Download Lookingglass Theatre Company opens its 20th

Contact: Cathy Taylor
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2007
Lookingglass Theatre Company
opens its 20th Anniversary Season with
the acclaimed solo show by Nilaja Sun,
No Child…
Chicago, IL– Lookingglass Theatre Company kicks off its 20th Anniversary Season with
the Midwest premiere of Nilaja Sun’s solo show No Child…, written and performed by Sun
and directed by Hal Brooks. The production runs October 3-November 11, 2007, at
Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works,
821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The press opening is Saturday, October 6, 2007, at 7:30
p.m.
Acclaimed actress and writer Nilaja Sun embodies multiple characters in her touching and
riotous tour-de-force exploration of the public school system seen through the eyes of a young
and idealistic teaching artist. Running for over a year to sold-out audiences in New York,
Lookingglass audiences will be the first to see this remarkable production following it
triumphant Off Broadway run.
No Child… was commissioned by Epic Theatre Ensemble in 2004 and presented as part of
their season in the spring of 2006 at the Beckett Theatre on New York’s Theatre Row, where it
played for 47 performances. The show then transferred to the Barrow Street Theatre where it
ran Off Broadway in a commercial run for 311 performances. Among the production’s many
accolades, it won two 2007 Outer Critics Circle Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award, an Obie Award
and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Jury Award.
“No Child… reflects Lookingglass' unmatched commitment to bringing the arts to public
school students, a core activity of our Education and Community Programs since we founded
those programs a decade ago,” says Artistic Director David Catlin. “When our company
members saw this show in New York, we knew right away that this production would be a
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great opening to our 20 season as it embodies so many of the elements of Lookingglass
Theatre. This production has a story-centered theatricality, with a transformative performance
by Nilaja about the education system in our country.”
The design team includes Narelle Sissons (set) Mark Barton (lights) Jessica Gaffney
(costumes) and Ron Russell (sound).
Nilaja Sun (playwright /actor) is the solo performer and writer of the Off Broadway smash No
Child…, which concluded its run at the Barrow Street Theatre in June 2007. For her creation
and performance of No Child…, Nilaja garnered a Lucille Lortel Award, an Outer Critics Circle
Award, a Theatre World Award, an Obie Award, the John Gassner Playwrighting Award, and
was named the Best One-Person Show at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Nilaja's New York
credits include No Child, Einstein's Gift, Pieces of the Throne, Time and the Conways, Huck
and Holden (Cherry Lane Theatre), The Cook (Intar), The Adventures of Barrio Grrrl! (Summer
(over)
Play Festival), and Law and Order: SVU. As a solo performer, Nilaja's projects include critically
acclaimed Blues for a Gray Sun (Intar), La Nubia Latina, Black and Blue, Insufficient Fare, Due to the
Tragic Events of... and Mixtures. A native of the Lower East Side, she is a Princess Grace Award winner
and has worked as a teaching artist in NYC for eight years.
Hal Brooks (director) most recently directed the premiere of Lee Blessing’s Lonesome Hollow at the
Contemporary American Theater Festival. Recently he directed the acclaimed Off-Broadway hit and
Pulitzer Finalist Thom Pain (based on nothing) by Will Eno at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Soho
Theatre in London, and the DR2 in NYC. He was the Artistic Director of the Rude Mechanicals Theater
Company of New York where he directed the Off-Broadway premieres of Don DeLillo's Valparaiso and
Will Eno's The Flu Season (Oppy winner). Recent credits: I Am My Own Wife (Weston Playhouse) Rinne
Groff's What Then (Clubbed Thumb), Six Years (Humana Festival), Intimate Apparel (Southern Rep),
Benefactors (PA Center Stage), Big Wyoming (NY Stage and Film). Other New York credits: Keith
Reddin's Almost Blue, Beckett's Rough for Theatre #1, Caught (Don Quixote Project). Upcoming
directing endeavors include Master Harold…and the Boys at the Weston Playhouse and the tour of No
Child…. He has worked at NYTW, New Dramatists, Naked Angels, INTAR, Magic Theater, McCarter
Theater, Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theater, Syracuse Stage and the Virginia Stage
Company. Hal was a Drama League Fall Directing Fellow in 2003 and is a proud member of the Lincoln
Center Theater Directors Lab and SSDC.
No Child… - Dates, Times and Ticket Information
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The award-winning No Child… kicks off Lookingglass Theatre Company’s 20 Anniversary Season with
the press performance on Saturday, October 6, 2007, at 7:30 pm. Previews run October 3-5, 2007,
and performances run through November 18, 2007. Curtain times are Wednesday through Fridays at
7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25-$55 and are available through the Lookingglass box office, 821 N. Michigan Ave., (312)
337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org.
Lookingglass Theatre Company is located in the heart of the Magnificent Mile shopping district inside
Chicago’s historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. Discounted parking is
available for Lookingglass patrons at nearby Olympia Centre Garage (161 E. Chicago Ave.). Target
Saturday Matinees (buy one, get one free tickets are available to all 3 pm Saturday matinees.) This
program is made possible with the generous support of Target, working with Lookingglass to make the
arts accessible to all.
About Lookingglass Theatre Company
Inventive. Collaborative. Transformative. Lookingglass Theatre Company was founded in 1988 by eight
Northwestern University students. Now entering their 20th anniversary season in 2007/08, Lookingglass
is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is
physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. Lookingglass
has staged nearly 50 world premieres at 23 venues across Chicago, and garnered 37 Joseph Jefferson
Awards and Citations. Its work has toured to New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley, Philadelphia,
Princeton, Hartford and St. Louis. The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago's landmark Water Tower Water
Works opened in June 2003. In addition to developing and presenting ensemble work, Lookingglass
Education and Community programs encourage creativity, teamwork and confidence with more than
15,000 students each year.
Lookingglass Theatre Company continues to expand its artistic, financial and institutional boundaries
under the guidance of Artistic Director David Catlin, Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Producing Artistic
Director Philip R. Smith, Artistic Director of New Work Heidi Stillman, a 22-member artistic ensemble and
administrative staff. Board Chairman Lisa Green leads a dedicated board of directors. For more
information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.
(more/fact sheet)
No Child…
Fact Sheet
Acclaimed actress and writer Nilaja Sun embodies multiple characters in her touching and riotous tourde-force exploration of the public school system seen through the eyes of a young and idealistic teaching
artist. Running for over a year to sold-out audiences in New York, Lookingglass audiences will be the first
to see this remarkable production following its triumphant Off Broadway run.
Title:
Written/performed by:
Directed by:
Dates:
Curtain times:
Location:
Parking:
Prices:
Box Office:
No Child…
Nilaja Sun
Hal Brooks
Previews: October 3- 5, 2007
Press opening: October 6, 2007, at 7:00 p.m.
Regular run: October 7- November 11, 2007
Wednesday-Fridays: 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays: 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Lookingglass Theatre, inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water
Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson
Discounted parking is available at Olympia Centre Garage,
161 E. Chicago Ave.
$25-$55
Buy online at www.lookingglasstheatre.org
or by phone at (312) 337-0665
The box office is located at Chicago’s historic
Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave.
Notes of Interest:
• No Child… is an insightful and often hilarious look into the New York City Public Education
system by the acclaimed actor, writer and teaching artist, Nilaja Sun, who transforms into the
teachers, students, parents, administrators, janitors and security guards who inhabit our public
schools every day and are shaping the future of America.
•
Awards:
2007 Drama Desk Awards - Outstanding Solo Performance Nomination
2007 Outer Critics Circle Award - Outstanding Solo Performance Winner
2007 Outer Critics Circle Award - John Gassner “American Play” Award Winner
2007 Lucille Lortel Awards - Outstanding Solo Show Winner
2007 Theatre World Award – Winner
2007 Obie Award – Winner
2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Jury Award – Best One Person Show Winner
2006 Audelco Award – Outstanding Solo Performance Nomination
•
No Child… was commissioned and developed by Epic Theatre Ensemble (formerly Epic Theatre
Center). The show is a result of Nilaja Sun’s unique work in New York City’s toughest schools,
among them Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, where Epic has worked extensively. Martin
Luther King, Jr. High School was specifically created in 1972 as a fully integrated public school
that brought non-white students into the Lincoln Center community. In his book, Shame of the
Nation, Jonathan Kozol cites MLK as a perfect example of “apartheid schooling” as it currently
enrolls no white students.
•
No Child… takes place at Malcolm X High School in the Bronx, a fictional composite of the New
York City schools in which Sun has been a teaching artist.
(over)
•
No Child… was commissioned by Epic Theatre Ensemble in 2004 and presented as part of their
season in the spring of 2006 at the Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row, where it played for 47
performances. The show then transferred to the Barrow Street Theatre where it ran Off
Broadway in a commercial run for 311 performances.
•
Sun performed the entire New York run without an understudy, never missing a performance.
Sun plays all 16 characters in the course of the show, with no costume or make-up changes.
•
Sun recently returned to the U.S. from Tanzania, where she traveled under the auspices of The
International Theatre and Literacy Project (ITLP) as a teaching artist, doing exactly the work she
has performed in NYC schools. A teaching artist is a professional artist—in Sun’s case, a
professional actor—who is brought into a school to work directly with the students.
•
The name Nilaja (pronounced NIH-LAH-JAH) is Yoruban, meaning “peacemaker.” She is a
native New Yorker, born and raised on the Lower East Side.
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