Victory Gardens Presents A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED 7/9-8/15

Victory Gardens closes its 2009/10 Season with the world premiere of Ensemble Playwright Joel Drake Johnson's A Guide for the Perplexed, marking the Chicago return of award-winning Broadway actor Kevin Anderson. The production, directed by Associate Artistic Director Sandy Shinner, runs July 9 - August 15, 2010 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park.

Star of stage and screen, Kevin Anderson is a Chicago theater original, perhaps most fondly remembered for his performances in Orphans both at Steppenwolf and on film. In A Guide for the Perplexed, Anderson stars opposite fellow Steppenwolf ensemble member Francis Guinan.

Anderson plays Doug, a newly released petty criminal, forced to take reluctant residence with his sister's husband, their teenage son and a tank of tropical fish. The rehabilitation process, both absurdly funny and heartbreakingly sad, is by no means limited to the ex-con. When Doug's female pen pal arrives in hot pursuit bearing strange gifts, the play cuts deep into the characters' mutual feelings of pain, guilt and fear. Yet hints of a tenuous recovery make Johnson's newest play both hopeful and very real.

Title A Guide for the Perplexed
Written by: Joel Drake Johnson
Directed by: Associate Artistic Director Sandy Shinner
Featuring: Kevin Anderson, Cynthia Baker, Francis Guinan, Meg Thalken and Bubba Weiler
Previews: July 9 - 18, 2010
Press opening: Monday, July 19, 7:30 pm
Regular run: July 21 - August 15, 2010

Schedule: Tuesdays: 7:30 pm (except July 20)
Wednesdays: 2:00 pm;
7:30 pm (followed by post-play discussion)
Thursdays: 7:30 pm
Fridays: 8:00 pm
Saturdays: 5:00 pm;
8:30 pm
Sundays: 3:00 pm
Location: Victory Gardens Biograph Theater is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue,
in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood
Tickets: Previews: $20 - $40
Regular run: $20 - $50
Box Office: The Box Office is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.
773.871.3000; victorygardens.org

Audience Events
Open Rehearsal: Thursday, July 1, 6:00 pm
Enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at rehearsal, followed by a talkback and
reception. RSVP to 773.549.5788 x 2131.

Humanities Night: Thursdays, July 15 and July 22, 6:00 pm
Gain unique insights before the show when guest experts lead an interactive discussion on the play's topics and themes

Happy Hour: Friday, July 30 at 6:30 pm; 8 pm show
Join us for a pre-show happy hour with complimentary hors d'oeuvres and drinks and live music.

Audio Description: Friday, August 6, 8:00 pm
Sunday, August 13, 3:00 pm
Word For Word Captioning: Wednesday, August 4, 2:00 pm
Friday, August 13, 8:00 pm
Saturday, August 14, 5:00 pm
Sign Language Interpretation: Friday, August 13, 8:00 pm

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 the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, the new venue opened with one 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 of the Biograph. On March 1, 2010, at a special launch event for Victory Gardens' new, $1 million "Campaign for Growth," Victory Gardens' 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.

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