Life and love are not so simple, as three couples with six different perspectives discover in the Chicago premiere of Rebecca Gilman's The Crowd You're In With at Goodman Theatre. Wendy C. Goldberg, a frequent Gilman collaborator and artistic director of the acclaimed National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center-where The Crowd You're In With was developed-directs this intimate and relevant new play.
The Crowd You're In With is the final play in the Goodman's "Strong Women, Strong Voices" three-play series of works written and directed by women (which also included the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ruined by
Lynn Nottage and
Naomi Iizuka's Ghostwritten) in the Owen Bruner Theatre. The Crowd You're In With runs May 23 - June 21 (opening night is June 1); tickets are $10 - $39. A complete performance schedule including dates, times and ticket prices appears at the end of this release. Production support was provided by the Sara Lee Foundation, the Owen Season Corporate Sponsor; The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation, Major Production Sponsor; Baxter International Inc., Contributing Sponsor; the New Works Season Sponsors; and the Director's Society Sponsors.
"I am thrilled to welcome back Rebecca to the Goodman with this thought-provoking and funny new play about how we measure success 'in our own backyard'-marriage and property, career and children," said Artistic Director
Robert Falls, whose critically acclaimed production of Gilman's Dollhouse premiered at the Goodman in 2005. "We welcome director Wendy Goldberg, whose grace and skill with new plays is fast earning her a reputation as a leader in new play development in the country."
In the backyard of a Chicago two-flat on the 4th of July, three intelligent and liberal couples engage in what begins as friendly conversation, but soon evolves into a heated debate about the pros and cons of starting a family. Jasper (
Coburn Goss) and Melinda (
Janelle Snow) are considering having a baby, Dan (
Kiff Vanden Heuvel) and Windsong (
Stephanie Childers) are enthusiastically expectant and Tom (
Rob Riley) and Karen (
Linda Gehringer) have opted not to have children. As the innocuous barbeque turns into an ideological confrontation, each couple must ask themselves how much the crowd they're in with determines the course of their lives.
"I had been considering a couple of ideas for a new play when Bob Falls suggested I write something more personal," said Chicago Playwright
Rebecca Gilman, who named The Crowd You're In With after a line in
Bob Dylan's song "Positively 4th Street" about the alliances in friendship. "I thought about the time of transition my husband and I were going through, and how sometimes, what may seem like benign choices actually leave you in the minority-when you didn't expect to be in the minority. I am honored and excited to present this work here in my hometown."
Rebecca Gilman's plays include Dollhouse, Spinning Into Butter, Boy Gets Girl, Blue Surge, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Glory of Living. Her plays have been produced at
Goodman Theatre,
Royal Court Theatre,
Lincoln Center Theater,
Joseph Papp Public Theater,
Manhattan Theatre Club and
Manhattan Class Company. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Prince Prize for Commissioning New Work, The
Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The
George Devine Award and The
Harper Lee Award. Gilman was named a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for her play The Glory of Living. She is an assistant professor of playwriting and screenwriting in the MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage program at
Northwestern University.
Wendy C. Goldberg is in her fifth season as Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference at the
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, which she has re-established as a leader in the field. The O'Neill celebrated nine world-premiere productions in the 2007/2008 season. Goldberg's off-Broadway directing credits include the world premiere of Deathbed at McGinn Cazale Theatre. Her regional credits include Master Class at
Paper Mill Playhouse; Durango and Doubt at
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Doubt and The Chosen at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Third, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Living Out and The Clean House at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts; the world premiere of False Creeds at
ALLIANCE THEATRE; The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Proof, Book of Days, On the Jump and K2 at
Arena Stage; and the upcoming production of
Rebecca Gilman's Dollhouse at Guthrie Theater. She is the Creative Advisor for
Rock of Ages currently on Broadway and nominated for five Tony Awards. Goldberg was an Artistic Associate at
Arena Stage from 2000 to 2005 and has directed in every major new play development program in the country. Goldberg proudly serves on the Executive Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreoraphers. She received a BA at the
University of Michigan and an MFA from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television.
Tickets are $10 - 39, and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the
Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or by phone at 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office and at 10am online on the day of performance; not available by telephone. When purchasing online, use promo code MEZZTIX. For students, 10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office and at 10am online on the day of performance; not available by telephone. Valid student I.D. must be presented at will call; limit four tickets per student. All tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted group tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.
Photos by Eric Y. Exit
Rob Riley, Linda Gehringer, Coburn Goss, Stephanie Childers and Wendy C. Goldberg
Corburn Gross, Janelle Snow and Wendy C. Goldberg
Wendy C. Goldberg
Rob Riley, Coburn Goss, Linda Gehringer and Janelle Snow
Wendy C. Goldbeg and Rebecca Gilman
Corburn Gross
Stephanie Childres and Kiff Vanden Heuvel
Rebecca Gilman
Janelle Snow
