Tympanic Theatre Company Announces Ninth Season
By: Nora Dominick Dec. 01, 2015
Following a hugely successful eighth season, which included the Midwest Premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's Social Creatures and the acclaimed short play festival, Today We Escape-inspired by Radiohead's OK COMPUTER -Tympanic Theatre Company is proud to announce its ninth season in Chicago, as well as the appointment of a new Artistic Director and co-Literary Managers. Outgoing Artistic Director Dan Caffrey, who will continue serving as part of the company's Literary and Marketing Committees, and incoming Artistic Director Christopher Acevedo are proud to announce the two plays that will be comprising Tympanic's ninth season:- Blueberry Toast by Mary Laws, and Paper City Phoenix by Walt McGough. In addition to announcing Acevedo as the new Artistic Director, the company also proudly announces the appointment of Ted Brengle and Joshua Ellison as co-Literary Managers.
First up in 2016, Michael Carnow (Tympanic Artistic Associate, Director - The Great Story of Love and Sacrifice and Loss and Rebirth for Today We Escape) directs the new play Blueberry Toast by Mary Laws (MFA Playwright - Yale School of Drama, screenwriter The Neon Demon, and AMC's Preacher). Blueberry Toast will go into production at the Athenaeum Theatre from February 13 - March 13, 2016. Following Blueberry Toast, Rebecca Willingham (Assistant Director - Balm in Gilead, Director - Wavelength for Today We Escape) will direct the Midwest Premiere of Paper City Phoenix by Walt McGough (Sideshow Theatre Company, Chalk), which was a finalist for the 2013 Source Festival. Paper City Phoenix goes into production at the Alley Stage from April 15 - May 8, 2016.
"I'm incredibly excited to continue the brand of weird, exciting theatre Tympanic has become known for," remarked Acevedo. "We have created and stayed true to our uniquely, yet very Chicago, offbeat style of theatre for the past eight years culminating in national recognition, this past spring, by American Theatre Magazine for our unique album-based short play festival Today We Escape, which was inspired by Radiohead's OK Computer. I'm thrilled to be able to continue cultivating Tympanic's growth, along with this wonderful ensemble of artists, leading us into our ninth season and beyond."
Added Caffrey, "On one hand, I'd like to say that it's with a heavy heart that I step down as Artistic Director, but my heart isn't heavy at all! I'm so proud to have been involved with a collective of such smart, talented, and passionate individuals, and I couldn't be more artistically satisfied with the body of work Tympanic has produced. From over a dozen world premieres, to our album-oriented short-play festivals across eight seasons, it's been a wild ride."
"And I am not going anywhere, not by a long shot," Caffrey added. "I'll be staying on as a full-time Company Member and Board Member to make sure this transition is a smooth one. Christopher and I met at auditions for Biloxi Blues at Florida State University, and haven't stopped working together since. Christopher has been a dedicated Tympanic Company member since our founding in 2007 and his artistic investment in Tympanic has never wavered. He has already taken over several of my AD duties this past season, and I know that, under his leadership, Tympanic is going to continue to produce the offbeat new work that we're known for. So thank you to Chris, thank you to the company, and thank you to the rest of the Chicago theatre community for letting us produce some truly out-there stuff."
"We're also ecstatic to have the brilliant Joshua Ellison and Ted Brengle as our new co- Literary Managers," Acevedo added. "They're incredible when it comes to cultivating new plays, and working with writers, and are already underway planning the 2016/17 season - our tenth."
Christopher Acevedo (Artistic Director) is a founding member of Tympanic Theatre Company. With Tympanic he has appeared in Splintered Crosses, The House of Weird Death, Gregor & the Squonk, Bastards of Young, And Then It Burst, Ozma &
Harriet, Muerte del Maestro, and most recently in Wavelength and Choke (as part of the Today We Escape short play festival). He has been the company's Literary Manager since 2013. Other credits in Chicago include work with Adventure Stage Chicago, Lifeline Theatre, Teatro Vista, Strawdog, Victory Gardens, University of Chicago, American Theatre, the Right Brain Project, Urban Theater, Genesis Ensemble, Teatro Luna, Pavement Group, Collaboraction, Red Tape, The Ruckus, and the side project. He is a recent graduate of the School at Steppenwolf (Class of 2015), and is represented by Grossman & Jack.
Ted Brengle (co-Literary Manager) has Master's degrees in both English (Creative Writing) and Theatre (Playwriting) from Miami University of Ohio. His contributed scripts for Tympanic include Daughters of Necessity (from 2012′s Deliver Us From Nowhere: Tales From Nebraska), B.E.M. (from 2015′s Today We Escape), the short film, All The Pleasures Prove (an Official Selection at the 2015 Orlando Film Festival), and the audio play, Best Show Ever (for the Bull Crow Project podcast).Outside Tympanic, his plays have been produced regionally as well as in New York City, and he produced the premier of his play Alone Apart at the Chicago Fringe Festival. Ted has won a couple of awards here and there, including national honors from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, First Prize in the One Million Monkeys playwriting competition, and he has been a semi-finalist for the National Playwrights Conference. He lives in Chicago.
Joshua Ellison (co-Literary Manager) is a founding member of Area IV Theatre where he directed Vacation, MARCH (Edmonton International Theatre Festival) and From the Nightshade Family (Chicago Fringe Festival). His work was also seen at Oracle, where he directed Samuel Beckett, Andre the Giant, and the Crickets. For Tympanic he has directed Julia Pastrana, Daughters of Necessity (as part of Deliver Us From Nowhere), and The Iceland of Space (as part of Today We Escape). He also co-produces Tympanic's Podcast series The Bull Crow Project.
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