Nothing Special Announces FIGHT NIGHT: VALKYRIES Line-Up!

Nothing Special is super jazzed to announce the fantastic line-up for the latest installment of Chicago's favorite stage combat extravaganza, FIGHT NIGHT!

Directed and curated by Fight Night favorite Gaby Labotka, Fight Night: VALKYRIES celebrates the feminine warrior spirit through an evening of exciting action and bad-ass fights! Following ten sold-out installments of Fight Night, we are taking over The Edge Theater, at 5451 N Broadway, for two performances for Valkyries - Friday, September 16 and Saturday, September 17. Doors Open at 8pm, local band Sadie and the Stark goes on at 8:30pm, and Fight Night thunders in at 9pm.

Fight Night: Valkyries showcases the work of eight different Chicago theater companies and independent artists, each challenged to produce a scene involving stage combat with the following parameters: The fight choreographer of the piece must be a female or non-binary person; and/or the piece must pass the "Fighting Bechdel Test," in which two named female or non-binary characters talk - and also FIGHT! - about something other than a man.

First-time Fight Night Hosts Gaby Labotka and Moira Begale will welcome returning companies Otherworld Theatre Company, Reutan Collective, and of course, Nothing Special. Fight Night Newcomers include Christopher Pazdernik and Barbara Seifert, as well as Claire Allegra Taylor and Vahishta Vafadari, and finally, we've got Fight Night veterans Brittany Ellis leading The Galkyries, Maria Burnham with the brand new Ghostlight Ensemble, and John Morrison's The Zero Fox Coalition.

Opening the evening will be local indie rock band Sadie and the Stark. Headed by the gloriously seductive frontwoman Sadie Rogers, the band mixes fantasy elements and gritty guitars with Sadie's distinctively fiery vocals and intimate, visceral lyrics - perfect for an evening celebrating fierce and defiant women.

For the first time, a portion of the proceeds from Fight Night will go to a local charity. In line with the theme of Valkyriesand in response to the abuses that Profiles Theatre perpetrated in our community, we've chosen Rape Victim Advocates. RVA is dedicated to the healing and empowerment of sexual assault survivors through non-judgmental crisis intervention counseling, individual and group counseling, and medical and legal advocacy in the Chicago area. RVA provides public education and institutional advocacy in order to improve the treatment of sexual assault survivors and to effect positive change in policies and public attitudes toward sexual assault. Find out more about RVA atwww.rapevictimadvocates.org.

Tickets for Fight Night: Valkyries are $18 and can be purchased though Dime at https://dime.io/

events/fight-night-valkyries. More information can be found at nothingspecialproductions.com.

One week after Fight Night: Valkyries, NSP will host a staged reading of The Subject by Carolyn Kras, in coordination with theater companies around the world, protesting the verdict of the Brock Turner case. The Subjectconcerns Princess Sophia, daughter of mad King George III, and her attempts to make public the sexual assault perpetrated by her brother, Prince Ernest, and the efforts of the royal family to silence her. Pennsylvania transplant Renee Rock will direct the reading, with NSP favorite Bethany Arrington in the role of Sophia.

The reading of The Subject will be held at the Belmont Lincoln library on September 24 at 2pm, and at the Black Rock Pub the same night at 7:30. There will be no cost for admission, but we will continue to collect donations on behalf of Rape Victim Advocates.

Nothing Special is dedicated to spreading their mischievous mantra: If everyone's unique, then we're all nothing special. It is in that spirit that we share these stories of defiant women overcoming the expectations of society and family.

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