Bramble Theatre Company Presents EVIL PERFECT By Spencer Huffman

Bramble Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Evil Perfect, October 17 - November 10, written by ensemble member Spencer Huffman and directed by ensemble member Jonathan Shaboo.

Performances will take place at the recently opened Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark. Previews are Thursday, Oct. 17 - Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The press opening is Sunday, Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. with opening night Monday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. with an additional understudy performance on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 - $40 and can be purchased at BrambleTheatre.org.

In an otherworldly city obsessed with achieving absolute equity at all costs, Lily, a dissident at the end of her rope, meets Puck, the son of the city's charismatic matriarch. As their unlikely relationship grows and the city's enforcers close in, Lily and Puck hatch a terrifying plan: to revolt. Set in a tarnished society with twisted ideals, Evil Perfect is a messy and seductive play that attempts to reveal how good people with honorable intentions become evil.

"Evil Perfect activates something deep in the core of us, something wild and untamed and yet leaves us questioning and curious as to why...and if it's even a good thing," said Director Jonathan Shaboo when describing the world premiere play. Playwright Spencer Huffman described the production as “a gruesome and sexy satire - it'll make you laugh and squirm in equal parts. I think audiences will relish in the play's savagery."

The cast of Evil Perfect includes Danny Breslin+; Ashley Neal; Brandon Burns+; and Ebby Offord; with understudies Alexandra Attea, Gabriela Diaz, Dakotah Brown, and Ruby Vallejo.

The creative team includes Spencer Huffman+ (playwright); Jonathan Shaboo+ (director); Amal Mazen Salem (production manager); Miguel Salgado Jr. (stage manager); Aja Singletary+ (asst. director); Emma Crumpton (asst. stage manager); Delena Bradley (set designer); Heath Hays (sound designer); Henry Toohey (lighting designer); Ashley Greenwood (dramaturg) and Tristin Hall (fight/intimacy designer).

+Denotes Bramble ensemble member.

ABOUT SPENCER HUFFMAN, PLAYWRIGHT

Spencer Huffman is a playwright, director, and actor based in Chicago. As a playwright, his work has earned recognition from theatres and festivals across the country, including The National Playwrights Conference, The Austin Film Festival, American Stage's 21st Century Voices New Play Festival, the New American Voices Festival at Landing Theatre Co, and Relative Theatrics, among others. Most recently, his play THE SHAPE OF THE BONES was translated into Hungarian and workshopped at FreeSZFE in Budapest. His play EVIL PERFECT will make its world-premiere at Bramble Theatre Company this fall. Huffman has been a fellow at Millay Arts, The Marble House Project, and the Kerouac Project of Orlando. His directing work includes site-specific productions of FAR AWAY by Caryl Churchill, JERUSALEM by Jez Butterworth, BUG by Tracy Letts, and AALST by Duncan McLean and Pol Heyvaert, among others. Spencer's acting credits include: SPAY (Rivendell Theatre) and SPINNING INTO BUTTER (Janus Theatre Co). Huffman is a Fulbright Scholar, a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf, and an ensemble member at Bramble Theatre Co. BA: Kenyon College.

ABOUT Jonathan Shaboo, DIRECTOR

Jonathan Shaboo is a Canadian actor, director and comedian. He appeared in the first U.S. National Tour of The Kite Runner and Evil Dead: The Musical. His regional and international stage credits include The Band's Visit and A Distinct Society (Writers Theatre), Layalina (Goodman Theatre), The North American premiere of Julie: After Strindberg (Untold Wants), and Greater Expectations (The Second City Toronto). Jonathan is excited to direct the world premiere of Evil Perfect at the Bramble Theatre in Chicago this fall, where he is a founder and ensemble member. He is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf.

ABOUT BRAMBLE THEATRE COMPANY

Bramble Theatre Company is made up of an ensemble of multicultural artists who seek to create powerful new theatre that both nourishes and challenges our community to explore the question of what it is to be Human. By fostering an Artist-first culture that inspires hope and innovation, the company strives to be a leading voice in this emerging era of American Theatre. The bramble bush symbolizes the duality of the fruit that nourishes and the thorn that challenges; made of many tangled vines, it remains a single, united organism. The beginnings of Bramble first took root among the 2019 cohort of the esteemed School at Steppenwolf. At the end of that ten-week session, members of the group continued building upon their experiences and artistry, and from that, Bramble Theatre Company was born. 

For more information on Bramble Theatre Company, please visit BrambleTheatre.org.

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