Victory Gardens to Stage the Midwest Premiere of THE TESTAMENT OF MARY, 11/14-12/14

Continuing its 40th Anniversary Season, Victory Gardens Theater announces the Midwest Premiere of The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín, directed by Dennis Za?ek and featuring Linda Reiter. The Testament of Mary runs November 14-December 14, 2014, with the press performance on Friday, November 21, 2014 at 7:30pm, at Victory Gardens Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

"We are very excited to give a Chicago home to acclaimed novelist Colm Tóibín's powerful portrait of the world's most famous mother," comments Victory Gardens Artistic Director Chay Yew. "We are also very pleased to welcome back Victory Gardens' Artistic Director Emeritus Dennis Za?ek for the Midwest premiere of The Testament of Mary. Collaborating with actor Linda Reiter, this potent performance will explore the deepest loss any parent can endure - the loss of a child."

A 2013 Tony Award nominee for Best Play, this incisive, intelligent and profoundly challenging work recounts in riveting detail Mary's narrative of the last days in the life of her son, Jesus. Hailed as "beautiful and daring" by the New York Times, acclaimed author Colm Tóibín brings the world's most famous mother to life in this fiercely lyrical solo play.

The creative team for The Testament of Mary includes Christopher Ash (Scenic and Projection Design), Sarah Jo White (Costume Design), Michael Rourke (Lighting Design), Andre Pluess (Sound Design), Jesse Gafney (Properties) and Tina Jach (Production Stage Manager).

Colm Tóibín (Playwright) has authored countless books including: 'The South'; 'Homage to Barcelona'; 'The Trial of the Generals'; 'The Heather Blazing; 'The Story of the Night'; 'The Blackwater Lightship'; 'The Master'; and 'Brooklyn'; 'The Modern Library: the 200 Best Novels Since 1950'; 'Lady Gregory's Toothbrush'; 'Love in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar' and 'All a Novelist Needs: Essays on Henry James' (2010). In 2012, his novel 'The Testament of Mary' was published and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2013. In April 2013 The Testament of Mary opened on Broadway with Fiona Shaw, directed by Deborah Warner and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best New Play. The production transferred to the Barbican in London in May 2014. In July 2014 it opened in Barcelona in a Spanish production, with the actress Blanca Portillo. In 2013 it was released as an audio book with Meryl Streep.

He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Ulster, University College Dublin and the University of East Anglia. He is currently Mellon Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

Dennis Zacek (Director) held the position of artistic director at Victory Gardens Theatre for 30 years, and recently accepted the Actor's Equity Association's (AEA) Spirit Recognition Award. The Spirit Award is given to institutions that "have made non-traditional casting a way of life." He also received the 2005 Jeff Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chicago Equity Theatre. He, his wife Marcelle McVay, and the theater are co-recipients of the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. He is also the recipient of the 2004 Artistic Leadership Award from the League of Chicago Theatres. Zacek and Ms. McVay received the 1999 Rosetta Lenoire Award from Actors' Equity and the 1998 Sidney R. Yates Arts Advocacy Award from the Illinois Arts Alliance Foundation. He has directed more than 250 productions in his career, including, most recently, the successful Drury Lane Oakbrook production of Boeing, Boeing and Elegy by Ron Hirsen. Zacek is a professor emeritus of Loyola University and was included in 2005 in Utne magazine's first-ever list of "Artists Who Will Shake the World."

Linda Reiter (Mary) this is Linda's third show with Victory Gardens and she is thrilled to be back. She appeared previously in Flyovers with William Petersen (receiving a Joseph Jefferson nomination for actor in a supporting role) and Immoral Imperatives with Dennis Zacek. Linda is an ensemble member of Shattered Globe Theatre where she has performed in 40 productions in 22 years. She garnered Joseph Jefferson Awards in the non-equity category for the roles of Eleanor Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate, Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Kate in All My Sons, Mme. De Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Dee Dee in Invitation to a March, and Sarah in Bondagers. And, she received nominations in the equity category for Lola in Come Back, Little Sheba, Esther in The Price, and Elsa in The Road to Mecca, all SGT productions. Some of her favorites outside SGT are Gillian in Marriage Play at the Goodman Theatre, "Albeefest", Lottie in Lettice & Lovage at Court Theatre, Hannah in Arcadia at Remy Bumppo Theatre, and Lea de Lonval in Cheri at Live Bait Theatre. Linda appeared in an A&E episode of The Beast starring Patrick Swayze. Her voiceover credits include over 30 episodes of The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas, hosted by Stacy Keach. www.twilightzoneradio.com, and she played opposite Kelsey Grammer in The Manchurian Candidate radio drama produced by Chicago Theatres On-the-Air.

Previews of The Testament of Mary are November 14 - 20, 2014: Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3 pm. Previews are $20-$40. The Press opening is Friday, November 21, 2014 at 8pm. Regular performances run November 21 - December 14, 2014: Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm; Saturday at 4 pm (November 29 and December 6 and 13 only); Sunday at 3 pm. There will not be public performances on November 25 and 27, and December 2 and 3. The December 3 performance will be held at 2:00pm. Regular performances are $20-$60.

Performances are at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. For tickets and information, call the Victory Gardens Box Office, 773.871.3000, email tickets@victorygardens.org, or visit www.victorygardens.org. Ask the Box Office about student tickets ($15), senior, Access, $20 under 30, and rush discounts. For group discounts, call 773.328.2136.

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