Broken Nose Theatre to Launch 8th Season with the U.S. Premiere of LABYRINTH

Broken Nose Theatre will launch its eighth season, exploring the theme "Change the Rules," with the U.S. premiere of Beth Steel's propulsive financial drama LABYRINTH, directed by Spenser Davis, playing January 31 - February 29, 2020 at its resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com. Tickets for all Broken Nose Theatre productions are available on a "pay-what-you-can" basis, allowing patrons to set their own price and ensuring theatre remains economically accessible for all audiences. The press opening is Sunday, February 2 at 3 pm.

The cast includes ensemble members Benjamin Brownson*, Elise Marie Davis*, Rob Koon*, Adam Soule* and David Weiss*, with guest artists Ambrose Cappucio, Rebecca Flores, Darren Jones, David Lovejoy, William Anthony Sebastian Rose II, Jackie Seijo, Julia Skeggs.

New York City, 1978. Having just landed his dream job as a Wall Street banker, John Anderson finds himself swept off on luxurious trips to Latin America with only one goal: selling loans to the region's developing nations eager to borrow. But as the banks' excessive lending strategy starts pushing whole countries toward the brink of bankruptcy, and the biggest credit bubble in history threatens to burst, John and his colleagues must come to terms with the true price of chasing their fortunes.

Comments director Spenser Davis, "Playwright Beth Steel has constructed a thrill-ride better than most: richly researched, deeply dynamic and pulse-poundingly cinematic in a way that just flies off the page. Centering her story around the 1980s Latin American debt crisis, Steel illustrates one of the many ways in which American prosperity is achieved at the expense of our neighbors. At a time when the man in the Oval Office categorically refers to this same region as one steeped in 'drugs and crime,' it is even more important to me that we stage plays like Labyrinth, ones that remind us of our country's own culpability in destroying the economy of developing nations who turned to us in a time of need and instead became unwilling gears in our financial machine. I'm thrilled to helm the U.S. Premiere of both this incredible play and its equally gifted playwright."

Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis adds, "Over the past few seasons, we at Broken Nose have been waiting for the right opportunity to bring Beth Steel's edge-of-your-seat, righteously indignant financial drama to Chicago audiences for its U.S. Premiere. Like so many of our plays over the last few years, Labyrinth yet again affords us the opportunity to build another thrilling ensemble packed with storefront talent. Labyrinth asks tough questions without easy answers, while shining a spotlight onto a disastrous turn-of-events that so many Americans may be wholly unaware of. This is a story about looking back as a way of understanding our present and course-correcting our future."

The production team includes Therese Ritchie (scenic design), Rachel Sypniewski (costume design), David Goodman-Edberg (lighting design), Tony Ingram (sound design), Devon Green* (props designer), Zack Meyer (violence design), David Weiss* (dramaturg), Ben F. Locke (assistant director), Julia Skeggs (casting director), Evan Sposato (technical director), Liz Gomez (master electrician), Rose Hamill* (stage manager) and Gabby Owens (assistant stage manager).

* Denotes BNT ensemble member

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: LABYRINTH

Playwright: Beth Steel

Director: Spenser Davis*

Cast (in alphabetical order): Benjamin Brownson* (Philip), Ambrose Cappucio (Ensemble), Elise Marie Davis* (Grace), Rebecca Flores (Ensemble), Darren Jones (Frank), Rob Koon* (Howard), David Lovejoy (Ensemble), William Anthony Sebastian Rose II (John), Jackie Seijo (Ensemble), Julia Skeggs (Ensemble), Adam Soule* (Rick) and David Weiss* (Charlie).

Location: The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Friday, January 31 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, February 1 at 7:30 pm

Press Opening: Sunday, February 2 at 3 pm

Opening: Monday, February 3 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Thursday, February 6 - Saturday, February 29, 2020

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

Industry night: Monday, February 17 at 7:30 pm

Understudy night: Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30pm

Tickets: Pay-what-you-can. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com.

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