American Blues Theater presents Tobacco Road
American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity ensemble company, continues its 2009-2010 season with Tobacco Road by Jack Kirkland, directed by Cecilie Keenan May 21- June 20. All performances take place in Victory Gardens' Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.
Tobacco Road, adapted by Kirkland from Eskine Caldwell's 1932 novel, is the second-longest running drama in Broadway history having amassed 3,182 Broadway performances to its credit. When it subsequently toured the country, it was declared obscene in many places, including Chicago where it was closed down, but reopened after a lawsuit.
American Blues Theater is thrilled to revive this sharp, steamy, unrelenting, wickedly funny story in anticipation of the celebration of their 25th anniversary July 12, 2010. Tobacco Road examines the extreme lengths people will travel for survival. In a rural shack in Georgia during the Great Depression, the dysfunctional and desperate Lester family faces eviction from their own land. The patriarch Jeeter struggles to keep his farm's deed, feed his starving family and arrange suitable marriages for his children despite no money, no seeds and no foreseeable way out. The Lester family shows brutally honest truths and emotionally shocking decisions, both outrageously humorous and horrifying.
Tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 27 beginning at noon. For tickets or more information call the box office at 773-871-3000 or visit victorygardens.org.