Photo Flash: First Look at NAPERVILLE, Opening Tonight at Theater Wit

Theater Wit, Chicago's premiere "smart art" theater, looks forward to presenting the Chicago premiere of Naperville by acclaimed young playwright Mat Smart. This extraordinary dramatic comedy, all new to Chicago, is set in a Caribou Coffee in - you guessed it - Naperville. Press opening is tonight, September 6, at 7:30 p.m., and performances run through October 16. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Naperville premiered off-off Broadway in 2014 at New York's Slant Theatre Project. The production was a New York Times "Critic's Pick." New York Theatre Review hailed Smart's heartfelt and beautiful meditation on the "comedy and tragedy of quiet places we are too quick to forget" as a "valentine to the heart and soul of the American suburbs."

That idyllic suburb is none other than west suburban Naperville, where Howard is considering abandoning his career in Seattle to move back home to care for his mother Candice after an accident has left her blind. At the Caribou Coffee in downtown Naperville, Howard and Candice cross paths with Anne, Howard's high school classmate and an expert on the suburb's founder, Captain Joseph Naper.

Ultimately, Naperville is a comedy about high school crushes, curfews (for your mother), sight, and how beauty reveals itself in the suburbs.

Smart, born in Naperville and a graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School, looks forward to coming back to work with Wit on the play's hometown premiere, where all of its local references will fully resonate.

Smart returns to Chicago riding a wave of local acclaim after his play The Royal Society of Antarctica at Gift Theatre won the 2015 Equity Jeff Award for Best New Work.

Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler directs the Chicago premiere of Naperville. Theater Wit's cast includes Laura T. Fisher as Candice, Andrew Jessop as T.C., Abby Pierce as Anne, Charlie Strater as Roy and Mike Tepeli as Howard.

The production team includes Joe Schermoly (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Alexander Rogers (lights), Ethan Deppe (sound), Amanda Hermann (props), Majel Cuza (production manager) and Katrina Herrmann (stage manager).

Performances run Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Exception: No show on Thursday, September 9. Tickets are $12-$36. Theater Wit is located at 1229 N. Belmont, in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. To purchase single tickets, a Theater Wit Membership or Flex Pass, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150.

Photo Credit: Charles Osgood Photography

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