laura J. Wiley (she/her, lighting designer).

*connotes an ensemble member of Babes With Blades Theatre Company.

ABOUT Jillian Leff, PLAYWRIGHT OF THE S PARADOX

Jillian Leff is a Chicago based playwright and actor. In the city, her plays have been produced by The New Coordinates (Small World, co-written with Joe Lino, 2020 Jeff Award Nominee for New Work), The Cuckoo's Theater Project (Missed Opportunities), and The Right Brain Project ((Non)Fiction), while her short plays have been produced by Broken Nose Theatre, Random Acts Chicago and Ghostlight Ensemble, among others. She has a BFA in acting from Ball State University and is an ensemble member with Babes With Blades Theatre Company. 

ABOUT Morgan Manasa, DIRECTOR OF THE S PARADOX

Morgan Manasa, a graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts and Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University, has been a theatremaker in Chicago for the past 20 years. Manasa is an ensemble member of Babes With Blades Theatre Company where she's been seen in their production of Henry V (Fluellen) and Witch Slap! (Goody Blunt). She has directed a handful of one-acts and 10-minute play festivals but made her mainstage directorial debut with Arthur M. Jolly's The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Jeff Recommended) with BWBTC. Most recently she directed JANE: The Abortion Underground with Idle Muse Theatre Ensemble where she also directed In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

ABOUT JOINING SWORD & PEN INTERNATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION AND THE MARGARET W. MARTIN AWARD

The Joining Sword & Pen international playwriting competition launched in 2005 to generate more scripts that featured women in roles involving stage combat.  Created in collaboration with Artistic Advisor and Fight Master in the Society of American Fight Directors David Woolley who sponsors the competition, scripts inspired by a specific image are submitted and go through a blind judging process.  The winning script goes through BWBTC's new play development program, but also receives a full production, cash prize and the Margaret W. Martin Award.

Margaret W. Martin was ahead of her time. In the 1960s and 70s, she maintained her full time job, taught piano, and raised a family of 6 children (4 girls, two boys) all while she traveled the globe from the States to Saudi Arabia, across Europe and Vientiane Laos during the height of the Vietnam war. She founded the American International School – Riyadh (K-12) in Saudi Arabia in 1963, and it has flourished as an institution since then. The Margaret W. Martin Award is in honor of Artistic Advisor and SAFD Fight Master David Woolley's mother.

Tickets are $28 - $35 and are now on sale at BabesWithBlades.org.

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