TV: Lookingglass Stages World Premiere of PLANTATION

Lookingglass Theatre Company continues its 30th Anniversary season with the world premiere of Plantation! a new comedy by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas, directed by Ensemble Member David Schwimmer. Plantation! runs February 21 - April 22, 2018 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.

Look who's coming to tea... A Texas matriarch, bless her heart, discovers that the history of the ancestral home is, well...complicated. When she reveals the news to her Southern Belle daughters, tempers rage hotter than the devil's armpit and pandemonium runs amok on the pristine plantation...and that's before the other set of sisters arrive.

Ensemble Member and playwright Kevin Douglas (Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure) returns with a sharp pen and sharper wit to slash into America's thorniest underbrush and most enduring conundrum. Ensemble Member David Schwimmer directs this World Premiere black (and white) comedy.

"Plantation! is a modern-day comedy about a Texas matriarch who bypasses her daughters and gives her plantation home to the descendants of a slave her family once owned. All hell breaks loose, and true colors are revealed," explains Kevin Douglas. "I thought to myself, what would reparations look like in 2018? For me, the play offers reparations as one solution to racism. Usually, when it comes to the topic of racism, society is quick to have a conversation about it but slow to offer solutions. Plantation! is about one person coming up with their own solution."

Douglas adds, "Why a comedy? Comedy allows people to receive hard truths without sounding preachy. In our society, we have complicated feelings when it comes to race, and comedy can be one of the most effective ways to tackle tricky topics. It will be fun and uncomfortable at times...FUN-comfortable! It's a fast, funny female-driven production that you shouldn't miss!"

Plantation! features Ensemble Member Louise Lamson (Kimberly) and Artistic Associate Ericka Ratcliff (Sydney), with Janet Ulrich Brooks (Lillian), Hannah Gomez (Diana), Lily Mojekwu (London), Linsey Page Morton (Kara), Tamberla Perry (Madison), and Grace Smith (Kayley).

The creative team includes Courtney O'Neill (scenic), Ensemble Member Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), Artistic Associates Christine A. Binder (lighting) and Rick Sims (sound and composition), with Amanda Herrmann (props), Eva Breneman (dialect) and Ari Clouse (stage manager).

Buy tickets online at lookingglasstheatre.org or by phone at (312) 337-0665

The Lookingglass box office is located at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave.

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