Walkabout & Moon Fool to Present STORM, 6/18-28

Chicago's Walkabout Theater Company joins forces with the international ensemble of Moon Fool to present the Chicago premiere of STORM, a fierce re-imagining of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, created and directed by Anna-Helena McLean and featuring actors from three continents. STORM will play June 18 - 28, 2015 at Links Hall, 3111 N. Western Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.linkshall.org. The press opening is Thursday, June 18 at 7 pm.

Charged with lightning and magic, a cast of international and Chicago performers weave together original live music, singing, theatre, acrobatics and movement to capture the wild battle between humanity and nature. Travel into the not-so-distant future, where audiences are immersed in a world of fantasy, spectacle and haunting beauty - balancing the ageless work of Shakespeare with the climatic dilemmas that face our global family today. In a remote island bunker sheltered from the chaos of the outside world, exiled geo-engineer Prospero furiously works to control the elements and pave the way for a new world of calm and sustainable prosperity. Poised on the brink of her own coming-of-age, his daughter Miranda uncovers an earthshaking truth: the Storm lives within us all. STORM is driven and generated by Anna-Helena McLean's Actor-Chorus-Text (ACT) Ensemble Practice, which unites with Walkabouts signature physicality and polyphony in a dynamic examination of power, illusion and the mystery of control.

Members of the Moon Fool ensemble from the United Kingdom and India team-up with Walkabout Theater and a select chorus of Chicago performers in this new model of international collaboration. STORM will feature Moon Fool lead actor Anirudh Nair (Ariel) alongside Walkabout Co­Artistic Director Thom Pasculli (Prospero) with Walkabout ensemble members Dana Murphy (Miranda) and McCambridge Dowd­Whipple (Caliban). The chorus will include Moon Fool lead actor George Bellamy and Anna-Helena McLean, Walkabout ensemble members Nigel Brown, Cooper Forsman, Katie Mazzini and Paul Scudder with Leah Casey, Sam Krey and Alex Rodriguez.

STORM was created with support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs In the Works Residency, Links Hall, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation International Connections Fund. The International Connections Fund will be supporting the second phase of this international partnership when the Walkabout ensemble will travel to the United Kingdom to continue working with Moon Fool in 2016.

The STORM production team includes: Michael Christman (scenic design), Rachel Levy (lighting design), Andrew Rovner (sound and projection design), Michelle Post (costume design) Emma Stanton (dramaturg) Kendra Miller (producer), Brianna Parry (production manager), Dina Klahn (stage manager) and Lee Stark (assistant director).