A Red Orchid Theatre Presents Brett Neveu's MEGACOSM

A Red Orchid Theatre presents the world premiere of Megacosm, written by Ensemble Member Brett Neveu and directed by Ensemble Member Dado. The production will run January 12 – February 26, 2012 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells. Press Opening is Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 7PM.

With existential terror, Megacosm presents us with a world full of revolt and chaos both inside and out. An industrialist in the near future utilizes every means possible to get an inventor to sign over his revolutionary creation that will inevitably change the world. Corporate greed never met creative angst with such dramatic and hilarious results.

“Like being re-plugged into a theatrical-type power grid, I'm severely excited to be back home and working on my sixth world premiere with A Red Orchid Theatre,” Says Ensemble Member and Playwright Brett Neveu. “With Megacosm, a comedy about chaos, humanity and new product development, I hope to capture the spirit of why I am so proud to be a part of this ensemble. Action-packed and thought provoking, Megacosm was written for A Red Orchid -- folks that I love and trust with every fiber of my being.”

Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald adds, “As the world continues to present us with fear, chaos and existential terror, I feel it is more important than ever to gather, to consider, and to laugh. We are honored to develop and premiere another of Brett's plays. Megacosm will make you laugh out loud - both in horror and with joy.”

Megacosm features A Red Orchid Ensemble Members Larry Grimm (Chris) and Danny McCarthy (Britt) with David Steiger (Sam) and Eden Strong (Carol).
The creative team includes John Dalton (Set Design), Christine Pascual (Costume Design), Matt Gawryk (Light Design), Joseph Court (Sound Design), Seth Hendricks (Video/Media) and Sam Deutsch (Properties). Christa Van Baale is the Stage Manager and Meg Lindsey is the Production Manager. Walter Briggs is the Technical Director. Duncan Riddell is the Assistant Director and Dramaturg.

About The Artists:
Brett Neveu (Playwright) is an Ensemble Member of AROT and returns after premiering five plays here in past seasons: Murders, The Earl, The Meek, and Eric LaRue and Weapons of Mass Impact. Recent past work includes productions with Writers’ Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company, TimeLine Theatre Company and American Theatre Company. He is the recipient of the Ofner Prize for New Work, the Emerging Artist Award from The League of Chicago Theatres, an After Dark Award for Outstanding Musical (Old Town with Strawdog Theatre Company), and has developed plays with companies including The New Group, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theater and is a resident-alum with Chicago Dramatists. He is also an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, a member of The Playwrights’ Union and a member of the Center Theatre Group’s Playwrights’ Workshop. Neveu has been commissioned by The Royal Court Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Writers’ Theatre, Strawdog Theatre and has several of his plays published through Broadway Play Publishing and Dramatic Publishing. He has taught writing at Northwestern University, DePaul University, Second City Training Center and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Dado (Director) is an Ensemble Member at A Red Orchid where her directing credits include The Unseen, The Hothouse, The Fastest Clock in the Universe, The Sea Horse and The Grey Zone. She was recently seen actually on stage at Trap Door Theatre. Dado received an After Dark Award for Outstanding Direction for the critically acclaimed U.S. premiere of Huddersfield by Ugliesa Sajtinac, which was produced by TUTA at Victory Gardens. She is the recipient of The Goodman Theatre's Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship, where she assistant directed A Life In The Theater with Robert Falls. Her work has been seen at Shattered Globe, Emerald City, Steppenwolf, Prop, Famous Door, as well as many others in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Larry Grimm (Chris) is a founding member of A Red Orchid and was most recently on the A Red Orchid Stage in Abigail's Party. Other AROT credits include Pumpgirl, The Meek, Mr. Kolpert, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Born Guilty, In the Solitude of Cotton Fields, The Physicists and The Cut. He was recently seen at Next Theatre in Maple and Vine, Victory Gardens in In the Bedroom or The Vibrator Play, and at Court Theatre in Orlando. Other credits include: Steppenwolf (A Fair Country, Wolf Lullabye, I Never Sang for my Father), Lookingglass (The Brothers Karamazov, 1984, The Naked King) Collaboraction, Raven (Jefferson Citation for supporting actor in The Glass Menagerie) , Piven Theatre Workshop (Two by Pinter, King Lear, Because They Have No Words and the upcoming Sarah Ruhl play, Late: A Cowboy Song) and has performed with the much missed Famous Door and New Crime. Larry teaches drama at Chi-Arts - Chicago's new public high school for the arts, Second City,Steppenwolf for Young Adults and is the co-director of A Red Orchid's Youth Ensemble.

Danny McCarthy (Britt) is an ensemble member at A Red Orchid and was last seen here in Abigail's Party and The Unseen. Other AROT credits include Mr. Bundy and The Earl. Most recently Danny was seen at St. Louis Rep in Circle Mirror Transformation. Other credits include Steppenwolf (Middletown, The Pillowman, Take Me Out), Northlight (Jeckyll And Hyde), Roadworks (Seranading Louie), among others. He portrayed Agent Danny Hale on the T.V. show Prison Break and appeared in the movies The Express, Fred Clause, Derailed, and Alleyball.

David Steiger (Sam) is making his debut at A Red Orchid. His most recent performance was at the Trap Door Theatre in Hamletmachine (Hamlet), where he is also a company member. Other Trap Door credits include No Darkness Round My Stone (Dan), A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians (Driver), and it's European remount at the Arad International Theatre and Film Festival in Arad, Romania, and at the Teatr Bagatela in Krakow, Poland. In May, David will also be performing in the Trap Door production Anger. Other credits include The Abduction from the Seraglio (Pasha Selim) at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Leah: A Nightmare (Mela) at Gorilla Tango, The Castle (Krak) and Termen Vox Machina (Lenin) at the Oracle Theatre, where he as also recently worked as translator for the company's production of Woyzeck. David studied theatre at the College of Lake County and has a degree in English from Loyola University Chicago.

Eden Strong (Carol) is nine years old and is thrilled to return to the AROT stage where she previously played Ajax in The Iliad. She is on stage now in The Xmas Miracle of Jon Toomey at Provision Theatre. She has performed in Annie, Seussical, and The Miracle Worker. She is also a budding gymnast. Eden has studied theatre arts at Stagecoach and is a student at Lincoln Elementary where she's in the 6th grade.

About A Red Orchid
Since 1993 A Red Orchid Theatre has been an artistic mainstay of the Chicago theatre community; known and praised for its powerful ensemble, creative design and its gripping, intimate productions and named Best Theatre of 2010 by Chicago Magazine. The resident Ensemble maintains the conviction that passionately committed theatre will draw passionately committed audiences, and the 2011-2012 subscription season promises to bring Ensemble and audience even closer together.

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Lance Baker, Dado, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Danny McCarthy, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers, Natalie West and Craig Wright.
FACT SHEET/Megacosm

Title: Megacosm
Written by: Brett Neveu
Directed by: Dado
Dates: Previews: January 12 – January 14, 2012
Press opening: Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 7PM
Regular Run: January 19 – February 26, 2012
Schedule: Thursdays: 8:00 p.m.
Fridays: 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 8:00 p.m.
Sundays: 3:00 p.m.
Location: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells Ave.
Tickets: $15 previews, $25-$30 regular run. ($25 Thurs, $30 Fri-Sun)
Box Office: Located at 1531 N. Wells Ave, Chicago, (312) 943-8722; or online www.aredorchidtheatre.org

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