Willliam Petersen To Star in Blackbird at Victory Gardens

Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago's #1 presenter of new work, announced today it will present the Midwest premiere of British
playwright David Harrower's provocative drama Blackbird as the final production of its 2008-2009 season.

William L. Petersen, star of CBS-TV's CSI, returns to the theater that first gave him his Equity card to star in Harrower's intense two-person story about the destructive cycle of desire and illicit love, under the direction of Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek.  Previews are July 3 through July 12, 2009. Press opening is Monday, July 13 at 7:30 pm. Performances run through August 9 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.

Single tickets are $20-$48, and go on sale March 31, 2009. However, only subscribers to Victory Gardens' 2008/09 season are guaranteed the best seats to Blackbird, and can purchase additional single tickets to the production before they go on sale to the general public.  For subscription information or to inquire about single tickets, call 773.871.3000, or visit http://www.VictoryGardens.org

British vernacular for jailbird, Blackbird is a real-time account of the awkward reunion of Ray and Una, 15 years after a passionate affair when he was 40 and she was just a minor. Ray is confronted with his past when Una arrives unannounced at his workplace.  Guilt, rage and raw emotions run high as they recollect their forbidden relationship. After years in prison and subsequent hardships, Ray has a new identity and has made a new life for himself, thinking that he could no longer be found. But Una, now 27, has
thought of nothing else since, and on finding a photo of Ray, sets out to find him, looking for answers, not vengeance. Nonetheless, their reunion has a devastating effect that will leave audiences stunned.

Originally commissioned in 2005 by the Edinburgh International Festival, Blackbird was the surprise winner of the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award, Britain's equivalent to the Tony's, besting stiff competition including Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan and Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll. Blackbird premiered in the U.S. in April 2007 at New York's Manhattan Theater Club, directed by Broadway veteran Joe Mantello, starring Alison Pill and Jeff Daniels.  The reviews were stellar.

"Blackbird is one of the most poetic, visceral new plays to hit the scene in years," said Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek.  "Certainly Ray is an ideal role for Bill to flex his theatrical acting chops, and to reintroduce to local audiences the magnetic presence that he demonstrated so ably in his early days on Chicago's stages, playing morally questionable characters in In the Belly of the Beast, The Night of the Iguana, and Flyovers ten years ago here at Victory Gardens."

Additional casting and the design team for Blackbird is TBA.

In addition to Blackbird, Victory Gardens' 2008/09 season boasts a major revival of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice (October 3-December 9, opening October 13); the return of Victory Gardens' smash hit holiday musical The Snow Queen (November 28-December 28, opening December 1);  Gloria Bond Clunie's new drama Living Green, about an upper middle class black family considering a move back to the "old neighborhood" (January 23-March 1, opening February 2);  Class Dismissed by Jeffrey Sweet, a comedic drama set in the free-spirited 1960s (March 20-April 26, opening March 30); and the Chicago premiere of Aditi Brennan Kapil's Love Person, an intriguing romance performed in English, Sanskrit, American Sign Language, and projected e-mail (May 15-June 14, opening May 25).

Five-play subscriptions to Victory Gardens' 2008/09 season are on sale nowfor only $80-$185. Five play packages include Blackbird, Eurydice, Living Green, Class Dismissed, and a choice of Love Person or The Snow Queen. Or, six-play packages are available for $96-$222.   All performances will be staged at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. For subscription information, call the Victory Gardens box office, (773) 871-3000  (tty:  (773) 871-0682), email information@victorygardens.org, or visit http://www.VictoryGardens.org

Victory Gardens Theater is designated an Established Regional Arts Institution by the Illinois Arts Council (IAC), and is partially supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, a City Arts Program 3 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.  For complete information, visit http://www.VictoryGardens.org

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