Athenaeum Theatre to Present World Premiere of The Ruckus' FACING ANGELA, 6/29-7/28

The Ruckus Theater is excited to announce its upcoming world premiere of Facing Angela. First written ten years ago and re-imagined through a recent workshop with The Ruckus, Facing Angela is written by Season 4 featured playwright Scott T. Barsotti and is directed by Kyra Lewandowski. The cast of six is a motley crew of Ruckus regulars and Chicago theater favorites. Facing Angela will be performed at the Athenaeum Theatre (2936 N. Southport) June 29-July 28, 2013. All performances are at 8:00pm. In observance of Independence Day, there will not be a show on July 4. There will be an industry performance on Mon. July 8 at 8pm. Preview tickets on June 27 and June 28 are $12. General tickets are $17.

Director Kyra Lewandowski says, "With Facing Angela, this team has really rolled up their sleeves and dug deep into some incredibly difficult conversations and explorations around the beginnings and endings of a relationship, especially when one's sense of identity is on shifting ground. Standing at the end of something so huge that has shifted, what are the steps back to where you started? What pieces do you pick back up and put back on, and what do we ultimately choose to leave behind? This cast has been amazingly open with each other, which has allowed for some beautiful connections to be made already. I can't wait to see where we go." Ruckus Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker also had the following to say about working on Facing Angela, "We're so excited to be collaborating with Scott for the second time this season, and to be helping him re-invent a play he first developed a decade ago. Facing Angela has transformed nearly as much as its protagonist has, and being a part of that process has been thrilling for us all."

Angela has lost her face. Acquiring a new face alters more than skin and tissue, cutting into Angela's relationship with her husband, Wes, and mutating her sense of self. As Angela re-constructs, re-invents, and re-defines her identity, Wes ceases to recognize the woman he loves, and doubts whether he really knows himself either. This re-imagining of Barsotti's 2003 play, explored over the course of the season with the cast and company, will delve deep into how we recognize ourselves and those we go to bed with, and the collateral damage of transformative change.

Playwright Scott T. Barsotti is a writer and performer originally from Pittsburgh, PA. Scott's plays include The Revenants, Kill Me, Jet Black Chevrolet,Brewed, McMeekin Finds Out, and adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher, H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and Geoffrey Hayes' children's story The Mystery of the Pirate Ghost. Scott's work has been performed all around Chicago and nationwide, produced and/or developed by WildClaw Theatre, Curious Theatre Branch, Lifeline Theatre, The Route 66 Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Seven of Chicago, Tympanic Theatre, Collaboraction, Happy Medium Theatre, Pittsburgh Playwrights, and The Visceral Company among others. Scott is the featured playwright of The Ruckus' 2013 season. As a performer, Scott has appeared with WildClaw, Curious, The Mammals, Lifeline, WNEP Theater, Victory Gardens, Collaboraction, and Pavement Group to name a few, and has directed movement for WildClaw and Strawdog. Scott is a company member of WildClaw Theatre and Curious Theatre Branch, and a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. For more information about Scott T. Barsotti, please visit his website at: http://scottbarsotti.wordpress.com/.

Director Kyra Lewandowski is jazzed to be working with The Ruckus again after directing a workshop of Joe Musso's Conk & Bone with them last fall. Kyra was last seen directing When You're Dead by Chris Bowers for Tympanic Theatre's Deliver Us From Nowhere festival. Previous directing credits include Verse Chorus Verse by Randall Colburn (also with Tympanic Theatre), Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class with New Leaf Theatre (where she was a company member 2005-2011), Burka Betty by Joe Janes (featured at Donny's Skybox and Strawdog's Hugen Hall), Gone Flyin' by Tyler Monroe at Citylit Theatre,Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka with Village Players Theatre, as well as shows with WNEP, Appetite Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, Teatro Vista, the side project, Griffin Theatre, Infusion Theatre, Hobo Junction Productions, and 20% Theatre. She is a BFA Theatre graduate of the University of Colorado.

The cast of Facing Angela includes Moira Beagle as Remade Angela, Ruckus Artist-in-Residence Julie Cowden as Healed Angela, Ruckus Artist-in-ResidenceCasey Cunningham as Angela X, Susan Myburgh as Torn Angela, Christine Vrem-Ydstie as Repaired Angela, and Neal Starbird as Wes.

The creative team includes Production Manager Brian Ruby, Technical Director Tim McAllister, Production Advisor Ruth McCormack, Stage Manager Kristin Davis, Assistant Stage Manager Kate Leslie, Dramaturg Jessica Reese, Scenic Designer Nick Shaw, Sound Designers Daniel Caffrey and Palmer Jankens,Costume Designer Charlotte Mae Ellison, Lighting Designer JAnna Weber, Prop Designer Casey Bentley, Makeup Designers Aly Renee Amidei and Sarah Scanlon, and Mask Designer Joshua Davis. Full bio information for the company is available upon request.

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