League of Chicago Theatres Sets Theatre Thursdays Lineup, Featuring World Premieres

The League of Chicago Theatres announces the re-launch of Theatre Thursdays for the 2015-2016 Chicago theatre season, featuring 12 world premiere plays by companies across the city. Each monthly event provides audiences with an inside look at the creative process behind new works, including exclusive access to artists. This collaborative initiative first launched in 2005 and was created to strengthen and diversify the Chicago theatre community by encouraging Chicagoans to explore new venues and companies.

Theatre Thursdays begins on September 10, 2015 with the world premiere of The Revel produced by The House Theatre of Chicago at the Chopin Theatre. Ticket information and details for each event will be available at http://bit.ly/theatrethursdays.

"At the 10-year anniversary of Theatre Thursdays, the League of Chicago Theatres is proud to be re-launching the program to focus on the many world premieres that take place each year in Chicago. Theatre-goers take great pride in the unique, risky, bold and incredible new work happening on Chicago stages year-round, and Theatre Thursdays will encourage more Chicagoans to become adventurous theatre-goers while also providing an inside look into the creative process of new plays," says Deb Clapp, Executive Director of the League of Chicago Theatres.

For the 2015-16 season, there will be 12 Theatre Thursday events, one per month, featuring a never-before-seen production. Attendees will not only have the opportunity to see world premiere shows, but they will also engage with the new works by attending exclusive pre-show receptions and have opportunities to meet artists from the productions.

The 2015-2016 lineup includes:

September 10, 2015 - THE REVEL

The House Theatre of Chicago at the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park

Commissioned and developed by The House Theatre of Chicago and the Chicago Performance Lab through the Theatre and Performance Studies Program at the University of Chicago, The Revel a soul-quenchin' revival in music and spirits written by Damon Kiely and directed by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig with music by Chicago composer and fiddler Jess McIntosh.

October 8, 2015 - THE CHEATS

Steep Theatre in Edgewater

Steep Theatre's season begins with the world premiere of Hamish Linklater's The Cheats, directed by Steep Ensemble Member Joanie Schultz. Mr. Linklater, well known for his stage, film, and TV work, made a splash in 2013 with his critically acclaimed playwriting debut The Vandal, which made its Midwest Premiere at Steep in 2014.

November 5, 2015 - PILGRIM'S PROGRESS

A Red Orchid Theatre in Old Town

A new play by Ensemble Member Brett Neveu. With homages to Albee, O'Neill, Williams and Shepard, the tension rides high and the carving knife does more than just cut the turkey. A Red Orchid ensemble members Kirsten Fitzgerald and Michael Shannon star in this hilarious and dark family comedy.

December 10, 2015 - BEL CANTO

Lyric Opera of Chicago in downtown Chicago

Ann Patchett's best-selling novel Bel Canto took the literary world by storm - now, in a world premiere curated by Lyric's creative consultant, Renée Fleming, this riveting story inspired by a real-life hostage crisis becomes a powerful opera. With music by dynamic Peruvian composer Jimmy López and words by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, this passionate drama about music as a universal language comes to life in a grand-scale theatrical production.

January 28, 2016 - ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY

Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago

A stirring new music-filled work by Academy Award nominee José Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries) and Grammy winner Héctor Buitrago. Inspired by true events, Another Word for Beauty is a haunting and soulful examination of women trapped within a prison's walls and the events and circumstances that led to their arrests.

February 11, 2016 - INTERROGATION

The Artistic Home in West Town

On the heels of his 2014 critically-acclaimed play Beaten, Chicago Dramatist resident playwright Scott Woldman returns to The Artistic Home with a darkly-comic tale of fractured family life directed by ensemble member Scott Westerman.

March 3, 2016 - MIDNIGHT COWBOY

Lifeline Theatre in Rogers Park

A meditation on loneliness and the need to form real connections amidst the crushing isolation of 20th-century life, in a world premiere adaptation of the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. Lifeline Theatre is driven by a passion for story and their ensemble process supports writers in the development of literary adaptations and new work.

April 7, 2016 - HILLARY AND CLINTON

Victory Gardens Theater in Lincoln Park

Fresh from the IGNITION Festival of New Plays, Lucas Hnath's Hillary and Clinton is a fast-paced, no-holds-barred glimpse into a political storm of another world. Chay Yew directs Hnath's 2008 Primary Election fantasy, exploring the extraordinary sacrifices one is willing to make in order to gain ultimate power.

May 12, 2016 - DEATH OF A STREETCAR NAMED VIRGINIA WOOLF: A PARODY

Writers Theatre and The Second City at Writers Theatre in Glencoe

Co-directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and former Associate Artistic Director Stuart Carden, this deliciously satirical mash-up of A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Our Town opens Writers Theatre's new Gillian Theatre with a tongue-in-cheek salute to the celebrated icons of American drama.

June 16, 2016 - THADDEUS AND SLOCUM: A VAUDEVILLE ADVENTURE

Lookingglass Theatre in downtown Chicago

In this world premiere written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas, Lookingglass dives deep into the divided heart of American show biz for a daring cavalcade of slapstick, song and dance, burlesque as two best friends risk everything to make it to the top together.

July 2016 - To be announced

August 2016 - To be announced

Please note that Theatre Thursday event information and dates are subject to change.

Loyalty cards will be available at the events and theatre-goers who attend at least 6 of the 12 Theatre Thursday events in the 2015-16 theatre season will be entered to win a $100 gift card to Formento's, a popular Italian restaurant in the West Loop.

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