Sideshow Theatre Company Presents CHALK - World Premiere!

Sideshow Theatre Company concludes its 2014-15 season with the sci-fi fable CHALK by ensemble member Walt McGough, directed by ensemble member Megan A. Smith, to be presented in a rolling world premiere with Boston’s Fresh Ink Theatre. CHALK will play May 24 - June 28, 2015 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office.

CHALK will feature artistic associates Kathleen Akerley and Nina O’Keefe.

Maggie survived the end of the world, but it hasn’t really ended, has it? Stuck in an abandoned building with nearly unlimited supplies, a broken radio and a book of spells, she bides her time and waits for the monsters to leave. But when her daughter reappears, Maggie can’t celebrate because something is not quite right. The two women square off with both their lives hanging in the balance, and all that keeps them separate is a razor-thin chalk circle, hastily drawn by Maggie on the floor. The world premiere of ensemble member Walt McGough’s intense sci-fi fable digs deep into issues of motherhood, responsibility and possession of all kinds.

Sideshow Theatre’s production of CHALK is the final leg of a two-city rolling world premiere of the play, in association with Boston’s Fresh Ink Productions, which produced which produced the first leg in January. Multiple productions of the play over the course of one theatrical season have allowed for it to develop and grow in a way that incorporates the artistic talents and input of multiple companies, casts and audience bases.

The production team for CHALK includes: Megan Truscott (scenic designer), Lauren Josef (costume designer), Eric Van Tassell (lighting designer), Michael Huey (sound designer), Mealah Heidenreich (props designer), Faith Noelle Hurley (fight choreographer), Aaron Shapiro (production manager), Ryan Milosevich (technical director), Sarah Illiatovitch-Goldman (assistant director), Tala Said (assistant stage manager) and Shannon Golden (stage manager). *Denotes Sideshow Artistic Associate

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: CHALK

Playwright: ensemble member Walt McGough

Director: ensemble member Megan A. Smith

Cast: artistic associates Kathleen Akerley (Maggie) and Nina O’Keefe (Cora)

Location: Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago

Dates: Previews: Sunday, May 24 at 3 pm, Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 pm and Thursday, May 28 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Friday, May 29 – Sunday, June 28, 2015

Industry Night: Tuesday, June 16 at 7:30 pm

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

Tickets: Previews: $10 in advance or pay-what-you-can at the door. Regular run: $20 – $30. Students/seniors/industry: $5 off all performances. Tickets are available at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office.

About the Playwright:

Walt McGough is a founding ensemble member of Sideshow, and the company’s literary manager. He is currently based in Boston, where he has held fellowships with both the Huntington and New Repertory Theatre Companies. His plays include Pattern of Life, which was named Best New Play by the Independent Reviewers of New England, and The Farm, Priscilla Dreams the Answer and Paper City Phoenix, all of which received Best New Play IRNE nominations. Other plays include Chalk, Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), The Haberdasher! (a tale of derring-do) and Non-Player Character. He has worked around the country with companies such as The Lark, the Huntington, New Rep, the Kennedy Center, NNPN, Boston Playwrights Theatre, Fresh Ink, Sideshow, Orfeo Group, Nu Sass Productions, Chicago Dramatists and Argos. In 2015, his play Advice for Astronauts was selected as the winner of the Milken Playwriting Prize. He serves on the staff at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, and was previously the Company Manager at Chicago Dramatists. He holds a BA from the University of Virginia, and an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. www.waltmcgough.com.

About the Director:

Megan Smith is a founding ensemble member and executive director for Sideshow Theatre. As a director, she has worked with Sideshow Theatre almost exclusively on world or Chicago premieres (Tyrant, The Burden of Not Having a Tail, Theories of the Sun, Ekphrasis: Cave Walls to Soup Cans), and with Southern Illinois University (Joan’s Laughter). Megan recently directed the world premiere of Target Behavior by Caity-Shea Violette with 20% Theater Company, running through May 17. Megan helps produce Sideshow’s Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW) and wrestles from time to time as The Cutting Edge. She is a proud graduate of the Catholic University of America.

About Sideshow Theatre Company:

It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine the collective unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

From its first production, 2008’s Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird) to its recent critical hit Stupid Fucking Bird to its Jeff Award-winning productions of Roland Schimmelpfennig’s Idomeneus (named one of the best plays of 2012 by Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times) and Elizabeth Meriwether’s runaway robotic hit Heddatron at Steppenwolf Theatre, Sideshow has consistently produced engaging, transcendent works across Chicago. Sideshow continues its multi-year residency at Victory Gardens in the historic Biograph Theater in the 2014/15 season.

Sideshow also produces the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular interactive fundraising event that benefits Sideshow Theatre Company and other local charities. CLLAW has been featured in local and national press, including The Washington Post, Reuters, Penthouse Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times and on WGN Morning News, ABC 7’s Windy City Live and CBS 2. The next CLLAW match is Saturday, July 18 at 10 pm at Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave. in Chicago. For more information about CLLAW, visit www.cllaw.org.

For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org.