Michael Patrick Thornton & Cyd Blakewell to Star in OBLITERATION at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre

The Gift Theatre will present a limited engagement of Obliteration, written and directed by ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker, playing July 25- August 3, 2024 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 1700 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL. Single tickets are now on sale now.

The production features Gift Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Michael Patrick Thornton and Gift Ensemble Member and Casting Director Cyd Blakewell.

Obliteration is a fusion of stand-up comedy and theater that tells the story of two comedians, Lee and Neal, trying to make sense of a world that's falling apart, even as their own lives are hanging on by a thread. 

When asked about this production, Co-Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse stated, “We are so proud to present this limited engagement of Obliteration written and directed by Gift ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker, created for and performed by ensemble members Cyd Blakewell and Michael Patrick Thornton. We first glimpsed this one-of-a-kind piece as a 10-minute short last year during our TEN festival. Now, one year later, we are thrilled to share the fully realized theatrical experience with our Chicago community.”

On creating this piece, Andrew Hinderaker states, “I’ve loved stand-up comedy my whole adult life. But I’d never attempted to write it—I’m a playwright, not a comedian. Then, a couple years ago, I stumbled upon this quote from the brilliant Phoebe Waller-Bridge: ‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you get a lot for free from an audience if you can make them laugh.’ Immediately an idea for a play unspooled in my mind: a fusion of stand-up and theater that would tell the story of two comedians, trying to make sense of a world that’s falling apart, even while their own lives are hanging on by a thread. I wrote the piece for two of my fellow ensemble members of Chicago’s Gift Theatre: Michael Patrick Thornton: an actor/improviser/comedian with whom I’ve collaborated for over a decade; and Cyd Blakewell, an actor and artist I’ve been desperate to work with for years. Our process was simple: I’d write some pages, hoping they would make Cyd and Mike laugh and/or cry. Then they’d read the pages and make me laugh and cry (more a testament to their talent than mine). Over a year, we built the ‘play’ like this, gradually folding an audience into our process. And once we got people in the room, that’s when we realized, holy shit, there’s something here.”

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