Shattered Globe Theatre Announces 2022-23 Season Featuring a World Premiere, US Premiere & Chicago Premiere

Shattered Globe Theatre has announced its 2022-23 Season, currently underway with the Chicago premiere of STEW, Zora Howard's Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, directed by Malkia Stampley, playing through October 22, 2022 at Theater Wit. This winter, SGT's 32nd season continues with the world premiere of Jasmine Sharma's introspective and empowering play Radial Gradient, developed through SGT's Global Playwright Series and directed by Grace Dolezal-Ng. SGT's 2022-23 season concludes next spring with the U.S. premiere of London Road, an experimental and innovative new musical featuring book and lyrics by Alecky Blythe, music and lyrics by Adam Cork, direction by Elizabeth Margolius and music direction by Andra Velis Simon.

Shattered Globe Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner comments, "SGT is proud that our 32nd season will introduce Chicago audiences to extraordinary new plays, new playwrights and artists. As many who have already attended STEW can attest, this is a bold and exciting season filled with laughter, music and the resilience of the human spirit. SGT has always created early opportunities for many of Chicago's most prolific theatre artists, while telling ensemble-based stories about social issues important to Chicago and the larger world. I am consistently blown away by the dedication and care shown by our Ensemble, Artistic Associates, Board and Staff in our more recent commitments to uplift historically marginalized voices, especially in the planning, casting and hiring processes for this upcoming year of theatre."

The full 2022-23 Season will be presented at Shattered Globe's resident home, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. A variety of VIP Season Traveler Memberships are now on sale at sgtheatre.org/Membership through October 16, 2022, including a new $55 "Under 30" membership. Single tickets for STEW are also on sale at sgtheatre.org/STEW, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. Discounted group sales for all three productions are currently available at groupsales@shatteredglobe.org or by calling (773) 770-0333.

Shattered Globe Theatre's 2022-23 Season includes:

September 9 - October 22, 2022

Stew - Chicago Premiere!

By Zora Howard

Directed by Malkia Stampley

Featuring Ensemble Members Demetra Dee and Jazzma Pryor with Velma Austin and Jasmine Cheri Rush.

The Tucker women are up early to prepare an important meal, or at least that's what Mama says. As the day wears on, tensions simmer inside and around Mama's kitchen. Zora Howard's award-winning play, STEW, is a hilarious and haunting drama that explores the unbreakable bond between kinswomen and reveals the power that loss holds over our lives when we refuse to share it with others.

January 27 - March 11, 2023

Radial Gradient - World Premiere!

By Jasmine Sharma

Directed by Grace Dolezal-Ng

Three women enter a research study hoping to create positive change after a hate crime takes place at a liberal university in America. Timelines in 2017 and 2020 intertwine as participants unravel their complicated shared friendships and histories. Jasmine Sharma's introspective and empowering new play, Radial Gradient, challenges what complicity looks like - what do we do if it looks like us?

April 21 - June 3, 2023

London Road - U.S. Premiere!

Book and Lyrics by Alecky Blythe

Music and Lyrics by Adam Cork

Directed by Elizabeth Margolius

Music Direction by Andra Velis Simon

Determined and tenacious, the residents of Ipswich, UK mobilize to overcome the immense fear and media circus that unfolds following the serial murder of 5 sex workers in their small town. This experimental and innovative new musical is based on a true story, using verbatim dialogue recorded during interviews with the people of Ipswich. Brought to the American stage for the first time ever, London Road is an uplifting story that reveals how a devastating tragedy can spark empathy and engender community resilience.

About the Artists

Zora Howard

(Playwright, STEW, she/her) is a Harlem-bred writer and performer. Plays include STEW (2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist; P73), The Master's Tools (WTF), Bust (2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist), Hang Time (2022 Creative Capital Award Finalist) and Good Faith. Her work has been developed with SPACE at Ryder Farm, Ojai Playwrights Conference, the Lark, Primary Stages and Cape Cod Theatre Project, among others. In 2020, her film Premature (2020 Film Independent John Cassavetes Award nominee), which she co-wrote with director Rashaad Ernesto Green, opened in theaters following its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Zora is the inaugural Judith Champion Fellow at MTC, a 2022 Lilly Award recipient and is currently under commission from Seattle Rep, MTC, and Wessex Grove.

Malkia Stampley

(Director, STEW, she/her) hails from Milwaukee where she attended Marquette University for Theater Arts with internships at Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Skylight Music Theater. She joined Goodman Theatre as Producer in 2021 after serving as founding Artistic Producer for Milwaukee Black Theater Festival. Select producing credits: Goodnight Oscar, Gem of the Ocean, Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Life After, STEW and Pretty Fire. She is an alum of Theatre Producers of Color and Broadway for Racial Justice's Casting Directive Fellowship. Malkia is a founder of Bronzeville Arts Ensemble and served as Producing Artistic Director for three seasons. Select directing credits: Shakesfest (Chicago Shakespeare), Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (Farmer's Alley), The Gift of the Magi (American Players), Black Nativity (Black Arts MKE, three years), STEW (Milwaukee Chamber), Nunsense (Milwaukee Rep), Five Guys Named Moe (Skylight Music) and readings for Congo Square, #ENOUGH and Texas State Black and Latino Playwright Celebration.

Jasmine Sharma

(Playwright, Radial Gradient, she/her) is a South Asian-American actor/writer/activist and recent graduate of Northwestern University. Jasmine and her writing have been recognized by The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, The Kennedy Center ACTF, The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, The NJ Governor's Awards, UCROSS, The American Blues Theater and The Athena Project. Her work has been further supported by AlterTheater Ensemble (First Acts commission), The Road Theatre (Under Construction 2), AGE: Ignite the Arts, Ashland New Plays Festival (New Voices), Avalanche Theatre, Lime Arts Productions, Permafrost Theatre Collective, NextStage Theatre Company, Mad Cow Theatre, Samuel-Lancaster Productions, Mayo Performing Arts Center, The Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference, The Blank Theater Company, AstonRep and Access Theater NYC. Jasmine has also contributed to iWeigh, worked with the 24 Hour Plays both as an actor and writer, and served as Script PA on several Broadway musicals. Currently, Jasmine is commissioned by Moxie Arts NYC and appears onstage in The Wolves at McCarter Theatre Center. She is represented by CHI Talent Management and KMR & Associates jasminesharma.org | @jasminesharmaa

Grace Dolezal-Ng

(Director, Radial Gradient, she/her) is a Chicago based director/actor who is passionate about building empathy and generating empowerment through visceral storytelling in live theatre. She is honored to be making her Shattered Globe debut! Chicago credits include It Came From Outer Space (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Assistant Director); Athena (Writers Theatre, Assistant Director); Roe (Goodman Theatre, Assistant Director). Other credits: The Great Leap (Asolo Repertory Theatre, Assistant Director), Despierta! (Lime Arts Productions, Director) and Death For Sydney Black (Independent Production, Director). Grace graduated from Northwestern University, majoring in Theatre, in June of 2020. She is a proud recipient of the Herb Alpert Emerging Young Artist Award. www.gracedn.com

Alecky Blythe

(Book and Lyrics, London Road, she/her) is a British playwright and actor. In 2003, Alecky set up Recorded Delivery (Verbatim Theatre Company). The term 'recorded delivery' has now become synonymous with the verbatim technique she employs. Her first play Come Out Eli at the Arcola won the Time Out Award for the Best Production on the Fringe and transferred to the BAC for the Critics Choice Season. She went on to write Strawberry Fields for Pentabus and Cruising for the Bush. In 2007 she was selected as one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow following A Man In a Box for Channel 4. In July 2009, Alecky's play The Girlfriend Experience transferred from the Royal Court to the Young Vic. In 2010, she teamed up with The National Theatre Studio and Rustaveli Theatre Tbilisi to make Do We Look Like Refugees?!, originally produced in Georgia before going to the Assembly Rooms and winning a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival 2010. London Road, which she co-authored with composer Adam Cork, won Best Musical at the Critics' Circle Awards and was revived in 2012 at The National Theatre in the Olivier after its sellout in the Cottesloe in 2011. Alecky was also involved in Headlong Theatre's production of Decade. More recently, Where Have Been All My Life? was produced at the New Vic Theatre in April 2012 and she co-wrote Friday Night Sex for the Royal Court's Open Court Season with Michael Wynne. She wrote and co-directed The Riots; In their Words, a drama documentary for BBC2 and has most recently adapted London Road into a feature film with Cuba Pictures, BBC Films and BFI. Her show Little Revolution ran at the Almeida in autumn 2014. Alecky's most recent play for the National, OUR GENERATION, is an astonishing verbatim production that tells the stories of a generation. Created from five years of interviews with 12 young people from across the UK, it is a captivating portrait of their journey into adulthood.

Adam Cork

(Music and Lyrics, London Road, he/him) received a Tony Award in 2010 for his music and sound score for Red (Donmar/Broadway) and an Olivier Award in 2011 for King Lear (Donmar). Adam was also nominated in 2010 for the Tony Award for Best Score (Music & Lyrics) for Enron (Broadway/West End). He was nominated for an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play for Travesties (Broadway/West End). Other award nominations include the Tony Award Best Sound Design of a Play for both Macbeth (2008) and Enron (2010), an Olivier nomination for Best Sound Design for Suddenly Last Summer (2005) as well as four Drama Desk nominations: Outstanding Music in a Play for Frost/Nixon (2007) and Red (2010) and Outstanding Sound Design for Macbeth (2008) and Enron (2010). He was awarded the 2011 Evening Standard Award for Best Design for Anna Christie and King Lear and the 2011 Critics' Circle for Best Musical for London Road. Adam was also recently nominated for the Tony Award for Best Sound Design for Ink (Broadway).

Elizabeth Margolius

(Director, London Road, she/her) is a four-time Joseph Jefferson Award nominee, stage and movement director. Selected directing credits include: Le Loup-garou (Opera Southwest), I and You, Silent Sky, Miss Holmes and The Bridges of Madison County (Peninsula Players), Rose (Renaissance Theaterworks), Queen of the Mist (Firebrand Theatre), The Scarlet Ibis (Chicago Opera Theater), Uncle Philip's Coat (Greenhouse Theater), Haymarket: The Anarchist's Songbook (Underscore Theatre), The Girl in the Train (Chicago Folks Operetta), Goldstar, Ohio (American Theater Company), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Assistant Director), Opus 1861(City Lit Theater), Violet (Bailiwick Chicago), Bernarda Alba and Songs for a New World (Bohemian Theatre Ensemble). Elizabeth has been a guest director, master artist and adjunct professor at numerous colleges and universities including DePaul University, Viterbo University, University of Northern Iowa, University of Nebraska, South Carolina's Converse School of Music, SUNY Albany and Skidmore College. Elizabeth is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, a recipient of a full directorial scholarship for the Wesley Balk Opera-Music Theater Institute, and a finalist for the Charles Abbott Fellowship. Elizabeth has a degree in classical flute and has trained in movement techniques from around the world including Qigong, the Frantic Method and Axis Syllabus. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emerita of DirectorsLabChicago, and a proud member of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

Andra Velis Simon

(Music Director, London Road, she/her) is happy to be working with Shattered Globe for the first time. She works extensively in Chicago and around the country as a music director, adapter/arranger, pianist, educator and vocal coach. In Chicago, she has worked with Chicago Children's Theatre, Firebrand Theatre, The Goodman, The Hypocrites, Northlight Theatre, Porchlight, Steppenwolf, Theater Wit, Writers Theatre and dozens of others. Regionally, she has worked with Actors Theatre of Louisville, A.R.T. in Cambridge, Berkeley Rep, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU's Skirball Center, Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse and Three Oaks in Michigan. Andra is a Practitioner in Residence at Columbia Chicago Chicago, where she has taught musical theatre performance to BA and BFA majors since 2008. www.AndraVelisSimon.com

About Shattered Globe Theatre

Shattered Globe Theatre (Sandy Shinner, Producing Artistic Director) was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 80 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 42 Jeff Awards and 114 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike.

Shattered Globe Theatre seeks to discover new connections between story, artist and audience by exploring drama from bold, challenging perspectives, and continuously redefining what it means to be an ensemble theater.

SGT's values are rooted in a commitment to racial equity, respect for all artists and support for the ensemble, while creating new opportunities to amplify traditionally marginalized voices and collaborate in all aspects of our work. Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience.

Shattered Globe Theatre is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, The James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, Bayless Family Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council, The Shubert Foundation, the Chicago Community Foundation, and The Saints.

For more information on Shattered Globe Theatre, please visit www.sgtheatre.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.