David Rice News

First Folio Theatre, known for bringing high quality performances of Shakespeare and other classics to the Chicagoland suburbs, closes its landmark 15th season with William Shakespeare's most controversial play, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. A complex tale of hatred, love, revenge, and betrayal, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE opened on Saturday, July 14, and runs through August 19, 2012. Check out photos from opening night below!

First Folio Theatre will close its landmark 15th season with William Shakespeare's most controversial play, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, directed by Artistic Director, Alison C. Vesely, opening July 16 through August 19. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production photos below.

The season begins with an the return of the acclaimed production THE MADNESS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE: A LOVE STORY, an original play by Executive Director David Rice, previewing September 26, opening September 29 and running through November 4, 2012.

First Folio Theatre (Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83), known for bringing high quality performances of Shakespeare and other classics to the Chicagoland stage, announces its 2012-2013 season.

Inspired by the Woody Allen joke, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans", Sean Grennan's newest work, MAKING GOD LAUGH, made its Chicago Premiere at Theatre at the Center. Produced in association with First Folio Theatre, this heartwarming comedy runs through June 10 at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. Directed by William Pullinsi, MAKING GOD LAUGH stars Chicago favorites Peggy Roeder, Craig Spidle, Kevin McKillip, Joe Foust and Erin Noel Grennan.

First Folio Theatre, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83, begs the question, "Are you afraid of ghosts?" with its production of Henry James' psychological thriller THE TURN OF THE SCREW. In this stage adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher, two actors, led by Director Alison C. Vesely, bring all of James' eccentric characters and spine-tingling moments to life; further heightened by the theaters intimate setting within a remote West Suburban Estate. Now in its 15th season of bringing high quality performances of Shakespeare and other classics to the Chicagoland suburbs, First Folio Theatre will preview THE TURN OF THE SCREW on March 28th, open on March 31 and run through April 29th.

First Folio Theatre, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83, now in its 15th season of bringing performances of Shakespeare and other classics to the Chicagoland suburbs presents the Chicago Premiere of Paul Slade Smith's side-splitting and bawdy comedy UNNECESSARY FARCE directed by Alison C. Vesely.

Tickets and subscriptions are now on sale for First Folio Theatre's 2011-2012 season, celebrating their 15th Anniversary.

Sixteen-time Jeff Nominee Paula Scrofano is currently delighting audiences as the flamboyant medium Madame Arcati in First Folio's production of Blithe Spirit.

In response to audience requests, First Folio is remounting its world premiere show, The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story.

Tickets and subscriptions are now on sale for First Folio Theatre's 2010-2011 season. Opening the Season of Suspense is an encore production of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story, followed by Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, and the long-running London hit The Woman in Black.

In response to audience requests, First Folio is remounting its world premiere show, The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story.

In response to audience requests, First Folio is remounting its world premiere show, The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story. Adapted for the stage by David Rice and directed by Michael Goldberg, Madness... brings Poe's macabre and melancholic tales & poems to life as audience members move from room to room. Poe and his beloved wife Virginia guide the audience through historic Mayslake Hall, taking their guests from the garrets to the dungeons and deep into the madness of Edgar Allan Poe. Tickets are available online at www.firstfolio.org or by calling the box office at 630-986-8067.

In response to audience requests, First Folio is remounting its world premiere show, The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story. Adapted for the stage by David Rice and directed by Michael Goldberg, Madness... brings Poe's macabre and melancholic tales & poems to life as audience members move from room to room. Poe and his beloved wife Virginia guide the audience through historic Mayslake Hall, taking their guests from the garrets to the dungeons and deep into the madness of Edgar Allan Poe. Tickets are available online at www.firstfolio.org or by calling the box office at 630-986-8067.

First Folio's Season of Passion closes with Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's most romantic comedy, performed under the stars at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. Set during the height of the British Raj, Michael Goldberg's production combines the beauty of 19thC.India with the glorious elegance of Shakespeare's most romantic comedy.

Tickets and subscriptions are now on sale for First Folio Theatre's 2010-2011 season. Opening the Season of Suspense is an encore production of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story, followed by Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, and the long-running London hit The Woman in Black.

First Folio Theatre's Season of Invention will continue this coming January and February with P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves in Bloom, adapted for the stage by Margaret Raether. This sequel to First Folio's hit production of Jeeves Intervenes features the return of the lovably loopy Bertie Wooster and his unflappable butler Jeeves.

First Folio Theatre's Season of Invention will continue this coming January and February with P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves in Bloom, adapted for the stage by Margaret Raether. This sequel to First Folio's hit production of Jeeves Intervenes features the return of the lovably loopy Bertie Wooster and his unflappable butler Jeeves.

First Folio Theatre's Season of Invention will continue this coming January and February with P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves in Bloom, adapted for the stage by Margaret Raether. This sequel to First Folio's hit production of Jeeves Intervenes features the return of the lovably loopy Bertie Wooster and his unflappable butler Jeeves.

First Folio Theatre's Season of Invention will continue this coming January and February with P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves in Bloom, adapted for the stage by Margaret Raether. This sequel to First Folio's hit production of Jeeves Intervenes features the return of the lovably loopy Bertie Wooster and his unflappable butler Jeeves.