AstonRep to Stage WIT at Raven Theatre, 5/8-6/8

AstonRep Theatre Company continues its 2013-14 season with the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama WIT by Margaret Edson, directed by Ensemble Member Derek Bertelsen, playing May 8 - June 8, 2014 at The Raven Theatre (West Stage), 6157 N. Clark St. in Chicago.

Tickets go on sale Monday, February 24 at www.astonrep.com or by calling(773) 828-9129. The press opening is Saturday, May 10 at 8 pm.

WIT will feature AstonRep Ensemble Members Alexandra Bennett and Robert Tobin with Lona Livingston, Alison Plott and Drew Wieland. The cast also includes Krista Gustafson, Matthew Harris, Angela Horn and Bob Skosky.

WIT revolves around the story of Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., a renowned professor of English, a specialist in the metaphysical, life and death themes of John Donne's Holy Sonnets, who finds herself the subject of research designed to try to save her life as she is being treated for stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer. Vivian comes to reassess her life and her work with a profundity and humor that are transformative both for her and the audience.

The production team for WIT includes Ensemble Members Jeremiah Barr (set design), kClare Kemock (costume design), Samantha Barr (lighting design), Ray Kasper (sound design), Sara Pavlak (assistant director) and Dannie Moore (stage manager).

About the Playwright: Margaret Edson is an American playwright who won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Wit. The critically acclaimed show was first produced in 1995 at South Coast Repertory in California. She penned a second play, Satisfied, about a country-gospel radio station in Kentucky. Edson graduated with a BA in Renaissance History from Smith College and received a master's in English literature from Georgetown University.

About the Director: Derek Bertelsen previously directed Next Fall and Doubt for AstonRep Theatre Company. Other Chicago credits include The Children's Hour (Pride Films and Plays), The Dinner Party, God of Carnage (BrightSide Theatre), You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Wilmette Center for the Arts) and assistant director for RACE (Goodman Theatre) and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Bailiwick Chicago). Regional credits include August: Osage County, God of Carnage (New Ground Theatre, Davenport, IA), Love, Sex & the IRS, Red Herring, Boeing-Boeing and Monty Python's Spamalot (Timber Lake Playhouse, Mt. Carroll, IL).

About AstonRep Theatre Company: AstonRep Theatre Company was formed in the summer of 2008. Since then, the company has produced ten full-length productions and five annual Writer's Series. "An ensemble of artists focused on keeping theatre relevant by producing new works, revisiting and re-imagining classics, and uncovering timely, rarely-produced works of the past."

Pictured: Alexandra Bennett. Photo by Jeremiah Barr.

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