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Steppenwolf's LookOut Series is proud to unveil its lineup for Summer 2026, marking ten years of steadfast dedication to Chicago performing artists and companies across form and discipline.

Since launching in 2016, the LookOut Series has hosted 1,043 performances of 365 unique engagements spanning dance, drag, music, comedy, puppetry, storytelling, experimental work and theatre. Over 69,000 patrons have come through the doors of the 1700 Theater to witness the work of more than 3,200 local artists. And the series has injected nearly one million dollars directly into the wallets of the artists and companies that it bolsters.

From June through August, LookOut is throwing a summer-long party to celebrate! Of the 18 unique engagements announced, highlights include many returning acts, including: the homecoming of the cult-classic variety show Erik and Jessie and Everyone You Know (hosted by Erik Hellman and Jessie Fisher), an experimental blending of sound and myth from the indescribable artist collective Mocrep (returning to Steppenwolf for the first time since 2019), the 11th Steppenwolf-hosted iteration of the endlessly popular storytelling showcase You're Being Ridiculous and the triumphant return of local drag icon Bambi Banks with a two week run of an all new drag parody show.

But the summer wouldn't be complete without newcomers to the LookOut Series performing at Steppenwolf for the first time. First time performers include: the comedy show Women Off-Colour, complete with sketches, musical numbers and more, The Lizzie McGuire Movie: The Play fresh off a sold out run at Color Club, award-winning "Comic-To-Watch" in the Chicago standup scene Deanna Ortiz and the Chicago premiere of Forgottonia, a music and storytelling show about West Central Illinois.

Steppenwolf Creative Producer and Co-Founder of the LookOut Series Patrick Zakem comments, "As Steppenwolf nears the end of its 50th Anniversary Season, we're excited to mark another institutional milestone: ten years of the endlessly eclectic LookOut Series. When we launched this program in May 2016, we didn't really imagine that we would still be going ten years later. But over the last decade, LookOut's programming has grown to be a vital resource for Chicago artists of all stripes, from dance and drag to comedy and music. We can't wait to celebrate with old friends and new – see you in the 1700 Theater!"

All LookOut performances take place in Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, an intimate and flexible venue nestled behind Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Tickets, which range in price from $13 – $50*, are now on sale by visiting steppenwolf.org/lookout or by calling the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. *Pricing includes a $3 fee

The full Lookout Summer 2026 Season (in chronological order):

You're Being Ridiculous: Plot Twist 
Dates: Thursday, June 4 – Saturday, June 6 at 7:30 pm; Saturday, June 6 at 3 pm 
Ticket Price: $30
Description: At You're Being Ridiculous, real people tell true stories about their lives. Each performance is linked by rotating themes, and by the desire to make you laugh... and, once in a while, cry. Our motto: Good stories are better than good times. We laugh at ourselves and laugh with each other. Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours? 

Softie 
by Tim Felton
Dates: Friday, June 12 & Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: Sometimes a dad is also a daddy. And sometimes that daddy is also a Softie. Chicago-based comedian, Tim Felton (picture the lovechild of Mr. Rogers Pee-wee Herman and Buster Bluth), invites you along in his journey as he figures out how to connect with people as he gets older... and softer.  

Jillian Ebanks: 
Who All Gone Be There? 
Directed by Kiley Fitzgerald 
Dates: Thursday, June 18 at 7:30 pm 
Ticket Price: $23
Description: Life for Jillian in her 30s has been one big, weird party, and all she has wanted to know is Who All Gone Be There? Come join Jillian for this live taping of new material as she explores the guest list of her life through comedy. 

Funny Slut 
A solo show by Deanna Ortiz
Dates: Saturday, June 20 & Sunday, June 21 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Deanna Ortiz used to think her job was just posting thirst traps for porn stars. Turns out, it was also therapy... with a 401(k). In Funny Slut, Deanna tells the hilarious and unexpectedly heartfelt story of working in social media for the adult entertainment industry where she learned to embrace chaos, confidence and her inner hot girl. 

Mocrep Presents: 
I Live Every Day
Dates: Thursday, June 25 – Saturday, June 27 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $13 – $53
Description: The "mostly performance, arguably music" Chicago-based collective Mocrep returns to the LookOut Series. I Live Every Day is a noisy yet mellifluous riff on twang, repetition, feedback and kitchen appliances simultaneously inspired by the myth of Narcissus and the music of Tammy Wynette. 

Women Off-Colour 
Featuring Anelga Hajjar, Alondra Rios and Mantra
Dates: Wednesday, July 1 – Friday, July 3 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $23
Description: Ethnicities we've dated, ethnicities who've wronged us, dads (alive and not), older sister trauma, ethnic moms, cycles we want to break and growing up with curves. These are some of the topics Mantra, Alondra and Anelga muse on in Women Off-Colour. Featuring musical numbers, sketches and monologues, this show invites women to be offensive, wrong and unapologetic.  

Erik and Jessie and Everyone You Know: 
Past and Future
Dates: Monday, July 6 & Tuesday, July 7 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $43
Description: Ten years ago, Erik Hellman and Jessie Fischer brought everyone they knew to celebrate the opening of the 1700 Theater. Now EVERYONE will return for two nights, TWO DIFFERENT SHOWS! Monday: we visit the PAST. Tuesday: we visit the FUTURE. Join us for either or both. 

Derek Begrudgingly Presents: 
The Lizzie McGuire Movie: The Play
Dates: Friday, July 10 & Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 pm; Saturday, July 11 at 3 pm
Ticket Price: $28 
Description: After two sold out runs at Color Club and winning runner up in Chicago Reader's Best New Play category, The Lizzie McGuire Movie: The Play is back to show you what dreams are really made of. Through dance, drag, a live band, over-the-top acting and giant DIY cardboard props, this parody production reimagines Lizzie McGuire's iconic trip to Rome in a way Disney would never allow and finally answers the question, "what the hell happened to Miranda??" 

Nervous Breakdown in G Minor 
by Lewis Rawlinson 
Dates: Friday, July 17 & Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, July 19 at 3 pm 
Ticket Price: $30
Description: How do you pursue an art form you love when you no longer feel you belong? In this solo show with live music, Lewis Rawlinson traces his journey through queerness, addiction and mental health. Nervous Breakdown in G Minor is a lyrical autobiography about growing up Mormon in Montana, training as a classical cellist and confronting the realities of pursuing a life in music.  

Dream Devis: The Death and Life Of 
Created by Abhijeet & Leha Salam
Dates: Thursday, July 23 – Saturday, July 25 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, July 26 at 3 pm 
Ticket Price: $33
Description: Dream Devis, Chicago's trans femme South Asian collective, return to Steppenwolf after their sold-out eponymous show last year. Join our Devis for an existentialist romp through time, history, mythology and pop culture through song, dance and comedy. 

The Real Time – Live! 
With Briana Bower, Ian Paul Custer, Kelan M Smith, Jack Morsovillo & Lior Shragg
Dates: Thursday, July 30 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $23
Description: The Real Time is a Chicago-based female-fronted five-piece band specializing in unique original music. Their music blends multiple eras and genres resulting in their pop-rock-funk sound. They'll be sure to get you movin' and groovin' with their upbeat jams and four-part harmonies. Come rock out with them! 

Michiganderish 
Written and performed by Julie Ganey
Music by Mike Przygoda, Directed by Ann Filmer 
Dates: Saturday, August 1 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, August 2 at 3 pm 
Ticket Price: $15 – $50
Description: Julie Ganey finds a little place for her family to get away from it all in the Great Lakes State and discovers it's not that simple. Cue chainsaws, chipmunks, menacing deer and eco-heroes! Michiganderish is a solo show about apocalyptic nature, reaping what we sow and an examination of what it means to truly belong to a place. 

The Not That Late Show
Dates: Thursday, August 6 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $23
Description: Blending news-driven comedy with late-night-style interviews, The Not That Late Show is a Chicago-based variety show that aims to create space for people to live, laugh, learn... and leave at a reasonable hour. A show for Chicago, by Chicago. 

Chris Vallillo Presents:
Forgottonia
Dates: Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, August 9 at 3 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Forgottonia is a musical journey through the evolution of the people and places in rural Midwestern America as seen through the eyes of songwriter Chris Vallillo. Vallillo combines storytelling and live music with the images of award-winning rural photographer Tim Schroll to create an audio-visual love letter to the region's past, present and future. 

Dionna Griffin-Irons:
This is My Moment 
Directed by Anthony Irons with music by Alexander Burke
Dates: Thursday, August 13 – Saturday, August 15 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $38
Description: Blending "theatricalized" essays, satirical songs and poetic prose, This is My Moment features the real life story of a woman who has experienced the best life has to offer – a kingpin lover from the past, a jail adventure that tests her faith and a comedy career that teaches the gift of saying "Yes." 

Carl Chadek: You're Not Right for That!
Dates: Wednesday, August 19 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $38
Description: Carl Chadek: You're Not Right for That! is an old-school style cabaret with music from Broadway, the great American songbook, classic pop and just maybe a little comedy. Think dinner jackets, evening gowns and martinis. Nobody is right for everything, and auditioning can be, well, interesting.  

Claire Lochmueller:
CRACKS
A one-trans-woman dark comedy memoir 
Dates: Friday, August 21 & Saturday, August 22 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $15 – $30
Description: Through a hybrid of storytelling, stand-up comedy and theatre, this one-trans-woman dark comedy memoir by Claire Lochmueller details a journey from a childhood in the Catholic Church/JROTC military school to a career as a multi-award-winning trans theatre-maker. CRACKS navigates topics of gender identity, substance abuse and finding joy in a story about how two lives, through laughter and tears, became one trans identity. 

Bambi Banks Presents: 
Clue University: A Drag Parody
By Neutral Gena 
Dates: Thursday, August 27 – Sunday, September 6; Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Ticket Price: $33
Description: Bambi Banks returns to the LookOut Series with Clue University, a slasher parody play that combines all the fun and whimsy of the game of Clue with the complicated world of a collegiate rush week. In this thrilling murder mystery, six Sorority Sisters must unmask a killer living amongst them, testing their bonds of sisterhood and bringing to light the question: is blood thicker than power? 

Accessibility:

Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater is equipped with an induction hearing loop and assistive listening devices (ALDs) are available upon request. Our building features wheelchair-accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair, and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/plan-your-visit/accessibility or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information: 

The LookOut Series is supported in part by the Walder Foundation. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Conagra Brands Foundation, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Sacks Family Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Thoma Bravo, and Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. uncil and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. 

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 50 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary. From the 1980 phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and now, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theatre and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1975 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, Steppenwolf started as a group of young people in their teens and early 20s performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Four favorite singers of past Marriott Theatre concerts will unite on Monday, June 1 and Tuesday, June 2 for LET'S HANG ON: A ROCK 'N SOUL PARTY. Former "Jersey Boy" Michael Ingersoll (SOUTHERN NIGHTS: MICHAEL INGERSOLL SINGS GLEN CAMPBELL), Eric Gutman (HELLO AGAIN: ERIC GUTMAN SINGS NEIL DIAMOND), John-Mark McGaha (SOMEDAY AT CHRISTMAS: JOHN-MARK MCGAHA SINGS STEVIE WONDER), and John Michael Dias (BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO: JOHN MICHAEL DIAS SINGS NEIL SEDAKA) will join forces to present such hits by some of the most popular artists of the 1960s and 1970s. This quartet of Broadway rockers invites you to share in the laughter, camaraderie, and feel-good anthems of yesterday, like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons' "Walk Like a Man," Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through the Grapevine," Ike and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary," Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl," Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," and many others.

Performances are Monday, June 1 at 7:00 pm and Tuesday, June 2 at 1:00 pm. Additional seats have been made available for both performances.

LET'S HANG ON is one in the series of Marriott Theatre special concerts in 2026. Concerts coming up later this year include:
• FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES: BRANDON BENNETT SINGS GARTH BROOKS – September 14 and 15, 2026
• A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS WITH CHESTER GREGORY – December 14 and 15, 2026
Tickets for LET'S HANG ON and the other above-mentioned concerts start at $65.00 plus taxes and fees and are available at tickets.marriotttheatre.com, by phone at 847-634-0200, or at the Marriott Theatre Box Office.
LET'S HANG ON: A ROCK 'N SOUL PARTY
Show Type:
Concert (G)
Date and Times:
Monday, June 1 at 7:00 pm
Tuesday, June 2 at 1:00 pm
Location:
MARRIOTT THEATRE, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Webpage: https://www.marriotttheatre.com/show/lets-hang-on-a-rock-n-soul-party

Description: A quartet of Broadway rockers promise to get your pulse pounding with high-octane hits! You're invited to party with former stars of JERSEY BOYS and PBS television's vocal-group sensation Under the Streetlamp. Kings of retro-rock Michael Ingersoll, Eric Gutman, John-Mark McGaha, and John Michael Dias invite you to share in the laughter, camaraderie, and feel-good anthems of yesterday. Backed by a killer band, songs include "Walk Like a Man," "Heard It Through the Grapevine," "Proud Mary," "Uptown Girl," and "Sweet Caroline." Presented by Artists Lounge Live.

Physical Theater Festival Chicago, the city’s annual celebration of contemporary, movement-based performance, announces a bold lineup spotlighting local creativity. Each year, Physical Theater Festival reimagines what a live theater experience can be and do across cultures, languages and genres while showcasing a variety of performing arts, including clown, mime, improv, puppet/object theater, circus and dance. At this festival, the physical theater runs the gamut from innovative street theater, to award-winning and critically acclaimed new dramas, comedies and dramedies.

The festival proudly features homegrown talent, including headliner company Full Out Formula, who recently returned from Adelaide Fringe in Australia with their award-winning show, I Think It Could Work, June 3 - 7; six new short-form acts on Scratch Night, Monday, June 1 and two medium-length works with Made in Chicago on June 2. Physical Theater Festival also adds a robust slate of community workshops, June 4 - 7, each honoring the city’s vibrant performance scene. 

International artists and companies scheduled to perform during the seven-day special event include: the Chicago return of Argentinian’s physical chameleon Luciano Rosso; the United States premiere of Peruvian mask theater ensemble Compañia de Teatro Físico; Korean-American powerhouse Sora Baek and Portland’s all-ages clown duo A Little Bit OFF. Please note: Previously announced performances of Jetlag by Chaliwaté (Belgium) have been cancelled. 

General admission tickets for individual shows at The Dance Center at Columbia Chicago are $40 and tickets at Theater Wit are $36, industry/students/seniors/veterans tickets are $26 at The Dance Center and $23 at Theater Wit. There are two offerings for festival passes: Option one: $189 (general admission) for the "The Whole Shebang”

Festival Pass or $119 (for industry/students/seniors/veterans). Option two: "Just “The Headliners" Festival Pass is $159 (general admission) or $89 (for industry/students/seniors/veterans). Workshop participants may purchase a full workshop pass for $210 for all four sessions. Tickets and passes may be purchased at PhysicalFestival.com.

13TH PHYSICAL THEATER FESTIVAL CHICAGO CALENDAR OF EVENTS

(Information on companies and individual artists may be found at PhysicalFestival.com.)

Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m. 

Scratch Night

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Scratch Night, a festival favorite, kicks off the local programming by giving emerging Chicago artists a platform to share new short works in progress. Known for its energetic environment, Scratch Night has become a springboard for experimentation and collaboration among the city’s most daring physical theater and dance makers. Among the lineup is a diverse group of performers from multiple disciplines ranging from dance and acro to clown: The Piel Canela Company, THE FLOCK, Sarah Beck, Dawn Heilung, Haven Rawley, Ryan Eykholt and Richie Whitehead, Luke Vertiglio and Emil Holt and Ella Kramer.

Tuesday, June 2 at 7 p.m.

Made in Chicago Night

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Out of Scratch Night grows the Made in Chicago series—an opportunity for two local artists or companies to expand on work that originated at Scratch Night in up to 40-minute performances. This year’s program includes INSÉKTA with MATADORA and LegLand with The New F-Word.

MATADORA is a devised choreographic work exploring the question: “What does rage look like in the body?” Tracing the transformation of suppressed Latiné rage into a force of dignity and self-possession, the piece blends movement, ritual and theatricality. INSÉKTA, a Venezuelan–Peruvian director, choreographer and performer based in Chicago, creates work at the crossroads of dance, absurdism and Latiné Futurism. MATADORA is supported by a residency with Pivot Arts at the Wirtz Center.

In The New F-Word, award-winning Chicago ensemble LegLand dives into the atmospheric world of fog, its mystery, mood and absurdity. Building on their acclaimed Scratch Night 2025 performance, LegLand fuses comedic discomfort and moody theatricality to ask: “What’s really so cool about sitting in a smoky room anyway?” This new iteration brings audiences a theatrical playground bursting with surreal wit and visual flair.

Wednesday, June 3 and Friday, June 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 7 at 2 p.m.

I Think It Could Work by Full Out Formula (Chicago)

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

From the mischievous minds of Full Out Formula comes their seminal creation, I Think It Could Work, a daring and playful leap into the unexpected. With bright colors, dazzling acrobatics and unflinching trust, this Chicago-based contemporary circus collective invites audiences into a speculative world where your choices decide their destiny. It's a circus like you’ve never seen before: live, improvised and unforgettable.

Full Out Formula is a circus collective that makes people believe in the possibilities of their own world. It's a sneaky but feral rebellion based in Chicago, founded in 2023 by company members Sierra Rhoades Nicholls, Kevin Flanagan and Liam Bradley.

Wednesday, June 3 at 9 p.m., Saturday, June 6 at 5 p.m. and Sunday, June 7 

at 11 a.m.

Beau and Aero by A Little Bit OFF (Seattle, USA)

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Multi-award-winning Beau and Aero ask the question, “What if the Wright brothers went wrong?” Beau and Aero is an acrobatic, slapstick, latex-heavy comedy featuring two incompetent aviators on their quest for flight. Pompous pilot Beau and his clueless co-pilot Aero have crash-landed. The unlikely aeronautic duo tries everything to get back into the air - from propellers and parachutes, to balloons of all sizes, but to no avail. Distracted by their own imaginations, and the notably unhelpful contents of their emergency supply crate, the two tumble through hijinks and comedic conundrums, before emerging out the other side. The show blends clown with elements of acrobatics, mime and puppetry, with wordless humor that will tickle audiences of all ages and languages. A strong vintage aesthetic paired with the duo’s ridiculous antics onstage is a nostalgic nod to timeless classics of old American Vaudeville. It’s like Charlie Chaplin meets Amelia Earhart. 

Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, June 6 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Los Regalos/The Gifts by Compañia de Teatro Fisico (Peru)

The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago, 1306 S. Michigan Ave.

The international section of the festival opens with this beloved multi-award-winning show from Peru. A father and his two sons live alone in a house without women.The most routine of tasks such as preparing breakfast, bathing or housework turns into real adventures when tackled by three inexperienced men and their fear of now knowing what they are doing. The journey that the elder brother needs to make in order to leave home, and the fear of saying goodbye to the ones we love, will be the starting point of our story.

The June 4 performance of Los Regalos/The Gifts will be followed by a meet and greet and talk back with the artists and a Peruvian reception sponsored by Tanta Chicago and the Consulate General of Peru in Chicago.

Thursday, June 4 and Saturday, June 6 at 7 p.m.

SELL ME: I am from North Korea by Sora Baek (South Korea/USA)

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

A sold-out hit at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and performed in the United States. Capitol Center, this powerful, fast-paced solo piece is inspired by the true stories of courageous North Korean women defectors. On her fifteenth birthday, Jisun, a North Korean girl, decides to sell herself to an old man to buy medicine for her dying mother. After risking her life crossing into China, she learns her body is considered worthless. Will she survive in a merciless foreign land where her very existence is illegal?

Thursday, June 4 - Saturday, June 6 at 9 p.m. 

Apocalipsync by Luciano Rosso (Argentina/France)

Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

The Argentine actor from Un Poyo Rojo (Physical Theater Festival 2025), takes audiences on an extravagant journey with his one-man show Apocalipsync. Born during the spring 2020 pandemic, this show offers a reflection on isolation, creativity and a cartoon-like view of our contemporary world. Luciano Rosso brilliantly embodies around forty eccentric and witty characters who accompany him on an endless journey within the solitude of his apartment. On stage, he uses his elastic body to showcase his many talents: dance, clowning, contortion and especially lip sync. It is an exhilarating and hilarious performance about the many inventive ways we find to escape boredom.

​Workshops at the Wirtz Center Chicago 

Abbot Hall, 710 N. Lake Shore Dr., Evanston 

WORK IT! 

Beyond performances, the Festival continues its commitment to artist development through workshops led by visiting artists. A dynamic series of four hands-on workshops will take place June 4 – 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., bringing international artists for an immersive exploration of physical theatre, movement, clowning, and storytelling. Designed for multi-level practitioners and curious newcomers alike, the series invites participants to expand their creative range. Join us for this rare opportunity to train across disciplines in a focused, collaborative environment.

 Workshops Sneak Peek:

o Partner Acrobatics - Weight Sharing, Counterbalances & Lifts!

o From Neutral Mask to Melodrama

o Clown, Stage Presence and Acknowledging your Audience

o Write Your Own Solo Show 

Ticket information, full schedule and artist details are available at PhysicalFestival.com.

ABOUT ALICE DA CUNHA, CO-FOUNDER and ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Alice de Cunha is a Chicago-based Brazilian and Portuguese actress, director and producer. She co-directed with Sandra Marquez the multi-award-winning Teatro Vista show The Dream King. Acting credits include Steppenwolf Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Theater 503, as well as House Theater for which she received a Jeff Award for Best Ensemble for United Flight 232.

She is the artistic director and co-founder of Chicago’s Physical Theater Festival, an annual festival committed to present in our city international acts that represent the future of what theater can be and do. She has extensive experience in the international theater festival sector and has worked, among other festivals at CASA (UK), Shortcutz London, TODOS (Portugal) and the Chicago Latino Film Festival. De Cunha is an artistic consultant to Theater Unspeakable and an adjunct professor at Loyola University.

ABOUT MARC FROST, CO-FOUNDER and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Marc Frost is an actor, deviser, educator and Chicago native who has performed and produced work in Brazil, Ireland, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom. He created Theater Unspeakable as a platform for original works of devised, physical theater. Based in Chicago, the award-winning company has toured nationally, performing at venues including Lincoln Center Education (NY) and Kennedy Center (DC). He currently teaches at Roosevelt University. Frost is also a proud graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute’s 14-Week Training Program for Commercial Theatre Producers in New York City.​​

ABOUT PHYSICAL THEATER FESTIVAL CHICAGO

Physical Theater Festival Chicago brings to Chicago audience-beloved, virtuosic live performances from around the world that inspire theatergoers and local artists. Launched in 2014 by Alice da Cunha and Marc Frost, the Festival was founded to introduce a more progressive, physical approach to theater-making in Chicago.

Now in its 13th year, the Festival showcases award-winning, ensemble-created works spanning traditions, while also highlighting outstanding contemporary works from international artists and Chicago companies.

The 2026 Festival partners include Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, International Latino Cultural Center Of Chicago, The Dance Center At Columbia College, Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, Theater Unspeakable, Consulate General Of Argentina and Consulate General Of Peru.

Curious Theatre Branch, launches its 38th Season, with the revival of Talking About Godard, written by Beau O’Reilly and directed by Beau O’Reilly with Briavael O’Reilly, May 29 - June 28, at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. The opening night is Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m. The performance takes place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. The running time is currently 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are priced on a “pay what you can” scale, with a suggested price of $25. For more information about Talking About Godard visit CuriousTheatreBranch.com.

In Talking About Godard, three restless artists live awkwardly together. Helen chain smokes, has sex with whomever and talks straight. Mary Barnes is obsessed with the films of Jean Luc Godard and is determined to make her own Godard film in Super 8. A neighborhood thug named Leon helps Chrissy by stealing suitcases from O’Hare and adds to the spoils of the household. Then a French caller comes looking for love. The play examines female friendship and cohabitation in the 90s, the artistic process and how groups do and don’t satisfy our needs.  

Talking About Godard was originally produced by The Curious Theatre Branch in 1996 and its cast included Jenny Magnus (Helen), Vicki Walden (Mary Barnes) and Paul Leisen (Leon), who repeat their original roles in this revival. New cast members include Kristin Garrison (Chrissy) and Jayita Bhattacharya (Leon). Directed with Briavael O'Reilly, and using a production committee of Paul Brennan and Jeffrey Bivens on video and images, Julia Williams on tickets and set design, David Isaacson on script for the video, Andy Soma on art consultation, Vesna Grbovic and Graciella Garcia on production assistance and Beau O’Reilly on outside eye.  

ABOUT BEAU O’REILLY, PLAYWRIGHT and DIRECTOR

Beau O’Reilly is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Curious Theatre Branch and the bands Maestro Subgum and the Whole and The Crooked Mouth, as well as a curator of the Rhinoceros Theater Festival for 30 years. His work has appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Poetry Foundation and on “This American Life.” The author of more than 80 original plays, O’Reilly is also a working actor who teaches playwriting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His latest solo album, “Thrifty,” was released on Uvulittle Records in 2021.

ABOUT BRIAVAEL O'REILLY, DIRECTOR

Briavael O'Reilly has been a theater kid her whole life, at least since her dad got her into shows at the Woodstock Opera House as an elementary schooler. She was a member of Theater @ First and PMRP in Boston in the late aughts. In Chicago, she's been in the booth for Rhinofests, BeauTowns, This is Not a Churchill; Evanston, Which is Over There; To End to Seem to End and many a Crooked Mouth show. Onstage appearances include Rung, March!, The Skriker and Hit Me Like a Flower. This marks O’Reilly’s directorial debut.

ABOUT CURIOUS THEATRE BRANCH

Curious has been holding up their end of the Chicago theater scene since 1988, creating new works of the imagination, works focused on language and creatively expressing the difficulties of being human. Curious Theatre Branch is dedicated to the creation of new plays and performances and to the production of its annualRhinoceros Theater Festival. Curious aims to promote innovative works of the imagination in the performing arts from a broad and inclusive spectrum of artists and are also devoted to mentoring programs that engage emerging artists as a way to enrich and expand our artistic community. Curious is committed to creating and producing new plays and performances in a collaborative manner, encouraging our members as artists to share decision making and responsibilities, while expanding their skills as writers, actors, designers, directors and arts administrators. Curious also is committed to the idea that a pay what you can pricing policy is sustainable and will suffice over the long term as an economic model.

Curious Theatre Branch, launches its 38th Season, with the revival of Talking About Godard, written by Beau O’Reilly and directed by Beau O’Reilly with Briavael O’Reilly, May 29 - June 28, at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. The opening night is Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m. The performance takes place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. The running time is currently 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are priced on a “pay what you can” scale, with a suggested price of $25. For more information about Talking About Godard visit CuriousTheatreBranch.com.

Mother-daughter relationships are somehow deemed different.  More seminal than the bond between a father and son. More instinctive than between sisters.  When trust is broken, all bets can certainly be off.  But that doesn’t seem to be the case for Thelma and Jesse, a mom and her daughter who live together in Marsha Norman’s magnificent ‘night Mother, just opening at Redtwist Theatre in Edgewater.  They have a balance and flow that suggests a seasoned understanding.  A harmonic acceptance of their lives together.

Thelma, played so fully by Redtwist ensemble member, Kathy Ruhl, is a pleasing mix of pragmatism and discreet earnestness.  A woman who’s lived a long life, withstood a lot and is making the most of the years in her final season.  Knitting on her well-cushioned sofa, cell phone dangling from her lanyard, TV playing in the background, she’s thinking about how she’s going to satisfy her sugar fix.  And settles on a snowball before contemplating many other options as the evening passes.

Thanks to the prodigious thought and scrupulous detail Bobbie Buie poured into the set design, Thelma’s modest home has the soft glow of easy unpretentious comfort.  Everywhere there are signs that point to a contentment that’s been well earned.  The world she created, along with Harper Justus’s precise and subtle sound design, saturated you in place.

Anne Sheridan Smith in the role of her daughter, Jesse, is much more wired; frenzied in an organized way.  When she shoots out of her bedroom door, she’s clearly a woman on a mission to get a lot of things done.  Quickly.  As she settles down, she’s simply determinedly methodical and impressively so.  There’s some light haggling with her mother.  It seems like something they just occasionally do.  Normal.  Tonight, giving her mother a manicure is high on Jesse’s to do list.  It’s not long before they settle down at the kitchen table and normal goes away.  

A small cloud of foreboding drifted in when Jesse began looking for some things in their makeshift attic. One of them is a gun. When her mother keeps pressing her on why she wants or needs one, she forces her daughter’s hand. Jesse declares to her mother, not coldly but matter-of-factly, that tonight she’s going to use it to kill herself.

It’s the kind of statement that instantly triggers incredulity.  And automatically, by reflex, Thelma’s “mom” response zooms past tilt.  Even though she may not initially believe Jesse, she hears her.   And intuitively she wants to fix it as she struggles to even comprehend the magnitude of what she’s been told.   ‘night Mother soon becomes a push and pull with Jesse always exhibiting the greater strength against a formidable opponent.  She has the inner conviction to see this grim task through.  You can sense that when she first told her mother what she was going to do. Like her mother, we too want to know why.

A dissection of one person’s why is what this intricate and intimate story is all about.  And the way Smith inhabits her character, she functions as an outstandingly plausible stand-in for many of us.   People who not only have had enough but also look at themselves and don’t see enough. 

Her mother doesn’t really understand. Not at first.  It’s as the tandem airing of their lives that reveals how it’s come to this. 

Well into this gripping one act performance, wonderfully directed by Redtwist’s Artistic Director, Dusty Brown, Thelma describes herself as a “plain country woman”.  Life for her is something you just did.  It’s the kind of existence where naivete and ignorance may thrive in abundance, but neither carries an especially detrimental cost.  When it came to Jesse’s early childhood rearing of Jesse though, perhaps it did. Thelma and her husband discovered late in their daughter’s development that the fits she experienced as a child were epileptic.   Undiagnosed and untreated for far too long, Jesse internalized them as manifestations of a personal flaw.  A flaw that inevitably, in her mind, produced terrible consequences.

She never directly states it, but it’s clear she blames herself for the way her son, Ricky, is turning out.  A thief, drugs, regularly in run-ins with the police.  Thelma says it’s just a phase.  He’ll grow out if it and be a “fine young man”.  But through a haze that’s draped in quiet anguish, Jesse senses otherwise.  It’s the same with her ex-husband. In Cecil’s case, he was there and then he was gone.  The man her mother found for her, who she came to love and who chose not to stay.

They’re all hard blows.  Jesse has weathered them.  Now it sounds like she’s tired.  Sick of it all.  Living with her mother.  Lonely present.  Lonely future.  She’s felt this way for so long that she’s used the last 10 years to plan for this night.    She’s gotten it so fine-tuned, she can give her mother detailed instructions on who to call when after the deed is done, and why.

For this compassionate plunge into the unthinkable, Marsha Norman won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1983.  A native of Kentucky, you can hear a faint sound of the south in the way Thelma and Jesse talk to one another.  The weight of the subject matter, the care in which these two women are drawn and portrayed, the way every argument Thelma raises against this tragic decision is rebuffed by unswayable conviction, keeps you rapt.  A sliver of life captured beautifully and unforgettably on the stage.

‘night Mother

Through May 24, 2026

Redtwist Theatre

1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.

Chicago, IL    60660

For tickets and more information:  https://www.redtwisttheatre.org

Highly Recommended

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Everyone encounters many crossroads in their lives, where they make a choice that determines the future…and many people live to regret it. That is where Dawn, the protagonist of Out Here, the new musical receiving its premiere at Court Theatre finds herself. Unlike most people, however, her realization does not come in a quiet moment of reflection, but just as she and her husband, Brian, and 15-year-old daughter, Cleo, have discovered that they have a band and an audience. It’s a lot, and the extremely metatheatrical musical reflects the chaos well. While there are drawbacks to the format, including the impossibility of fully developing most of the characters, the one-act musical by Leslie Buxbaum (book and lyrics) and Erin McKeown (music and lyrics), based on a concept by Buxbaum, McKeown and David J. Levin, is an entertaining and often moving reflection on personal choices and the people they affect.

Breaking the fourth wall is a hallmark of musical theater, and metatheatrical reflections on the musical being performed are also not uncommon these days, but Out Here takes these conceits to a new level. And that, arguably, is what makes it work so well. The characters must learn how to respond to the fact that they are living their lives in a musical as they navigate the changes in their family structure. The musical form proves to be a convenient way to condense the journey into an evening for the benefit of the audience that comes with it. It also provides a metaphor for the families’ (there are several) journeys from fumbling with new relationships and legal and geographic uncertainty to settling into the rhythms of new lives. The music reflects the jarring awkwardness of both the unexpected performance and the fallout of Dawn’s announcement that her “here” is no longer where she wants to be. As they get more comfortable with both performance and marital differences, the characters begin to exploit their access to a band—and apparently new-found guitar skills—to sing their own songs and share their emotions with each other and the audience. Buxbaum and McKeown toy with breaking the rules of musical theater, allowing characters to exit to the green room and the lobby and to directly address the band and audience. When a mediator is needed, he enters from the band and introduces potential shared custody options in song—a song that that Cleo recognizes from a friend’s experience (and wonders if she could get a puppy, too). Director Chay Yew wisely trusts the material and allows characters and audience to just keep up—no unnecessary scene changes or projections indicating changes in setting—making for a fast-paced exploration of relationships, time, and what’s important in a life. It’s occasionally messy or unfulfilled, but always compelling.

Photo of Alex Goodrich, Ellie Duffey, and Becca Ayers in Out Here at Court Theatre. Phot by Michael Brosilow.

Despite all the metatheatrical machinations, Out Here has an easy-to-follow plot and a singular protagonist. This is Dawn’s story, and the character uses this to her advantage, controlling both the narrative and the other characters as much as possible—though neither musicals nor reality allow for time travel, not that Dawn doesn’t try. While passionately pursuing the life that she wants (and simultaneously trying to figure out what that means), Dawn could quickly become grating, as she seems to be surrounded by good options and supportive friends and family, plus a band. Fortunately, Becca Ayers brings lightness and self-awareness to the role, as well as the ability to belt out power ballads and harmonize with her partners in multiple musical genres. Cliff Chamberlain as Brian plays to his strengths as a mostly non-musical actor—and his voice works well for the folksy guitar serenades that Brian chooses as his musical medium. He is charming and initially almost overly forbearing but grows stronger as he realizes that he has been given an opportunity that he is not willing to give up. As their daughter, Cleo, Ellie Duffey is charismatic and complicated, thrilled to have an audience, wanting to support her parents, but irritated that she is being left out of the decision-making. When she finally gets a song, it’s a propulsive punk declaration that is a necessary release. Bethany Thomas as Robin, Dawn’s ex-girlfriend who reluctantly reenters Dawn’s life, is uncompromising and vulnerable, wanting to rekindle their relationship, but justifiably apprehensive, and her dynamic voice is perfect to convey both her character’s surety about what she needs, and her fear that she might be disappointed again. Thomas’s comic timing also complements Robin’s sarcasm.

Alex Goodrich brings charm and flair to the most musical-theater role of the musical, Martin—he’s in the band! He’s the mediator! He’s the BFF! He can be anything you want him to be, keep the tempo and find the right accompaniment. Though not personally invested, his empathetic performance ingratiates him to both the family and the audience. Also, part of the familial rebuild are Gina, the woman Brian begins dating and Jett, Robin’s grown child. They, too, get swept up in the musical, but they do not have their own songs (maybe if there were a second act?), though they manage to hold their own in the musical/slash family drama they have entered. Amanda Pulcini brings a grounded humor and composure to the most awkward of situations Gina finds herself in. The fact that Jett’s entrance is often introduced with the ominous phrase “the plot thickens” is ironic, since Jett, as played by Z Mowry, is amiable and understanding, someone who seems like a good person to have as a friend, and usually offers sound advice that helps the plot along.

The musical and the cast get top-notch support from the designers and musicians. Co-orchestrator (with Erin McKeown), conductor, and keyboard player Christie Chiles Twillie backs up the vocals and underscores the book perfectly, keeping the tempos tight and the volume attuned to the singers and the script. Breon Arzell’s movement adds controlled chaos, matching the verbal humor and tension with apt but unintrusive movement. Scenic Designers Andrew Boyce and Lauren M. Nichols have created a musical-scale proscenium out of roof beams that mirror the moods of the home’s inhabitants, with a large but cozy interior and expansive outside. Sound designer Lee Fiskness integrates sound effects with the music to mesh the sounds of home with the beats of the band. The musicians make it seem possible to suddenly have a life become a musical, moving easily between styles, “acting” in response to the cast and swelling instrumental lines for onstage instruments.

Whether one likes Out Here will probably depend on one’s tolerance for stories of privileged people choosing between multiple good options surrounded by understanding friends and family. However, there is no denying that using a DIY musical to represent the struggles of a family trying to deal with change is a resonant metaphor, and the music captures some common challenges in fresh and thought-provoking ways. The book by Leslie Buxbaum explores the joy and tension of familial and other relationships with compassion and a great deal of humor. Erin McKeown’s music (with lyrics by Buxbaum and McKeown) allows the audience to get to know the characters and share moments from years of their lives in around 90 minutes (the magic of “theater time”). Chay Yew’s production is fast-paced, uncluttered, funny, moving, and thoughtful. Though Out Here wisely avoids trying to tie up all loose ends, it leaves the audience with a lot of good questions to ponder.

Out Here runs through May 10 at Court Theatre, Wed/Thurs/Fri at 7:30pm, Sat/Sun at 2:00pm & 7:30pm.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

safronia at Lyric Opera of Chicago emerges as a deeply personal story of the Great Migration - one that resists grandiosity in favor of something more intimate, more lived-in, and ultimately more affecting. Drawn from the family history of Chicago’s inaugural Poet Laureate avery r. young, the work feels less like a conventional opera and more like an embodied poem, carried on breath, rhythm, and memory.

Young himself, as Fiery Baar Booker, gives a performance that is searing. There is fire in his portrayal - a man negotiating identity, displacement, and legacy. Opposite him, Maiesha McQueen’s Magnolia is the emotional anchor of the piece. Her performance radiates warmth and steadiness, embodying the sustaining force of family amid upheaval. She nurtures without sentimentality, giving Magnolia strength.

Lorenzo Rush Jr. brings a charismatic edge to King Willie Tate, a figure caught between aspiration and instability. His chemistry with Meaghan McNeal’s safronia is particularly compelling. McNeal delivers a spiritual performance - her safronia is less a single character than a vessel of generational memory, carrying the emotional weight of those who moved, hoped, and endured.

The company of safronia. Photo by Kyle Flubacher.

The looming presence of white power is sharply rendered through Zachary James as Cholly and Jeff Parker as Bossman. Their performances are unsettling not because they are exaggerated, but because they are so matter-of-fact. The banality of their authority underscores the systemic nature of the oppression the Booker family faces.

The ensemble - Bailey Haynes Champion, Sydney Charles, Miciah Lathan, Eric Andrew Lewis, Renelle Nicole, Jessica Brooke Seals, Maxel McLoud Schingen, and Kendal Marie Wilson - serves as a living chorus, shifting seamlessly between roles while maintaining a unified emotional pulse. They embody community, memory, and migration itself.

Musically, Paul Byssainthe Jr.’s conducting and orchestration weave together spirituals, blues, and textures into a soundscape that feels both rooted and expansive. Under Timothy Douglas’s direction, the production is carefully shaped, allowing stillness and movement to coexist in a way that honors the story’s emotional depth.

Yet for all its power, safronia at the Lyric Opera feels like a work yearning for closer quarters. Its most resonant moments are the quietest ones - the glances, the silences, the shared breath between performers and audience. It is fitting, then, that the production will be remounted at Court Theatre in May 2027. In that more intimate space, safronia may fully realize its potential, allowing audiences not just to witness the story, but to feel it - deeply, personally, and without distance.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s, Windfall arrives with all the promise its pedigree suggests. Written by Academy Award–winning ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Awoye Timpo, the production aspires to be a pulsing, lyrical meditation on grief, justice, and the uneasy intersection of activism and capitalism. What unfolds instead is a work rich in intention but frustratingly elusive in execution.

The play centers on a protest encampment that erupts into violence, culminating in the shooting of Eli, a member of Never Wrestle Justice - a group of activists unafraid to raise their voices. In the aftermath, Marcus (Glenn Davis), who has transitioned, lingers alongside his aging adoptive father, Mr. Mano (Michael Potts). Mano is left reeling, unable to fully accept the reported death of his child, Eli (Esco Jouléy). It’s a potent premise: a father who refuses to confirm his child’s death, a government eager to offer a financial settlement, and a moral dilemma that questions whether survival can - or should - be measured in dollars. Tarell Alvin McCraney frames the story as a “chosen family” drama, but the emotional foundation never fully coheres.

Marcus urges Mano to identify Eli’s body and accept the settlement, arguing that “blood money is still money.” Yet Mano resists, clinging to the unbearable ambiguity of loss. The arrival of various state representatives - played with dynamic range by Alana Arenas as First Lady, Miss Second, and The Last One - pushes the narrative into increasingly surreal territory. These figures, along with Jon Michael Hill and Namir Smallwood in multiple roles, embody a bureaucratic machine that is at once apologetic, predatory, and opaque.

There are flashes of McCraney’s signature lyricism, particularly in the spectral appearances of Eli. Whether ghost, memory, or manifestation of guilt, Eli’s presence should anchor the play’s emotional core. Instead, it muddies the stakes. When Eli ultimately reappears - alive, defiant, and ready to fight - the revelation feels less like a cathartic turn and more like a narrative sleight of hand that the play hasn’t earned.

This points to the central issue: the characters are too thinly drawn to sustain the weight of the play’s ideas. We see Mano’s grief, Marcus’s urgency to settle, and Eli’s activism, but we rarely feel them. The stakes, which should be life-altering, register as curiously low. Even the moral dilemma - to take the money or resist the system - never fully ignites because the emotional investment isn’t there.

Timpo’s direction leans into the play’s abstraction, emphasizing its communal and ritualistic elements. At times, this works; the staging has a fluidity that suggests a world where reality and memory bleed into one another. But the lack of clarity ultimately undermines the experience. Confusion becomes less a deliberate aesthetic choice and more a barrier to engagement.

There is also the question of place. Though the play is set in Chicago, it rarely feels rooted there. References to Rainbow Beach or Pequod’s Pizza read as surface-level markers rather than lived-in details. For a story so deeply tied to protest, policing, and community, the absence of a tangible sense of Chicago is a missed opportunity.

Still, the performances strive to elevate the material. Arenas is the undeniable standout, bringing vitality and nuance to each of her roles. Whenever she takes the stage, the play briefly finds its pulse. Potts lends dignity to Mano, though the script gives him limited room to build a fully realized arc.

McCraney has proven himself to be a playwright of profound depth and clarity. Windfall gestures toward that brilliance but never quite achieves it. It is a communal experience, yes - but one that leaves you searching for emotional and narrative footing long after the final moment fades.

Somewhat Recommended

When:   Through May 31

Where:  Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted

Tickets: $20 - $148.50

Box Office: 312-335-1650

www.steppenwolf.org

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

AstonRep Productions, the theatre and film production company that has produced over 30 stage productions in Chicago, has announced it will be the first company in the US to bring Liisa Repo-Martell's adaptation of Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA to audiences. Repo-Martell's script, which was first produced by Toronto's Crow's Theatre in 2022, has been praised for its contemporary and colloquial language. The Toronto online arts magazine INTERMISSION said, "it is delicate and wholly faithful to Chekhov's story... relatable and even startlingly contemporary, affirming the timelessness of the themes Chekhov explored in his writing." The Crow's Theatre production was remounted in 2024 at Toronto's CAA Theatre and was named one of the top ten productions of the year by both THE GLOBE AND MAIL and THE TORONTO STAR. AstonRep's production will be directed by Derek Bertelsen, who recently helmed the revival of the hit comedy FULLY COMMITTED at The Den Theatre and has directed many of AstonRep's productions.  Bertelsen was co-founder/artistic director of The Comrades theater company from 2016-2020.

Bertelsen's cast will feature Rian Jairell in the title role of Vanya – a bitter and broken man who wonders what he might have done with his life if he had not committed to managing the family estate. Jairell's previous roles with AstonRep include Ariel in THE PILLOWMAN and Jerry in BETRAYAL. The beautiful Helena, who captivates all the characters, will be played by Andi Muriel, seen recently in THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS for Redtwist Theatre and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST for Strawdog Theatre. Robert Tobin, who was Founder and Artistic Director of AstonRep Theatre Company, will be Astrov, a neighbor and overworked country doctor who feels ruined by provincial life. Tobin's recent credits include ARMS AND THE MAN for Forest Theatre Company and THE PILLOWMAN with AstonRep. Another PILLOWMAN castmate, Natalie Hurdle, will play Sonya, who has loyally steadfastly worked to maintain the estate, and is deeply attracted to Dr. Astrov.

Cast as Vanya's mother Maria is Mary Mikva (of TIME IS A COLOR AND THE COLOR IS BLUE  for Avalanche Theatre). Geoff Issac, seen recently in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS for Deerfield Theatre, will be the pompous and egotistical failed scholar Serebryakov. Liz Cloud (of AstonRep's BURIED CHILD) will be the nurse Marina, and Mike Rogalski (ELEKTRA – Forest Theatre Company) will play Telegin, an impoverished landowner who works on the estate.

The UNCLE VANYA production team will include Jeremiah Barr (set, lighting and properties design), Natalie Shoch (costume design), Samantha Barr (lighting design), Melanie Thompson (sound design), Bethany Hart (assistant director and vocal coach), and Nevaeh Mansur (Stage Manager). 

Tickets to UNCLE VANYA are $25.00 and will be on sale beginning April 25 at www.astonrep.com or by phone at or (312) 620-4583.