A Red Orchid Theatre Unveils Cast for World Premiere of REVOLUTION by Brett Neveu

A Red Orchid Theatre presents the World Premiere of Revolution by Ensemble Member Brett Neveu, directed by Associate Artistic Director Travis A. Knight. Revolution runs September 7 – October 29, 2023 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N Wells in Chicago. The press performances are scheduled for Saturday, September 16 at 3:00pm and 7:30pm.

Who celebrates their 26th birthday in the alley? Puff, that’s who. With the help of her best friend Jame and the unlikely company of Georgia, Puff rings in her new year with laughter, connection, a dose of danger, and Miller High Life. Revolution interrogates and celebrates the very nature of creating community and building friendships in our ever evolving, ever disconnecting world. 

The production features Ensemble Member Natalie West (Georgia) with Taylor Blim (Jame) and Stephanie Shum (Puff). Understudies are Haley Bolithon (U/S Jame), Melissa Van Kersen (U/S Georgia), and Alice Wu (U/S Puff).

The creative team includes Kotryna Hilko (scenic design), Ensemble Member Myron Elliott (cosume design), Erica Lauren Maholmes (lighting design),Eric Backus (sound design), Julia Alvarez (properties design), Max Fabian (armorer), Michael Mahler (music consultant), Tom Daniel (technical director),Danny Fender (stage manager), Faith Locke (assistant stage manager), Patrick Starner (production manager), Maggie Perisho (assistant director), Tanya Palmer (dramaturg), and Peter Ruiz (assistant dramaturg & script supervisor).

About the Artists

Brett Neveu 

(Playwright) [he/him]: Film/TV productions include the feature Eric LaRue (dir. Michael Shannon) with Big Indie Pictures, Brace Cove Productions and CaliWood Pictures (Tribeca Festival Official Selection, Spotlight Narrative); the feature Night’s End (dir. Jennifer Reeder) with Shudder/AMC; the short Convo with Breakwall Pictures; and the feature The Earl with Intermission Productions. Upcoming theatre productions include Revolution with A Red Orchid Theatre, and recent productions include The Malignant Ampersands with A Red Orchid Theatre, Verböten with House Theatre (Joseph Jefferson Nomination, New Work), Traitor with A Red Orchid Theatre (Joseph Jefferson Award, New Adaptation) and To Catch a Fish with Timeline Theatre. Past work includes productions with 59e59 Theatre in New York; The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company in London; The Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Greenhouse Theatre, The Inconvenience, A Red Orchid Theatre and American Theatre Company in Chicago. A Sundance Institute Ucross Fellow, Brett is also a recipient of a Steinberg/ATCA New Play Citation (Verböten), The Marquee Award from Chicago Dramatists, The Ofner Prize for New Work, the Emerging Artist Award from The League of Chicago Theatres, and an After Dark Award for Outstanding Musical (Old Town), and has developed plays with companies including The Atlantic Theatre Company and The New Group in New York and The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. He is a resident-alum of Chicago Dramatists, a proud ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, a founding member of the multimedia group the Ice Core Collective, and an alumni member of TimeLine Theatre Company’s Writers Collective and Center Theatre Group’s Playwrights’ Workshop in Los Angeles. Brett has been commissioned by The Royal Court Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, A Red Orchid Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, House Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, and Northlight Theatre, and has several of his plays published through Broadway Play Publishing, Dramatic Publishing and Nick Hern Publishing. Brett has taught writing at DePaul University and Second City Training Center, and currently teaches script writing as a Professor of Instruction at Northwestern University.

Travis A. Knight 

(Director) [he/him] is a proud member of the artistic ensemble and serves as the Associate Artistic Director. Previous shows at A Red Orchid include The Malignant Ampersands, Grey House, and Small Mouth Sounds. Other Chicago credits include: The Crucible (Steppenwolf); Toni Stone, Ah, Wilderness!, Christmas Carol, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Measure for Measure, and Camino Real (Goodman); How a Boy Falls (Northlight) and Camelot (Drury Lane). Regional credits include The Brothers Size (Milwaukee Chamber), A Streetcar Named Desire (Uprooted), and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Forward Theatre). Selected credits from his five seasons at American Players Theatre are: The Tempest, Glass Menagerie, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Troilus and Cressida, and Richard III. TV and web series: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Mind Games, and Dad Man Walking. Film credits: Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, Runner, and Survivor, Soldier, Sinner, Savior. Motion capture credits: Mortal Kombat 1.

Natalie West

(Georgia) [she/her] became an A Red Orchid Ensemble member in 2010 and has appeared in many productions, including Abigail’s Party, The Butcher of Baraboo, Strandline, Mud Blue Sky, The Mutilated, Evening at the Talk House and Fulfillment Center. Her other Chicago theatre credits include Nell Gwynn at Chicago Shakespeare; Side Man, Naked Eye’s Nickel and Dimed and The Man Who Came to Dinner at Steppenwolf Theatre (the latter was also performed at the Barbican Theatre in London); The God of Hell at Next Theatre, House and Garden at Goodman Theatre, and How I Learned to Drive and The City of Conversation at Northlight Theatre. She is a former member of Remains Theatre Ensemble. Natalie portrayed the character Crystal on the television show Roseanne. She can be seen in the independent film Nate and Margaret as Margaret. Natalie received Jeff awards for her work in Abigail’s Party and The Butcher of Baraboo at A Red Orchid and for Life and Limb at Wisdom Bridge. She holds an MSW from Loyola University Chicago and a BA in Theatre at Indiana University and she attended Webber Douglas Academy in London.

Taylor Blim

(Jame) [she/her] is thrilled to be at A Red Orchid. Chicago credits include: We Are Proud To Present, The Crucible, Mary Page Marlowe (Steppenwolf); The Wolves (The Goodman)*Jeff Award Winner; Love’s Labor’s Lost (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Sucker Punch (Victory Gardens Theatre); Grizzly Mama (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble); A Christmas Carol (Drury Lane); Assassins: The Musical, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Anna Bella Eema, and Video Galaxy (The Theatre School at DePaul University). TV/Film credits include: Hala (Sundance Selection); The Year Between (Tribeca Selection); Phyl; Fargo (FX); Utopia; Lightyears (Amazon); Chicago Med (NBC); Forever; The Disposal; and The Year That Changed Us.

Stephanie Shum 

(Puff) [she/her] is excited to party with A Red Orchid Theatre, where she previously understudied The Moors and currently serves as Director of Development. Chicago credits include: Bald Sisters, The Great Leap, The Crucible (Steppenwolf); Hummingbird (Goodman - New Stages); Men on Boats (American Theater Company); A Story Told in 7 Fights (The Neo-Futurists); Love in the Time of Jonestown, Small World, Merge, Kin Folk, reWILDing Genius, Kate and Sam Are Not Breaking Up (The New Coordinates); Plainclothes (Broken Nose - Ensemble Jeff Award); among others. Regionally: Tiger Style! (TheatreSquared). Stephanie is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent. stephanieshum.com 

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