Press Releases
Announcing The Fifth Annual Alcyone Festival Featuring New Works by Mexican Women
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre Announces The Fifth Annual Alcyone Festival Featuring New Works by Mexican Women
CHICAGO, IL (May 16, 2011) Halcyon Theatre Announces the fifth annual Alcyone Festival Featuring New Works in translation by Mexican Women. The Alcyone Festival 2012 will be performed at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. From July 12 through August 12.
The Alcyone Festival 2012 will feature works (in English translation) by women in Mexico. There is a long and distinguished body of theatrical work in Mexico. Unfortunately, many of these works are rarely seen in Chicago. With this year's Alcyone Festival, Halcyon is presenting four plays in translation by some of Mexicos best playwrights.
Says Artistic Director Tony Adams, “ I was really inspired by some of the works the Henry Godinez and the Lark brought to the Goodman's last Latino Theatre Festival for readings, so for this years festival I wanted to continue that conversation and present full productions of some fantastic plays by Mexican Women. The fact that Henry will be directing with us is pretty amazing. Not just because he introduced me to some of the writers, but he is one of my favorite artists in the country, A large part of our work revolves around the idea of connection, and I'm also really excited to reconnect with another director in this years fest, Alex Gualino. Alex was one of the founding members of Steep theatre, where I was a longtime member, and I worked with him on my first show in Chicago.”
Performances will be Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, and Sundays at 2:30, in rotating rep, from July 12 through August 12, 2012. Tickets are $12-20, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336. Festival passes are available for $75.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
This year's festival features:
A Lover’s Dismantling: Fragments of a Scenic Discourse
by Elena Guiochins, translation by Andy Bragen
Directed by Alex Gualino
"There are only two kinds of thoughts: memories and imagination. This story of two couples finding, living, and losing love wanders whimsically through time, distance, dreams, and heartbreak. "
Freud Skating
by Sabina Berman, translation by Kirsten F. Nigro
Directed by Henry Godinez
"A dramatic rewriting of the famous case of Freud's "Dora."
Two Dead Guys and a Banjo: A Story of Mourning
by Mariana Hartasánchez, tranlation by Henry Guzmán
Directed by Ebony Joy
"When a magician's hand escapes and seduces a psychiatrist, two fathers return from the dead in a battle of rhetoric and illusion over the living. "
The Tip of the Iceberg
by Bea Carmina, translation by Caridad Svich
Directed by Annelise Moffit
"A couple on the skids, a woman having a nervous breakdown, a serial killer on the prowl and a girl holding onto a mewling cat make up the darkly, comic poetically ferocious world of The Tip of the Iceberg."
*exact lineup subject to change
About the Alcyone Festival:
Now in its fifth year, our annual Alcyone Festival celebrates female playwrights. Women writers are horribly represented on stages across America, so we created the Alcyone Festival to combat this directly, by celebrating the depth and breadth of women writing for the stage. To date the Alcyone Festival has presented 26 works by women, only two of which had previously been seen in Chicago.
For our first annual Alcyone Festival, in the summer of 2008, Halcyon Theatre produced the works of 10 early female playwrights spanning almost 1000 years in rotating repertory. These works have been seldom (and mostly never) seen on contemporary stages.
For the Alcyone Festival 2009 we decided to play with the notion that women only write small domestic dramas, picking a theme as far away from that as possible: terrorism, the cult of martyrdom and its effects upon the innocents. The Alcyone Festival 2009 featured six phenomenal writers from across the globe.
The Alcyone Festival 2010 celebrates the work of María Irene Fornés.
The theme for the Alcyone Festival 2011 was Remixed, creating new works by women based off of classical texts by women. We presented five new works using/adapting/sampling/re-envisioning . . . remixing classical plays written by women from Hrosvita (c. 935 to c. 1002) through 1800. The Alcyone Festival 2011 celebrated both new and (really) old writers and showed how the lineage of female playwrights over the past thousand years can inspire and inform contemporary audiences and artists.
The Alcyone Festival 2012 will feature new works in translation by Mexican women.
About Halcyon:
Mission- We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
About- Halcyon Theatre was formed to connect people, transform our borders and ascend towards a more just union. We strive to make incredible theatre from stories around the world, to help show our world in new ways, and rediscover the individual beauty of people from our global community. Our artistic philosophy is driven by our continuing belief that at every point of human history where there has been an explosion of artistic creativity, it has happened when different cultures and traditions have intersected and informed each other. If every artist working with an organization looks and thinks the same, it is difficult for them to grow. A homogeneous group produces homogeneous art. Striving for artistic excellence with artists of varied cultural backgrounds and training is at the forefront of everything we do.
# # # # MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre Announces The Fifth Annual Alcyone Festival Featuring New Works by Mexican Women.
WHERE: The Alcyone Festival 2012 will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: The Alcyone Festival 2012 will play Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, and Sundays at 2:30, in rotating rep.
ADMISSION: $12-20 for single tickets. Festival Passes are available for $75.
BOX OFFICE: Tickets are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336.
FEATURING:
A Lover’s Dismantling: Fragments of a Scenic Discourse
by Elena Guiochins, translation by Andy Bragen
Directed by Alex Gualino
"There are only two kinds of thoughts: memories and imagination. This story of two couples finding, living, and losing love wanders whimsically through time, distance, dreams, and heartbreak. "
Freud Skating
by Sabina Berman, translation by Kirsten F. Nigro
Directed by Henry Godinez
"A dramatic rewriting of the famous case of Freud's "Dora."
Two Dead Guys and a Banjo: A Story of Mourning
by Mariana Hartasánchez, translation by Henry Guzmán
Directed by Ebony Joy
"When a magician's hand escapes and seduces a psychiatrist, two fathers return from the dead in a battle of rhetoric and illusion over the living. "
The Tip of the Iceberg
by Bea Carmina, translation by Caridad Svich
Directed by Annelise Moffit
"A couple on the skids, a woman having a nervous breakdown, a serial killer on the prowl and a girl holding onto a mewling cat make up the darkly, comic poetically ferocious world of The Tip of the Iceberg."
*exact lineup subject to change
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org ; halcyontheatre.org/alcyone12
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre announces the January Lineup of THE CEYX SERIES
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
jenn@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre announces the January Lineup of THE CEYX SERIES
CHICAGO, IL (January 1, 2012) Halcyon Theatre announces the January Lineup of THE CEYX SERIES, presented at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., January 9, at 7:30 p.m. or at livestream.com/halcyontheatre
January’s Lineup will include the following (pics and bios here)
- Original songs by Sadie Rogers
- A multi-disciplinary -- spoken word performance art piece by Milta Ortiz Pinate
- Omar Robles and Ellyzabeth Adler, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble guest Artistic Director and CDE’s founder and Executive Director, will be performing each a solo dance piece around the topic of touch.
- Kevin Gladish will be telling you a story that is true.
- Gertrude Little loves to dance but has a little problem. She doesn't know how to keep up with the music. A clown piece with Kira Silverstein.
- Diego Sol and the Metronomes, scintillating you with their sound.
Jennifer Adams, curator for the series, says “The hope is to have as many different kinds of acts as possible, hopefully representing different genres, parts of the world, points of view, etc. The possibilities of what people would like to contribute are endless- Music, Stand-Up, Dance, Spoken Word, Performance Art, Theatre (monologue, one-act, whatever)...
The night will be set up like an old Vaudeville night or Variety Show. The flow of the evening will change each month, depending on the final lineup. The idea is just getting different awesome people together, so for example a flamenco dancer might be followed by a spoken word artist and then a bluegrass singer. Content possibilities are wide open, we'd usually rather have folks do what they're most passionate about than what we think they should do.”
Performances are normally the first Monday of every month; however, due to the New Years holiday, the Janurary '12 Ceyx Series will be on January 9th. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $10, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
About Halcyon:
Mission- We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
About- Halcyon Theatre was formed to connect people, transform our borders and ascend towards a more just union. We strive to make incredible theatre from stories around the world, to help show our world in new ways, and rediscover the individual beauty of people from our global community.
Our artistic philosophy is driven by our continuing belief that at every point of human history where there has been an explosion of artistic creativity, it has happened when different cultures and traditions have intersected and informed each other. If every artist working with an organization looks and thinks the same, it is difficult for them to grow. A homogeneous group produces homogeneous art. Striving for artistic excellence with artists of varied cultural backgrounds and training is at the forefront of everything we do.
# # # #
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre announces the January Lineup of THE CEYX SERIES
CHICAGO, IL (January 1, 2012) Halcyon Theatre announces THE CEYX SERIES, presented at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., January 9, or at livestream.com/halcyontheatre
WHERE: The Ceyx Series will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: Monday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m.
ADMISSION: $10 suggested donation or pay-what-you-can.
BOX OFFICE: Tickets are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336.
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org; halcyontheatre.org/ceyx
LIVESTREAM at livestream.org/halcyontheatre
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
jenn@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Announcing The Ceyx Series
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre announces THE CEYX SERIES- An Inter-Continental Stew of Artistic Bad-Assery that will leave you in Awe as if Catapulted by the Aegean Winds (or a pretty fun variety show).
CHICAGO, IL (November 7, 2011) Halcyon Theatre announces THE CEYX SERIES, presented at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., the first Monday of every month beginning Monday, December 5.
Jennifer Adams, curator for the series, says “The hope is to have as many different kinds of acts as possible, hopefully representing different genres, parts of the world, points of view, etc. The possibilities of what people would like to contribute are endless- Music, Stand-Up, Dance, Spoken Word, Performance Art, Theatre (monologue, one-act, whatever)... The night will be set up like an old Vaudeville night or Variety Show. The flow of the evening will change each month, depending on the final lineup. The idea is just getting different awesome people together, so for example a flamenco dancer might be followed by a spoken word artist and then a bluegrass singer. Content possibilities are wide open, we'd usually rather have folks do what they're most passionate about than what we think they should do.”
Performances will be the first Monday of every month, beginning Monday, December 5. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $10, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
About Halcyon:
Mission- We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
About- Halcyon Theatre was formed to connect people, transform our borders and ascend towards a more just union. We strive to make incredible theatre from stories around the world, to help show our world in new ways, and rediscover the individual beauty of people from our global community.
Our artistic philosophy is driven by our continuing belief that at every point of human history where there has been an explosion of artistic creativity, it has happened when different cultures and traditions have intersected and informed each other. If every artist working with an organization looks and thinks the same, it is difficult for them to grow. A homogeneous group produces homogeneous art. Striving for artistic excellence with artists of varied cultural backgrounds and training is at the forefront of everything we do.
# # # #
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre announces THE CEYX SERIES- An Inter-Continental Stew of Artistic Bad-Assery that will leave you in Awe as if Catapulted by the Aegean Winds (or a pretty fun variety show).
WHERE: The Ceyx Series will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: The first Monday of every month, beginning Monday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m.
ADMISSION: $10 suggested donation or pay-what-you-can.
BOX OFFICE: Tickets are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org or at 773.404.7336.
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org; halcyontheatre.org/ceyx
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre continues the Summer of Hwang with Family Devotions, opening Thursday, August 11
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre begins its Sixth Season with David Henry Hwang's Family Devotions.
CHICAGO, IL (July 1, 2011) Halcyon Theatre begins its Sixth Season with Family Devotions by David Henry Hwang. Family Devotions will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
Set in1982, in sunny California, three generations await their famed great uncle's arrival from communist China. From zealous elderly sisters to their assimilated adult children to Americanized teenage grandchildren, comedy erupts as a family makes surprising discoveries about the people they thought they knew the best. Family Devotions marks the third play Chicago audiences can see as part of the "Summer of David Henry Hwang," in addition to Chinglish at the Goodman (featuring Halcyon Company Member Christine Lin) and Yellow Face at Silk Road.
Director Jennifer Adams says, "When I first read this play, I could see right away how hilarious and tragic it was at the same time. The family is holding on to so many things- The American ideal, China, religion, their children- When you hold on so tightly to something precious, it can slip through your fingers like a caked, hard piece of dirt. There is also a reality and a mysticism that exist at the same time, and that is something the family struggles with as well... And of course it's set in 1982, so there is fun music, ridiculous clothes, all of that adds to the craziness."
Performances will be Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm, from August 11 through September 4, 2011. Tickets are $10-25, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office atgreenhousetheater.org (direct link http://greenhousetheater.tix.com/schedule.asp?actcode=63563) or at 773.404.7336.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
Family Devotions is directed by Halcyon's Associate Artistic director Jennifer Adams. The cast includes: Kaori Aoshima, Gordon Chow, Katelyn Foley, Arvin Jalandoon, Jin Kim, Mia Park, Eliza Shin, Dwight Sora, and company member Helen Young.
About the Writer:
David Henry Hwang is the author of M. Butterfly (1988 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards, Pulitzer finalist), Golden Child (1998 Tony nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The Dance and the Railroad (Drama Desk nomination), Family Devotions (Drama Desk Nomination), Sound and Beauty, and Bondage. His newest play, Yellow Face, which premiered at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum and New York's Public Theatre, won a 2008 OBIE Award and was a Finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. He wrote the scripts for the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida (co-author), Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song(2002 revival, 2003 Tony nomination), and Disney's Tarzan. His opera libretti include three works for composer Philip Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera), and The Sound of a Voice; as well as Bright Sheng's The Silver River, Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards) and Unsuk Chin's Alice In Wonderland (Opernwelt's 2007 "World Premiere of the Year"). Hwang penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate, and Possession (co-writer), and also co-wrote the song "Solo" with Prince. A native of Los Angeles, Hwang serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild. He attended Stanford University and Yale Drama School, and was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. His plays Chinglish (World Premiere at the Goodman Theatre) and Yellow Face (Chicago Premiere at Silk Road Theatre Project) are also playing in Chicago in the Summer of 2011.
About Halcyon:
Mission- We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
About- Halcyon Theatre was formed to connect people, transform our borders and ascend towards a more just union. We strive to make incredible theatre from stories around the world, to help show our world in new ways, and rediscover the individual beauty of people from our global community.
Our artistic philosophy is driven by our continuing belief that at every point of human history where there has been an explosion of artistic creativity, it has happened when different cultures and traditions have intersected and informed each other. If every artist working with an organization looks and thinks the same, it is difficult for them to grow. A homogeneous group produces homogeneous art. Striving for artistic excellence with artists of varied cultural backgrounds and training is at the forefront of everything we do.
# # # #
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre begins its Sixth Season with Family Devotions by David Henry Hwang.
WHERE: Family Devotions will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: Family Devotions will play Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm.
ADMISSION: $10-25 for single tickets.
BOX OFFICE: Tickets are $10-25, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenhousetheater.org (direct link http://greenhousetheater.tix.com/schedule.asp?actcode=63563) or at 773.404.7336.
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org; halcyontheatre.org/familydevotions
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
Halcyon Theatre concludes its Fifth Season with The Alcyone Festival 2011: Remixed, featuring new works from five of the country's top emerging female playwrights
Iphegenia...(a rave fable) by Caridad Svich- press release for Halcyon Theatre, opening February 17 at the Greenhouse
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre continues its Fifth Season with the Chicago Premiere of Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart (a rave fable) by Caridad Svich.
CHICAGO, IL (January 22, 2011) Halcyon Theatre begins its fifth season with Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart (a rave fable) written by Caridad Svich and directed by Artistic Director Tony Adams. Iphigenia...(a rave fable) will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
A rave fable inspired by Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis, this play with music and video spins Iphigenia into dangerous orbit through an un-named Latin American country as she journeys through a meta-hell where she finds her body embraced and destroyed by a rock star named Achilles, and discovers she cannot escape a destiny set forth by myths ancient and modern.
"Juxtaposing the world of the rich and the poor; the living and the dead; live performance and the video; the elements combine to forge a new world that's familiar and foreign, mysterious and hyper-realistic. Caridad has an innate ability to take existing styles and conventions and spin them into something new and fascinating. It's as if she mainlines myth and creates something poetic and mythic, yet completely contemporary. Iphigenia...(a rave Fable) is a living embodiment of that." says Artistic Director and director, Tony Adams.
Performances begin February 17, and run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:30 through March 27, 2011. Tickets are $10-20, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office atgreenhousetheatre.org (Direct link at http://greenhousetheater.tix.com/schedule.asp?actcode=56947) or at 773.404.7336.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance. Iphigenia...(a rave fable) contains adult themes and language. Please contact us if you have any questions about the themes or content of this production.
The production features: Adam Dodds, Rafael Franco, Arch Harmon*, Erica Cruz Hernández**, Arvin Jalandoon*, Christine Lin**, Terri Lopez**, Miguel Nuñez**, Derrick York**.
*company member, ** artistic associate. Cast and Crew bios may be found at: halcyontheatre.org/iphigenia
Caridad Svich: Caridad Svich is a US Latina -translator-lyricist and editor of Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian descent whose works have been staged across the US and abroad at diverse venues including Denver Theatre Center, Mixed Blood Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Artheater-Cologne and Edinburgh Fringe Festival/UK. In Chicago, she's worked with the Latino Theatre Festival at the Goodman, TUTA, Caffeine Theatre, Latino Chicago, Teatro Vista, Northwestern University. Among her key works: 12 Ophelias, Any Place But Here, Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues, Magnificent Waste and The House of the Spirits (based on the novel by Isabel Allende). She's alumna playwright of New Dramatists, founder of NoPassport theatre alliance & press, contributing editor of TheatreForum, and associate editor of Contemporary Theatre Review. She holds an MFA from UCSD. Visit her website:www.caridadsvich.com
About Halcyon:
Mission- We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
About- Halcyon Theatre was formed to make incredible theatre from stories around the world, to help show our world in new ways, and rediscover the individual beauty of people from our global community. Our artistic philosophy is driven by our continuing belief that at every point of human history where there has been an explosion of artistic creativity, it has happened when different cultures and traditions have intersected and informed each other. If every artist working with an organization looks and thinks the same, it is difficult for them to grow. A homogeneous group produces homogeneous art. Striving for artistic excellence with artists of varied cultural backgrounds and training is at the forefront of everything we do.
# # # #
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre continues its Fifth Season with the Chicago Premiere of Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart (a rave fable) by Caridad Svich
WHERE: Iphigenia ...(a rave fable) will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: Iphigenia ...(a rave fable) will perform: February 17 through March 27, 2011. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:30
ADMISSION: $10-20 for single tickets.
BOX OFFICE: Tickets are $10-20, and are available through the Greenhouse Theater box office at greenghousetheatre.org (Direct link at http://greenhousetheater.tix.com/schedule.asp?actcode=56947) or at 773.404.7336.
FEATURING: Adam Dodds, Rafael Franco, Arch Harmon*, Erica Cruz Hernández**, Arvin Jalandoon*, Christine Lin**, Terri Lopez**, Miguel Nuñez**, Derrick York**.
*company member, ** artistic associate.
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org; halcyontheatre.org/iphigenia
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
# # # #
Halcyon Theatre presents Alcyone Festival 2010
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre Announces The Alcyone Festival 2010
CHICAGO, IL (November 1, 2010) Halcyon Theatre presents The Alcyone Festival 10. This year's festival celebrates the work of María Irene Fornés. The Alcyone Festival 2010 features: Letters from Cuba, Manual for a Desperate Crossing, Sarita, Summer in Gossensass, Tango Palace and What of the Night. All but What of the Night are Chicago Premieres.
Each summer Halcyon produces The Alcyone Festival, celebrating female playwrights. Because female playwrights are horribly represented on stages across America, we created The Alcyone Festival to combat this directly, by celebrating the depth and breadth of women writers.
“When we were thinking of a theme for this year's Alcyone Festival,” says Artistic Director Tony Adams, “everything we thought of hovered around Irene. So we decided to focus this year on her. I think she has had a greater impact on the American Theatre than any writer other than Eugene O'Neill, but most people don't know much of her work.”
"When I feel sick of plays, writing, theatre, the whole business, I sometimes think of yours and I get a flicker of what it is I like about it all . . ." ~ Caryl Churchill, from A Poem for Maria Irene Fornes.
"America has produced no dramatist of greater importance than Maria Irene Fornes . . . Her plays and productions profoundly altered my understanding of what theatre is . . ." ~Tony Kushner
The festival features: Letters from Cuba directed by Juan Castañeda, Manual for a Desperate Crossing directed by Coya Paz, Sarita directed by Gina LoPiccolo, Summer in Gossensass directed by Lavina Jadhwani, Tango Palacedirected by Adam Dodds, What of the Night directed by Margo Gray.
The Alcyone Festival plays Thursday, Friday nights at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00; Sundays at 6:00. January 21st through February 27th, 2010. The exact rep performance schedule will be announced in early December. Tickets to individual performances are $15 ($10 for students and seniors); Festival passes are available for $50 . Both are available through the Halcyon Theatre box office at 773.413.0453, or online at halcyontheatre.org/boxoffice.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
Performances will be at the Lincoln Square Theatre in the Barry United Methodist Church. 4754 North Leavitt in Chicago. A link to a map may also be found at halcyontheatre.org/alcyone10.
Play Summaries and additional info may be found at halcyontheatre.org/alcyone10.
Advance copies of the plays are available upon request.
About Halcyon:
Mission- Halcyon Theatre explores how stories and the art of storytelling can cross cultures, heal old wounds, reconnect peoples, create communal experiences and forge new paths forward
About- We live in a fractured society; few know their neighbors; people are clamoring for community. At its heart theatre began as a communal form of storytelling. In many ways this has been lost in our day. We challenge audiences to think and dream of the richness of our world, both in far away lands and our own backyard.
Company bios may be found at: halcyontheatre.org/company
# # # #
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre presents The Alcyone Festival 2010.
WHERE: Performances will be at the Lincoln Square Theatre in the Barry United Methodist Church. 4754 North Leavitt in Chicago.
WHEN: Thursday, Friday nights at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00; Sundays at 6:00. January 21st through February 27th, 2010. Exact rep performance schedule will be announced in early December.
ADMISSION: $10-20 for single tickets. $50 Festival Pass for entry to all shows. Performance schedule may be found at halcyontheatre.org/alcyone10
BOX OFFICE: halcyontheatre.org/boxoffice or 773.413.0453
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org/alcyone10
Featured Shows include:
Letters from Cuba directed by Juan Castañeda
Manual for a Desperate Crossing directed by Coya Paz
Sarita directed by Gina LoPiccolo
Summer in Gossensass directed by Lavina Jadhwani
Tango Palace directed by Adam Dodds
What of the Night directed by Margo Gray
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
halcyontheatre.org
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
# # # #
Announcing Season Five and New Mission Statement
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Halcyon Theatre announces a new Mission Statement and a New Season.
CHICAGO, IL (October 4, 2010) Halcyon Theatre announces its Fifth Season and a new mission statement: We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
As we went through the strategic planning process (currently nearing completion), it became abundantly clear that we were nowhere near as good at communicating our mission as we were in our work. Over the course of the last three months we have worked steadily towards refining our mission statement, taking in feedback from the board, ensemble, and many interested people outside our organization. The board recently ratified a new mission statement for Halcyon Theatre. Says Artistic Director Tony Adams, The new mission statement isn't changing our mission, but is a better reflection of our work and how we articulate our mission.
Season Five will include Trickster by Tony Adams, Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart (a rave fable) by Caridad Svich and The Alcyone Festival 2011: Remixed. Season Five will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
Trickster, a re-imagining of the stories of Genesis, the legend of Don Juan, and Coyote tales, will be taking its place in our season this winter. The show is written and directed by Artistic Director Tony Adams and will be developed in the rehearsal process by Tony and the cast. Using movement, puppetry, stage magic and music, Trickster tells the story of a displaced people torn between warlords and the spiritual world, until they receive a mysterious visitor (a cross between Don Juan and Coyote Trickster) that sets their world on fire. Set in the American Southwest, Trickster will explore what happens when we are forced to face the consequences of ignoring our changing world and the human cost of the cycle of creation and destruction.
The Chicago Premiere of Caridad Svich's Iphigenia... (a rave Fable) will perform February 17 through March 27, 2011. Artistic Director Tony Adams will direct. Inspired by Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis, this play with music and video spins Iphigenia into dangerous orbit through an un-named Latin American country as she journeys through a meta-hell where she finds her body embraced and destroyed by a rock star named Achilles, and discovers she cannot escape a destiny set forth by myths ancient and modern. The world of the rich and the poor; the living and the dead; the live performance and the video, forge a new world familiar and foreign, mysterious and hyper-realistic. Says Adams, Caridad has an innate ability to take existing styles and conventions and fuse them into something new and fascinating. One of the amazing things about her work is how she can almost mainline myths and create something poetic and mythic, yet completely contemporary, by telling them in a way that is both entertaining and powerful.
The Alcyone Festival 2011 will perform in the Summer of 2011.The theme for Alcyone 2011 will be Remixed, creating new works by women based off of classical texts by women. We will present new works using/adapting/sampling/re-envisioning . . . remixing classical plays written by women before 1850. The Alcyone Festival 2011 will celebrate both new and (really) old writers and see how the lineage of female playwrights over the past thousand years can inspire and inform contemporary audiences and artists.
Additionally, in order to combat the development hell cycle of reading for new works, we're experimentingwith something new this year. Instead of picking scripts, we are picking writers and taking off the reigns. While we can't afford to commission, we can commit to producing. Says Tony Adams, What I told the writers was, the only rules are: it has to be based in some way off a play written by a woman before 1850 and it has to be ready to begin rehearsing in April. You write it, we'll produce it. No holds barred." Featured writers include: J. Nicole Brooks, Jennifer Fawcett, E.M. Lewis, Coya Paz, and Caridad Svich.
Tickets to individual performances are $15-20 ($10 for students and seniors); Tickets will be available through the Greenhouse Theater Center Box Office beginning in late October. Season Passes will be available beginning October 20 at halcyontheatre.org.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
Season Five will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
About Halcyon:
Mission- We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
About- Halcyon Theatre was formed to make incredible theatre from stories around the world, to help show our world in new ways, and rediscover the individual beauty of people from our global community. Our artistic philosophy is driven by our continuing belief that at every point of human history where there has been an explosion of artistic creativity, it has happened when different cultures and traditions have intersected and informed each other. If every artist working with an organization looks and thinks the same, it is difficult for them to grow. A homogeneous group produces homogeneous art. Striving for artistic excellence with artists of varied cultural backgrounds and training is at the forefront of everything we do.
Bios
Tony Adams is co-founder and Artistic Director of Halcyon Theatre. Tony has hundreds of professional credits as a director, designer, actor, writer and producer in Chicago and Paris.
J. Nicole Brooks is an actor, playwright, director, and blogger. In 2007 her debut play Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten (2007 Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination) was commissioned & produced by the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago to critical acclaim. Other productions include Kamala, Masterclass (2007) for The Siddhartha Project commissioned & produced by Collaboraction Theatre, and Fedra Queen of Haiti (2009 Black Theatre Alliance Award Nomination) commissioned & produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company. As an actor she was recipient of the 2008 LA Ovation Award Best Featured Actress, and was recently awarded the TCG Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship. She is an ensemble member with Lookingglass Theatre and an associate with Collaboraction. She currently resides in Los Angeles where she is plotting to take over Hollyweird one key stoke at time. For more Tom Foolery visit www.doctaslick.blogspot.com.
Jennifer Fawcett's work has been developed and produced at theatres in the US and Canada including the Kennedy Center, the Lark (NYC), the Adirondack Theatre Festival (Glens Falls, NY), Waterfront Theatre (Vancouver), Riverside Theatre (Iowa City), and the SummerWorks Theatre Festival (Toronto), among others. Her play The Toymakers War was part of The Alcyone Festival 2009. She was the NNPN Emerging Playwright in Residence at Curious Theatre Company in Denver and is the recipient of the National Science Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center ACTF, and a Creation Fund Award from the National Performance Network. She is a founding member of Working Group Theatre - www.workinggrouptheatre.org.
EM Lewis won the 2009 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award from the American Theater Critics Association for her play Song of Extinction, which premiered in Los Angeles, produced by Moving Arts at [Inside] the Ford. The play also won the Ashland New Plays Festival, University of Oregon's EcoDrama Festival, the Ted Schmitt Award for the premiere of an outstanding new play from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Production of the Year from the LA Weekly Awards. It was published in Dramatics Magazine in January, and in an acting edition from Samuel French in March 2010. Lewis also wrote the Iraq War hostage drama Heads (winner of the 2008 Primus Prize for an emerging woman theater artist, and Best of 2007 from the Los Angeles Times) which was part of The Alcyone Festival 2009. Lewis is a member of Moving Arts Theater Company, the Dramatists Guild, the International Centre for Women Playwrights and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights. She is originally from Oregon, lived in Los Angeles, California for quite a while, and is now headed for Princeton, New Jersey, where she has received a 2010-2011 Hodder Fellowship in playwriting.
Coya Paz is a poet, director, and lip gloss connoisseur who was raised in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil before moving permanently to the United States in 1987. Coya is a proud co-founder of Proyecto Latina and the director in residence for the Poetry Performance Incubator at the Guild Complex. She cofounded Teatro Luna in 2000, and served as co-Artistic Director until 2009. Recent projects include: Nation of Cowards,a multi-sited performance piece about interracial dialogue; Tour Guides; and Machos, which won the 2008 NonEquity Jeff Awards for Best New Work and Outstanding Ensemble, and directing Manual for a Desperate Crossing for The Alcyone Festival 2010. She is at work on a new play called The Americans, based on interviews with people in 10 states across the USA. Coya teaches in The Theater Department at Columbia College, and holds a PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. She is a regular commentator on race, media and pop culture for Vocalo.org (89.5) and has published several articles on Latina performance, Latina/o identities, and public violence. Coya's artistic work has been profiled in The New York Times, American Theater Magazine, Theater Journal, and the Chicago Tribune, among others. She was named one of UR Magazines 30 Under 30 (when she was under 30!), a GO-NYC Magazine 100 Women We Love, and received a Trailblazer Award for her service to LGBTQ communities. Most recently, she has been awarded 3Arts Residency at Ragdale. Above all, she believes in the power of performance and poetry to build community towards social change. For a full manifesto, visit her on the web at www.coyapaz.com.
Caridad Svich is a US Latina -translator-lyricist and editor of Cuban-Argentine-Spanish-Croatian descent whose works have been staged across the US and abroad at diverse venues including Denver Theatre Center, Mixed Blood Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Artheater-Cologne and Edinburgh Fringe Festival/UK. In Chicago, she's worked with the Trap Door Theatre, Latino Theatre Festival at the Goodman, TUTA, Caffeine Theatre, Latino Chicago, Teatro Vista, Northwestern University. Her play Iphigenia...a rave fable, will be produced by Halycon in Spring 2011. Among her key works: 12 Ophelias, Any Place But Here, Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues, Magnificent Waste and The House of the Spirits (based on the novel by Isabel Allende). She's alumna playwright of New Dramatists, founder of NoPassport theatre alliance & press, contributing editor of TheatreForum, and associate editor of Contemporary Theatre Review. She holds an MFA from UCSD. Visit her website: www.caridadsvich.com
# # # #MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre announces its Fifth Season and a new mission statement: We are fiercely committed to making the stage as diverse as the city of Chicago; presenting new voices from inadequately represented communities, as well as recasting classic works to showcase their contemporary relevance.
WHERE: Season Five will be performed at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
WHEN: Trickster will perform: January 6 through February 6, 2011 Iphigenia... (a rave fable) will perform: February 17 through March 27, 2011The Alcyone Festival 2011: Remixed will perform in the summer of 2011
ADMISSION: $10-20 for single tickets. $75 for a season pass including the Alcyone Festival.
BOX OFFICE: tickets will be available beginning in late October through the Greenhouse Theatre Center Box office. Season Pass will be available in late October at www.halcyontheatre.org
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
# # # #
Trickster, opening January 6, 2011
Lorca in a Green Dress and A Shroud for Lazarus Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
CHICAGO, IL (July 20, 2009) Halcyon Theatre begins its Fourth Season with two premieres in Rep: Nilo Cruz’s Lorca in a Green Dress (Chicago Premiere) and A Shroud For Lazarus by Rotimi Babatunde (World Premiere)
Lorca in a Green Dress begins after the death of the great Spanish poet, with his arrival in the "Lorca Room" in purgatory. With dramatic and sensual flamenco flair, Lorca in a Green Dress is a spellbinding exploration of the life and death of Federico García Lorca following his murder at the hands of Spanish fascists. Five different aspects of himself play a role in helping to accept the inevitable—the passage from life to death.
"Vipers now landlord the rodents' burrow." A Shroud for Lazarus by Rotimi Babatunde is a modern parable set in Western Africa. There has been a drought and only The Plantation has the resources to bring water down to its fields.The farmers have been compelled to work for the Plantation. The townspeople find solace in the congregation of Papa, a local preacher. Ajala, the community rebel dogged by creditors and cursed by Papa, mysteriously dies. After the creditors depart, he rises up, and plans to use his "resurrection" to bring down Papa and The Plantation, but things do not go as planned.
Lorca in a Green Dress and A Shroud for Lazarus will be produced in rep, exact performance schedule can be found in the "media alert" or at halcyontheatre.org. Thursday through Saturday performances are at 8:00; Sundays at 6:00. August 20th through October 3rd, 2009. There will be 3:00 Saturday matinees on September 19th and 26th.
Tickets to individual performances are $15-20 ($10 for students and seniors); Tickets are available through the Halcyon Theatre box office at 773.413.0453 or at halcyontheatre.org/boxoffice.
Please note: We have new Phone Numbers. Our new box office number is 773.413.0453. Our new administrative number is 773.413.0454.
Members of the media are invited to attend any performance.
Performances will be at the Lincoln Square Theatre in the Berry United Methodist Church. 4754 North Leavitt in Chicago.
A link to a map, play summaries and additional info may be found at halcyontheatre.org
Advance copies of the plays are available upon request.
About Halcyon:
Mission- Halcyon Theatre explores how stories and the art of storytelling can cross cultures, heal old wounds, reconnect peoples, create communal experiences and forge new paths forward
About- We live in a fractured society; few know their neighbors; people are clamoring for community. At its heart theatre began as a communal form of storytelling. In many ways this has been lost in our day. We challenge audiences to think and dream of the richness of our world, both in far away lands and our own backyard.
Company bios may be found at: halcyontheatre.org/company
# # # #
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Halcyon Theatre presents Nilo Cruz’s Lorca in a Green Dress (Chicago Premiere) and A Shroud For Lazarus by Rotimi Babatunde (World Premiere)
WHERE: Performances will be at the Lincoln Square Theatre in the Berry United Methodist Church. 4754 North Leavitt in Chicago.
WHEN: Thursday through Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m.; Sundays at 6:00. August 20th through October 3rd, 2009. Lorca in a Green Dress and A Shroud for Lazarus will be produced in rep, exact performance schedule can be found at halcyontheatre.org
ADMISSION: $10-20 for single tickets.
BOX OFFICE: halcyontheatre.org/boxoffice or 773.413.0453 (please note this is a new number)
WEBSITE: halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org/greendress
halcyontheatre.org/lazarus
CONTACT: Jenn Adams
Associate Artistic Director, Halcyon Theatre
773.413.0454 (new number)
press@halcyontheatre.org
halcyontheatre.org
Lorca in a Green Dress will perform on:
Thursday, August 20th at 8pm
Saturday, August 22nd at 8pm
Thursday, August 27th at 8pm
Saturday, August 29th at 8pm
Thursday, September 3rd at 8pm
Saturday, September 5th at 8pm
Thursday, September 10th at 8pm
Saturday, September 12th at 8pm
Thursday, September 17th at 8pm
Saturday, September 19th at 3pm*
Thursday, September 24th at 8pm
Saturday, September 26th at 8pm
Thursday, October 1st at 8pm
Saturday, October 3rd at 8pm
(*Deviates from Standard Schedule of Green Dress on Thursday and Saturday, and Shroud on Friday and Sunday)
A Shroud for Lazurus will perform on:
Friday, August 21st at 8pm
Sunday, August 23rd at 6pm
Friday, August 28 at 8pm
Sunday, August 30th at 6pm
Friday, September 4th at 8pm
Sunday, September 6th at 6pm
Friday, September 11th at 8pm
No Show Sunday, September 13th
Friday, September 18th at 8pm
Saturday, September 19th at 8pm*
Sunday, September 20th at 6pm
Friday, September 25th at 8pm
Saturday September 26th at 3pm*
Sunday, September 27th at 6pm
Friday October 2nd at 8pm
(*Deviates from Standard Schedule of Green Dress on Thursday and Saturday, and Shroud on Friday and Sunday)
MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT * MEDIA ALERT
