Displaying items by tag: City Lit

City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 season, the company’s 44^th. The season is the first to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume the position of Executive Artistic Director on July 1, returning to the company they served for over ten years in administrative roles, including Managing Director. Most recently, they were a Resident Director of the company, and directed City Lit’s acclaimed productions of THIRTEEN DAYS, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, and THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. Pastor’s appointment was announced in June 2023, following the announcement that longtime Producer and Artistic Director and Terry McCabe would retire at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Pastor’s inaugural season as Executive Artistic Director will be true to the company’s tradition of focusing on new work, new-to-Chicago plays, literary adaptations, and stage classics.

The season will open with THE HOUSE OF IDEAS, the third installment of Mark Pracht’s “Four Color Trilogy” of plays about significant moments in the development of comic books as an art form and an industry. This third installment recounts Marvel Comics’ emergence as an industry powerhouse, as writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby struggle with sharing the credit for this newfound success. McCabe will return to City Lit to direct this final installment of the trilogy which began under his leadership in 2022 with his direction of Pracht’s THE MARK OF KANE. THE HOUSE OF IDEAS will open on Sunday, September 1 at 3 pm following previews from August 23, and play through October 6.

August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS will follow, directed by Manny Buckley. This will be the first Chicago storefront production of this powerful drama from Wilson’s ten-play “Pittsburgh Cycle.” Set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1948, it follows six friends mourning the death of their friend Floyd "Schoolboy" Barton, a rising blues star trapped by his circumstances and cut down in his prime. SEVEN GUITARS will open on Sunday, October 27 at 3 pm, following previews from October 18 and play through December 1.

Pastor will direct the final two plays of the season, which will continue in January 2025 with the Chicago premiere of GLASSHEART by Reina Hardy. A Chicago-based self-described “playwright and fabulist,” her work has been produced across the United States, and in the UK, Australia and Greece. GLASSHEART, a modern-day reimagining of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, was praised by the WASHINGTON POST for its “off-key insights” and its “funky, poetic” nature. THE WASHINGTONIAN called it “enchanting, funny, and thought-provoking.” This play, set in Chicago and written by a Chicago playwright, is finally getting its Chicago premiere at City Lit. GLASSHEART will open on January 19, 2025, at 3 pm following previews from January 10, and run through February 23, 2025.

Concluding the season will be a world premiere adaptation of R.U.R. (ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS) a 1920 science-fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek that introduced the word "robot" to the English language. This “freely adapted” version of R.U.R. is by the playwright and director Bo List, who penned the adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN that City Lit produced in 2012. R.U.R. (ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS) will open on Sunday, May 11, 2025, following previews from May 2 and play through June 15, 2025.

Of the season, Pastor says, "I'm very excited to continue City Lit's tradition of blending new works with fresh takes on classics. In many ways, this is a season about dreams (and how sometimes dreams can become nightmares). But it's also a season about discovering the beauty and the magic in the everyday. We hope these stories will awaken your senses.”

City Lit Season 44 subscriptions are available at $99.00, good for all performances, or $77.00 for preview performances. Subscriptions may be ordered online at www.citylit.org or purchased over the phone by calling 773-293-3682. Single tickets for Season 44 are priced at $30 for previews and $35 for regular performances and will be on sale soon. Senior prices are $25 for previews and $30 for regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.

LISTING INFORMATION

CITY LIT THEATER'S 2023-2024 SEASON:

THE HOUSE OF IDEAS

WORLD PREMIERE

by Mark Pracht

Directed by Terry McCabe

August 23 – October 6, 2024

Previews: August 23 – 31, 2024

Press Opening: Sunday, September 1 at 3 pm

Regular Run: September 6 – October 6, 2024

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Mondays, September 23 and 30, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Tickets $30 for previews and $35 for regular performances. Senior prices are $25 previews and $30 regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.

Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.

All performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, on the second floor (accessible via elevator) of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church.

The final installment of the “Four-Color Trilogy” about three key moments in the history of comic books, THE HOUSE OF IDEAS examines the rise of Marvel and the fraught relationship between the Lennon and McCartney of comic books, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Today Marvel Entertainment stands near the center of our popular culture.  It was in the 1960s that Marvel Comics began creating dozens of memorable characters and built a single cohesive world for them to inhabit. In comic books, this was revolutionary.  But Stan Lee and Jack Kirby,  the two men at the center of this renaissance, struggle with the idea of credit now that they’ve made it something worth struggling over.  

SEVEN GUITARS

30TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION

by August Wilson

Directed by Manny Buckley

October 18 – December 1, 2024

Previews October 18 - 26

Press Opening Sunday, October 27 at 3 pm

Regular run November 1 – December 1, 2024

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Mondays, November 18 and 25, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Tickets $30 for previews and $35 for regular performances. Senior prices are $25 previews and $30 regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.

Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.

All performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, on the second floor (accessible via elevator) of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church.

The Chicago storefront premiere of this searing August Wilson drama about six friends in the Hill District of Pittsburgh in 1948 mourning the death of their friend Floyd "Schoolboy" Barton, a rising blues star trapped by his circumstances and cut down in his prime. One of Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” of ten plays depicting the African American experience in each of the 20^th Century’s decades.

GLASSHEART

CHICAGO PREMIERE

by Reina Hardy

Directed by Artistic Director Brian Pastor

January 10 – February 23, 2025

Previews January 10 – 18, 2025

Press opening Sunday, January 19 at 3 pm

Regular run January, January 24 – February 23, 2025

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Mondays, February 10 and 17, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Tickets $30 for previews and $35 for regular performances. Senior prices are $25 previews and $30 regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.

Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.

All performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, on the second floor (accessible via elevator) of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church.

Chicago premiere of a new play by Chicago-based playwright Reina Hardy. A modern-day reimagining of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. The Beast has moved into a low-rent district in Chicago with his last loyal friend, a lamp named Only. They meet a neighborly witch and a young woman who might, somehow, still break the curse.

R.U.R. (ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS)

WORLD PREMIERE ADAPTATION

by Bo List

Freely adapted from the play by Karel Capek

Directed by Artistic Director Brian Pastor

May 2 – June 15, 2025

Previews May 2 – 10, 2025

Press opening Sunday, May 11 at 3 pm

Regular run May 16 – June 15, 2025

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm

Mondays, June 2 and 9, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Tickets $30 for previews and $35 for regular performances. Senior prices are $25 previews and $30 regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.

Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.

All performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, on the second floor (accessible via elevator) of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church.

In 1920, Karel Čapek’s early science fiction classic R.U.R. coined the term “robot” and looked ahead to the wonders and dangers of artificial intelligence decades before it was cool to worry about such things. “Rossum’s Universal Robots” (“R.U.R.” for short) is a mysterious island factory that manufactures artificial human beings, run by the eccentric scientist Harry Rossum. When Helena Glory arrives to advocate for the rights of these machines, a series of events is set into motion that sees Harry and Helena married against the backdrop of a global robot uprising.

PLAYWRIGHT BIOS

Mark Pracht (Playwright, THE HOUSE OF IDEAS) was raised near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and graduated from the University of Nebraska, Kearney. He has proudly worked in the Chicago theater community for over 20 years, mainly as an actor. At City Lit he has appeared as Milt Shanks in THE COPPERHEAD and The Creature in FRANKENSTEIN, among others. Elsewhere, he was Lanfield in BLIZZARD ’67 at 16th Street Theatre (2017 Equity Jeff Nomination for Best Ensemble), and “Mountain” McClintock in REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT at The Artistic Home, for which he received a 2019 Non-Equity Jeff Award for Performance in a Principal Role. Most recently, You may have seen his Jeff Award nominated performance last year as John Proctor in THE CRUCIBLE at Invictus Theatre. He served as the Artistic Director of Brown Couch Theatre Company, where he directed Diana Son’s STOP KISS. His short plays have been produced by Chicago companies like Strangeloop Theatre, and his full length play NEON was presented by the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska. THE HOUSE OF IDEAS completes (for now) “The Four-Color Trilogy” a project over fifteen years in development.

Reina Hardy (Playwright, GLASSHEART). Reina Hardy's plays, which usually contain magic and sometimes contain science, have been produced across the US, the UK, Australia and Greece. Her prose has appeared in Electric Literature, Fantasy Magazine, Startrek.com, and more, and her first movie as a screenwriter, PAGING MR. DARCY, aired on the Hallmark Channel in February 2024. She is currently under contract with Simon and Schuster for a nonfiction book entitled SH*TTY BOYFRIENDS OF WESTERN LITERATURE. Hardy’s honors include a Michener Fellowship, Kilroy’s List, National New Play Network New Play Showcase, Source Festival, Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights Workshop, Interact 20/20 Commission, Kennedy Center ACTF TYA PRIZE. Her plays are currently licensed through Broadway Play Publishing and TRW Plays.

She received her Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting and Screenwriting from the University of Texas at Austin. Hardy is represented by the Gurman Agency for theatre, Aevitas for nonfiction, and Arlook Management and Verve for television and film.

August Wilson (Playwright, SEVEN GUITARS) was a renowned American playwright whose works are celebrated for their exploration of the African American experience throughout the 20th Century. Born Frederick August Kittel Jr. on April 27, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson grew up in the Hill District, a predominantly Black neighborhood that would later serve as the backdrop for nine of the ten plays referred to as the "Pittsburgh Cycle" or the "Century Cycle," each set in a different decade of the 20th century and exploring various aspects of the African American experience.

Wilson's first major play, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, premiered at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference in 1978 and was the only play of the “Pittsburgh Cycle” not to be set in Pittsburgh. Some of Wilson's most notable works include FENCES (1985), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, and THE PIANO LESSON (1987), which also received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His plays are celebrated for their richly drawn characters, poetic language, and profound exploration of themes such as family, identity, and the legacy of slavery.

Bo List (Adapter, R.U.R. (ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS) ) is thrilled to return to City Lit, 13 years after their "electrifying" production of his FRANKENSTEIN, adapted from Mary Shelley’s novel. Other plays include the WWII-era comedy LADIES OF LIBERTY, his other spooky adaptation - THE LAST DRACULA, his one-acts CANARY YELLOW (winner of the Father Jeff Hamblin Playwriting Award at Abingdon Theatre in NYC) and I LEFT MY HEART IN KISSIMMEE, and his historical dramas for the Kentucky Humanities Council based on the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, Daniel Boone, and Nancy Green. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

DIRECTOR BIOS

Terry McCabe (Director, THE HOUSE OF IDEAS) Terry McCabe has been City Lit’s artistic director since February 2005 and its producer since July 2016 and is retiring from these positions at the end of the 2023-24 season. He has directed plays professionally in Chicago since 1981. He was artistic director of Stormfield Theatre for four years, resident director at Wisdom Bridge Theatre for five years, and worked at Body Politic Theatre three separate times in three different capacities over a span of 14 years. His City Lit adaptations of HOLMES AND WATSON, GIDGET (co-adapted with Marissa McKown), THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, SCOUNDREL TIME, and OPUS 1861 (co-adapted with Elizabeth Margolius) were Jeff-nominated. He won two Jeff Citations for directing at Stormfield and has been thrice nominated for the Jeff Award for Best Director, for shows at Court Theatre, Wisdom Bridge, and Victory Gardens. He has directed at many Chicago theatres either long-gone or still with us, as well as off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre and at Vienna’s English Theatre. His book MIS-DIRECTING THE PLAY has been denounced at length in American Theatre magazine and from the podium at the national convention of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas but has been used in directing courses on three continents and is now available in paperback and Kindle e-book.

Manny Buckley (he/him, director of SEVEN GUITARS) is a Chicago based director, actor and writer. Manny last directed DRIVING MISS DAISY at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, where he also directed THE BAD SEED. Other directing credits include KINGDOM, an audio play (Broken Nose Theatre); UHURU, CANE, ORIGIN STORY, MOTHER OF PEARL and THE REAPERS ON WOODBROOK AVENUE (BLUE INK FESTIVAL), MULTIPLE SHORT PLAYS IN PLAYGROUND-CHICAGO'S MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND, RIPPED: THE LIVING NEWSPAPER, #ENOUGH (PLAYS TO END GUN VIOLENCE) and THE ONE MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL. As an actor, he appeared in City Lit's world premiere COMRADES MINE; his other acting credits include work with Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Court, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Next Theater, House Theatre, Shattered Globe Theater, Cincinnati Children's Theatre and Studio Theatre. Manny has numerous credits with American Blues Theater, where he is an ensemble member and turned in his critically acclaimed, award-winning solo performance in LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT’S SHOULDER. Film and TV credits: PROVEN INNOCENT, CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO PD, and commercials and industrial films for the US Navy, Northwestern University and THE ONION. He has received nominations for the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Helen Hayes Award and the 3Arts Award; he is the recipient of both a Black Theater Alliance Award and Black Excellence Award. Mr Buckley was last seen in THE RECLAMATION OF MADISON HEMINGS at American Blues Theater.

Brian Pastor (they/them, Director, GLASSHEART, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)) is a trans/non-binary producer, director, actor, and playwright in Chicago and the incoming Executive Artistic Director of City Lit Theater. Brian previously spent ten and a half years on staff at City Lit, including nine as Managing Director. Since 2019, Brian has served as City Lit’s Resident Director, where they directed THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, George Bernard Shaw’s ARMS AND THE MAN, Archibald MacLeish’s J.B., and their own acclaimed adaptation of Robert Kennedy’s THIRTEEN DAYS. Brian is a founder and Emeritus Artistic Director of Chicago’s Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where they directed THE LION IN WINTER, THE WINTER’S TALE, and GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE (all Broadway World Award Nominated- Best Director), as well as HENRY V and THE DARK SIDE OF THE BARD. Brian also directed the world premiere of THE BLACK KNIGHT by Angeli Primlani, the inaugural show for Lifeboat Productions. As an actor, Brian has worked with Strawdog, Raven, WildClaw, Promethean, Accomplice, and City Lit, among others. Brian is the former Executive Director of Sideshow Theatre and the former Executive Director of Raven Theatre. They also served as a board and company member of The Mime Company and as a founding company member of Chicago dell’Arte. A Pittsburgh native, Brian has called Chicago home since their graduation from Northwestern University in 2003.

ABOUT CITY LIT THEATER COMPANY:

City Lit is the eighth oldest theatre company in Chicago, behind only Goodman, Court, Northlight, Oak Park Festival, Black Ensemble Theatre, Steppenwolf, and Pegasus theatres.  It was founded in 1979 with $210 pooled by Arnold Aprill, David Dillon, and Lorell Wyatt.  For its current season, its 43^rd , it operates with a budget slightly over $200,000.  It was the first theatre in the nation devoted to stage adaptations of literary material.  There were so few theatres in Chicago at the time of its founding that at City Lit’s launch event, the founders were able to read a congratulatory letter they had received from Tennessee Williams.

For four decades and counting, City Lit has explored fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs, songs, essays and drama in performance. A theatre that specializes in literary work communicates a commitment to certain civilizing influences—tradition imaginatively explored, a life of the mind, trust in an audience’s intelligence—that not every cultural outlet shares.

City Lit is located in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue. Its work is supported in part by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events CityArts program.  An Illinois not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organization, City Lit keeps ticket prices below the actual cost of producing plays and depends on the support of those who share its belief in the beauty and power of the spoken written word.

Sometimes a play or a piece of music has such an effect on audiences that they can’t control themselves. Just as the premiere of Stravinky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ caused a stampede among patrons, John Millington Synge’s ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ incited a riot in its 1907 Dublin debut. Perhaps it was the political climate of Ireland at the turn of the century, or perhaps Synge’s play hits on a subliminal level not fully understood. The reaction was replicated in many cities in its American tour shortly after.

City Lit Theater revives ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ under the direction of Brian Pastor. Synge’s play tells the story of a strange man who comes upon a rural Irish alehouse and regales the crowd with a grizzly confession of murder. Christy Mahon (Joshua Servantez) is a meek farmhand who bashes his father over the head with a gardening spade. Though in disbelief at first, the villagers around the pub eventually take his word. Christy is raised in esteem among these simple folk as a hero as he explains the wickedness of his father. Soon he’s being chased by all the maidens in town, but two in particular vie for his affection. The alehouse owner’s daughter Pegeen Mike (Michaela Voit) and the Widow Quin (Brenda Wlazlo) become the two biggest contenders for young Christy’s heart. Emboldened by their pursuit of him, Christy starts getting a big head forgetting the once timid version of himself.

‘The Playboy of the Western World’ employs a large cast and in Pastor’s production the players work well together. Accents can sometimes be the Achilles heel of any production, but dialect coach Carrie Hardin’s work pays off. There’s a cohesion to the accents that help immediately place the audience in a time and place without distraction.

Michaela Voit is enchanting to watch as the young suitor to the flailing Christy. Joshua Servantez has all the charm and slapstick physicality to effectively communicate the shift in his persona once he becomes the town mascot. Though, the most touching and emotionally evocative performance comes from Brenda Wlazlo.

While the political turbulence of early 20^th century Ireland was in full swing at the time of this play’s premiere, there’s almost no mention of anything political in the play. In fact, despite its gruesome premise, ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ is a comedy. Synge’s characters end up idolizing Christy even more knowing he’s a murderer. In that regard, it would appear that very little has changed in 120 odd years. Perhaps that was the reason for the rioting during performances.  

‘The Playboy of the Western World’ fully lives up to its title. In this play we see an unredeemable character scheme his way to the top through dishonesty and vanity. The indictment of Irish morals is hard to argue by today’s standards, and so instead it remains relevant in its cheeky sense of humor and poetic dialogue. City Lit has mounted a faithful production that offers a great opportunity to acquaint oneself with this classic play.

Through August 14^th at City Lit Theater. 1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave. www.citylit.org

Hopes and reality rarely align. Fairytale marriages only exist in fairy tales, and parenting is not nearly as easy as television shows that wrap up family crises in a half hour including commercials would indicate. Yet people keep getting married and having children, and discovering that, while spouses and children are far more complicated and not nearly as perfect as the fantasies promise, they’re worth the investment. In Kristine Thatcher’s play, Emma’s Child, Rogers Park couple Henry and Jean Farrell have figured out how to make their marriage work despite the other’s flaws and have spent a decade and a half trying to bring a child into their lives, finally turning to adoption. The process exposes unexpected differences in expectations and when they finally meet the child they had intended to adopt, their marriage is threatened by their different approaches to confronting a reality that neither they nor the birth mother, Emma, anticipated. Thatcher’s play, under the direction of Terry McCabe, who also directed its 1996 premiere, explores what it means to be a parent, and the challenges that arise when the reality of parenthood strays beyond the bounds of any expectations. Raising a child with a profound disability is an overwhelming prospect and in Emma’s Child the difficulties are compounded by the question of motherhood—who is responsible for the care of an infant who is not the child that anyone was prepared to welcome into the world?

Thatcher’s play, which takes place in 1990-1991, jumps quickly between locations and timelines, which sometimes leads to powerful juxtapositions, but other times serves little purpose and minimizes the dramatic tension as the end of scenes is already revealed in previous scenes set in the future. However, in general, the narrative is easy to follow and the Thatcher wisely avoids offering easy answers to questions that have none. The characters are all portrayed sympathetically, even as they sometimes try the patience of those around them and the audience. Director Terry McCabe keeps the action moving between locations including the neo-natal intensive care unit at Christ Hospital, the Farrell’s Rogers Park apartment, various offices and a wooded area in Michigan. Samantha Gribben’s unfussy set is dominated by an incubator which always keeps the theme of the play visually present; one cannot overlook the baby in the room. Lighting and sound designer Benjamin Dionysus helps fill in the minimal settings, and props designer Jeff Brain keeps the action grounded in the reality of each space. Costume designer Louise “Scout” Gregory uses layers and accessories to support shifts in time, while giving each character a look that suits their personality, from the slightly tweedy Henry, to Jean’s harried polish, her friend Franny’s looser flair, to various versions of scrubs and suits.

The large cast all give nuanced, grounded performances under McCabe’s direction, recognizing the truth portrayed in Thatcher’s play that no one really has the time or resources to care for Robin, the child at the center of the adoption. Kat Evans anchors the show as a tightly wound Jean, who is forced to confront the limits of her ability to parent a child with special needs. In early scenes, she comes across as someone who needs to maintain control to not fall apart. As she becomes more invested in Robin’s well-being, Evans’s performance shows Jean’s evolution into a powerful advocate and pragmatic parent, while constantly being confronted by the knowledge that the child is not hers, biologically or legally. As her husband Henry, James Sparling goes from charming to slightly prickly as he faces the fact that, not only does he not have the same capacity to deal with Robin’s disability, but he is losing his connection with his Jean as she insists on caring for the child. Sparling remains sympathetic even as his character insists that Robin should be left to institutional care. As Franny, Jean’s friend who steps in to lend support when Henry is struggling to do so, Rebecca Sparks captures both the affection of a long-time friend and the aloofness that is possible for an outside observer. Fran’s marriage is unsatisfying, and she is having an affair, while also playing intermediary between Jean and Henry, and trying to support Jean, who, in turn ends up trying to support her friend’s mid-life affair despite her misgivings about it. Sparks effectively balances caring and flightiness in a character that takes on too many roles. A standout in the supporting cast is Lee Wichman as Laurence, the NICU nurse charged with Robin’s care. Wichman injects much-needed humor into the intense care that Robin requires. Laurence understands more than anyone the needs of the infant and rallies his caretakers with a respectful disregard for protocol. He also initiates Jean into the care routine but recognizes her limitations more than she does. Wichman’s gentle, sardonic performance perfectly aligns with his role. As Mary Jo, Laurence’s heir-apparent, Maria Zoia brings a deadpan toughness to her role, using humor, enthusiasm and studied cluelessness to give Robin access to what he needs. marssie Mencotti brings down-to-earth warmth to both her roles, as the adoption agency representative who recognizes the limitations of prospective parents, but also the value of her work, and as the doctor who wants the best for the infant Robin, while being constrained by bureaucracy and caseload. Andrea Conway-Diaz toes the bottom line as hospital administrator Vivian Radmacher, rarely allowing her compassion to creep into decisions that she knows all too well could affect the future of the hospital. As Sam Stornant, Jamie Black brings aggrieved stoicism, tempered by late-emerging self-awareness to his role as Franny’s abandoned husband (though who abandoned whom is a point of controversy); his conversations with Sparling’s Henry allow both the characters and the audience another perspective on the questions of marriage and parenthood that the play explores. As two birth mothers, Katie MacLauchlan and MiKayla Boyd make the most of roles that seem deliberately pushed to the edges of the drama. MacLauchlan as Emma is practical and direct, revealing both her concern for the infant that she gave up and her relief at not having to add this responsibility to an already complicated web of caretaking. As the young Michelle, Boyd balances her understanding of the enormity of giving birth with her knowledge that she is not ready for the child she is carrying.

Thatcher’s play unsparingly examines both the familial and societal toll of caring for children, wanted or not, who require more care than most people can give, while also introducing the audience to the difficulties of placing children whose birth parents want to provide good homes but cannot do so. Thatcher avoids judgment, though the audience may not, recognizing that people have expectations and even prejudices that color their decisions (as evidenced in the pre-adoption interviews and Emma’s casual assessment of Laurence). There are a few subplots in Thatcher’s play that may occupy a bit too much time and distract from the central theme of parenting, especially the examination of the Stornants’ marriage as juxtaposed with the Farrells’ marriage, but McCabe’s straightforward direction, and the clear-eyed performances by the ensemble provide plenty of material for discussions of what responsibility parents, we as a society, and the medical community have to provide care for the most vulnerable among us. While not a cheerful play, Emma’s Child offers compassion and hope along with the hard questions it raises, and City Lit’s new production powerfully portrays the challenges and joys of parenthood.

Emma’s Child runs through May 29, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm, with Monday performances on May 16 and 23 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $34, seniors $29, students and military $12. Performances take place at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., inside Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Tickets and information are available at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.