Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma present Writers Theatre's opener to its 2014/15 season: the Midwest Premiere of Isaac's Eye by Lucas Hnath, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam. The show runs now through December 7, 2014 at Books on Vernon, 664 Vernon Ave Ave, Glencoe. The Press Openings are tonight, September 10, 2014 and Thursday, September 11, 2014, at 7:30pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
Plays about historical figures often play fast and loose with facts. In Isaac's Eye, however, an ingenious, meta-theatrical device separates truth from fiction, as each incontrovertible fact is chalked onto the very walls of the theatre! Such is the inspired atmosphere of Lucas Hnath's wildly creative new play, which tells the story of a young Isaac Newton, who once inserted a long needle "between my eye and the bone, as near to the backside of my eye as I could."
Hnath playfully reimagines Newton's world with a contemporary conceit and language-stripped of accents and period dialect-as he introduces young Newton to the great Robert Hooke, the most famous and powerful scientist in Britain. The resulting battle of intellects and egos pulses with wit, humor and tension as the playwright uncovers (and invents) the motivations that drove a young farm boy to become one of the greatest thinkers in human history.
The cast features LaShawn Banks (Actor/Dying Man), Marc Grapey (Robert Hooke), Jürgen Hooper (Isaac Newton) and Elizabeth Ledo (Catherine).
The design team includes: Collette Pollard (Scenic Designer), Jenny Mannis (Costume Designer), Keith Parham (Lighting Designer), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Designer), D.J. Reed (Props Designer) and David Castellanos (Stage Manager).
Curtain times are Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30pm; Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 4:00pm and 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00pm and 6:00pm. Select Wednesday matinees are at 2pm. Tickets are $35-$75 and are available at the Box Office, 321 Park Avenue, Glencoe; 847-242-6000 or online at www.writerstheatre.org.
Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow
LaShawn Banks and Marc Grapey
Jurgen Hooper, Marc Grapey and LaShawn Banks (background)
Jurgen Hooper and Elizabeth Ledo
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