THE PEACOCK, EXIT STRATEGY & More Set for Jackalope Theatre Co.'s 2013-14 Season

Jackalope Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director AJ Ware, Associate Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed, Managing Director Nate Silver, Director of Development & Community Engagement Andrew Burden Swanson, announces its 2013/14 season. The company's 6th season will feature the world premiere of Calamity West's The Peacock directed by Marti Lyons, the world premiere of Cory Hinkle's The Killing of Michael X: A New Film by Celia Wallace directed by Associate Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed, and the world premiere of Ike Holter's Exit Strategy directed by Founding Company Member Gus Menary. The season will conclude with The 5th Annual Living Newspapers Festival, Jackalope's festival of short plays inspired by current American newspaper articles.

Says Artistic Director AJ Ware, "Commissioning new works from Calamity West and Ike Holter is one of the most exciting things I've gotten to do as Artistic Director. Adding Cory Hinkle to the lineup confirms that this will be our strongest season yet. These three are, undeniably, some of the best young playwrights in America and it is my joyous honor to spend the next year with their words and all of the insanely talented artists that will bring their work to life. I am so proud of what's to come, and eager to share Season 6 with Chicago."

Jackalope Season 6 Up-Close

THE PEACOCK
World Premiere
By Calamity West
Directed by Marti Lyons
Featuring AJ Ware*, Andrew Burden Swanson*, Tim Martin, Jack Miggins, and Nate Whelden
November 7 - December 8, 2013 | City Lit, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr

It's December 1946 and the fiction-writing workshop at an American university is in session. Consisting of young veterans of World War II, and sons of upper class - the workshop possesses but one woman: Nan. A one-legged wunderkind who is forced by her peers to re-examine her violent fiction as a result of the recent suicide of their classmate Eleanor. Based in a world where intellectual prowess is currency, Calamity West brings us this uniquely American exploration of violence, authorial intent, and gender.

THE KILLING OF MICHAEL X:
A NEW FILM BY CELIA WALLACE
World Premiere
By Cory Hinkle
Directed by Kaiser Ahmed*
Lighting Design by Claire Sangster*
Videography by Alex Hand
March/April 2014 | Venue TBD

Somewhere in Middle America, teenagers Celia and Randy careen down a dark highway in a stolen Lexus. Cut to: Big Pharma, a disappearing brother, a femur unearthed in a backyard dig. As the mysteries mount and the body count rises, Celia goes in search of her revenge, but she keeps getting closer to her own loss. Every road trip movie ends with redemption, but will this one? Developed at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Playwright's Foundation's "In the Rough Series," the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep, and New York Theater Workshop, Jackalope proudly presents this humorous, tragic, and intensely human world premiere.

EXIT STRATEGY
World Premiere
By Ike Holter
Directed by Gus Menary*
Featuring Patrick Whalen* and Danny Martinez*
Lighting Design by Claire Sangster*
May/June 2014 | Venue TBD

Written by Chicago's own Ike Holter, the acclaimed author of Hit The Wall comes a fierce new play set in the Windy City. In Exit Strategy, a small team of Chicago teachers scramble and fight to stop an impending school closure, as tensions within their already volcanic community escalate to explosion.

THE 5th ANNUAL LIVINGNEWSPAPERS FESTIVAL
6 new short plays based on current American Newspaper Articles
Summer 2014 | Venue TBD

In homage to the 1930's Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project, Jackalope assembles an exciting group of Chicago playwrights, directors, and actors to dramatize stories ripped from recent newspaper headlines.

*denotes a Jackalope Theatre Company ensemble member

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