The New Coordinates to Present Workshop Production of Debbie Baños's AMERICAN SIDE EFECTOS in July

The New Coordinates, formerly The New Colony, will welcome back live audiences this summer with a workshop production of Debbie Baños's bittersweet memoir American Side Efectos, a raucous and ruthless dive into the American Dream directed by Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez. Originally produced as a solo show in the summer of 2021, TNC is pleased to present this piece-in-process as the artists deepen the storytelling to include an ensemble of actors. American Side Efectos will play six performances only July 22 - 31, 2022 at The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 24 at thenewcoordinates.org.

American Side Efectos will feature Debbie Baños, Gabby Diaz, Sonja Lynn Mata, Dani Mauleon and Shannon Leigh Webber.

Debbie's second favorite holiday, right after Christmas, has always been the 4th of July, but this year she's not even in the mood for a festive hot dog. Tag along as little Debbie tries to make sense of Mami's mysterious medical issues as adult Debbie revisits her mother's journey immigrating from El Salvador to Arkansas.

Co-Artistic Directors Fin Coe* and Stephanie Shum* comment, "This show is wickedly funny and achingly sharp as only true stories can be, with laughter underscoring the moments that will stick with you long after. We are honored to be a part of this next stage of its development, and to present this story in a new form to a new audience. I invite you to join us in a world of fireworks, chicken coops, and coming of age, for this raucous and ruthless dive into the American Dream.

The production team includes Shannon Webber (Scenic, Props and Costumes Designer), Jonah White (Lighting Designer), Debbie Baños and Jonathan Shannon (Sound Designers), Kholoud Sawaf (Dramaturg), Sharon Kushiner and Maddie Grovesteen (Props Assistants), Joseph Rodriguez-Barbera (Original Graphic Design), Persephone Van Ort (Production Manager) and Nick Savin (Stage Manager).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: American Side Efectos

Playwright: Debbie Baños

Director: Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez

Cast (in alphabetical order): Debbie Baños, Gabby Diaz, Sonja Lynn Mata, Dani Mauleon and Shannon Leigh Webber.

Location: The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Curtain times: Friday & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

Tickets: go on sale Friday, June 24 at thenewcoordinates.org.

*Denotes The New Coordinates ensemble member

About the Artists

Debbie Baños (Playwright, she/her) holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) and has worked with Chicago theater companies such as Babes with Blades, Halcyon, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Still Point and Erasing the Distance, and has recently had her network debut on Chicago Fire. When she is not acting, Debbie writes about family, love and immigration as a first-generation American and proud daughter of immigrants. She has written two plays, a solo show American Side Efectos and a one-act play Escape Velocity, developed at the Chicago Theatre Marathon. Escape Velocity was included in the 24-hour Women's Theatre Festival of 2018. American Side Efectos was developed through a grant with the National New Play Network, received an ALTA (Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists) Award nomination and was hailed as "a triumphant solo show full of anger, humor and heart." Dedicated to Debbie's mother on her 8th year as an American citizen, the play celebrates her strength and resilience in pursuit of the American Dream! In 2021, she collaborated with Colombian director Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez for a sold out run of American Side Efectos in The Edge Off-Broadway in Chicago. Debbie thanks all the artists, friends and family who inspire and support her, including her husband Jonathan, and her director Esteban! Debbie is represented by 10 Talent. debbiebanos.com

Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez (Director, he/him) is grateful to be collaborating with The New Coordinates! His most recent project was Miss You Like Hell, by Quiara Alegría Hudes (TheatreSquared). His credits include Sandusky by Daniela Mauleón (Collaboraction), Dreamers by Joseff Stevenson (Arc Theatre), Thoughts on Racism... by Sarah Illiatovich-Goldman (Encounter - Collaboraction), People's History of The Block by Kevin Coval (Collaboraction), Escape Velocity by Debbie Baños (Chicago Theatre Marathon) and Thundersnow (American Theatre Company). Other productions include Invitation To A Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov as Assistant Director and deviser (LookOut Series - Steppenwolf), The Stranger and The Shadow by Rough House Theatre (Adventure Stage Chicago), The Adding Machine (University of Arkansas), Tango Through The Revolution (Repertorio Español, New York), The Dumb Waiter (Step One Theatre) and Our Town and Pervertimento with Teatro Lunático, (Salamanca, Spain) as a company member and director. He has a Spanish Major from Universidad de Salamanca and holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Arkansas.

About The New Coordinates

The New Coordinates (formerly The New Colony) develops New Art and New Artists in order to educate and build New Audiences. Now in its 14th year, The New Coordinates has established itself as "one of Chicago's essential off-Loop companies" (Chicago Tribune). Through the development of countless new plays and musicals, 33 world premieres, and a conscious shift toward becoming an anti-racist theatre, The New Coordinates has cultivated a diverse audience of theatergoers eager to have a voice in the storytelling. Conversation, collaboration and innovation remain at the heart of everything they produce. The New Coordinates' work has been honored with five non-Equity Jeff Awards, Broadway In Chicago's 2011 Emerging Theatre Award, and their shows have gone onto productions across the country and beyond.

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