Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

(February 3, 2009 - Chicago, IL) Acclaimed off-Loop theater troupe The Hypocrites launch the second half of Goodman Theatre's 21st century exploration of Eugene O'Neill with The Hairy Ape directed by Sean Graney, "one of the most insightful directors now at work in Chicago" (Chicago Sun-Times). With an all-Chicago ensemble cast led by Chris Sullivan as Yank, "the hairy ape," Graney's production transforms Goodman's three-tiered Owen Bruner Theatre into the various strata of an ocean liner. In conjunction with The Hairy Ape, the Goodman also presents a free discussion on February 21 with Directors Sean Graney and Greg Allen, founder of The Neo-Futurists who directs O'Neill's Strange Interlude at the Goodman March 6 - 8. The Hairy Ape appears February 7 - 21 in the Goodman's Owen Bruner Theatre. Tickets are $12 - $20; a full calendar, including dates, times, ticket prices and information about the discussion, appears at the end of the release.

"Ninety years after it was first produced, The Hairy Ape remains a relevant, contemporary play," says Director Sean Graney, whose work has been seen by Chicago audiences most recently in Edward II at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and The Threepenny Opera by The Hyprocrites. "It is my favorite O'Neill play and I am thrilled that it is a part of this international Exploration at the Goodman."

Chris "Sully" Sullivan returns to Goodman Theatre as Yank after making his debut performance in The Ballad of Emmett Till. Other Chicago credits include Edward II (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Don't Dress For Dinner (The Royal George Theater), Dangerous Beauty (American Musical Theater Project), Defending the Caveman (The Lakeshore Theater). Other credits include Defending the Caveman (National Tour). Film credits include North Starr (Official Sundance Selection 2008 and Chicago International Film Festival). This spring he will return to Chicago Shakespeare to play Antonio in Twelfth Night.

Joining Sullivan are Kurt Ehrmann (Paddy, Ensemble); Robert McLean (Long, Ensemble); John Byrnes (Secretary of Organization, Ensemble) Jennifer Coombs (Mildred, Ensemble); Stacy Stoltz (Aunt, Ensemble); Gregory Hardigan (Ensemble); Kiplan Dooley (Ensemble); and 10-year Najwa Brown (Girl).

About The Hairy Ape

The Hairy Ape follows the saga of Yank, a maritime laborer who questions his place in society when branded as "a filthy beast" by the rich daughter of a steel industrialist. In a series of eight scenes, O'Neill chronicles Yank's struggle between his own primitive nature and that of the intellectually based and emotionally vacant upper classes. After his fellow stokers reject him, and a foolhardy attempt for revenge on the class which has shunned him fails, Yank seeks solace from the only creature with whom he finds kinship: an ape in the Central Park Zoo.

The Hairy Ape is considered one of the foremost examples of American expressionism, an artistic movement that began in early 20th century Germany which presents a distorted reality that refelcts emotional turmoil of the artist; prime examples of this creative approach are found in visual art (Munch's The Scream) and film (Fritz Lang's Metropolis, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, and Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) as well as in the pre-World War I dramatic works of Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller. Like Metropolis and other expressionistic works, The Hairy Ape portrays the dehumanizing effects of industrialization which compromises the human spirit for the sake of productivity. The play simultaneously reflects O'Neill's dissatisfaction with socialism and its failure to accommodate the emotional needs of the individual, marking the author's own movement toward philosophical anarchism.

The Provincetown Players premiered The Hairy Ape in March 1922, under the direction of frequent O'Neill collaborator Robert Edmond Jones. That production, featuring Louis Wolheim's powerful performance as Yank, moved to Broadway's Plymouth Theatre the following month. A 1944 film version of the play featured William Bendix, and in the ensuing decades the play received dozens of notable revivals around the country-perhaps the most celebrated of which was The Wooster Group's 1996 production, featuring Willem Dafoe as Yank.

The Hairy Ape
By Eugene O'Neill
Directed by Sean Graney
February 7-21, 2009

Yank.................................................................................Chris Sullivan
Paddy, Ensemble..............................................................Kurt Ehrmann
Long, Ensemble………………...............……….................Robert McLean
Secretary of Organization, Ensemble….............………….John Byrnes
Mildred, Ensemble…………………….....................….......Jennifer Coombs
Aunt, Ensemble………………………….............................Stacy Stoltz
Ensemble……………………..........................……….....…Gregory Hardigan
Ensemble…………...............................……………….…...Kiplan Dooley
Girl……………………………………………………………...Najwa Brown

Set Design……………………………………………………..Tom Burch
Costume Design……………………………………………....Alison Siple
Lighting Design………………………………………………..Jared Moore
Sound Design..………………………………………………..Miles Polaski
Composer……………………………………………………...Kevin O'Donnell

About The Hypocrites

Founded by director Sean Graney in 1997, The Hypocrites Theatre Company has spent the last decade challenging the theatrical norms of Chicago. Inspired by various 20th century styles, The Hypocrites seek to break the emotional distance between artist and audience, inviting the spectators to become actively involved in the performance while questioning themselves and the world around them. The company initially staged classics of the absurdist and expressionist traditions, such as Beckett's Endgame, Büchner's Woyzeck and Ionesco's The Bald Soprano and their first major success came with their production of Sophie Treadwell's Machinal, which garnered critical raves and six Jeff Citations. Though such avant-garde works are not generally met with large audiences, the quality and integrity of the company's work quickly solidified The Hypocrites' place among the most adventurous of Chicago's off-Loop theaters. Most recently The Hypocrites staged a hit revival of Thornton Wilder's Our Town directed by David Cromer.

Sean Graney is the Artistic Director and Founder of The Hypocrites where he as directed such acclaimed productions as Miss Julie, Equus, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Angels in America: Perestroika, and Death of a Salesman. Other directing credits include Edward II at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He was born and raised in Boston and received his BFA in Theater and Writing from Emerson College. He won a Joseph Jefferson Citation and After Dark Award as Director of Machinal by Sophie Treadwell and several of his theatrical adaptations have been nominated for Joseph Jefferson Awards. Mr. Graney has been cited by Chicago magazine as "Chicago's best avant-garde director," named Chicagoan of the Year in Theater by Chicago Tribune and was recently selected for participation in the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Development Program for Directors.

Special Programs
*Reservations are required: 312.443.3800 or GoodmanTheatre.org

Sean Graney and Greg Allen on a Modern O'Neill
Saturday, February 21, following the matinee performance of The Hairy Ape
Goodman Theatre

As a member of New York's bohemian theater community, Eugene O'Neill's career began as an early experimenter. Chicago directors Sean Graney and Greg Allen elaborate on O'Neill as modernist playwright through a discussion of their unique interpretations of O'Neill's Hairy Ape and Strange Interlude.

About "A Global Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century"

Goodman Theatre begins 2009 with an eight-play landmark theatrical event, "A Global Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century" curated by Artistic Director Robert Falls, January 7 through March 8, 2009. More than 100 artists from six theater companies around the world bring their highly contemporary, inventive interpretations of O'Neill's dramas to the Goodman's Exploration-viewing the 20th century "father of the American drama" through a 21st century international lens.

Productions by participating companies include: The Wooster Group's The Emperor Jones (New York); Companhia Triptal's Homens ao Mar (Sea Plays) (Brazil); The Hypocrites' The Hairy Ape (Chicago); Toneelgroep Amsterdam's Rouw Siert Electra (Amsterdam); and The Neo-Futurists' Strange Interlude (Chicago). The centerpiece of the Exploration is Goodman Theatre's Desire Under the Elms directed by Artistic Director Robert Falls.

The global component of the Eugene O'Neill Exploration expands the international programming that Goodman Theatre has established with productions of The Merchant of Venice in London, Paris and Hamburg; Death of a Salesman in London; Galileo Galilei in London and The Iceman Cometh in Dublin. The biennial Latino Theatre Festival has provided an opportunity for audiences to experience outstanding work from Spain, Mexico and Brazil over the past six years. "In a world in which globalization is a reality, it is essential that outstanding work from the US travels abroad and, at the same time, that Americans experience the cultural life of the rest of the world," said Falls.

Tickets for The Hairy Ape are $12 - $20 and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the box office (170 North Dearborn) or by phone at 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) day of performance; Mezztix are not available by telephone. 10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online on the day of performance; 10Tix are not available by telephone. Valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets. Limit four per student with I.D. All tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted Group Tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.

UBS is the Lead Corporate Sponsor for "A Global Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century" and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is the Sponsor Partner. Motorola Foundation is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. Allstate is the Corporate Sponsor Partner and The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation is the Sponsor Partner for Desire Under the Elms. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Governor's International Arts Exchange Program of the Illinois Arts Council.

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