First Floor Theater to Present THE PARANOID STYLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS, 4/19-5/9

First Floor Theater continues their acclaimed third season with an explosive world premiere written by Company Member Emmett Rensin, directed by FFT Artistic Producer Will Bishop, and developed collaboratively by the company - a first for FFT - playing April 19-May 9 at The Pentagon Theatre in The Flat Iron Arts Building. Tickets for THE PARANOID STYLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS will be available at http://firstfloortheater.com/. The press opening is Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 4:00 p.m.

THE PARANOID STYLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS features Associate Artistic Director Andrew Cutler, Managing Director Amanda Fink, Company Members Kate Cornelius-Schecter, Luke Michael Grimes and Mitch Salm, with Eric Gerard.

Six young far-right wing campaign staffers set out to win an Illinois Senate seat, when leaks from inside the campaign threaten to unravel their mission completely. Toeing the line between personal and political, this thrilling new work challenges audiences to see both sides of the characters, and confront their own prejudices in the process. Paranoid Style is a fast-paced, unrelenting political thriller-- as secrets and ideologies bump up against one another, the hunt for the leak in the campaign becomes increasingly heated and the whole campaign lurches towards political ruin. Inspired by a seminal political essay of the same name, this new play simultaneously explores the spectrum of conservative ideologies and psychologies while tensions rise and relationships are sacrificed for beliefs.

"The uncontrollable fervor of these young people fighting for what they believe in hits close to home in the scrappy world of storefront theater," says Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel. "It's fascinating to identify with people whose ideology I oppose so strongly. One moment we're rooting for them and the next moment they say something completely revolting. There's no more fitting way to end our third mainstage season with a bang."

The Paranoid Style in American Politics was originally developed and envisioned as part of the Summer Incubator Residency with the Theater and Performance Studies department of the University of Chicago.

The production team for THE PARANOID STYLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS includes: Pat Whalen (dramaturg), John Holt (set design), Amanda Cantlin (lighting design), Jake Smith (sound design), Lizzy Lewis (costume design), Laura Kinter (video design), Caroline Brown (production manager), Helen Behnke-Hanson (stage manager).

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