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Court Theatre presents Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando directed by Jessica Thebus
Chicago, IL – Court Theatre continues its 56th season with Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, directed by Jessica Thebus. The production will run March 10 – April 10, 2011 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press opening is Saturday, March 19 , 2011 at 8PM.
Sarah Ruhl, one of American theater’s most exciting young playwrights, adapts Virginia Woolf’s gender-bending novel about sex, love, and history. Often called the longest love letter in literature, Woolf’s Orlando tells the story of an English nobleman, Orlando, who lives for hundreds of years before falling asleep and waking up as a woman. Directed by longtime Ruhl collaborator Jessica Thebus (The Clean House at Goodman Theatre, Dead Man’s Cell Phone at Steppenwolf), Orlando demonstrates Court Theatre’s ongoing commitment to contemporary translations and adaptations of classic works.
“Sarah Ruhl has written a brilliant, faithful adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and we’ve assembled a truly remarkable cast and design team to bring the play’s gorgeous theatrical world to life in Court Theatre’s intimate space,” says Thebus. “This play is a red-hot love-letter and I’m delighted to share it in all its opulence and fantasy with Court’s audiences.”
Orlando features Amy J. Carle (Orlando), Thomas J. Cox (Chorus), Kevin Douglas (Chorus), Erica Elam (Sasha), and Lawrence Grimm (Chorus).
The creative team for Orlando features Collette Pollard (scenic design), Jaymi Lee Smith (lighting design), Linda Roethke (costume design), Andre Pluess (sound design). The Stage Manager is Sara Gammage. Court Theatre’s Resident Dramaturg is Drew Dir.
Amy J. Carle (Orlando) makes her Court Theatre debut in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. Chicago credits: The Sins of Sor Juana, Rock ‘N’ Roll, and Desire Under the Elms (Goodman Theatre); Sex With Strangers and Hedda Gabler (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Peter Pan and Trust (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Refuge (Collaboraction Theater - Jeff nomination); SubUrbia, The Lights (Jeff nomination), Ecstasy, WAS, and The Planets (Roadworks Productions). Off Broadway: National tour of The Vagina Monologues. Regional: Fully Committed and The Diary of Anne Frank (Madison Repertory Theatre); Morning Star (Kansas City Repertory Theatre). Television: Chicago Code (FOX), Law & Order (NBC), Guiding Light (CBS). Ms. Carle studies acting with Maryann Thebus.
Thomas J. Cox (Chorus) returns to Court Theatre, where he has appeared in Fraulein Else, Raisin, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Thom is a founding ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company, where he has done over thirty productions since 1988, most recently as Hook in Peter Pan (a play). Other credits include Northlight Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, and House Theatre (among many). Directing: Lookingglass Theatre Company, Eclipse Theatre, Piven Theatre Workshop. Film/Television: Since You’ve Been Gone (Miramax Films); Brotherhood (Showtime); Chi-Girl (TriShore Entertainment Inc). Love to Chris and Joanie.
Adrian Danzig (Chorus) makes his Court Theatre debut with Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. He’s spent most of the last eleven years as Producing Artistic Director for 500 Clown and has performed 500 Clown Macbeth, 500 Clown Frankenstein, 500 Clown Christmas, and 500 Clown and The Elephant Deal abundantly. Other credits: The Baron in the Trees and Metamorphoses (Lookingglass Theatre Company), Big Love (Goodman Theatre), and Go Dog Go (Chicago Children's Theater).
Kevin Douglas (Chorus) makes his Court Theatre debut with Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. He was most recently seen in Northlight Theatre’s production of A Civil War Christmas, and before that his fifth run of Lookingglass Alice (Lookingglass Theatre Company). He is an Artistic Associate of Lookingglass Theatre Company. His regional credits include: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Centerstage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Kevin is a proud member of MPAACT.
Erica Elam (Sasha) makes her Court Theatre debut with Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. Theatre credits include Stage Kiss and The Trip to Bountiful (Goodman Theatre), Born Yesterday, Comic Potential, Panic, and Rumors (Peninsula Players), Philadelphia Story (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Inherit the Wind (Northlight Theatre), The People vs. Friar Laurence (The Second City/Chicago Shakespeare Theater), and Winesburg, OH (Steppenwolf Theatre Company/About Face Theatre). As a writer and improviser, she has performed at The Second City, iO, Annoyance, and ComedySportz. Erica is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf.
Lawrence Grimm (Chorus) makes his Court Theatre debut with Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. Regional credits include: Late: A Cowboy Song (Piven Theatre Workshop), Abigail’s Party (A Red Orchid Theatre), The Brothers Karamazov, 1984, and The Naked King (Lookingglass Theatre Company), A Fair Country, Wolf Lullaby, and I Never Sang for my Father (Steppenwolf Theatre), various Sketchbooks and Apocalyptic Butterflies (Collaboraction Theater), The Glass Menagerie (Jeff Award for Supporting Actor) and Death of a Salesman (Raven Theatre). Grimm is an Ensemble Member of A Red Orchid Theatre and theater teacher at Chi-Arts.
Jessica Thebus (Director) is an Associate Artist with Steppenwolf Theatre, where she has directed Sex With Strangers, Intimate Apparel, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, No Place Like Home, When the Messenger is Hot (also at 59 E 59th in NYC), Sonia Flew, and Sex with Strangers (First Look Repertory of New Work). Additional credits: Harriet Jacobs (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), A Civil War Christmas (Huntington Theatre Company), Our Town and They All Fall Down (Lookingglass Theatre Company); The Clean House (Goodman Theatre); Jekyll and Hyde, Inherit the Wind, Red Herring (Northlight Theatre); Eurydice (Victory Gardens Theater); The Turn of the Screw (Writers’ Theater); and the world premiere of Welcome Home Jenny Sutter (The Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). Upcoming productions: world premiere of Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl (Goodman Theatre). Favorite projects: Pulp (Jefferson Award nomination—Best Director, After Dark Award—Best Production), Winesburg, Ohio (Jeff nomination—Best Director, After Dark Award—Best Director), and Seven Moves (About Face Theatre); Chicago (outdoor spectacle at the Field Museum); Salao: The Worst Kind of Unlucky (Redmoon Theater, where she is a longtime collaborator); Late, Melancholy Play, Abingdon Square (Piven Theatre Workshop where she is a longtime member of the teaching staff). Steppenwolf for Young Adults projects: Haymarket Eight, Whispering City, David Mamet's The Water Engine (also at Theater on the Lake), and A Tale of Two Cities. Ms. Thebus has also directed at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, Center Theater, Lifeline Theater, Collaboraction Theater, and Caravan Productions, as well as touring internationally with the Bread and Puppet Theater. Education: Doctorate in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. She has designed courses, taught at The University of Chicago, DePaul University, Columbia College, and Roosevelt University, and is currently a faculty member in the Directing Program at Northwestern and an artistic associate at The Corn Exchange in Dublin, Ireland.
Previews are March 10 – March 18, 2011. The opening press performance is on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. Curtain times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Ticket prices are $30 to $40 for preview performances; $40 to $60 for regular run performances. Tickets are available at the Box Office, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or online at www.CourtTheatre.org. Student and senior discounts available. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets by calling Milan Pejnovich at (773) 834-3243.
Orlando is sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation
Upcoming Events
University of Chicago Student Night
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 8:00PM
University of Chicago students are invited to enjoy free food and soda after the performance, as well as a post-show discussion with members of the cast, design team, and staff. University of Chicago student tickets are always just $10 with valid U of C student ID.
David Bevington Post-show Discussion
Wednesday, March 30, 2011, following the 7:30PM performance of Orlando
Join world-renowned University of Chicago theater scholar David Bevington in a lively post-show conversation with Resident Dramaturg Drew Dir. Your comments and questions are part of the discourse as Professor Bevington and the artistic staff provide context and probe the deeper issues of each play in Court Theatre’s season. One Wednesday performance of each play features this popular in-depth discussion. These conversations begin immediately after the performance, last approximately 30 minutes, and are free and open to all.
Now in its 56th season, Court Theatre is guided by its mission to discover the power of classic theatre. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Court revives lost masterpieces, illuminates familiar texts, and distinguishes fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.
Court Theatre is the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago continuing to discover the power of classic theatre. Court Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Productions are made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and by a City Arts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Court Theatre is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American Theatre; the League of Resident Theatres; the Illinois Humanities Council; the Arts Alliance Illinois; the League of Chicago Theatres; and Hyde Park Cultural Alliance.
Orlando/FACT SHEET
Title: Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
Directed by: Jessica Thebus
Adapted by: Sarah Ruhl
Dates: Previews: March 10 - 18, 2011; Press opening: Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 8 PM; Regular run: March 20 – April 10, 2011
Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or online www.CourtTheatre.org
Notes of Interest:
- Orlando marks Jessica Thebus’ directorial debut at Court Theatre.
- Jessica Thebus has directed many of Sarah Ruhl’s works, including Eurydice, Late: A Cowboy Song, and Melancholy Play. Thebus is slated to direct the upcoming World premiere of Ruhl’s Stage Kiss at the Goodman this spring and the Midwest Premiere of In the Next Room or the vibrator play at Victory Gardens in fall 2011.
- Jessica Thebus and Sarah Ruhl are both graduates of the Piven Theatre Workshop, where they met in middle school.
- Court Theatre’s production of Orlando opens on March 20, the same day that Virginia Woolf completed the novel.
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