Northlight Theatre to Receive $20,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, has been awarded a 2017 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The $20,000 grant will support the world premiere production of Faceless, written by Selina Fillinger. Faceless was developed through Northlight's Interplay Program, an initiative that invests in provocative new works by American and international playwrights, providing customized support in the critical stages of early play development.

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $30 million in grants as part of the NEA's first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017. The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

"The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations such as Northlight Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum, or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer."

Timothy J. Evans comments, "Northlight Theatre is grateful to the NEA for this generous grant, which will support Faceless,our next world premiere production. This is the second consecutive year that Northlight has received this grant, which is a meaningful acknowledgement from the NEA that the creation of new work is important and that Northlight's contribution to new play development is vital and significant. New play development is an important part of our mission, and Northlight is at the forefront of adding plays that tackle issues of social culture to the American canon."

Northlight's recent world premiere productions have included Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gundersonand Margot Melcon, Charm by Philip Dawkins, Chapatti by Christian O'Reilly, and Funnyman and White Guy on the Busby Bruce Graham.

In addition to fostering the creation of new works, Northlight is dedicated to working with early-career artists and directors. In recent years, Northlight has introduced Chicago-area audiences to emerging playwrights Dominique Morisseau (Detroit '67) and Matthew Lopez (The Whipping Man). In the previous few seasons, Northlight hired early-career directors to much success, including Marti Lyons (The City of Conversation), Kimberly Senior (The Whipping Man) and Devon de Mayo(Lost in Yonkers), as well as introduced Robin Witt (The Commons of Pensacola) and Jonathan Berry (The Mousetrap) to its audiences.

About Faceless

Northlight Theatre's World Premiere production of Faceless, written by Selina Fillinger and directed by BJ Jones, runs January 26 - March 4, 2017.

Eighteen-year-old Susie Glenn is on trial for conspiring to commit acts of terrorism, and recent Harvard Law grad and practicing Muslim, Claire Fathi, has been brought on to prosecute. Though pitted against one another in the courtroom, these two young women are fighting a similar battle to defend their morals, motives and religious freedoms in this riveting and timely new drama.

The cast of Faceless includes Joe Dempsey (Alan Glenn), Susaan Jamshidi (Claire Fathi), Timothy Edward Kane (Scott Bader), Ross Lehman (Mark Ahrenberg) and Lindsay Stock (Susie Glenn).

The creative team includes John Culbert (Set Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Design), Andre Pluess (Sound Design), and Stephan Mazurek (Projection Design). The stage manager is Rita Vreeland.

Chicago-based playwright Selina Fillinger is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied playwriting under the instruction of Laura Schellhardt. Her original work includes The Armor Plays, Three Landings and a Fire Escape,and the Coho Salmon Pub & Grub. Selina was a two-time winning playwright in Northwestern's Agnes Nixon Festival. Three Landings and a Fire Escape was awarded the 2015 Judith Barlow Prize and received a reading in New York under the direction of Kathleen Chalfant. Selina is one of three Chicago playwrights currently writing for Sideshow Theatre's Freshness Initiative: her play, Something Clean will receive a staged reading this June.

About Interplay

Through Interplay, Northlight seeks to serve the specific needs of the play and can provide playwright commissions, workshops with actors, and private or public readings. As of spring 2016, Interplay has provided support for 32 new plays, 27 of which have gone on to full productions, locally, nationally and internationally.

That staggering success rate has established Interplay as a valuable incubator for new work in the American theatre, and combined with the nearly 40 world premieres produced by Northlight in its 42-year history, has helped cement Northlight's national reputation as an important contributor to the American theatrical canon.

Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.

Now in its 42nd season, the organization has mounted over 200 productions, including nearly 40 world premieres. Northlight has earned 198 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 34 Awards. As one of the area's premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.

Northlight's production of Faceless is supported in part by Bridgeview Bank, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Freddi Greenberg & Dan Pinkert, The National Endowment for the Arts, RATIO Architects, and Room & Board.

Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions from Allstate Insurance; the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation; BMO Harris Bank; Henrietta Lange Burk Fund; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; ComEd, An Exelon Company; The Davee Foundation; Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays Award; Evanston Community Foundation; Full Circle Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Melvoin Award for Playwriting; Modestus Bauer Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Niles Township; The Offield Family Foundation; The Pauls Foundation; Room & Board; Sanborn Family Foundation; Dr. Scholl Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; The Sullivan Family Foundation; Tom Stringer Design Partners; Turner Construction; and the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation.

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