Theatre News Wire

Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Jan Kallish announce the final selections for the 2011-2012 Victory Gardens season. Two plays-Ameriville written and performed by Universes, developed with and directed by Chay Yew and Oedipus el Rey by Luis Alfaro, directed by Chay Yew-have been added to the previously announced season.

The season will also include In the Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl; and We Are Proud to Present a Presentation..., a play developed as part of IGNITION by Jackie Sibblies Drury. What We're Up Against by Theresa Rebeck, which was previously announced, has been replaced due to scheduling conflicts.

"This is a new chapter at Victory Gardens. We are presenting new plays, bold theatrical works and forms through spoken word, hip hop, poetry, dance and music. Victory Gardens is making a commitment to passionate new American voices that celebrate, reflect and challenge the attitudes of our dynamic and diverse society," comments Artistic Director Chay Yew.

The 2011-2012 season includes:
Ameriville
by Universes
developed with and directed by Chay Yew
January 27-February 26, 2012

Performed by the celebrated performance ensemble Universes, this thrilling exploration of the American experience prowls the dark corners of our contemporary landscape and asks, "If Hurricane Katrina happened again, would we be ready?" An electrifying evening infused with hip-hop, song, poetry and dance, Ameriville is a passionate and hopeful vision of a community's responsibility to another amidst a nation in turmoil.

Chay Yew comments, "An ensemble piece created and performed by one of the premier poetry-based ensembles in America-Ameriville takes a look at our country's identity through the lens of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. If it could happen in New Orleans, it could happen anywhere-and are we ready as a community-as a country-to fight the next Katrina? Universes weaves this beautiful, powerful 80 minute exploration of race, class, poverty, immigration, and political awareness into a great adventure about what it means to be American."


Oedipus el Rey
by Luis Alfaro
directed by Chay Yew
June 29-July 29, 2012

In Luis Alfaro's thrilling reboot of the daddy of all tragedies, a juvenile delinquent from South Central Los Angeles sets off on his journey to be the king of the gangland. Set amid the sizzling rhythms and explosive violence of a California barrio, the gripping story follows his family of ex-cons through the vicious cycle of fate and violence in which they find themselves trapped. Oedipus el Rey is a sexy, dangerous and modern Latino take on a classic.

"In Oedipus el Rey, Luis Alfaro asks the questions of fate and violence, 'Is the fate of a person of a certain race and class to remain trapped in a system no matter how hard he or she tries to escape?' 'Is prison culture and violence cyclical?' 'Why is our system not working?' As Chicagoans, these problems remain very close to home, so asking these questions about what we can do as citizens to better understand our roles and gang violence are important and timely. Oedipus el Rey is a vivid and epic window into an underrepresented group of Americans-a view that I hope raises some very important questions about what we might do to heal our city and nation," says Chay Yew.


The previously announced 2011-12 Victory Gardens Season includes:

In the Next Room or the vibrator play
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Sandy Shinner
September 9 - October 9, 2011

In the twilight of the Victorian age, a buzz worthy new medical device is developed to calm women with "hysteria." In fact, it has quite a stimulating effect when used in the home offices of Dr. Givings, that most modern of men. As he pioneers an intimate new therapy, his young wife becomes determined to investigate the experiments that have patient after patient leaving the procedure room with the rosy glow of pleasure. Ruhl's stylish comedy pulses and hums along as it dispels old-fashioned notions of female sexuality, intimacy and marriage at the dawn of the age of electricity.

We Are Proud to Present a Presentation
About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South-West Africa,
From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915
by Jackie Sibblies Drury
directed by Eric Ting
from Victory Gardens' 2010 IGNITION Festival
March 30 - April 29, 2012

Direct from IGNITION, the festival that brought you Pulitzer finalist The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, comes this brave new work that sent chills and laughter through this summer's festival audiences.

When a group of actors gather together to give a presentation on a distant genocide, they realize that summaries based on history books aren't nearly enough to capture the complexity of human extermination-or human interaction. In an honest attempt to delve deeper, they crash into their own simmering fears and unconscious bigotry and come face to face with the potential for brutality in all of us.

IGNITION, Victory Gardens daring and hugely successful new play development initiative, was conceived to support the theater's mission of new play development and diversity. In the spring of 2010, 120 writers of color under 40 years of age from around the United States submitted new scripts for the first phase of IGNITION. The top six plays were then selected, workshopped and presented as staged readings in a weeklong festival later that same summer. From the top six, Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation... was selected to be part of Victory Gardens mainstage season.

Subscriptions and Flex Passes for Victory Gardens 2011-2012 season, offering up to 35% savings on single tickets, are on sale now on the company's website, www.victorygardens.org and by phone at the Victory Gardens Box Office at The Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln, 773.871.3000 (TTY: 773.871.0682).