COMPULSION, GREAT GOD PAN and More Set for Next Theatre's 2013-14 Season

Jenny Avery, artistic director, and Jon Arndt, managing director, of Next Theatre Company, have announced Next Theatre Company's 33rd main stage season.

The season begins with the Chicago Premiere of Compulsion by Rinne Groff and directed by Devon de Mayo; followed by the Midwest premiere of Luck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge and directed by Damon Kiely and concludes with the Midwest premiere of The Great God Pan by Amy Herzog and directed by Kimberly Senior.

All main stage productions are presented at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes Street in Evanston. To find out information about subscribing to the season, visit the website at www.nexttheatre.org or call the box office at 847-475-1875 x2.

Compulsion
Chicago Premiere
by Rinne Groff
Directed by Devon de Mayo
October 10 - November 17
Previews: October 10 - 13
Opening/Press Night: Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
Schedule: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Saturday at 4 p.m. performances October 26, November 2, 9 and 16.

It is 1951 and Sid Silver is on a mission to be the guardian of one of the most moving and provocative accounts of the 20th century. Inspired by the true story of Meyer Levin and his obsession with Anne Frank's diary, Compulsion uses complex and inventive storytelling to explore the lengths that one man will go to honor Anne Frank's powerful and enduring legacy.
Devon de Mayo, director of this season's hit production Everything Is Illuminated returns to bring this compelling and complex tale of passion and obsession to the Next stage.

Luck of the Irish
Midwest Premiere
by Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by Damon Kiely
January 16 - February 23, 2014
Previews: January 16 - 19, 2014
Opening/Press Night: Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014 at 7 p.m.
Schedule: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Saturday at 4 p.m. performances February 1, 8, 15 and 22, 2014.

When an upwardly mobile African-American couple wants to buy a home in an all-white neighborhood of 1950's Boston, they pay a struggling Irish family to "ghost-buy" a house on their behalf. Fifty years later, the Irish family wants "their" house back. Moving across two eras, Luck of the Irish explores racial and social issues and the long held secrets that tie two families and one house together.

Great God Pan
Midwest Premiere
by Amy Herzog
Directed by Kimberly Senior
April 3 - May 11, 2014
Previews: April 3 - 6, 2014
Opening/Press Night: Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 7 p.m.
Schedule: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Saturday at 4 p.m. performances April 19 and 26, May 3 and 10, 2014.

Jamie is doing great: a beautiful girlfriend, a budding journalism career and parents who live just far enough away. But when a possible childhood trauma comes to light, he begins to question not only his past but his seemingly positive present as well. Director Kimberly Senior and playwright Amy Herzog are reunited (After the Revolution) with this moving and mysterious story about the nature of memory and the question of how definitively the past shapes present behavior.

*All productions and dates pending rights availability.

SUNDAY TALKBACKS: Every 2 p.m. Sunday matinee during the season is followed by a discussion with the artistic staff and artists involved in the production, as well as special guests familiar with the topic to be discussed.

Next Theatre Company produces socially provocative, artistically adventurous work. It is Next's vision to become a national destination for audiences and artists who share this vision that theatre can promote awareness and provoke change with more power than any other medium of expression.

Since its founding in 1981 by Harriet Spizziri and Brian Finn, the 167-seat space has been home to over a hundred productions, serving nearly a quarter of a million theatergoers and winning Jeff Awards in nearly every category. The theatre's adventurous spirit and great conviction prompted Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune to announce that Next is "a resounding reaffirmation of what faith, dedication and talent can accomplish. It is what distinguished Chicago theatre in its Early Stages more than a quarter century ago, and it is what continues to make Chicago theatre so exciting."

Next Theatre serves more than 15,000 patrons annually, including students, elderly and everyone in between. The Next audience includes locAl Evanstonians as well as Chicago and North Shore residents, and they have come to expect artistic excellence in the pursuit of culturally progressive work.

The Next Theatre is located inside the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston, adjoining the Noyes street stop on the Evanston "el." Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the theatre and the Evanston Civic Center.

Next Theatre Box Office hours are from 12 - 6 p.m. weekdays and two hours prior to curtain Saturday and Sunday. All tickets are held at will-call until pick-up on the day of performance, unless the tickets have been purchased in person.

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