Irish Theatre of Chicago's Full 2015-16 Season to Include, SPINNING, MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE & More

Irish Theatre of Chicago, formerly Seanachaí Theatre Company, is pleased to announce its 2015-16 Season, featuring a U.S premiere and two Midwest premieres. The company's first-ever three-show season kicks off this fall with the Midwest premiere of Geraldine Aron's touching and comedic one-woman show MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE, directed by Siiri Scott. ITC's 21st Season continues in March 2016 with the Midwest premiere of Gary Mitchell's intense thriller IN A LITTLE WORLD OF OUR OWN, directed by Associate Artistic Director Jeri Frederickson. The season concludes in spring 2016 with the U.S. premiere of Deirdre Kinahan's probing drama SPINNING, directed by Joanie Schultz.

MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE will be presented at Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant, 3471 N. Elston Ave. in Chicago. IN A LITTLE WORLD OF OUR OWN and SPINNING will be presented at Irish Theatre of Chicago's resident home, The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Season subscriptions are currently available by calling (773) 878-3727. Single tickets will go on sale at a later date. For additional information, visit www.irishtheatreofchicago.org.

IRISH THEATRE OF CHICAGO'S 2015-16 SEASON:

October 7 - November 1, 2015

MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE - Midwest Premiere!

By Geraldine Aron

Directed by Siiri Scott

Featuring ensemble member Barbara Figgins

at Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant, 3471 N. Elston Ave. Chicago

Angela finds herself suddenly single after her husband leaves her for younger, exotic company. In this hilarious and touching one-woman show, Angela shares her perspective on these unexpected events and begins searching for the life she desires. A Midwest premiere by one of Ireland's leading female playwrights.

March 2 - April 10, 2016

IN A LITTLE WORLD OF OUR OWN - Midwest Premiere!

By Gary Mitchell

Directed by Associate Artistic Director Jeri Frederickson

at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Set against the violent tremors in the North, three brothers are thrust into a tense whodunit where one of them must pay for a heinous crime. A wry, moral and psychological thriller from Northern Ireland's preeminent playwright.

May 25 - July 3, 2016

SPINNING - U.S. Premiere!

By Deirdre Kinahan

Directed by Joanie Schultz

at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Conor is fresh from prison, grasping at the threads of his life. Susan is grieving the loss of her teenage daughter. Two lives collide in a seaside cafe, and are forever changed. Deidre Kinahan, playwright of the acclaimed Irish drama Moment, masterfully unspools a gripping contemporary tale over three distinct timelines in this U.S. premiere.

About the Playwrights:

Geraldine Aron was born in Galway but spent most of her adult life in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. She now divides her time between Cape Town and London. Aron is the author of twelve plays produced for television and radio, and Toscanini, a screenplay directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Plays not listed in the Irish Playography include Mr McConkey's Suitcase, Zombie, Mickey Kannis Caught My Eye, Same Old Moon, Spider, The Donahue Sisters, The Stanley Parkers and Joggers. Her hugely acclaimed one-woman show, My Brilliant Divorce, has been performed all over the world and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2004. She is also the past winner of two Edinburgh Fringe Firsts, for Bar and Ger and A Galway Girl, respectively.

Gary Mitchell was born in Rathcoole, North Belfast in 1965. In 1990, his first radio play won a BBC Radio 4 Young Playwrights Festival Award, and in 1995 won the Stewart Parker Award. In 1998, In A Little World of Our Own won the Irish Times Theatre Award for best new play and was performed for the Abbey Theatre's first visit to the Lyric, Belfast. Also in 1998, he won the Belfast Drama Award for In A Little World of Our Own and Sinking, and was made Writer in Residence at the Royal National Theatre, London. He has gone on to win the Pearson Best New Play prize for Trust, and for The Force of Change both the George Devine Award and the Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright. Other plays include Remnants of Fear, Suicide Blonde, Love Matters, Re-energize and Demented, which was just presented at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. In 2001, Mitchell adapted his play As the Beast Sleeps for the screen and filmed by BBC. In November 2005, he was forced out of his home in Rathcoole, Belfast, after it was attacked by Loyalist paramilitaries and he and his family now live at a secret location.

Deirdre Kinahan is a Dublin-based playwright and theatre producer who founded and ran Tall Tales Theatre Company for 15 years and is currently a board member of Theatre Forum Ireland. Deirdre wrote her first play in 1999 when a group of women at Ruhama Women's Project asked her to write a play about their lives as prostitutes. Be Carna was widely regarded as a powerful debut. Her play Moment played at the Bush to critical acclaim and sell out audiences in 2011, and had its Chicago debut in 2012 in Steep Theatre's hit production. Her latest play These Halcyon Days won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival 2013. Her latest play Spinning opened at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2014. Deirdre has also been part of the Open Court season at the Royal Court with a play about the Irish economic crisis.

About the Directors

Siiri Scott is the Head of Acting and Directing at the University of Notre Dame in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre, where she has taught acting, voice and movement and directed shows for the last 18 years. She currently focuses on preparing students for professional training. She worked with the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival for six years, both as an actor (Queen in Cymbeline) and as their voice and dialect coach. Recently Siiri moved back to Chicago to continue her professional work and commutes back to Notre Dame to teach. A graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul, she has worked locally with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Lifeline Theatre and hosted the KidsWB Network for WCIU. Regional work includes a stint in Los Angeles where she appeared on City of Angels; Milwaukee, where she performed in The Kentucky Cycle and co-directed Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry; and Seattle, where she worked with Theatre Babylon, Book-it Repertory Theatre and Seattle Children's Theatre. In 2009 she joined Theatre Nohgaku, an international Noh theatre company, as a performing member.

Jeri Frederickson is the associate artistic director of Irish Theatre of Chicago and a proud ensemble member also serving as literary manager. She calls Chicago home as a writer, director and curator. Recent collaborators include: Stone Soup Shakespeare, Whiskey Rebellion, Artemisia, and 20% Theatre Company. Jeri is a freelance editor and has worked for such journals as Thought Collection and was the lead editor for the novel Frederic Leon with Urban Folk Books. She received the Brad Williams Memorial Award just before graduating Hope College with a B.A. in Theatre and Creative Writing. Her writing has recently been published online and in print with Vines Leaves and Thought Collection.

Joanie Schultz After receiving her B.A. in theater directing from Columbia College, where she studied with David Cromer, Sheldon Patinkin and Henry Godinez, among other artists, Joanie arrived on the Chicago theater scene as Artistic Director and co-founder of Flush Puppy Productions, where she directed their first full-length play, Acts of Mercy. Schultz continued her work as Artistic Director of Flush Puppy Productions while working, among other things, as the assistant to the Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre, where she found mentorship among world-class theater artists and the opportunity to learn from the Steppenwolf ensemble's creative process by observing rehearsals and assistant directing. She received her MFA from Northwestern University in 2007, where she was mentored by Anna D. Shapiro, and also studied with great directors such as Frank Galati, Mary Zimmerman, Amy Morton and Jessica Thebus. In the fall of 2006, Schultz had the unique opportunity to observe the creation process of world-famous director Robert Lepage's work with Ex Machina in Quebec City. When she returned, she had developed an expanded view of international theater, creation, and a desire to direct opera. She began what has been an ongoing relationship with Chicago Opera Theater as an assistant director that spring. Since 2007, Ms. Schultz has been busy in both theater and opera as a freelance director, assistant director and directing teacher. She has worked in Chicago, nationally and abroad. In the fall of 2007, she was awarded a directing fellowship with the Drama League in New York, which allowed her to direct her off-Broadway debut. She was awarded The Goodman Theatre's Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship for 2009-2010, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation's Denham Fellowship for 2009-2010, and was a 2008 member of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab. She is currently on faculty at Columbia College Chicago and University of Chicago, and is an artistic associate with Steep Theatre and Victory Gardens. Joanie Schultz is a participant in the Leadership U: One-on-One program, funded by The Andrew W. Mellow Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, and is excited to be working under the mentorship of Victory Gardens Theater's Chay Yew through January 2016.

Irish Theatre of Chicago (formerly Seanachaí Theatre Company) is supported in part by The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs: City Arts Program.

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