Theatre News Wire

Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) presents the second full production of their 2010-2011 season for young audiences - Charles Way's adventure saga SINBAD: THE UNTOLD TALE, directed by Amanda Delheimer.

Ittifaq, the pampered daughter of famed sailor Sinbad of the Seven Seas, bristles under her father's overprotective care. Young Sinbad, an orphaned porter, uses his clever wit to survive. The two meet by chance just before an evil sorceress casts a poison cloud over the city of Baghdad. The unlikely duo soon find themselves facing good and evil genies, daring swordfights, magic boats and flying carpets in their race to find the poison's antidote. But can Sinbad and Ittifaq defeat the sorceress in time, or will their beloved city be destroyed forever?

SINBAD: THE UNTOLD TALE was first produced by the United Kingdom's Theatre by the Lake in 2006. Playwright Charles Way is currently rewriting the play for the Adventure Stage Chicago production. Recommended for ages 9 and older.

ASC is excited to explore a new partnership with the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), a community-based nonprofit that works for social justice, delivers a range of social services, and cultivates the arts in urban communities. ASC teaching artists will work with IMAN and the kids they mentor at Morrill Elementary to create an art project that incorporates the themes explored in SINBAD: THE UNTOLD TALE. The art will inhabit ASC's theater lobby during the course of SINBAD's five week run, and the children will attend a performance of SINBAD and witness the impact of their art on the audience.

Charles Way (playwright) has written over forty plays, many of them for young people, including Sleeping Beauty, The Search for Odysseus (produced by Adventure Stage Chicago in 2007) and A Spell of Cold Weather, all of which were nominated as Best Children's Play by the Writers Guild of Great Britain. His play Merlin and the Cave of Dreams was nominated for a Helen Hayes award for Outstanding New Play. He has recently published the book collection Classic Fairytales Retold for the Stage. Mr. Way's play Red Red Shoes was named 2004's Best Play for Young People by the Arts Council of England. His plays for adults include a well-known version of Bruce Chatwin's On the Black Hill and an adaptation of Independent People by Halldor Laxness. Recent new plays include Still Life and The Long Way Home.

Amanda Delheimer (director) is a freelance director, choreographer, writer and educator. She previously directed Sideways Stories from the Wayside School, And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, The Ash Girl, The Cay and The Ghosts of Treasure Island for ASC, where she is a teaching artist. She has worked with Steppenwolf, Court, Next, Pegasus Players, Redmoon, Collaboraction, Roadworks, Strawdog, Serendipity, Red Hen Productions, Teatro Vista, and Striding Lion InterArts Workshop, among others. Ms. Delheimer is the Artistic Director of Serendipity Theatre and an Artistic Associate with Collaboraction Theater. Ms. Delheimer has also trained in a variety of schools of physical theater, including Viewpoints, Suzuki, Lecoq and Commedia dell 'Arte.