First Floor Theater Announces Season 12

Chicago’s First Floor Theater has announced its 12th season with the World Premiere of ONE PARTY CONSENT, written by First Floor Theater Company Member Omer Abbas Salem, running February 20 - March 15, 2025, and the Chicago Premiere of Will Arbery’s EVANSTON SALT COSTS CLIMBING, set for May 22 - June 14, 2025, at The Den Theatre (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave) in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. 

First Floor Theater’s play development program, The Blueprint Commission, continues its mission to support writers bringing new, daring plays to shape the future of American theater. Now in its fourth year, the program announces Gloria Imseih Petrelli as this season’s artist commission. Petrelli, a Chicago-born and based theatre artist and political organizer, focuses their work on their Palestinian identity, community, and joy as a practice. Previous recipients include Omer Abbas Salem and Ariel Zetina; this project is made possible by a generous donation from Michael and Mona Heath. 

“In Season Twelve, we will continue our mission of bringing cutting-edge theater that tells stories of personal revolution to our audiences. Once again, our season includes a World Premiere, a Chicago Premiere, and another exciting iteration of our Blueprint Commission,” said Andrew Cutler, Artistic Producer for First Floor Theater. “We’re glad to continue our collaborations with Omer Abbas Salem by producing ONE PARTY CONSENT, originally created for the Blueprint Commission, and with Will Arbery by producing EVANSTON SALT COSTS CLIMBING, after staging Will’s play PLANO in Season Eight. Both of these writers are wrestling with urgent questions and exploring them in daring, theatrical ways. We look forward to bringing these plays to life for our audiences, and continue to take our place in the vanguard of theatrical innovation across Chicago’s stages.”

ABOUT “ONE PARTY CONSENT” - World Premiere

February 20 - March 15, 2025 (Previews February 13 - 19, 2025)

Written by Omer Abbas Salem*

Directed by Nadya Naumaan

Trust is tricky. You enter working relationships and it's unprofessional not to offer it. When you feel your trust challenged, you convince yourself that you're the problem. And some people take advantage of that. Fola is an MFA directing grad student stepping into a mid-year review with their advisor. What happens when you record a professional meeting and you don't tell the other? And what do you do when you record something really incriminating? This is a play about the degradation of trust.

ABOUT “EVANSTON SALT COSTS CLIMBING” - Chicago Premiere

May 22 - June 14, 2025 (Previews May 15 - 21, 2025)

Written by Will Arbery

Directed by Micah Figueroa*

Winters keep getting worse in Evanston, Illinois, where salt truck drivers Peter and Basil battle the ice and snow and pass the time with jokes and stories. But what’s with this creeping sense of dread? Is it because their boss Maiworm has noble visions of new green technology that would make their jobs obsolete? Or is there a more terrifying warning calling out from under these roads? At least they have each other, right?

* Denotes First Floor Theater Company Member

ABOUT FIRST FLOOR THEATER

Founded in 2012, First Floor Theater has garnered a reputation for pairing some of the most cutting-edge scripts in Chicago and the American Theater with a signature innovative design style. Shortly after their inaugural season, FFT was named “Best New Theater Company” by the Chicago Reader. FFT was also honored to be recognized with the 2018 Francesca Primus Prize from ATCA for their production of Leah Nanako-Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow, and in Newcity’s Players 2019: “The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago.” Some of First Floor’s notable past productions include Hooded or Being Black for Dummies, Mike Pence Sex Dream, Two Mile Hollow, peerless, and Plano. First Floor Theater is a Resident Company at The Den Theatre. 

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