Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed Premieres AIMING FOR SAINTHOOD, 9/20-26

Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed announces the World Premiere of Aiming For Sainthood, written and performed by Arlene Malinowski, directed by Will Rogers.  The production runs September 20-26, 2010, in the in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.  The press opening is Monday, September 20, 2010, at 7:30 p.m.
 
Following up the success of her solo show What Does The Sun Sound Like?, Fresh Squeezed premieres the second installment in her autobiographical trilogy.  When her deaf mother gets cancer, a middle-aged daughter moves back in her childhood room with two questions, "Where is God?' and 'Who took my Springsteen poster?"  Funny, touching and poignant, these theatre pieces are told through sign language and voice, using both Deaf and hearing storytelling and theatrical techniques.
 
"Arlene is such a compelling theatrical voice" says Fresh Squeezed Associate Producer Will Rogers.  "This amazing woman has her hands, quite literally, in two different worlds and her engaging, generous spirit on stage is magnetic.  We are excited to have Arlene back on our stage as she continues exploring the intersections of deaf and hearing theater. We are thrilled to produce the World Premiere of this important piece".
 
Arlene's acclaimed autobiographical solo plays have played to sold out houses and standing ovations throughout the country. These stories are about the hilarious, heartbreaking, heartwarming, totally true tale of a hearing prodigal daughter growing up in a deaf family & culture.  It is the tale of a girl/woman surviving and interpreting sound for her parents while interpreting the world for herself. They're the tales of being a cultural tourist, bridging a world of two languages and two cultures, and the universal search for identity.
 
Aiming for Sainthood is a project of Victory Gardens Theater Fresh Squeezed and The Access Project Crip Slam Series.  Aiming For Sainthood was originally commissioned and workshopped by 16th Street Theater in Berwyn with further workshop development by Chicago Dramatists, Millennium Park and the Chicago Department of Chicago of Cultural Affairs.
 
Arlene Malinowski is an actor/playwright who views her solo work as an extension of the social justice issues she has been committed to for the last 25 years.  Her five solo shows have been produced and performed in venues nationwide.  Her work has been honored with a 3Arts Nomination, LA Theatre Ovations nomination, LA Weekly Award, and a Garland Award.  Television credits include CSI, ER, The Practice, The X Files, Any Day Now, The Division, Sweet Nothing in My Ear.  Arlene has taught in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. She is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists and Artist in Residence with the 2011 Quad City's Arts Program.  
Will Rogers is Associate Producer of Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed.  As part of the series he has directed Arlene Malinowski's previous solo-show What Does the Sun Sound Like?, Margot Bordelon's You Are Here and Literally Sexy.  Within Fresh Squeezed, he has also had the privilege of producing work with 2nd Story, The Neo-Futurists, The New Colony, 16th Street Theater, Drinking & Writing Brewery, Mike Daisey, Tim Miller, Holly Hughes, WNYC's Radiolab, Charles Busch, Julie Halston, Terry Galloway, and many more.  In Chicago, Will has directed Silent Night of the Lambs and the Summer Camp reading of Marked Down Woman for Hell in a Handbag Productions.  Will most recently produced and directed Busch Fest, a festival of four early works by Charles Busch, with his company The Idea Place.  Will is an alumnus of Lincoln Center Directors Lab and Directors Lab Chicago.  Previous to his move to Chicago, he directed in Austin, TX; Freedom, ME; Birmingham, AL; and Savannah, GA.  
About Fresh Squeezed
Fresh Squeezed brings together provocative and exemplary artists in a series of special performances seeking out new, diverse audiences. Through language, music, poetry and history, Fresh Squeezed explores the varied ways theater is being performed today and surveys the performing arts medium to bring fresh new perspectives to the stage.
 
Fresh Squeezed encourages new people to visit the theater and poke around. Not just new audiences - but also new writers and performers and cultures and ideas. We are a theater dedicated to tending new plays, and in our rapidly diversifying cultural landscape, Fresh Squeezed allows us to cast a wide net and find hidden treasures that are relevant to our community. But don't get the wrong idea; it doesn't all have to be that heady. Victory Gardens is about some nonsense and laughter too.
 
Logistics and Amenities
Tickets
Tickets, $20 or $15 for Group and Access, are available through the Victory Gardens Box Office, 773.871.3000  (tty:  773.871.0682), tickets@victorygardens.org, or www.victorygardens.org.  For group discounts, 773.549.5788, groupsales@victorygardens.org.
Location
Performances are at the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. 
 
Performance Schedule
The production opens on Monday, September 20, at 7:30 p.m. and continues Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.  All performances will be sign interpreted. The September 23 and 26 performances will be Audio Described and will feature word for word captioning.
 
Recommended Ages
The production is recommended for ages 12 and older.
 
Parking
$11 valet parking is available for all performances.  Discounted parking is available one block south at Children's Memorial Hospital for all shows except weekday matinees (no overnights). Metered and street parking is available, but mind the neighborhood parking restrictions.
 
Public transit
By CTA train, take the Red, Purple and Brown lines to the Fullerton stop.  Walk east on Fullerton to Lincoln, then north 1/2 block to the theater.   The #8 Halsted, #11 Lincoln,  #37 Sedgwick/Ogden, and #74 Fullerton CTA buses all stop at the corner of Fullerton and Halsted, 1/2 block south of the theater.  See transitchicago.com for times and routes.
 
Pre- and post-show dining
See www.victorygardens.org for a list of Victory Gardens' neighborhood dining partners.  Each is within walking distance of the Biograph, and all offer a special discount to patrons who present a Victory Gardens ticket stub.
 
 
About Victory Gardens Theater
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and Executive Director Jan Kallish, Victory Gardens Theater is home to the bold voices of world premiere theater.  The company features the work of its own 14-member Playwrights Ensemble, as well as that of exciting playwrights who are changing theater in the U.S. and abroad.   Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.  The company's dedication to developing, supporting and producing new work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New Plays.
In 2006, Victory Gardens successfully completed an $11.8 million renovation of Chicago's famed Biograph Theater, and moved two blocks north from its longtime venue at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, to its beautiful new home in one of Chicago's most celebrated historic landmarks.  Renamed Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, the new venue is a state-of-the-art 299-seat mainstage which has greatly expanded the company's artistic flexibility, while enhancing Victory Gardens' ability to welcome patrons old and new.   
 
Last summer, Victory Gardens completed the second phase of renovation at the Biograph, building an intimate, new, 109-seat studio theater on the second floor.  On March 1, 2010, at a special launch event for Victory Gardens new, $1 million Campaign for Growth, the theater's new studio was officially named the Richard Christiansen Theater, in honor of the Chicago Tribune chief critic emeritus and longtime champion of Chicago's live theater scene.  Visit www.victorygardens.org/campaignforgrowth for more details.
 
Victory Gardens Theater is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council (IAC), a State Agency, CityArts Program 4 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.  Major funders also include the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Wallace Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Allstate Insurance Company, Alphawood Foundation, Motorola Foundation, REAM Foundation, Edgerton Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies.  Additional funding is provided by the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Kraft Foods, Prince Charitable Trusts, Sara Lee Foundation, Seigle Family Foundation, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, and by 3Arts, Harry S. Black and Allon Fuller Fund, Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Elizabeth Cheney Foundation, John R. Halligan Fund, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), James S. Kemper Foundation, Albert Pick, Jr. Fund, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and Wrightwood Neighbors Association.
For complete information, visit www.victorygardens.org.