Interrobang Theatre Project Presents KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF 'EM ALL

Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to launch its 2015-16 Season: “Unnatural Disasters,” with the Midwest premiere of the dark comedy KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF ‘EM ALL by Rob Florence, directed by Co-Artistic Director Georgette Verdin*, marking the the tenth anniversary of the infamous hurricane that struck the U.S. Gulf coast. KATRINA will play September 4 – October 4, 2015 at The Den Theatre Mainstage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.interrobangtheatreproject.org. 

KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF ‘EM ALL will feature Danon Dastugue, David Fink, Peter Goldsmith, Darren Jones, RjW Mays, Christopher McMorris and Aaron Spencer.

KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF ‘EM ALL is set in the famous Mother-in-Law Lounge, located in New Orleans’ Tremé neighborhood. It follows six individuals as they recount their true, harrowing and yet somehow hopeful stories about surviving one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. Both humorous and poignant – this piece reaches beyond New Orleans, beyond Hurricane Katrina, and taps into our primordial need as humans to survive even under the worst of conditions.

“Katrina is the first of three plays in our sixth season titled ‘Unnatural Disasters,’ in which we investigate how individuals and communities navigate their way through the chaos and absurdity of worlds turned upside-down,” comments Co-Artistic Director Georgette Verdin. “The power of Katrina lies in its up-close and personal accounts of ordinary people acting in heroic ways to save themselves and their neighbors. We bypass the political debacles and media circus that was the storm coverage, and instead - through these stories - experience the grit of folks trying to survive hour-by-hour. True, there was fear and outrage and heartache, but as deep as the flood waters, there was also hope that one of America’s most unique cities would rise again,” adds Verdin.

The production team for KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF ‘EM ALL includes: Greg Pinsoneault (scenic design), Noël Huntzinger* (costume design), Claire Chrzan* (lighting designer), Eric Backus (sound design), Mealah Heidenreich (props design), Chris Owens (projections design), Matthew Nerber (asst. director), Michael Rathbun (technical director), Samantha Dzirko (production manager) and Rebecca Lawson (stage manager). *Denotes Interrobang Theatre Project Company Member.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF ‘EM ALL

Playwright: Rob Florence

Director: Co-Artistic Director Georgette Verdin*

Cast: Danon Dastugue (Judy), David Fink (Lounge Regular), Peter Goldsmith (Sonny), Darren Jones (Raymond), RjW Mays (Antoinette), Christopher McMorris (Franklin) and Aaron Spencer (Rodney).

Location: The Den Theatre Mainstage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Friday, September 4 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, September 5 at 7:30 pm

Press opening: Sunday, September 6 at 3 pm

Regular run: Thursday, September 10 – Sunday, October 4, 2015

Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note:

Tickets: Previews: $10. Regular run: $20; $15 students/seniors (with ID); $10 industry on Thursdays & Sundays. Tickets are currently available at www.interrobangtheatreproject.org

About the Creative Team

Rob Florence (Playwright) Different versions of Katrina have been performed from New York to Los Angeles to Louisiana since 2006, including a staged reading at the Culture Project’s IMPACT Arts Festival; the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival which won several awards and resulted in the first published Hurricane Katrina play; the New York International Fringe Festival (Soho Playhouse & Lucille Lortell Theatre); Hollywood Fringe Festival and The Fountain Theatre. Florence holds an MFA with distinction in playwriting from the University of New Orleans and is the Dramatists Guild’s Gulf Coast Regional Rep.

Georgette Verdin (Director) is Co-Artistic Director of Interrobang Theatre Company. She served as assistant director for for ITP’s fifth season, which included Caryl Churchill’s Owners and Paul Down Calaizzo’s Really Really. In addition to working with Interrobang and being a freelance director, she’s also the founding theatre teacher at Polaris Charter Academy, an Expeditionary Learning School in West Humboldt Park. Selected directing/devised credits include: Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Burn of 1871, Chasing Freedom, People Get Ready and Wiley and the Hairy Man. Upcoming projects include: a devised piece for the LezPlay Salon series through Pride Film and Plays. Georgette holds a Master’s in Directing from Roosevelt University and a BA in Theatre Performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La.

About Interrobang Theatre Project

Now in its sixth season, Interrobang Theatre Project, under the artistic leadership of founder Jeffry Stanton and James Yost, has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as a “company to watch” and by Time Out Chicago as “one of Chicago’s most promising young theatre companies.” Productions have included the world premiere of Ibsen is Dead by Calamity West; the Midwest premiere of The Argument by Gregory Moss; the Jeff Award Recommended The Pitchfork Disney, Terminus and Orange Flower Water; Speaking in Tongues, Here Lies Henry, and the critically-acclaimed Hot ‘N’ Throbbing which Time Out Chicago’s 5-star review called a “scintillating revival” and Newcity Stage exclaimed, “Interrobang Theatre Project, guns ablaze, dives headfirst into the play’s challenging themes, and offers a rare production in which every element onstage is as robust and capable as every other.”

What’s an interrobang?

An interrobang is the combination of a question mark and an exclamation point, joining the Latin for “question” (interro) with a proofreading term for “exclamation” (bang). Through the plays we produce, Interrobang Theatre Project aims to pose worthwhile and exciting questions which challenge our understanding and assumptions of who we are and the world in which we live. With our audience, we are changing our world one play at a time.

For more information, please visit www.interrobangtheatreproject.org.