Cast Announced for DYING FOR IT Presented by The Artistic Home at The Den Theatre

The Artistic Home will present Moira Buffini's comedy Dying For It, directed by Monica Payne, playing March 18 - April 23 at The Den's Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are now on sale at thedentheatre.com or by calling (773) 697-3830. The press opening is Thursday, March 23 at 8 pm.

The cast includes ensemble members Kayla Adams*, Reid Coker*, Kristin Collins*, Brookelyn Hbert*, John LaFlamboy*, Kathy Scambiatterra* and Todd Wojcik* with Khyel Roberson, Daniel Shtivelberg, Mary Spencer, Patrick Thornton and Carolyn Waldee.

"Freely adapted from Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide - a 1928 satire that was banned by Stalin before it ever took the stage - Dying for It is a modernized take on the same dark buffoonery and fallacies of post-revolution life. In this tragedy-turned-slapstick, Semyon is a young unemployed man who has an obsessive itch to commit suicide. A ragtag team of early Soviet Russian society consisting of a dissatisfied intellectual, a boisterous romantic, a questionable priest, a controversial writer and a proletarian postman all team up to gain a martyred profit off of Semyon offing himself.

Comments Director Monica Payne, "I am thrilled to be directing this sharp-witted, ensemble-driven satire, which feels as relevant today in Moira Buffini's adaptation Dying For It as it did in Nikolai Erdman's original Russian text, The Suicide. Although ostensibly about a character who's trying to kill himself, the play is actually about LIFE. It poses a vital, simple question: Why live? My hope is that we can bring this question to a modern audience with humor, honesty, and compassion, and look for the answer(s) together."

The production team includes Kevin Hagan+ (Scenic Designer), Rachel Lambert (Costume Designer), Mark Bracken Jr.+ (Lighting Designer), Petter Wahlbck+ (Sound Designer), Randy Rozler (Props Designer), Jenna Steege Ramey* (Assistant Director), Tom McNelis+ (Technical Director) and Andrew Snyder (Stage Manager).

COVID safety: As the Chicago theatre community continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, The Den Theatre remains committed to the safety of its patrons and staff. For the most up-to-date information on the venue's COVID precautions, please visit thedentheatre.com/covid19-policy.

*Denotes The Artistic Home ensemble members +Denotes The Artistic Home artistic associates

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

Title: Dying for It

Playwright: Moira Buffini

Director: Monica Payne

Cast (in alphabetical order): Kayla Adams* (Masha), Reid Coker* (Yegor), Kristin Collins* (Margarita), Brookelyn Hbert* (Kiki), John LaFlamboy* (Aristarkh), Khyel Roberson (Viktor), Kathy Scambiatterra* (Serafima), Daniel Shtivelberg (Semyon), Mary Spencer (Oleg, Beggary Musicians), Patrick Thornton (Father Yelpidy), Carolyn Waldee (Stepan, Beggary Musicians) and Todd Wojcik* (Alexander).

Location: The Den's Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago

Dates: Previews: Saturday, March 18 at 8 pm, Sunday, March 19 at 3 pm and Wednesday, March 22 at 8 pm

Press opening: Thursday, March 23 at 8 pm

Regular run: Friday, March 24 - Sunday, April 23, 2023

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will be an added performance on Saturday, April 8 at 4 pm; there will not be a performance on Sunday, April 9 (Easter).

Tickets: Previews $15. Regular run $35. Students/seniors $20. Tickets are now on sale at thedentheatre.com or by calling (773) 697-3830.

About the Artists

Moira Buffini

(Playwright) Moira Buffini's plays include Blavatsky's Tower (Machine Room), Gabriel (Soho Theatre), Silence (Birmingham Rep), Loveplay (Royal Shakespeare Company), Dinner (National Theatre and West End), Dying for It, adapted from The Suicide by Nikolai Erdman (Almeida), A Vampire Story (NT Connections), Marianne Dreams (Almeida), Welcome to Thebes (National Theatre), Handbagged (Tricycle Theatre) and wonder.land, created with Damon Albarn and Rufus Norris (National Theatre).

Monica Payne

(Director) is an interdisciplinary director, working primarily in theatre and occasionally making forays into film. Her work includes literary adaptations, devised work, re-imaginings of the classics and new plays. Her latest devised work, Song of Home: a theatrical meditation on global displacement, toured to Eastern Europe prior to Covid lockdown and was remounted at the Chicago Physical Festival (July 2022). Her most recent work at The Artistic Home was Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson, which won a Jeff Award for Performer in a Principal Role (Brookelyn Hebert). Payne has directed in cities across the country, including New York, LA, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. She is a Resident Director for Trap Door Theatre, and is the founder of Theatre Lumina, a group of theatremakers focused on cross-cultural collaboration and international exchange. Payne has been a Meisner teacher for twenty years and has worked as an actress at many of Chicago's most prestigious venues: Steppenwolf, the Hypocrites, the Journeymen, Famous Door and Collaboraction, among others. She holds an MFA in Directing from UCLA and has taught at UCLA, Carnegie Mellon and Point Park University, where she also served as the Head of Graduate Acting. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in Acting/Directing at Tulane in New Orleans.

monicapaynedirector.com

About The Artistic Home

The Artistic Home creates theatre that explores and celebrates the truth within us. Through extraordinary acting, we seek to ignite an audience's imagination, to reach deep into the primal to send tremors through the intellect, to give birth to unforgettable moments by working in an intimate space, to touch audiences who are increasingly distanced from human contact. We readdress the classics and explore new works with passion. We give artists a home where they can shape, develop and strengthen their artistic voice.

To post a comment, you must register and login.