Babes With Blades Announces 20th Anniversary Season

Babes With Blades Theatre Company (BWBTC) proudly announces its 20th Anniversary Season, Origins, consisting of two full productions and three developing scripts, all reflecting how women define themselves and their places in their worlds - including 1940s Chicago, Edwardian London, medieval Scotland and the "final frontier."

The Babes With Blades season kicks off in September at the Factory Theater with the world premiere of Barbara Lhota's The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, September 2 - October 14. Based on Russell Stamm's beloved syndicated 1940s comic of the same name, the script follows the adventures of Scarlet O'Neil, a spirited young Chicago woman with a secret superpower.

In January, at City Lit Theater, the Chicago premiere of Anne Bertram's The Good Fight, January 6 - February 17, 2018, illuminates a remarkable chapter in the tale of the struggle for women's suffrage, introducing the English suffragettes who learned jiu-jitsu to defend their leaders. Finally, May 19 - 20, 2018, the season concludes with a weekend of readings at Strawdog Theatre, launching three newly developed scripts with fighting roles for women. The Origins theme is included throughout BWBTC's 20th Anniversary Season. "An origin story launches a character's journey," said Co-Artistic Director Kathrynne Wolf. "It defines who they are, explains why they do the things they do, and informs how they go about making a difference. As we turn 20, BWBTC reflects on our own origins: a group of artists determined to expand the canon of women's roles and challenge audience expectations through the use of stage combat in our stories.

Today, BWBTC stands proudly as a vital, essential company for play development in Chicago." Co-Artistic Director Elyse Dawson continued, "This city thrives on innovation, challenge, and commitment, and Chicago theater is no small part of that identity. BWBTC is thrilled to originate from, echo, and shape the Chicago spirit, as we take a look back... and soldier on."

Babes With Blades Theatre Company's 20th Anniversary Season features:
The Invisible Scarlet O'NeilSeptember 2 - October 14Written by Barbara LhotaDirected by BWBTC Ensemble Member Leigh BarrettViolence Design by BWBTC Ensemble Member Libby BeyreisFactory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St.Previews: Saturday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 3 at 3 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 7 and Friday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m.Press Opening: Saturday Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.Regular run: Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.Tickets: Previews $10.00; Early Bird General Admission $20.00 (available through September 9); General Admission $25.00 (after September 9)
A mishap in her father's lab gave Scarlet O'Neil the power of invisibility - a power she promised him she'd never use. But Daddy never knew there'd be days like these.... It's the Windy City of the 1940s, and Dr. O'Neil's ex-lab assistant, Evanna Keil, is desperate to perfect her mind-controlling Ruby Red Lipstick before selling it to the KGB. The ensuing mayhem threatens everything Dr. O'Neil worked for, and everything Scarlet holds dear. Can Scarlet save her deceased father's reputation, his scientific collaborators, and their military secrets, plus her kidnapped landlady, a young prodigy, a small dog, the gals at the City News, and all of Chicago - if not the world? It's the Invisible Scarlet O'Neil to the rescue! ABOUT BARBARA LHOTA, playwrightBarbara Lhota is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter with over 200 plays published and more than 60 productions to her credit. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and a network playwright with Chicago Dramatists and Chicago Pride Films and Plays. Also a member of Babes With Blades Theatre Company's ensemble, Lhota has premiered three other scripts with the Babes: Los Desaparecidos (The Vanished) in 2008, The Double in 2011 and 180 Degree Rule (with M.E.H. Lewis) in 2016. Her work is published with Chicago Dramaworks, Smith & Kraus, Pioneer Press, and Meriwether Publishing.
The Good FightJanuary 6 - February 17, 2018

Written by Anne Bertram, Directed by Elizabeth LoveladyViolence Design by Gaby Labotka,Assistant Violence Design by Almanya NarulaCity Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.Previews: Saturday, Jan. 6 and Jan. 13 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 7 and Jan. 14 at 3 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m.Press Opening: Monday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m.Regular run: Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.Tickets: Previews $10.00; Early Bird General Admission $20.00 (available through January 15, 2018); General Admission $25.00 (after January 15, 2018) The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel, was the primary militant group pushing for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. Under the slogan "Deeds, not words," the WSPU advocated targeting property as a form of protest, from smashing shop windows to burning and bombing buildings.

Imprisoned WSPU members - including Pankhurst - launched hunger strikes, which were initially countered by the authorities with force-feeding; later the government introduced the "Cat and Mouse Act," under which starving suffragettes were released, only to be re-imprisoned once regaining their health. To defend their leaders and comrades, the WSPU established "The Bodyguard" - a secret, all-female security team, trained in jiu-jitsu - and the good fight began...

PlaywrightAnne Bertram is a founding artistic associate of Theatre Unbound, a Minneapolis/St. Paul company devoted to work by and about women. She currently serves as its executive director. Her work as a playwright has been seen in venues from off-Off Broadway to middle-school classrooms in Fargo, as well as Theatre Unbound bestsellers Murderess (2011) and The Good Fight (2012).

Awards and commissions include Northwestern University's Agnes Nixon Playwriting Award (lovehateforgive), The Playwrights' Center's Jones Commission (The Donner Gold), Studio Z's Playwright in Electronic Residence Commission (St. Luke's) and the Tennessee Williams One-Act Prize (Liability). FIGHTING WORDS 2017-18May 19 - 20, 2018Strawdog Theatre, 1802 W Berenice Ave.Saturday, May 19 at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.; Sunday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m.Tickets: Free Admission Each year BWBTC selects three scripts for development that have the potential to grow into the kinds of plays that fit its mission.

Several of the Fighting Words selections have been seen as full productions with BWBTC, as well as other theatre companies: most recently 180 Degree Rule, Patchwork Drifter, L'Imbecile and Bo Thomas and the Case of the Sky Pirates. The 2017 - 18 selections include The Lady Demands Satisfaction by Arthur M. Jolly (the winner of BWBTC's 2017-18 Joining Sword & Pen playwriting competition), The Witches of Birnam by Sara Murdoch and Women of 4G by Amy Tofte. Each script will undergo two reading-and-feedback sessions with the ensemble and invited guests, before being introduced to the public in May 2018.

ABOUT BABES WITH BLADES THEATRE COMPANYGender parity is a hot topic, with news clip after article after report documenting how women, and women's stories, are still underrepresented. Babes With Blades Theatre Company's response - now, for the past 20 years and moving forward - is to develop and present scripts focused on complex, dynamic (and often combative) female characters. In each element of programming, BWBTC embraces two key concepts:1)

Women are central to the story, driving the action rather than responding or submitting to it2) Women are capable of a full emotional and physical range, up to and including violence and its consequences. The company offers participants and patrons alike an unparalleled opportunity to experience women as heroes and villains; rescuers and rescuees; right, wrong, and everywhere in between: exciting, vivid, dynamic PEOPLE. It's as simple and as subversive as that. For more information about BWBTC, please visit http://babeswithblades.org.

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