RIPPED: The Living Newspaper Festival, Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at The Greenhouse Theater Center

AMERICAN BLUES THEATER PRESENTS THE 2015 EDITION OF
RIPPED: THE LIVING NEWSPAPER FESTIVAL, TUESDAY, MAY 12 AT 7 P.M.,
AT THE GREENHOUSE THEATER CENTER

Chicago’s Leading Playwrights and Directors Unite to Present
Stories Ripped from Today’s Headlines in a One Night Only Event to Benefit
The Lincoln Project Arts Education Program with Chicago Public Schools

CHICAGO – Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago’s second oldest Equity ensemble, present RIPPED: The Living Newspaper Festival, Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets are $15 at the door and include food and drinks. All proceeds will benefit American Blues Theater’s The Lincoln Project arts education program with Chicago Public Schools. For more information or to order tickets go to AmericanBluesTheater.com or call 312.725.4228.

American Blues Theater’s RIPPED: The Living Newspaper Festival is an annual fund-raising event for American Blues and began in 2009. Since that first edition, they have presented 14 events with nearly 400 artists. American Blues Theater’s RIPPED is based on the 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) program, The Federal Theatre Project’s the Living Newspaper, which brought Orson Welles, Arthur Miller and Clifford Odets into public attention. The Federal Theatre Project wrote and presented a number of Living Newspapers on social issues of the day during the 1930s. At RIPPED, new works are ripped from today’s headlines and presented in staged readings by Chicago’s leading playwrights and directors.

Playwrights contributing short works to the night’s festivities include Shepsu Aakhu, Bret Angelos, Manny Buckley*, Darren Canady*, Neil Cohen, Larissa FastHorse, Brian Hieggelke, M.E.H. Lewis, Rohina Malik, Wandachristine*, Gwendolyn Whiteside* and select CPS students. Directors include Austin Cook*, Elyse Dolan, Keira Fromm, Arti Ishak, Lavina Jadhwani, Steve Key*, Lauren Lundy, Heather Meyers*, Suzanne Petri*, Richard Shavzin*, Arianna Soloway* and Alex St. John. Actors appearing in RIPPED include Linda Bright, Joe Dempsey, Joe Foust*, Melanie Keller, Linda Kimbrough, Jim Leaming*, Lily Mokekwu, Carmen Roman*, Sarah E. Ross*, David Simmons, Alma Washington among others to be announced.

A complete list of the productions with credits is included with this release.
*Ensemble or Artistic Affiliates of American Blues Theater

Supporting American Blues’s mission of partnering with social and service organizations, the following organizations have been supported by RIPPED events: AgrAbility, Chicago Public Schools, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Illinois Farm Bureau, Lincoln Park Community Shelter, University of Chicago’s Urban Education Teachers Program and Open Books.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH FOR RIPPED
American Blues Theater’s RIPPED: The Living Newspaper Festival is a proud community partner of Chicago Public Schools (CPS). All proceeds of the evening’s performance benefit The Lincoln Project in CPS. This year more than 1,000 students received three classroom teaching sessions exploring creative writing and public speaking.

ABOUT AMERICAN BLUES THEATER
American Blues Theater is the premier American theater producing visceral theatrical works while engaging its audience in missions of local service agencies. American Blues Theater illuminates the American ideas of freedom, equality, and opportunity in the plays produced and communities served.

The multi-generational and interdisciplined artists have established the second-oldest professional Equity Ensemble theater in Chicago. The 39-member Ensemble has 539 combined years of collaboration on stage. As of 2015, they’ve individually received nearly 150 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater including the 2014 Jeff Awards for Production-Musical-Midsize, Hank Williams: Lost Highway; Actor in a Principal Role – Musical, Matthew Brumlow, Hank Williams: Lost Highway; Solo Performance, Gwendolyn Whiteside, Grounded; Music Direction, Malcolm Ruhl, Hank Williams: Lost Highway and Sound Design, Lindsay Jones, Grounded and over 22 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.

The American Blues Theater Ensemble includes all four Founders Ed Blatchford, Rick Cleveland, James Leaming, and William Payne with Dawn Bach, Matthew Brumlow, Manny Buckley, Kate Buddeke, Sarah Burnham, Dara Cameron, Casey Campbell, Brian Claggett, Dennis Cockrum, Austin Cook, Laura Coover, Lauri Dahl, Kristin DeiTos, Joe Foust, Tom Geraty, Cheryl Graeff, Marty Higginbotham, Jaclyn Holsey, Lindsay Jones, Samantha Jones, Nambi E. Kelley, Kevin R. Kelly, Steve Key, Ed Kross, Warren Levon, Michael Mahler, Kelli Marino, Heather Meyers , John Mohrlein, Jim Ortlieb, Suzanne Petri, Carmen Roman, Editha Rosario, Sarah E. Ross and Gwendolyn Whiteside.

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago’s second oldest Equity ensemble, present RIPPED: The Living Newspaper Festival, Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets are $15 at the door and include food and drinks. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All proceeds will benefit American Blues Theater’s The Lincoln Project arts education program with Chicago Public Schools. For more information or to order tickets go to americanbluestheater.com or call 312.725.4228.

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The Lincoln Project is made possible, in part, by funding by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Arts Work Fund, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Actors’ Equity Foundation, Eurex, The Saints, and the Chip Pringle Fund. ComEd is the official lighting season sponsor.

2015 RIPPED: The Living Newspaper Festival short works include**:

Police Brutality Play
Playwrights: CPS Students
Director: Arianna Soloway*

All But One Go Home…
Playwright: Darren Canady*
Director: Keira Fromm

One Day
Playwright: Wandachristine*
Director: Suzanne Petri*

Stage Name
Playwright: Rohina Malik
Director: Arti Ishak

Blood on the Street
Playwright: Brian Hieggelke
Director: Richard Shavzin*

You Know What to Do
Playwright: Bret Angelos
Director: Lavina Jadhwani

Da Ponte
Playwright: Neil Cohen
Director: Austin Cook*

One Direction
Playwright: Shepsu Aakhu
Director: Lauren Lundy

Night, Dad
Playwright: Manny Buckley*
Director: Alex St. John

Are We There Yet?
Playwright: Larissa FastHorse
Director: Elyse Dolan

Cherry Bomb
Playwright: Gwendolyn Whiteside*
Director: Steve Key*

Long Gone
Playwright: M.E.H. Lewis
Director: Heather Meyers*

*Ensemble or Artistic Affiliates of American Blues Theater
**Performances listed and directors may change without notice.