World Premieres & More Set for Raven Theatre 2023-24 Season

Raven Theatre has announced its 41st Season, kicking off this fall with an ingenious and hair-raising revival of Lucille Fletcher's drama Night Watch directed by Georgette Verdin. The 2023-24 season continues next winter with Paul Michael Thomson's captivating and nuanced world premiere brother sister cyborg space, commissioned by Raven. The season concludes next spring with another Raven commission, a yet-to-be-titled world premiere by Chicago playwright Joshua Allen, the third and final installment of his "Grand Boulevard Trilogy," which also includes The Last Pair of Earlies and The October Storm.

Raven Theatre is located at 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. A variety of flexible 2022-24 subscription packages are currently available at raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.

Comments Raven Interim Artistic Director Sarah Slight, "In our 41st Season, Raven will continue to produce a combination of revivals and new plays that speak to our current moment. In addition to the gripping revival of the 1970 hit Broadway play Night Watch, we will produce two of our four commissioned plays. Thank you to the generous donors who support our new play fund for making these exciting world premieres possible. I cannot wait to share all three of these plays with you!"

Raven Theatre's 2023-24 Season:

October 5 - November 12, 2023

Night Watch

By Lucille Fletcher

Directed by Georgette Verdin

Press opening: Monday, October 9, 2023 at 7:30 pm

What's more nightmarish: not being able to trust those around you... or not being able to trust yourself? Moonlit streets, a restless mind and a large window have become Elaine's nightly routine in her luxurious city townhouse. But insomnia is the least of her worries when a dead body appears in the window of an abandoned, squalid unit across the street. To make matters worse, the body disappears before her husband, best friend or maid have a chance to witness the atrocity. This suspenseful revival is filled to the brim with tricks and twists, leaving audiences on a psychological rollercoaster until the very. last. second.

February 8 - March 17, 2024

brother sister cyborg space - World Premiere!

By Paul Michael Thompson

Press opening: Monday, February 12, 2024 at 7:30 pm

In the too-close-for-comfort future, an environmental justice organizer named Giselle and her billionaire baby brother Elon are (unsurprisingly) at odds. She believes the earth and her people are worth saving; he marvels at the potential in starting over somewhere new. Meanwhile, his virtual assistant Ava has some very nuanced opinions of her own. (Who programmed her to talk so much?!) Set against the backdrop of a rapidly-accelerating climate crisis, brother sister cyborg space explores political divisions within families, an expanding definition of humanity and what we'll do when time runs out.

April 26 - June 9, 2024

Untitled: The Third Installment of the "Grand Boulevard Trilogy" - World Premiere!

By Joshua Allen

Press opening: Monday, May 6, 2024 at 7:30 pm

From the writer that brought you The Last Pair of Earlies and The October Storm comes the third and final installment in The Grand Boulevard Trilogy. Chicago writer Joshua Allen continues to explore the complex and rich history of Black families living on Chicago's South Side throughout the 20th century. Set in 1919 during the Chicago Race Riots, this world premiere play explores one woman's conflicting allegiances - to a promising career with a controversial lover or to the home her family has worked hard to build.

About the Artists

Lucille Fletcher (Playwright, Night Watch) was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1912 and was a frequent recipient of literary prizes throughout her early education and at Vassar College. Fletcher started off with a modest job at CBS typing scripts, acting as a music cataloger and writing publicity notices. Fletcher wrote and broadcast more than twenty radio plays, many inspired by actual events in her life, such as The Hitch Hiker and Sorry, Wrong Number. Fletcher wrote novels and stories long after Radio's Golden Age had given way to television. Her books include And Presumed Dead, The Strange Blue Yawl, The Girl in Cabin B54, Blindfold, and her final novel Mirror Image. She passed away on August 31, 2000.

Georgette Verdin (Director, Night Watch, she/her) is a queer, Cuban-American director based in Chicago. She currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Northlight Theatre and is a proud company member with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Recent directing credits include: A Mile in the Dark (Interrobang Theatre Project/Rivendell Theatre), Enough to Let the Light In (Teatro Vista) and Chagall in School (Grippo Stage Company).

Since 2015, she has served as Managing Artistic Director of Interrobang Theatre Project, an award-winning storefront theatre known for its gutsy productions that tackle socially-relevant and morally ambiguous subject matter. Georgette was recently profiled in the Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago 2022 by Kerry Reid and as one of 50 artists in Newcity Magazine's 2023 edition of "Players: Who Really Performs for Chicago Right Now." In 2022, she was named the Michael Maggio Directing Fellow at Goodman Theatre, and received Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for Director of a Play (Midsize) for both the Chicago premiere of This Wide Night (Shattered Globe/Interrobang Theatre Project) and the world premiere of Spay (Rivendell Theatre). Georgette holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA and a Master in Directing from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She was a 2021 recipient of a 3Arts Make-A-Wave grant and is an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Learn more at georgetteverdin.com

Paul Michael Thomson (Playwright, brother sister cyborg space, he/him) is a Chicago-based theatre artist, producer and interdisciplinary scholar. His plays include: What a Time to Be Alive (You Say That Every Time) (Definition Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Commons); Fremont Junior High Is NOT Doing Oklahoma! (Good Company Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop); The G.O.A.T., or Who Is Ximone? (Theatre L'Acadie); Same Sects! (Haven Theatre, North Central College, Other Theatre Company); Artemis Books & the Well-Meaning Man (Avalanche Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop); (and i feel fine) (The Impostors Theatre Co.), and Leave Me Alone! (The Story Theatre). As an actor, he has worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre and The Story Theatre, among others. Paul Michael is proud to be a founding Governing Ensemble member of The Story Theatre, an award-winning storefront company dedicated to developing and producing world-premiere plays. Currently pursuing his PhD in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Paul Michael has been awarded research fellowships from the Black Metropolis Research Consortium and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center. He is deeply grateful to Raven Theatre for the commission of and belief in brother sister cyborg space, and he cannot wait to share this story with Chicago. paulmichaelthomson.com

Joshua Allen's (Playwright, Untitled: The Third Installment of The Grand Boulevard Trilogy, he/him) plays include The October Storm, The Last Pair of Earlies and Chrysalis. His work has been produced and developed at Raven Theatre, Hudson Stage, Cape Cod Theater Project, Primary Stages, The Lark Play Development Center and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. An alumnus of New Dramatists, he has also been a member of the Ars Nova Play Group and the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers' Group at Primary Stages. His television writing and producing credits include Hostages (CBS), Empire (FOX), Almost Family (FOX), From Scratch (Netflix), In Treatment (HBO) and The Morning Show (Apple TV). Joshua is a graduate of the University of Southern California and the Juilliard School.

About Raven Theatre

Raven Theatre tells stories of today and the past that connect us to our cultural landscape. Through its plays, as well as its educational programming, Raven is committed to serving our communities' needs through the arts.

Raven Theatre Company is funded in part by The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince, Polk Bros Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, S&C Electric Company Fund, Paul M. Angell Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

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