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CONTACT: IMAGERY: Denise Schneider/Kiana Harris/Ramsey Carey 312.443.5151 or [email protected] PressRoom.GoodmanTheatre.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 20, 2015 CASTING SET FOR GOODMAN THEATRE’S 2015 NEW STAGES FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 28 – NOVEMBER 15; FREE TICKETS FOR ALL SEVEN OFFERINGS AVAILABLE NOW ***ANNUAL NEW PLAY FESTIVAL CREATES PLATFORM FOR DIVERSE PLAYWRIGHT VOICES*** (Chicago, IL) Newcomers and Chicago favorites are cast in Goodman Theatre’s 12th annual New Stages, a festival of new plays designed to give playwrights an opportunity to experience their work with set, lighting, costume and sound elements and to implement audience response. The 2015 festival includes three developmental productions in repertory—Mother Road by Octavio Solis, directed by Juliette Carrillo; Objects in the Mirror by Charles Smith, directed by Chuck Smith; and King of the Yees by Lauren Yee, directed by Joshua Kahan Brody. Four staged readings join the lineup during the festival’s final weekend (“Professionals Weekend”) including Lady in Denmark by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Chay Yew; The Amateurs by Jordan Harrison, directed by Oliver Butler; Rödvinsvänster (Red-Wine Leftists): 1977 by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Wendy C. Goldberg (part of Gilman’s trilogy that also includes Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976, which appears May 21 – June 19, 2016 at the Goodman); and On The Exhale by Martín Zimmerman, directed by Marti Lyons. New Stages runs October 28 – November 15 in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre; tickets are free, but reservations are required: call 312.443.3800, click GoodmanTheatre.org/NewStages or visit the box office (170 N. Dearborn). For more information about “Industry Professionals Weekend” (November 13 – 15), visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Professionals. The Goodman is grateful for the generosity of its New Work sponsors, including: the Time Warner Foundation, Lead Support of New Play Development; the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Major Support of New Work Development; The Pritzker-Pucker Foundation, Major Support of New Work Development; The Glasser and Rosenthal Family, Support of New Work Development; the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Support of New Work Development; Kirkland & Ellis LLP, New Stages Festival Reception Sponsor; and The Joyce Foundation, Principal Support for Diverse Artistic and Professional Development. King of Yees was originally commissioned with support from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. “The New Stages Festival is really the heart of the Goodman’s many efforts to develop new plays,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls. “We are incredibly proud to support these unique and diverse playwrights, as we have for over a decade, and are pleased to offer the Chicago community and professionals from across the country the first look at this inspiring work.” Since its inception at Goodman Theatre in 2004, New Stages has offered theatergoers a glimpse into the development process of new plays, many of which have gone on to receive full productions at the Goodman and elsewhere. Of the 65 plays seen in a developmental production or staged reading at New Stages over the years, 65% were written by playwrights of color and/or women. As the festival has grown, technical aspects of the productions have advanced as well. The three developmental productions, Mother Road , Objects in the Mirror, and King of the Yees, all receive full technical support with a design team including Kevin Depinet (Set Design), Jesse Klug (Lighting Design), Christine Pascual (Costume Design) and Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design). Casting for the 2015 Developmental Productions *Denotes Actors’ Equity Association Mother Road By Octavio Solis Directed by Juliette Carrillo October 28 – November 14 A Developmental Production; appears in repertory Casting Announced for 2015 New Stages Festival at Goodman Theatre Annual Free Festival Promotes Diverse Playwrights (October 28 – November 15) Page 2 of 4 Inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Mother Road is set in the present day and introduces William Joad. Hardworking and hard-living, Joad hung on to the family farm, but now has no blood kin to whom he can pass down the land. No one, that is, until a private detective uncovers an unexpected relation: Martín Jodes—a young Mexican American descendant of Steinbeck’s protagonist, Tom Joad. The two men meet at the site of the former government work camp that was once home to Steinbeck’s Joads, and is now home to migrant workers like Martín’s mother, who lived and died laboring in the fields. Together these unlikely cousins travel from California back to Oklahoma, reversing the Joads’ mythic journey in an epic story about land, family and survival. CAST: Brenda Barrie* Ricardo Gutierrez* Christopher Meister Ronnel Taylor Tommy Rivera* Chelcie Ross* Angelica Roque Lisandra Tena Lakin Valdez* Chorus/As Cast Chorus/As Cast Roger/Chorus/As Cast James/As Cast Curtis/Chorus/As Cast William Joad/As Cast Mo/Chorus/As Cast Amelia/Chorus/As Cast Martín Jodes/As Cast Objects in the Mirror By Charles Smith Directed by Chuck Smith October 30 – November 15 A Developmental Production; appears in repertory In 2009, playwright Charles Smith traveled to Adelaide, Australia, to see a production of his play Free Man of Color, which featured Shedrick Yarkpai, a young Liberian actor, in the title role. Smith learned about the actor’s tumultuous journey from war-torn Liberia through a number of refugee camps in Western Africa, before his final relocation to Australia. Shedrick’s remarkable odyssey inspired Objects in the Mirror—the story of a young immigrant’s journey and his search for a new family, identity and safe place to call home. CAST : Charles Andrew Gardner* Lily Mojekwu* Jeff Parker* AC Smith* Shedrick Kennedy Yarkpai Luopu Workolo / Zaza Workolo Rob Mosher John Workolo King of the Yees By Lauren Yee Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody November 1 – 15 A Developmental Production; appears in repertory For nearly 20 years, playwright Lauren Yee’s father Larry has been a driving force in the Yee Family Association, a seemingly obsolescent Chinese American men’s club formed 150 years ago in the wake of the Gold Rush. But when her father goes missing, Lauren must plunge into San Francisco’s Chinatown and confront a world both foreign and familiar. Bitingly hilarious and heartbreakingly honest, King of the Yees is an epic joyride across cultural, national and familial borders that explores what it means to truly be a Yee. CAST : Melissa Canciller Rammel Chan Francis Jue* Deanna Myers Daniel Smith Lauren Actor 3 Larry Actor 2 Actor 1 Casting Announced for 2015 New Stages Festival at Goodman Theatre Annual Free Festival Promotes Diverse Playwrights (October 28 – November 15) Page 3 of 4 About Goodman Theatre The Goodman’s 2015/2016 Season features nine productions on its two stages—six in the 856-seat Albert Theatre and three in the 400-seat flexible Owen Theatre plus the annual New Stages Festival, including three developmental productions; a world premiere special event production of 2666; and partner productions with The Second City and Albany Park Theater Project. The 2015/2016 Season starts with Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Kimberly Senior (through October 25 in the Albert), and Feathers and Teeth by Charise Castro Smith, directed by Henry Godinez, a world premiere (through October 18 in the Owen); Next up is the annual New Stages festival (October 28 - November 15 in the Owen); the 38th annual production of A Christmas Carol adapted by Tom Creamer, directed by Henry Wishcamper (November 14 – December 27 in the Albert); The Second City’s Twist Your Dickens by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort (December 4 – 27 in the Owen); Another Word for Beauty by José Rivera, directed by Steve Cosson, a world premiere Goodman commission (January 16 – February 21, 2016 in the Albert); 2666 adapted and directed by Robert Falls and Seth Bockley, a world premiere special event (February 6 – March 13, 2016 in the Owen); The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, directed by Henry Wishcamper (March 5 – April 10, 2016 in the Albert); Carlyle by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by Benjamin Kamine, a world premiere Goodman commission (April 2 – May 1, 2016 in the Owen); The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Anne Kauffman (April 30 – June 5, 2016 in the Albert); Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls, a Chicago premiere (May 21 – June 19, 2016 in the Owen); Wonderful Town music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, directed by Mary Zimmerman (June 28 – August 7, 2016 in the Albert); and a production still to be announced with the Albany Park Theater Project. Casting Announced for 2015 New Stages Festival at Goodman Theatre Annual Free Festival Promotes Diverse Playwrights (October 28 – November 15) Page 4 of 4 Chicago’s flagship theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is an artistic and community institution dedicated to the art of theater and to civic engagement in the issues of the contemporary world. The Goodman has transformed over the past 35 years into a world class theater and premier Chicago cultural institution distinguished by the quality and scope of its programming and its culturally and aesthetically diverse creative leadership; artistic priorities include new plays, reimagined classics, culturally specific works, musical theater and international collaborations. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, achievements include the Goodman’s state-of-theart two-theater complex in the heart of the downtown Theatre District. Over the past three decades, the Goodman has generated more than 150 world or American premieres and more than 30 new-work commissions. “A mainstay of Chicago and beyond” (Chicago Sun-Times), the Goodman is internationally acclaimed for its “fresh work of magnitude and ambition (and) bold, risky theatrical choices” (Chicago Tribune). From new plays to “first-class revivals” (The New York Times), the Goodman has earned numerous awards for its productions: two Pulitzer Prizes; 22 Tony Awards, including Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992); and nearly 160 Joseph Jefferson Awards. Joan Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Swati Mehta is Women’s Board President and Gordon C.C. Liao is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org, and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram. — 30 —