Brett Neveu's HER AMERICA to Make World Premiere at Greenhouse Theater Center

Greenhouse Theater Center will continue its Solo Celebration! Series with the world premiere of Brett Neveu's haunting drama HER AMERICA (formerly titled MISS AMERICA), starring veteran Chicago and Broadway actress Kate Buddeke and directed by Linda Gillum.

HER AMERICA will play January 6 - February 12, 2017 at The Greenhouse Theater Center (Downstairs Mainstage), 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Solo Celebration! flex passes and single tickets are currently available at greenhousetheater.org, in person at the box office or by calling (773) 404-7336. The press opening is Wednesday, January 11 at 7:30 pm.

Lori hides in a Midwest basement as the world upstairs spins out of her control. Below the fray, she searches through the artifacts of her own history. She finds an imposing steamer trunk, a wedding dress, and a host of other relics that force her to confront where it all went astray. Was it the day she married Dan? The morning a stranger from her past reappeared? Or the night she put a secret in the trunk, changing her family forever? A deeply American mystery told entrancingly by award-winning actress Kate Buddeke, Her America will leave you breathless as each piece of her story comes out of the cellar, and into the light.

"Honoring their Chicago storefront roots, Brett Neveu and this team have crafted a dangerously intimate and completely unexpected evening of theatre," Comments Artistic Director Jacob Harvey. "Her America is an important new play that elevates the everyday, seemingly unremarkable woman and provides as unyielding exploration of the forces that have shaped her identity and choices."

The production team for HER AMERICA includes: Grant Sabin (scenic design), Christine Pascual (costume design), Richard Norwood (lighting design), Lindsay Jones (sound design), Holly McCauley (props design) Tanya Palmer (dramaturg) and Kelly Montgomery (stage manager).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Brett Neveu's (Playwright) Recent theatre productions include Pilgrim's Progress with A Red Orchid Theatre (Chicago), Red Bud with Signal Ensemble (Chicago), Detective Partner Hero Villain with SkyPilot Theatre Company (LA) and Strawdog Theatre Company (Chicago), as well as The Opponent with A Red Orchid/Bisno Productions/59e59 (New York). Film productions include the short Convo with Breakwall Pictures and the feature The Earl with Intermission Productions. Past theatre work includes productions with The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company in London; The Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, The House Theatre, The Inconvenience, The Side Project, TimeLine Theatre Company, A Red Orchid Theatre and American Theatre Company in Chicago. A Sundance Institute Ucross Fellow, Brett is also a recipient of the Marquee Award from Chicago Dramatists, the Ofner Prize for New Work, the Emerging Artist Award from The League of Chicago Theatres, an After Dark Award for Outstanding Musical (Old Town) and has developed plays with companies including The Atlantic Theatre Company and The New Group in New York and The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. He is a resident-alum of Chicago Dramatists, a proud ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, a current member of TimeLine Theatre Company's Writers Collective and an alumni member of the Center Theatre Group's Playwrights' Workshop in Los Angeles. Brett has been commissioned by The Royal Court Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Writers' Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Northlight Theatre and has several of his plays published through Broadway Play Publishing, Dramatic Publishing and Nick Hern Publishing. Brett has taught writing at DePaul University, Second City Training Center and currently teaches writing for the screen and stage at Northwestern University.

Linda Gillum (Director) is a director, actor, casting director and teacher and a member of AEA, AGMA and SAG-AFTRA based in Chicago. She is an Artistic Associate of Remy Bumppo, where she has appeared in over a dozen productions and directed the world premiere of An Immigrant Classfor their thinkTank series. She has also directed for Defiant, Next, Noble Fool, Shattered Globe, St Croix Festival, Timberlake Playhouse, Carthage College and University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She has acted with A Red Orchid, Court, Defiant, Lyric, Mercury, Oak Park Festival, Remy Bumppo, Roadworks, ShawChicago, Steppenwolf and Theatre at the Center. Linda is an Adjunct at DePaul and also teaches at Acting Studio Chicago and Remy Bumppo. Her TV/Film credits include Chicago Fire, Prison Break, Early Edition, Dorkumentary, The Photographist, Casting About, Haunting Hour, Bruised Orange and The Big Date.

Kate Buddeke (Lori) last appeared in The Glass Menagerie at Hypocrites. She also appeared in "Sideman" (Jeff Nomination) at American Blues Theater, where she is also an ensemble member. She won a Jeff Award for Steppenwolf's, Airline Highway. She has appeared on Broadway in Carousel, Death of A Salesman, Gypsy, A Streetcar Named Desire and Superior Donuts. She has received Jeff Awards for her performances in Ourselves Alone, Dancing at Lughnasa, Gypsy, and David's Mother. She has performed on several Chicago stages, including Bug, Eric LaRue and The New Electric Ballroom at A Red Orchid, Keely & Du ABT and The North Plan Theater Wit. She has appeared in several TV and films. Kate has sung the National Anthem solo, twice at Wrigley Field.

HER AMERICA is one of 12 plays featured in Greenhouse's Solo Celebration! Series, which includes ten full productions, two limited engagements and other special events running June 2016 through February 2017. Among the other directors connected to solo series are Goodman Theatre Producer and Artistic Collective Member Steve Scott, Writers Theatre Resident Director Kimberly Senior, Directors Lab Chicago Artistic Director Elizabeth Margolius and Remy Bumppo Artistic Associate Linda Gillum. Some of the performers confirmed to star in solo works include Jeff Award-winners Kate Buddeke, Gene Weygandt, Linda Reiter, acclaimed British actor Simon Slater, Will Allan and Carin Silkaitis. Most productions will be produced in their entirety by Greenhouse, while other plays will be stated with co-producers including Sideshow Theatre Company and The Other Theatre Company. Greenhouse's "Solo Celebration!" is co-produced by Forum Productions and underwritten by the Wendy and William Spatz Charitable Foundation.

The Greenhouse Theater Center is a nonprofit performance venue located at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Our complex offers two newly remodeled 190-seat main stage spaces, two 60-seat studio theaters, an in-house rehearsal room and Chicago's only dedicated used theatre book store.

Our mission at the Greenhouse is first and foremost to grow local theatre. We strive to cultivate a fertile environment for local artists, from individual renters to our bevy of resident companies, to develop and produce their work. In 2014 alone, The Greenhouse Theater Center provided space for almost 1,000 ticketed performances, serving more than 54,000 patrons. Among these events were at least 30 productions by our resident companies, including the celebrated American Blues Theater and Remy Bumpo Theatre Company. Through our Trellis Program, we offer the community affordable access to our work by housing Chicago's only dedicated used theatre bookstore, located on the second floor of our complex, as well as offering a free reading series each Tuesday night where local artists workshop their latest scripts. Additionally, we also continue to play an active role in cultivating and nurturing our community through continued partnerships with the League of Chicago Theaters and local Chambers of Commerce.

As of 2016, the Greenhouse Theater Center embraced the true spirit of growth and launched its producing entity. With the announcement of our eight month long Solo Celebration Series, helmed by Artistic Director Jacob Harvey, we will produce 12 solo plays from June 2016 to February 2017. Through this inaugural effort, we hope to expand the solo play cannon while also cultivating a larger conversation about the possibilities of the one-person play.

With new ideas always incubating, the Greenhouse Theater Center is flourishing. Come grow with us!

Pictured: Kate Buddeke in a publicity image for Greenhouse Theater Center's world premiere of HER AMERICA by Brett Neveu, directed by Linda Gillum. Photo by Alex Higgin-Hauser.

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