TimeLine Theatre Company to Present THE LEHMAN TRILOGY, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT, and More in 2023-24 Season

TimeLine Theatre Company, acclaimed for presenting plays that explore today's social and political issues through the lens of the past, has announced its 27th season.

The company's 2023-24 subscription season will launch in September with the previously announced Chicago premiere of the internationally acclaimed THE LEHMAN TRILOGY presented at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse.

TimeLine's season continues with two more Chicago premieres of plays widely acclaimed on Broadway and beyond, plus the world premiere of a new play developed through TimeLine's Playwrights Collective, which also incubated the company's recent hits Campaigns, Inc. and the Jeff Award-winning Relentless.

TimeLine Theatre's four-play 2023-24 subscription season includes the previously announced Chicago premiere of Stefano Massini's Tony Award-winning The Lehman Trilogy, adapted by Ben Power, co-directed by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling and Vanessa Stalling, and presented at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, the quintessential story of western capitalism rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family; the Chicago premiere of The Lifespan of a Fact by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell, directed by TimeLine Company Member Mechelle Moe, a comedic showdown between truth and fact set in the world of non-fiction publishing; The Chicago premiere of Notes from the Field by Anna Deavere Smith, directed by Mikael Burke, an innovative documentary piece that shines a spotlight on the stories of those caught in America's school-to-prison pipeline; and the world premiere of Black Sunday by Dolores Díaz, developed through TimeLine's Playwrights Collective and directed by Sandra Marquez, a startling look at conflicts of climate change, race, and gender in the days leading up to an infamous dust storm in 1930s Texas.

Save on tickets and enjoy ultimate flexibility during TimeLine's 2023-24 season with a TimeLine FlexPass. Four options, priced from $119 to $275, are now on sale. For more information and to purchase, call (773) 281-8463 x6 or visit timelinetheatre.com. "TimeLine is thrilled to share these new and timely plays with Chicago," said Artistic Director PJ Powers. "These are stories that probe history and speak to our moment. Brimming with humor, poignance, outrage, and passion, each illuminates topics that are dominating our public discourse today. Covering the roots of capitalism, the quest for truth in the media, social and political protests, the school-to-prison pipeline, immigration, and climate change, these are stories of American society, spanning the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. By delving into our collective past, these provocative writers draw parallels to the issues we're grappling with, as we seek a healthier, more equitable tomorrow, rooted in truth, compassion, and economic justice."

Watch the season announcement below!

THE 2023-24 TIMELINE THEATRE SUBSCRIPTION SEASON IS:

Chicago Premiere

THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power
directed by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling and Vanessa Stalling September 27 - October 29, 2023 (previews 9/19 - 9/26)
presented at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.

Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family. On a cold September morning in 1844, a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is soon joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish-Lehman Brothers-spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history. Weaving together nearly two centuries of family history, this theatrical event charts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes, and devastating failure of the financial institution that would ultimately bring the global economy to its knees.

Hailed as "a kaleidoscopic social and political metaphor" and "an intimate epic about the shifting definition of the American Dream" (The Guardian), The Lehman Trilogy has been met with extraordinary international acclaim throughout its production history. The play received five 2022 Tony Awards, including Best Play, plus Drama League and Outer Critics Circle awards, and was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Play.

Chicago Premiere

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT

by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell based on the book by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal
directed by TimeLine Company Member Mechelle Moe
November 9 - December 23, 2023 (previews 11/1 - 11/8)
presented at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.

Jim Fingal is an eager young intern at a high-profile magazine hoping to impress his demanding editor-in-chief, Emily Penrose. When assigned the job of fact-checking legendary writer John D'Agata's essay on the suicide of a teenage boy, Jim discovers a huge problem: most of the essay's details were made up. As the publication deadline looms, a battle between truth and fact ensues in a gripping and fast-paced comedic showdown. Drawing from true events surrounding real-life Jim Fingal's fact-checking of the John D'Agata essay "What Happens There," The Lifespan of a Fact has been praised as "a smart and engaging exploration of the nature of truth and the role of the media in society," (Chicago Tribune) and "a tightly written and expertly crafted play that keeps the audience riveted from start to finish" (The New York Times). The book on which the play is based, The Lifespan of a Fact, received critical attention from national media including NPR, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. It was subsequently named a "Top 10 Most Crucial Book" by the editors of Slate, a "Best Book of the Year" by The Huffington Post, and an Editor's Choice by The New York Times Book Review. The stage adaptation opened on Broadway in 2018, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby Cannavale, and Cherry Jones.

Chicago Premiere

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

by Anna Deavere Smith
directed by Mikael Burke
February 8 - March 24, 2024 (previews 1/31 - 2/7)
presented at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.

Hailed by The New York Times as "a searing and urgent work that confronts some of the most pressing issues of our time with honesty, intelligence, and compassion," this innovative first-person documentary piece shines a light on the stories of those caught in America's school-to-prison pipeline. Utilizing verbatim dialogue pulled from more than 250 real accounts from students, faculty, prisoners, activists, politicians, and victims' families, Notes From the Field takes audiences on a powerful and emotional journey through the faults and systemic injustices of the American criminal justice system. Deeply human, profoundly moving, and full of moments of humor, compassion, and resilience, it's a masterful work that makes it impossible to look away from the urgent need for change. Originally performed by creator Anna Deavere Smith as a one-woman show, this 2017 Obie Award-winning production was hailed by The Guardian as "captivating political theatre, a devastating document of racial inequality and the most rousing of rallying calls. Everyone should watch it, at least once."

World Premiere

Black Sunday

by Dolores Díaz
directed by Sandra Marquez
May 16 - June 30, 2024 (previews 5/8 - 5/15)
presented at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.

It is April 1935 in the dust storm-riddled plains of Texas and a family farm is struggling to keep afloat amidst a mounting series of environmental disasters. Stubborn Pa refuses to believe that his land is no longer viable, young Sunny dreams of a new life in bountiful California, and Ma starts having mysterious visions of an even bleaker future. Developed through TimeLine's Playwrights Collective, this world premiere by Dolores Díaz offers a startling look at the conflicts surrounding climate change, race, and gender in the days leading up to an infamous dust storm known as Black Sunday.

This world premiere play was developed through TimeLine's Playwrights Collective, launched in 2013 to support Chicago-based playwrights in residence and create new work centered on TimeLine's mission. Black Sunday is the fourth play developed through the Collective to receive a full production at TimeLine, following Brett Neveu's To Catch a Fish (2018); Tyla Abercrumbie's Relentless (2022, Jeff Award for Outstanding New Work); and Will Allan's Campaigns, Inc. (2022). Black Sunday received its first public readings as part of TimeLine's First Draft Playwrights Collective Festival in December 2021.

Casting will be announced at a later date.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, TimeLine continues to work to ensure the safety of artists, audiences, and staff through safety protocols at its performances. TimeLine is currently requiring mask-wearing only at selected performances each week. While masking is no longer required at most performances, TimeLine supports an individual's choice to mask and will continue to make good quality masks available upon request. For the most current information, visit timelinetheatre.com/health-and-safety.

ABOUT TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY

TimeLine Theatre Company, recipient of the prestigious 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, was founded in April 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. Currently celebrating its 26th season, TimeLine has presented 85 productions, including 12 world premieres and 39 Chicago premieres, and launched the Living History Education Program, which brings the company's mission to life for students in Chicago Public Schools. Recipient of the Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and the Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award from the Association for Strategic Planning, TimeLine has received 60 Jeff Awards, including an award for Outstanding Production 11 times. The company has long been bursting at the seams of its current leased home located at 615 W. Wellington Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview East neighborhood, where the theatre has been in residence since 1999. In December 2018, TimeLine announced the purchase of property at 5033-35 North Broadway in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood to be the site of its new home. Plans feature an intimate black box theater seating up to 250 audience members, expanded area for the immersive lobby experiences that are a TimeLine hallmark, new opportunities for education and engagement, room to allow audience members to arrive early and stay late for theatergoing experiences that extend far beyond the stage, and more. TimeLine is working with HGA as architect for its new home project. TimeLine is led by Artistic Director PJ Powers, Executive Director Mica Cole, and Board President John Sterling. TimeLine Company members are Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Nick Bowling, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Behzad Dabu, Charles Andrew Gardner, Lara Goetsch, Juliet Hart, Anish Jethmalani, Mildred Marie Langford, Mechelle Moe, David Parkes, Ron OJ Parson, PJ Powers, and Maren Robinson. Major corporate, government and foundation donors providing season support via TimeLine's Annual Fund include: Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Crown Family Philanthropies; Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation; Laughing Acres Family Foundation; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince; Polk Bros. Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; Van Dam Charitable Foundation; and Walder Foundation. TimeLine also acknowledges the support of a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com or Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (@TimeLineTheatre on all platforms).

BIOGRAPHIES (in alphabetical order) 

Nick Bowling (Co-Director, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY) was the founding Artistic Director and is now Associate Artistic Director and a Company Member of TimeLine Theatre, where he has directed more than 30 productions. He is the recipient of eight Jeff Awards for Outstanding Direction (The History Boys, The Normal Heart, Fiorello!, This Happy Breed, and The Crucible at TimeLine, Ragtime at Marriott Theatre, Sondheim on Sondheim at Porchlight Music Theatre, and Another Part of the Forest at Eclipse Theatre) and also received Jeff Award nominations for Oslo, Blood and Gifts, The Farnsworth Invention, Hauptmann, and The Lion in Winter at TimeLine; Closer Than Ever at Porchlight Music Theatre; and The Sound of Music, City of Angels, The King and I, and Man of La Mancha at Marriott Theatre. Other recent credits at TimeLine include the Chicago premiere of J.T. Rogers' Oslo at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, Campaigns, Inc.; Master Class; The Audience; A Disappearing Number; The Last Wife; and Blood and Gifts. Other Chicago credits include Marriott's Oliver! and The Bridges of Madison County, Paramount's A Christmas Story, Northwestern University's Guys and Dolls and Cabaret, Porchlight's A Catered Affair, Writers Theatre's Bach at Leipzig, and Shattered Globe Theatre's Time of the Cuckoo and Frozen Assets. 

Mikael Burke (Director, NOTES FROM THE FIELD) is a Chicago-based director, deviser, and educator. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre and Jeff Award-nominated director, Mikael has worked with Goodman Theatre, About Face Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Raven Theatre, Jackalope Theatre Company, First Floor Theater, American Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, The Story Theatre, Refracted Theatre Company, and Windy City Playhouse in Chicago, and regionally with Yale Repertory Theatre, Theatreworks Hartford, Forward Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Phoenix Theatre - Indianapolis, and Third Avenue Playworks. Mikael previously served as Associate Artistic Director of About Face Theatre and has taught at Depaul, Roosevelt, and Butler Universities. Recent directing credits include Two Mile Hollow by Leah Nanako Winkler; the American premiere of Routes by Rachel De-Lahay, The Wanderers by Anna Ziegler, Shakespeare's Richard III, The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest (2022 Jeff Award - Production, Short Run); and Fireflies by Donna R. Love (Black Theatre Alliance Award - Best Direction of an Ensemble). For more information, visit mklburke.com. 

Anna Deavere Smith (Playwright, NOTES FROM THE FIELD) is an actress, teacher, playwright, and the creator of the acclaimed On the Road series of one-woman plays, which are based on her interviews with diverse voices from communities in crisis. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President Obama and two Obie Awards, her work also been nominated for a Pulitzer and two Tonys. Onscreen, she has appeared in many films and television shows, including Philadelphia, The West Wing, Black-ish, and Nurse Jackie. She is University Professor in the department of Art & Public Policy at New York University, where she also directs the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue. In 2019, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dolores Díaz (Playwright, BLACK SUNDAY) is a Chicago-based Chicana playwright originally from the border city of Laredo, Texas. In fall of 2022, Stage Left Theatre produced Man of the People at Chicago Dramatists; it was recommended by the Chicago Tribune as a top event in November. In fall of 2021, The Goodman Theatre produced Zulema in partnership with Sones de México, the Chicago Park District, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), and the National Museum of Mexican Art-the show toured the Chicago Parks District with a finale in Millennium Park. Díaz is a resident at Chicago Dramatists and has developed and produced work with a diverse array of companies. She has taught students at Columbia College Chicago, Texas Tech University, Northwestern University, and various Chicago public schools. She is a graduate of Northwestern University's MFA Program in Writing for the Screen and Stage and serves as a Dramatists Guild Representative for the Chicago Region.

Gordon Farrell (Playwright, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT) trained as a playwright at the Yale School of Drama, receiving an MFA in 1986 and going on to work with major Hollywood studios, initially as a story analyst for Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures, and eventually as a screenwriter. He has written for hire and sold screenplays to Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, MGM, and ITC. Farrell's first independent screenplay, Girls Who Smoke, premiered in 2011. It went on to be an official selection at more than a dozen film festivals, receiving the Audience Choice Award at Seattle's Post Alley Film Festival. As a playwright, from 2009 to 2013, Gordon worked with dozens of women on New York's Lower East Side who wanted to tell their personal stories on stage. The series of monologue plays that grew out of it was called In the Red Room/Every Woman Dances for Someone. His other plays have been produced in San Francisco, and at Alleyway Theatre, the Yale School of Drama, and New York's Primary Stages. He is the author of The Power of the Playwright's Vision, published by Heinemann Press in 2001. It has been translated internationally and become a standard playwriting text at colleges and universities in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Jeremy Kareken (Playwright, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT) is a playwright living in New York and Baltimore. His short plays Hot Rod, Big Train, and 80 Cards have been performed around the country and internationally. He served as a speech writer and policy analyst for two presidential campaigns. His awards include the Sewanee Conference's Dakin Fellowship for Farblondjet, and Guthrie/Playwrights Center's Two-Headed Challenge for The Sweet Sweet Motherhood. The Hamptons Film Festival Screenwriters Conference selected Kareken and David Murrell for their horror-comedy script about haunted breast implants-THESE! Conquered the Earth. In 2018, PlayPenn shortlisted Kareken's new political satire about an illiterate king, The Red Wool. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, and a graduate of the University of Chicago, he has taught at NYU, NYIT, The Actors Studio Drama School, and currently teaches at The Acting Studio - New York. A lifetime member of The Actors Studio, Kareken occasionally acts and for 18 years served as the researcher for Bravo TV's Inside The Actors Studio.

Sandra Marquez (Director, BLACK SUNDAY) is an award-winning actor, director, and educator as well as a longtime ensemble member of Teatro Vista, where she served as Associate Artistic Director for many years alongside Artistic Director Edward Torres. Marquez is the first self-identified Latinx artist to join the storied ensemble at Steppenwolf Theater Company, where she most recently appeared in Chekhov's Seagull and directed the SYA production of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Her work has also been seen at the Goodman, Court, Victory Gardens, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, amongst others. Film and television credits include Chicago Med, Prison Break, Boss, and the Amazon original series Night Sky. She is Co-Director of Graduate Studies for the MFA in Acting program at Northwestern University, where she enjoys teaching and mentoring.

Stefano Massini (Playwright, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY) is an internationally renowned novelist and playwright who regularly contributes to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. For several years he has served as artistic consultant at Piccolo Teatro di Milano - Teatro d'Europa. His works, including The Lehman Trilogy, have been translated into 27 languages, and his plays have been performed in more theaters around the world than those of any other living Italian writer, produced as far afield as Iran and Korea, and staged by directors such as Luca Ronconi and Sam Mendes. His most acclaimed works, beyond The Lehman Trilogy, include Intractable Woman, a decades-long international success; Ladies Football Club, which premiered to wide acclaim in Spain; and 7 Minutes, hailed by LeMonde as a "masterpiece" at the Comédie Française. He has won numerous Italian awards, including the Premio Vittorio Tondelli and the Premio Ubu. Qualcosa sui Lehman (The Lehman Trilogy) was among the most acclaimed novels published in Italy in recent years and won the Selezione Campiello Prize, the Super Mondello Prize, the De Sica Prize, the Prix Médicis Essai and the Prix Meilleur Livre Stranger. He is creating a new multi-part play about the history of the atomic bomb, entitled Manhattan Project.

Mechelle Moe (Director, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT) is a Company Member at TimeLine, where her credits include directing Rutherford and Son, Cardboard Piano and In the Next Room or the vibrator play. She also has appeared on stage in many TimeLine productions, including Boy, The Apple Family Plays, My Kind of Town, The Front Page, The Children's Hour, Not Enough Air, and Paradise Lost. Other directing credits include Milk Like Sugar, The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love Suicide, and columbinus. Moe is a Jeff Award recipient for Actress in Principal Role for her performance in Machinal (The Hypocrites) and received a Jeff Award nomination for Actress in Principal Role for Stage Door (Griffin). She is an artistic associate of Griffin Theater. Moe graduated with honors from the University of Illinois Chicago with both a bachelor's degree in Theater as well as Anthropology.

David Murrell (Playwright, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT) was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and the University of Chicago, currently lives in Queens, and has written a sea chest's worth of TV and film treatments and spec scripts. Access Theater (NYC) and the Cleveland Public Theatre each produced his play Ductwork, and the Hamptons Film Festival Screenwriters Conference selected his and Jeremy Kareken's feature screenplay about haunted breast implants, THESE! Conquered the Earth. In 2019, the Outer Critics Circle co-awarded Murrell its John Gassner Playwriting Award for The Lifespan of a Fact.

Ben Power (Adapter, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY) is a writer for theatre and the screen. For the last 12 years he has worked at The National Theatre as associate director and deputy artistic director and was responsible for the temporary theatre The Shed. Work for the screen includes Munich: The Edge of War and The Hollow Crown (BAFTA nominations for Best Single Drama and Best Mini-Series). Work for the stage includes adaptations of DH Lawrence's Husbands & Sons, Euripides' Medea and Ibsen's Emperor & Galilean, all for the National; A Tender Thing for the RSC and Complicite's A Disappearing Number (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards). He was associate director of Headlong where he adapted Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Marlowe's Faustus. He is currently creating a television series for Working Title and is published by Faber & Faber. 

Vanessa Stalling (Co-Director, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY) returns to TimeLine, where she previously directed the sold-out, extended production of A Shayna Maidel. She is the director and adaptor of the Jeff Award-winning play United Flight 232. Stalling was the Associate Artistic Director of Redmoon Theater in Chicago, a Michael Maggio Fellow at Goodman Theatre, and has been recognized as one of "The Fifty People Who Really Perform" for Chicago by Newcity magazine. Recent productions include Fen at The Court Theatre, The Great Leap at Asolo Rep, and Roe at the Goodman. She is also the Head of Directing at the University of California San Diego.