Poetry Is Theatre Festival to Feature World Premieres of MEDEA and PHAEDRA, RELEASED.

Poetry Is Productions presents the Poetry Is Theatre festival, featuring the world premieres of world premieres of "Medea" by Catherine Theis and "Phaedra, Released." by Robert Eric Shoemaker. Press opening is May 27 at 7:00 pm at The Comfort Station in Logan Square.

The Poetry Is Theatre festival runs from May 27 through June 11 at The Comfort Station, 2579 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7-9:30 PM, May 27, 2016 - June 11, 2016. For tickets, visit www.PoetryIs.org.

Set in the mountains of Montana, "MEDEA" is a twenty-first century retelling of the Euripidean tragedy. This innovative production includes sonorous soundscapes, voice dialogues sul telefono, as well as traditional scenes. But ultimately, language breaks down. It destroys us. When the Milky Way introduces herself as a vital character, we imagine her as a troupe of dancers, a true moving constellation. The play's final catastrophes-the poisoned fall of lovers, the flames-reach toward the inevitable harnessing of Fate's invisible forces. Starlight will be needed on stage just as much as stage light. Remember that "MEDEA" calls for Bach, a chorus of flames speaking in the brightest voices, it calls to burn down its own theatre doors, it calls for a deranged refinement of the senses.

In the original play "PHAEDRA, RELEASED." Shoemaker turns the myth of Phaedra, the classical wife of Theseus and would-be-lover of Hippolytus, into a family portrait gone wrong. Having been imprisoned in her own castle keep with her family for months, Phaedra (rechristened Luce) is beginning to crack. Her daughter deserts her to take the crown; her husband is nowhere to be found; Max is starting to suspect her of more than maternal affection; and her nurse is pushing the boundaries of discretion. Through poetical voices and visceral action, PHAEDRA, RELEASED. returns to the roots of tragedy to find out what "love" really is: a wild animal, capable of infinite destruction, or a passion meant to be embraced with both arms. Luce and her band of misfits encounter themselves and one another in battle, at the table, and in the rain in this not-to-be-missed retelling of the classic.

The Poetry Is Theatre festival brings together innovative poets and Chicago artistic teams to produce a theatrical event unlike any other- "a picnic under the stars." Set at the backdrop of The Comfort Station, the festival on the lawn invites attendees to bring a blanket, a picnic basket, and their poetry ears to indulge in lingual decadence for an evening.

Poetry Is Productions has produced PLATH/HUGHES and BERNARDA ALBA AND HER HOUSE, both acclaimed for their originality and execution. This spring's production of WILDE'S SALOMÉ was favored for its innovative staging of the touchy subject of gender and sexuality. The Poetry Is Theatre festival features the work of accomplished Chicago artists, including Joshua Brewer of Rum and Coke, and Przemyslaw Bosak, composer of TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA at Strawdog and BERNARDA ALBA AND HER HOUSE.

MORE about the TEAM:

Production staff includes Robert Eric Shoemaker (Producer, Writer of PHAEDRA, RELEASED., Artistic Director), Catherine Theis (Writer of MEDEA), Joshua Brewer (Director of MEDEA), Cecilia Adams (Director of PHAEDRA, RELEASED.) Przemyslaw Bosak (Sound Design for MEDEA), Michael Chancellor (Dramaturge, Assistant Director of MEDEA), Sarah Sapperstein (Dramaturge), and Kathleen Qiu (Marketing Design, Press Relations).

CATHERINE THEIS is a poet who writes plays. Her first book of poems is The Fraud of Good Sleep (Salt Modern Poets, 2011), followed by her chapbook, The June Cuckold, a tragedy in verse (Convulsive Editions, 2012). Catherine has received various fellowships and awards, most notably from the Illinois Arts Council and the Del Amo Foundation. Her play Medea was a finalist in the Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Woman Playwrights. Catherine is a Provost's Fellow and PhD Candidate in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California, where she also translates contemporary Italian poetry into English.

ROBERT ERIC SHOEMAKER is a Chicago based poet-playwright, director, and arts journalist. Eric's work has been seen at Redtwist Theatre, Gorilla Tango Theatre, City Lit Theatre, American Theater Company, 3 Brothers Theatre, Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, and others. He was awarded the 2014 Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize for Best Play for his musical PLATH/HUGHES, as well as a 2015 DCASE Individual Artist Program grant from the City of Chicago for his project "LORCA IN AMERICA". In addition to creating theatre, Eric is an arts journalist and poet published in Newcity, Evanston Now, Rollick Magazine, the Chicago After Dark Anthology, Literature Emitting Diodes, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. His book, "30 Days Dry" from Thought Collection Publishing, was met with acclaim from poets and critics. Eric is a graduate with honors from the University of Chicago, where he was Artistic Director of the Classical Entertainment Society. Eric is the current Artistic Director of Poetry Is. Follow his work at www.reshoemaker.com.

JOSHUA W. BREWER is a theater and film artist living in Chicago, IL. Joshua earned a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Drama with a focus in Directing at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. Selected credits include APPLES AND ROOFIES AND ENDLINGS with The Rum & Coke Collective, INHERIT THE WIND at Fordham University, ENDLINGS AND REMAINS at Gorilla Tango Theater, SIRENS AND SUPERHEROES for the Kansas City Fringe, ALL THE SMART CHOICES during the Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins festival in Chicago, and A CANTERBURY JOURNEY with Zoot Theater Company. He also served as the assistant director for THE ORESTEIA PROJECT In Pittsburgh, which was listed as one of the Top Ten Shows of the Decade by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. As a writer, his plays have been seen in Dayton, OH, Pittsburgh, PA, Orlando, FL, and Chicago, IL. He was a co-writer on the film BODY, which won Honorable Mention at the Metropolitan Film Festival of NYC as well as the Gold Award in Narrative Film at the California Film Awards. Currently, he serves as a Staff Writer for Film Collective Studio's production of Rural, as a writer for Cross the Line Entertainment, and as a contributor for Slickster Magazine.

CECILIA ADAMS graduated from Columbia College and premiered her biggest show, DOCTOR FAUSTUS, in 2015. Past credits include assistant directing HMS PINAFORE with Savoyaires Theater Company, directing LUNA PARK with Columbia College and with a number of theater festivals, including Worklight, The Fresh Ink Festival, and 24 Hour Playfest. This is her first show with Poetry Is, and as an avid lover classical plays, she's thrilled with the opportunity to work on an original production based on those works.

Poetry Is Productions brings poetry into all that we do, be it theatre, film, dance, publishing, or a new style of project. Our goal is to create art with a broadened sense of the definition of what "Poetry Is. For more information, visit www.PoetryIs.org.

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