Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Chicago, IL) Six brand new plays from a handful of American theater's most dynamic playwrights will be presented at Goodman Theatre's 2007 New Stages Series September 28 - October 7, 2007. The free series of script-in-hand staged readings takes place in the Goodman's Owen Theatre and is open to the public. Reservations are required, limited to eight per household, per event.

"In theater the playwright is king," remarked Artistic Director Robert Falls, "and it is the responsibility of the Goodman and leading theaters nationwide to create opportunities for writers to develop new work in collaboration with world-class directors. Cultivating a wide range of new American plays is fundamental to the Goodman's goals of quality, diversity and community."

Now in its fifth year, the Goodman's New Stages Series has presented more than 20 new plays, many of which have gone on to receive productions at the Goodman and other American theaters including Playwrights Horizons, New York's The Public Theater, Steppenwolf, American Theatre Company and Geffen Playhouse. A complete list of these productions appears at the end of this release.

2007 New Stages Series (plays, dates and artists subject to change)

Spirits To Enforce
By Mickle Maher
Directed by Greg Allen
Friday, September 28 at 7pm

First produced by Chicago's Theatre Oobleck, Spirits to Enforce introduces us to "The Enforcers," a group of superheroes who are tackling a new project: not an evil villain, but something much more challenging-The Tempest by William Shakespeare. But first, these crime-fighters must raise the necessary funds through a superhero telemarketing campaign. They soon discover that making theater is often more difficult than locking up supervillians. Mickle Maher is a co-founder of Theatre Oobleck and the author of numerous plays, including An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening, The Hunchback Variations, Spirits to Enforce, The Cabinet and the adaptation Cyrano.

Ruined
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
Saturday, September 29 at 7pm

Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the present day, acclaimed playwright Lynn Nottage's latest play centers around Mama Nadi, a savvy businesswoman who, in the midst of a complex civil war, both protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become a battleground. Lynn Nottage returns to the Goodman where Resident Director Chuck Smith staged her play Crumbs from the Table of Joy in 2006. Her other plays include Intimate Apparel; A Walk Through Time; Mud, River, Stone; Por'knockers, Poof!; and Las Meninas.

Chasing Manet
By Tina Howe
Directed by Jason Loewith
Featuring Jane Alexander
Sunday, September 30 at 7pm

A vital, moving and vivid exploration of the terrors and joys of ageing, Chasing Manet introduces us to legendary painter Catherine Sargent, now legally blind and confined to the Mount Airy Nursing Home. Catherine is desperate to escape for one final adventure; and with the arrival of her new roommate Rennie, it looks like her plan may come to fruition. Jane Alexander received a Tony Award for her performance in The Great White Hope. Other Broadway work includes The Visit, The Sisters Rosensweig and Honour. Her films include Fur; An Imaginary Portrait of Dianne Arbus; The Ring; Sunshine State; The Cider House Rules; Glory; Kramer vs. Kramer; and The Great White Hope. Tina Howe's plays include The Nest, Birth and After Birth, Museum, The Art of Dining, Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances, Approaching Zanzibar, One Shoe Off, Pride's Crossing and Skin Deep.

Two Echoes
By Noah Haidle
Directed by Dado
Friday, October 5 at 7pm

Suspended on a bridge one cold winter night, a cellist and two echoes watch as a parade of ordinary people pass by. This funny, bittersweet and inventive new play from the author of Vigilsexplores the frail link between life and death and what compels us to communicate when everything has already been said. Noah Haidle returns to the Goodman where Vigils had its world premiere last season. His other plays include Mr. Marmalade, Princess Marjorie and Rag and Bone.

Gas For Less
By Brett Neveu
Directed by Dexter Bullard
Saturday, October 6 at 7pm

Set against the backdrop of the Chicago Bears' recent journey towards the Super Bowl, Gas For Less is a multi-generational story about a small family-owned gas station struggling to stay afloat on the north side of Chicago. When a sudden act of violence shatters his world, Anthony, the 25-year-old manager, must reconcile himself with his newfound responsibilities and the changing faces of a neighborhood and a generation. Brett Neveu received the Goodman's Ofner Prize for Heritage. His other plays include The Meek; The Earl; 4 Murders; Eric LaRue; American Dead; Eagle Hills, Eagle Ridge, Eagle Landing; twentyone; and The Last Barbecue.

Ghostwritten
By Naomi Iizuka
Directed by Lisa Portes
Sunday, October 7 at 7pm

In this striking reimagining of the tale of Rumplestiltskin, an American woman goes to Southeast Asia and strikes a bargain with a mysterious stranger. Twenty years later, she's become an acclaimed chef specializing in Asian cuisine with an adopted Vietnamese-born daughter and a life that is successful beyond her wildest dreams. Into her life the stranger from her past reappears collecting on an old debt. Naomi Iizuka's plays include 17 Reasons (Why); 36 Views; Polaroid Stories; Language of Angels; War of the Worlds; Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls; Tattoo Girl and Skin.

Free tickets for the series can be reserved at the Goodman Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or by phone at 312.443.3800. The New Stages Series is supported in part by a generous grant from the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. New work at the Goodman is made possible in part by the Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for Artistic Development. The Series is also made possible by Goodman New Works Season Sponsors: Deborah A. Bricker; Julie M. Danis and Paul F. Donahue; Anne E. Kutak; M. Ann O'Brien; Alice Rapoport and Michael Sachs, Sg2; and Orli and Bill Staley.

Goodman Theatre, recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, has been a leader in the American theater and internationally recognized for its artists, productions and education programs. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the Goodman is committed to producing classic and contemporary works, giving full voice to a wide range of artists and visions. Central to that mission is the Goodman's Artistic Collective, including Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. In 2000, the Goodman moved to the heart of Chicago's revitalized downtown North Loop Theater District, into a new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Lester N. Coney and Alice Young Sabl is chair of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre. Kraft Foods is the Principal Sponsor of the Goodman's free Student Subscription Series.

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August 28, 2007

Production History of works presented in Goodman Theatre's New Stages Series

New Stages Series 2003

BFE by Julia Cho premiered at Long Wharf Theatre in the spring of 2005. It was then produced at Playwrights Horizons in the spring of 2005 and was published in American Theatre Magazine in the fall of 2005.

Cheech, Or The Chrysler Guys are in Town by Francois Letourneau, translated by Rick Desrochers, was produced in the fall of 2005 by Melbourne Theatre Company in Melbourne, Australia in a co-production with Montreal's Centaur Theatre. It was produced in Montreal in February 2006.

Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky by David Cale, music by Jonathon Kreisberg, premiered at the Goodman in the spring of 2005. It was produced at Hartford Stage in the fall of 2005 and at Playwrights Horizons in November 2006.

Heritage by Brett Neveu premiered in the spring of 2006 at Chicago's American Theatre Company.

Mariela in the Desert by Karen Zacarías won the 2004 Theatre Communications Group AT&T First Stages Award and the 2004 National Latino Playwrights Competition. It premiered at the Goodman in the spring of 2005 and was published by Theatre Forum. It will make its West Coast premiere at Miracle Theatre Group in Portland, Oregon in September 2007.

Softly Blue by Shepsu Aakhu premiered in February 2006 at Chicago's MPAACT Theatre.

New Stages Series 2004

Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue by Quiara Alegria Hudes was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It premiered in the fall of 2005 at Miracle Theatre Group in Portland, Oregon. It was produced in January 2006 by New York's P73 Productions and in September 2006 by Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. It was subsequently co-produced by Teatro Vista and Rivendell Theatre in the fall of 2006 in Steppenwolf's Garage Theatre.

The Frugal Repast by Ron Hirsen was workshopped at the National Playwrights Conference at O'Neill Theatre Centre in the summer of 2005 and is scheduled for production at New York's Abingdon Theatre Company in January 2007.

My Buddy Bill by Rick Cleveland was workshopped in the summer of 2005 at Berkshire Theatre Festival and premiered in the fall of 2005 at Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. It was featured in HBO's 2006 Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colorado. A production at the 92nd St Y in New York was taped to air on Comedy Central in early 2008. It was produced in Chicago at Victory Gardens Theatre in May 2007.

Sweet Water Taste by Gloria Bond Clunie won the 2004 Theodore Ward Contest.

New Stages Series 2005

Get What You Need by Jessica Goldberg was produced in the summer of 2005 by New York Stage and Film.

Sam's Coming by Kia Corthron was workshopped by New York Stage and Film in June 2006 and was part of LAByrinth Theatre Company's December 2006 Barn Series.

Six Postcards by Lisa Dillman was presented at the 2005 Future Fest in Dayton, Ohio.

Vigils by Noah Haidle premiered at the Goodman in October 2006. It was subsequently produced at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. in January 2007.

New Stages Series 2006

The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney will be produced in November 2007 by the Young Vic in London after touring the U.K. It will be produced in the fall of 2007 at The Public Theater in New York.

Massacre (Sing to Your Children) by José Rivera premiered in a co-production by Teatro Vista and Goodman Theatre in March 2007.

Till, renamed The Ballad of Emmett Till, by Ifa Bayeza was workshopped at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in July 2007.