Glenview Native to Star in Illinois Wesleyan Play

Submitted by Illinois Wesleyan University

Glenview native Debra Madans ’15 has a lead role in Illinois Wesleyan University’s upcoming production, Where In The World is Frank Sparrow? Feb. 17-22. The production, directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Thomas Quinn, incorporates elaborate puppet work by Milwaukee-based puppet designer Brandon Kirkham.

Aimed mostly at a teenage audience, Frank Sparrow? was originally commissioned by the Graffiti Theatre in Ireland and relies heavily on visual storytelling, with its original production including influences of graphic novels. This quirky play weaves a stark urban reality with the mythic underworld. A modern, dark “fairy tale,” it reinvents the hero, Frank Sparrow’s, journey for the 21st Century. Sparrow meets several animal characters in his journey such as a rat, a goat who try to advice him or a fox and a crow who try to pursue him. The audience is propelled through the dangerous streets of “Stab City” and into the dark underworld of change and transformation.

Madans will play the character of “Kira.” An acting major, Madans has previously appeared in IWU School of Theatre productions of A Lie of Mind by Sam Shepard, Hay Fever by Noel Cowards, and Shakespeare’s As You Like It.