Goodman Theatre Announces Full Cast for SUPPORT GROUP FOR MEN

The world's changing, bro. This summer, Goodman Theatre premieres Support Group for Men, a new comedy by Ellen Fairey, directed by Kimberly Senior. Fairey, whose work has been hailed "a must-see for anyone who follows important new plays" (Chicago Tribune), explores shifting social and gender roles through the lens of four men who gather every Thursday night to vent about middle-aged maladies. Support Group for Men was developed in the Goodman's 2016 New Stages Festival and features a 7-member cast including Anthony Irons as Delano; Ryan Kitley as Brian; Keith Kupferer as Roger; Jeff Louis Kurysz as Alex; Tommy Rivera-Vega as Kevin; Sadieh Rifai as (Officer Delgado) and Eric Slater as (Officer Novack). The creative team includes Jack Magaw (set), Noël Huntzinger (costumes), Jen Schriever (lighting) and Richard Woodbury(sound). Support Group for Men appears June 23 - July 29, 2018 (opening night is July 2 at 7pm) in the Goodman's Albert Theatre. Tickets ($25 - $80; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/SupportGroup, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). Winston & Strawn LLP is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. Support Group for Men is the recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award.

"I can't wait to share Support Group for Men with Goodman Theatre audiences," said Director Kimberly Senior, whose previous Goodman credits include the remount of Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize winner Disgraced. "Ellen has written a wonderful new comedy that is richly contemporary with incredible heart and has Chicago coursing through its veins. This cast of brilliant Chicago talent-many of which have been involved in the development process-breathe such life and depth into Ellen's multifaceted characters that the audience has the opportunity to embrace their own flaws."

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ellen Fairey (Playwright) returns to Goodman Theatre, where her play Support Group for Men appeared in the 2016 New Stages Festival. She is the author of Graceland, which held its New York premiere as part of Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3 series and previously enjoyed an extended six-month run at Chicago's Profiles Theatre. Graceland was awarded the 2010 Jeff Award for Best New Work and The New York Times named Fairey one of their "Faces to Watch" for spring 2010. Her first play, Girl 20, was named one of the top 10 plays of 2006 by the Chicago Tribune and nominated for two LA Weekly Theater Awards. Her short plays have been part of Collaboraction's Sketchbook Festival and Chicago Dramatists Saturday series, as well as Edward Albee's Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska. She is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Fairey was a writer/producer on Showtime's Nurse Jackie and a co-executive producer on Masters of Sex.

Kimberly Senior (Director) returns to Goodman Theatre, where she previously directed Disgraced; Rapture, Blister, Burn and Support Group for Men (New Stages Festival production). Her Chicago credits include The Scene, Marjorie Prime, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler, The Letters (Writers Theatre, where she is a resident director); Discord, 4000 Miles and The Whipping Man (Northlight Theatre); Want and The North Plan (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Inana, My Name is Asher Lev, All My Sons and Dolly West's Kitchen (TimeLine Theatre, where she is an associate artist); Disgraced (American Theater Company); The Great God Pan, After the Revolution, Madagascar, The Overwhelming and The Busy World is Hushed (Next Theatre Company), among others. Senior directed the Broadway premiere of Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced, which she previously directed off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater and later at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Mark Taper Forum. Her other off-Broadway credits include Chris Gethard's Career Suicide (produced by Judd Apatow and filmed for HBO). Engagements (Second Stage Theatre) and The Who and the What (Lincoln Center Theater). Regional credits include Sex with Strangers (Geffen Playhouse), Little Gem (City Theatre), Murder on the Nile and A Few Good Men (Peninsula Players), The Who and the What (La Jolla Playhouse) and Mauritius (Theatre Squared). She was a 2013 finalist for the SDCF Joe A. Callaway Award and the Zelda Fichandler Award. Senior is the recipient of the 2016 Special Non-Equity Jeff Award and the 2016 Alan Schneider Award. KimberlySenior.net

TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Tickets ($25-$80) - GoodmanTheatre.org/SupportGroup; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829

Box Office Hours -12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain

MezzTix - Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX)
$10Tix - Student $10 advance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)

Teen Arts Pass (TAP) - $5 day-of-performance tickets for teens ages 13-19; subject to availability; limit two, with valid TAP identification. Sign up at TeenArtsPass.org (promo code TAP)

CityKey - CityKey Cardholders access half-price mezzanine tickets; limit four, with valid CityKey ID. Sign up atChiCityClerk.com/ChicagoCityKey (promo code CITYKEY)

Group Sales are available for parties 10+; 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates - Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates

ACCESSIBILITY AT THE GOODMAN

Touch Tour, July 21 at 12:30pm - A presentation detailing the set, costume and character elements

Audio Described Performance, July 21 at 2pm - The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset

ASL Interpreted Performance, July 25 at 7:30pm - Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played

Open Captioned Performance, July 28 at 2pm - An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance
Visit Goodman Theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre's accessibility efforts.

ABOUT Goodman Theatre

AMERICA'S "BEST REGIONAL THEATRE" (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater's artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls' productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson's "American Century Cycle" and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.

Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman's Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater's ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago's cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family's legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth's family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor,Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chair of Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women's Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

Photo: Anthony Lee Irons (Delano), Jeff Louis Kurysz (Alex) and Keith Kupferer (Roger)

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