Invictus Theatre Company, the seven-year-old storefront theatre company who this past year was one of the most honored organizations at the Non-Equity Jeff Awards and then lost its venue in a July 2023 fire, has announced a new home and a four-play season for 2024. Invictus will move to the Windy City Playhouse, the former producing company and venue that closed early last year.

Invictus’s first production at the Windy City Playhouse will be Suzan-Lori Parks's 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner "Topdog/Underdog," playing February 13 to March 31. Parks's drama of sibling rivalry will be directed by Aaron Reese Boseman, who led the Invictus productions of "The Mountaintop" and "A Raisin in the Sun." Boseman’s cast for the two-hander will be Mikha’el Amin (Dr. Martin Luther King in Invictus’s "The Mountaintop") and DeMorris Burrows (of Steppenwolf’s "1919").

It will be followed in May by another Pulitzer Prize winner — the first Chicago production of Tracy Letts’s play "August: Osage County" since the 2010 national tour that played the Cadillac Palace Theatre. This monumental drama of family dysfunction in rural Oklahoma had its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2007, winning six Jeff Awards, including production of a play. It transferred to Broadway in 2008, where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. Invictus Artistic Director Charles Askenaizer, winner of the 2023 Jeff Award (Non-Equity Wing) for his direction of Invictus’s "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wool?" will direct. "August: Osage County" will play from May 28 to July 14.

In August, Askenaizer will also direct the Chicago premiere of Lee Hall’s adaptation of the Academy-Award-winning "Network." Hall’s adaptation of the screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky premiered in London in 2017 and opened on Broadway in 2018. The story concerns a network television anchorman who is fired for his declining ratings but becomes embraced by the public as a symbol of their collective angst. Chayefsky’s 1976 screenplay was prescient in its foretelling of television’s adoption of reality-based programming and exploitation of grievances. "Network" will run from August 13 to September 29.  

Invictus will continue its tradition of presenting intimate productions of Shakespeare with its season-closing presentation of "Macbeth," the Bard’s tale of the seductive nature of power that combines Scottish history with magical realism. The tragedy’s three witches who warn Macbeth about his future will make their first appearance just before Halloween, with previews beginning on October 29 and playing through December 15.

"Macbeth" will be directed by Sarafina Vecchio, a Chicago-based actor, director, and educator who is an adjunct faculty member of The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Vecchio holds a Post Graduate Award in Teaching Shakespeare from The University of Warwick (in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company) in Coventry, England and has been a guest instructor to Ontario, Canada's Stratford Festival. Chicago Stage and Screen praised Vecchio’s text coaching for Invictus’s "Julius Caesar" for being “as modern sounding as your favorite political podcast. You have heard these speeches before but never like this. This is a Caesar for everyone.”

Askenaizer says, “We’re looking forward to returning to production with another season of powerful, emotional dramas. We will take full advantage of the flexible space in our new home at Windy City Playhouse to develop creative staging for our shows.”

Invictus Theatre Company has been one of the most notable success stories among Chicago’s storefront theatres in spite of the challenges facing the theater community in recent years. When the pandemic shut down in-person performances just three years after the company’s founding, they responded with a thrillingly intimate Zoom production of ‘NIGHT, MOTHER. They returned from the pandemic by acquiring their own space – the former Jackalope Frontier Theater – which they renamed in honor of the late founding company member Reginald Vaughn. In that space, they continued to build a reputation for intimate and honest interpretations of classics with fidelity to the original texts and close attention to character development. The company’s extraordinarily successful 2021-22 season netted the company five Jeff Awards for its 13 nominations.

The company continued its upward trajectory during its 2022-23 season. That season began with intimate, yet full-scale stagings of the epics "Julius Caesar" and "The Crucible" along with the two-hander "The Mountaintop." Buzz Center Stage’s Wesley David said in reviewing "Julius Caesar," “Invictus Theatre Company is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in Chicago,” and of "The Mountaintop" said “They constantly exceed their reach. I have to remind myself this is a storefront theatre.” The Chicago Reader said of "The Crucible," "This is a production that grabs an audience in the first seconds, pulls us in, and doesn’t let go until the final lights go out.”

Tickets for Invictus's 2024 season will be available soon at www.invictustheatreco.com

'Gypsy' is an excellent musical about a family in Vaudeville. The mother is overbearing trying to make the children, specifically the daughters, create a wildly famous act. It is at Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, Illinois directed by Amanda Dehnert.

An initial striking character is Rose, played by Lucia Spina. She brings great energy and urgency right from the get-go that captures the audience's attention. Rose intensely rushes and pushes her children, Louise (Lauren Maria Medina) and June (Tori Heinlein), to fulfill bold theater dreams as a family. There are spirited performances at the beginning with Young Louise played by Elin Joy Seiler and Baby June played by Daryn Whitney Harrell.

The production takes an exhilarating turn at the song "Mr. Goldstone," when the family gains the connection to a powerful theater figure Mr. Goldstone played with an idiosyncratic charm by Sawyer Smith. The "Mr. Goldstone" number highlights the epic singing skills of Lucia Spina as Rose. All musical numbers have great choreography.

Another force in Act I is Tulsa, played by J'Kobe Wallace. The budding romance between Tulsa and June (Tori Heinlein) has a more carefree tenderness that is expressed in standout dance choreography. The more relaxed yet gleeful pacing of the number "All I Need Is the Girl" toward the end of Act I contrasts the relentlessness overdrive of the musical numbers starring Rose. This demonstrates the excellent quality of this production of 'Gypsy' that the pacing and sense of speed frequently varies, which makes it highly engaging for viewers.

Set design and lighting shines in Act II, where characters are constantly on tour in different areas. The stage set up demonstrates their changes in location in clear and innovative ways. The joy of many different locations, from Wichita, Kansas to New York City, adds to the charm of the Act II.

The production comes to a captivating emotional climax towards the end of Act II, powered by dialogue expertly directed by Amanda Dehnert. Dialogue between Rose, played by Lucia Spina, Herbie, played by Nathaniel Stampley, and Louise, played by Lauren Maria Medina, is extremely expressive. One of the core narratives of mother-daughter conflict and expectation is made widely resonant to all viewers by the amazing acting.

The themes of ambition, expectation, family, adventure, and joy are expressed in a thought-provoking and relevant way to all viewers.

'Gypsy' is scheduled to run Wednesdays at 1 pm and 7:30 pm, Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 pm and 8 pm, and Sundays at 1 pm and 5 pm. To reserve tickets, call the Marriott Theatre Box Office at 847.634.0200 or go to tickets.marriotttheatre.com.