Photo Flash: First Look at The New Colony's MERGE World Premiere

Atari! Pong! Space Invaders! The New Colony concludes its 2016 Season with the world premiere comedy MERGE, a fast-paced, heartfelt and uproarious journey inside the burgeoning 1970s video game industry. Written by Spenser Davis and directed by Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood, MERGE plays now through November 13, 2016 at The New Colony's resident home, The Den Theatre's Upstairs Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. The press opening is tonight, October 11 at 7:30 pm, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

MERGE features Will Cavedo, Fin Coe, Jeffery Owen Freelon, Jr., Daria Harper, Wes Needham, Kristi Parker-Barnhart, Lindsey Pearlman, Victoria Perez, Michael Peters, Esteban Reyna, Robert Salazar, Omer Abbas Salem, Evan Sesek, Stephanie Shum, Kevin Stangler and David Weiss.

In 1976, Atari was the fastest growing company in the history of the United States, an arcade manufacturer with a workplace fueled by pot smoking, jacuzzi parties and nobody wearing socks. When they have to sell themselves to Warner Bros. to stay afloat, they quickly realize that corporate cash comes with baggage, as they lose a piece of the identity that made them who they were in the first place. And what's worse... they have to start wearing socks. MERGE is the story of a small band of programmers who stand up and fight back against the very company that saved them from bankruptcy, in a battle that threatens to crash an entire industry.

The production team for MERGE includes: John Wilson (scenic design), Nathan R. Rohrer (costume design), John Kelly (lighting design), Steve Labedz (sound design), Paul Deziel (projections design), Ben Zeman (projections assistant), Will Cavedo and Michael Peters (violence design), Ryan Oliveira (dramaturg) Patriac Coakley (assistant director), Garth Moritz (production manager), Liam Fitzgerald (technical director), Zoe Benditt (stage manager) and Kira Gaudynski (assistant stage manager).

For tickets and more information, visit www.thenewcolony.org.

Photo Credit: Evan Hanover