Carm Grisolla and Tom Hickey to Star in Strawdog Theatre's FAIL/SAFE, Running 9/14-10/14

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland have announced the first production in their 2014 - 2015 Hugen Hall season, Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler's Fail/Safe, adapted for the stage by ensemble members Nikki Klix and Anderson Lawfer, September 14 to October 14, direction by Anderson Lawfer at Hugen Hall in Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway Street.

In addition, the final two productions in the Hugen Hall Season are Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, adapted for stage by Ann Sonneville and Clint Sheffer, directed by ensemble member Mike Mroch, March 8, 2015 - April 7, 2015 and The Pied Piper, adapted for stage by Forks and Hope and directed by ensemble member Josh Sobel, May 31, 2015 - June 30, 2015.

The preview performance for Fail/Safe is Sunday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. Opening night performance is Monday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Sundays at 12 p.m. and Sundays-Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Preview tickets are $10, single tickets are $15 and are currently on sale. Subscriptions, group, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

Fail/Safe is a political thriller where a system failure threatens to trigger World War III, adapted from the acclaimed 1964 film. As time runs out, the president of the United States and his advisors scramble to find a strategy that will save the planet from total annihilation.

The cast includes Strawdog ensemble members Carm Grisolla and Tom Hickey with guest artists Mark Pracht, Conor Burke, Stuart Ritter, Brian Amidei, Lee Russell, Joe Mack, Jim Heatherly, and Dave Skavaria.

The production team also includes Strawdog Company members Mike Mroch, set design; Jordan Kardasz, light designer; Heath Hays, sound designer; Kyle Hamman, projection design; with guest artists Elizabeth Lovelady, assistant director/dramaturg; Hilary Surface, stage manager; Rebecca Grossman, production manager and Noel Huntzinger, costume design.

ABOUT FAIL/SAFE - Fail/Safe is the best selling novel from the team of Burdick and Wheeler originally published in 1962. The story was initially serialized in three installments in the Saturday Evening Post on October 13, 20, and 27, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The popular and critically acclaimed novel was adapted in a 1964 movie, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, Dan O' Herlihy and Walter Matthau. In 2000, the novel was adapted for television and aired in black and white with an introduction by Walter Cronkite and starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Richard Dreyfuss and Noah Wyle. The book so closely resembled the 1958 novel Red Alert by Peter George, which was adapted by George and Stanley Kubrick into Dr. Strangelove, that George filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement. The case was settled out of court.

ABOUT Anderson Lawfer, Director/Co-adapter - Anderson Lawfer is a Strawdog Company Member since 2003,recently directing and adapting the world premiere of Pontypool, the world premiere of Kill Shakespeare, and the adaptation of Ben Hecht's 1,001 Afternoons In Chicago with Access Contemporary Music. He is the host of Theatre Wars! and The Direct Off! at Strawdog and the late night hit The Game Show Show...and Stuff! Lawfer is also the curator of the Chicago theatre insider blog "Eric and Andy's Reviews You Can Iews" and host of Chicago theatre podcast "Poison Boot."

ABOUT Nikki Klix, Co-adaptor - Nikki Klix is an actor and musician who attended College of DuPage as a Belushi Scholar. She has worked with Steppenwolf, Northlight, The Hypocrites, Oracle, and Strawdog where she is a new ensemble member and was last seen in the Hugen Hall production Pontypool. Klix is a singer, songwriter and violinist. This is her first work she has adapted for the stage.

ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY - Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.

ABOUT HUGEN HALL - Under Hugen Hall's Artistic Director Anderson Lawfer, Hugen Hall has grown from a cabaret space and Chicago's "Best Theater Bar" (Chicago Reader) to a fully functional performance and gallery space. Over the past two seasons of presenting productions, Lawfer has overseen, and often directed, various premieres and new productions varying from superheroes in conflict to zombie world domination to family fare with many of Chicago's leading talents. In addition, Hugen Hall has also displayed artwork from David Csicsko and other Chicago artists that reflect the action onstage.

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