Polarity Ensemble Theatre Presents ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE - World Premiere!

Polarity Ensemble Theatre presents the world premiere of Richard Engling’s drama ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE, a play that explores the issue of suicide and its repercussions beyond the grave, directed by Susan Padveen. ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE plays April 22 – May 24, 2015 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago, where the eleven year old Polarity is a resident company. Tickets are currently available at www.petheatre.com or by calling the box office at (773) 404-7336. 

ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE is part of THE AFTERLIFE TRILOGY, a project completed by Engling in collaboration with Fern Chertkow, a friend and fellow writer who took her own life in 1988. The trilogy also includes two novels: Engling’s Visions of Anna and Chertkow’s She Plays in Darkness, both published by Polarity Ensemble Theatre Books. Chertkow is the inspiration for the character Anna in Engling’s play and novel. THE AFTERLIFE TRILOGY may be enjoyed in any order and combination – each piece stands on its own, but offers the audience an enhanced experience when taken in as a trilogy. Review copies of the novels are available by request.

ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE features James Bould, Bryan Breau, Jazmin Corona, Sarah Eddy, Richard Engling, Lawrence Garner, Lionel Gentle, Kevin Grubb, Shannon Nicole Hill, Jean Marie Koon, Ellyn Nugent, Shawna Tucker and Sheila Willis.

About The Play

Novelist Matthew Harken finds himself in the afterlife. While his body is in a coma, Matthew must decide whether to return to the living. He discovers his dear friend and fellow novelist Anna Toyevsky has split into three separate beings. Is that a result of her suicide? He is visited by others who have passed on and witnesses scenes from their lives. He seeks to uncover the mystery behind his friend’s suicide and the risks he runs in returning to life or remaining in death.

ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE was developed in Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s 2011 DIONYSOS CUP FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS. It is the ninth Polarity-developed play by a Chicago-area playwright to reach its world premiere on a Chicago stage.

The production team for ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE includes Ann Davis (set design), Alaina Moore (costume design), Benjamin L. White, USA (lighting design), Conor Murphy (sound design), Ilya Levinson (composer), Paul Deziel (projections design), Renee Eisenhour (props design), Jackie Brenner (choreographer), Deborah Blumenthal (dramaturg), Charles C. Palia Jr. (technical director), Emily Hahn (assistant technical director), Andrea Beschel (assistant director), Ivy Covaciu (assistant lighting designer)., Rachel Ramirez (managing director), Nicole Smith (production manager) and Jamie Crothers (stage manager).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: ANNA IN THE AFTERLIFE

Playwright: Richard Engling

Director: Susan Padveen

Cast: James Bould (Yousef), Bryan Breau (Colin), Jazmin Corona (Shakti/Nurse), Sarah Eddy (Little Anna), Richard Engling (Matthew), Lawrence Garner (Dr. Galesburg/Dad), Lionel Gentle (Mbella Dipoko), Kevin Grubb (Elliot), Shannon Nicole Hill (Rebecca), Jean Marie Koon (Carol Berge), Ellyn Nugent (Afterlife Anna), Shawna Tucker (Patty) and Sheila Willis (Anna).

Location: The Greenhouse Theater Center 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Wednesday, April 22 at 8 pm and Thursday, April 23 at 8 pm

Gala Premiere Night: Friday, April 24 at 8 pm

Press Opening: Saturday, April 25 at 8 pm

Regular Run: Saturday, April 25 – Sunday, May 24, 2015

Curtain Times: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm

Tickets: Previews: $15 Regular Run and Gala Premiere Night and: $25. Students: $10, Seniors: $20. Tickets are available at www.petheatre.com and by calling (773) 404-7336.

About the Playwright/Novelist

Richard Engling is an actor, director, playwright, novelist, musician and the Artistic Director of Polarity Ensemble Theatre. His books have been published by Penguin/Putnam and Polarity Ensemble Theatre Books. He played drums with Midnight Blue, a jazz quartet for ten years. With Polarity, he directed Absolute Macbeth, The Good Harvest and Macbeth and adapted and appeared in Antigone. He wrote and directed Ghost Watch and appeared in Hamlet, The Rivals, Peer Gynt and Tom Jones. He has degrees in Theatre and Creative Writing, works as a freelance writer, and has performed with Keyhole Theatre, ShakespeareInc, Chicago Actors Ensemble, the IO and others. His novel Visions of Anna (Polarity Ensemble Theatre Books) is a part of The Afterlife Trilogy along with Anna in the Afterlife and She Plays in Darkness by Fern Chertkow.

About Fern Chertkow

Fern Chertkow was a writer and Chicago native. She studied music at the University of Illinois, attended graduate school for Creative Writing at Indiana University, Bloomington and earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Utah. She spent time in Paris as a novelist and lived the final years of her life in Salt Lake City, Utah. Chertkow is the author of She Plays In Darkness and the inspiration for the character of Anna in Visions of Anna and Anna in the Afterlife. She committed suicide in 1988.

About the Director

Susan Padveen is a freelance director, an educator and producer. With Polarity Ensemble Theatre, she previously directed Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and The White Airplane, by Darren Callahan. She recently directed a staged reading of Scrambled Eggs by Beth Kander for Continuum Theater. She has directed at Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Pegasus Players and produced several productions and festivals for the Neapolitans. This summer, she will be producing a Festival of Devised Work as a Box Partner at Stage 773. Susan is an Associate Professor at Columbia College Chicago’s Theatre Department, where she coordinates the directing program. Favorite productions there include John Guare’s Landscape of the Body, He Who Gets Slapped and The Resistible Rise of Arturo UI. Susan recently created a set of rehearsal exercise flash cards called Pro-Acting Cards for directors and teachers.

About Polarity Ensemble Theatre

Founded in 2004, Polarity Ensemble Theatre is a professionally diverse group of artists who strive to advance the state of Chicago theater for both local and international audiences by developing new works and bringing new life to the classics through live performance, workshops, and publishing. For more information, visit www.petheatre.com.