TimeLine Theatre to Stage Chicago Premiere of INANA

As the world is shocked by news reports and video images of antiquities and literary treasures being destroyed in Mosul, Iraq, TimeLine Theatre Company announces the Chicago premiere of INANA by Michele Lowe, about an Iraqi museum curator desperately plotting to save his country's cherished antiquities-including the only remaining statue of ancient mother goddess Inana-from destruction in advance of the U.S. invasion in 2003.

Against a background of international and personal intrigue, playwright Michele Lowe opens a window of hope and healing with her poignant and beautiful love story INANA, playing May 6 through July 26, 2015 at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. Acclaimed Chicago and Broadway director and TimeLine Associate Artist Kimberly Senior stages this Chicago premiere. Press opening is Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call the TimeLine Theatre Box Office at (773) 281-TIME (8463) or visit timelinetheatre.com.

The most prominent female deity in ancient Mesopotamia, Inana is metaphorically considered the ancient mother goddess and very soul of Iraq. So when the embattled country's only remaining statue of Inana is threatened by war, theft, desecration and destruction, Yasin, chief of the Mosul Museum, flees to London with his young bride, Shali, and makes a life-altering deal to ensure the statue's preservation.

"By introducing us to human and complex Iraqi characters ... Michele Lowe's play wants to smooth the border that separates our nations like a line of sand in the desert," praised The Denver Post after INANA was commissioned and received its world premiere at Denver Center Theatre Company in 2009. "[It] allows us to consider our 'enemy' in new and more humane ways. To consider the infuriating plight of Middle Eastern women. To reflect on the unconscionable desecration of a country's sacred heritage ... All while escaping into an unlikely but eventually sweet romance."

TimeLine's Chicago premiere of INANA features a seven-person cast, including TimeLine Associate Artist Behzad Dabu, Anish Jethmalani, Demetrios Troy, Atra Asdou, Arya Daire, Frank Sawa and Michael Woods.

Production staff includes Collette Pollard (Scenic Design), Samantha Jones (Costume Design), Charles Cooper (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Sarah Burnham(Properties Design), Maren Robinson (Dramaturgy) and Ari Clouse (Stage Management).