Polarity Ensemble Presents PEER GYNT at DCA Storefront Theater 11/15-12/18

Polarity Ensemble Theatre, in association with the DCA Theater, presents the Chicago premiere of Peer Gynt, a zany, high-energy translation by prolific poet Robert Bly of this rarely-produced Henrik Ibsen classic. Robert Bly is a National Book Award-winner and the Poet Laureate of Minnesota, his home state. Directed by Jeremy Wechsler, Artistic Director of Theatre Wit, Peer Gynt runs at the DCA Theater's Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago's downtown theater district, from November 15 through December 18, 2011. Press night is Friday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are currently on sale.

In Bly's translation, the wild, globe-trotting adventurer Peer Gynt, unencumbered by morals or a sense of responsibility, takes a mythic journey envisioned as that of America itself, from scrappy trickster to imperial power and beyond. Featuring live music and rustic settings reminiscent of 19th and 20th century Americana, Peer embarks on a 150-year whirlwind tour of the American psyche.

Bly's translation has been produced only once before, in 2008 at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Upon that premiere, CityPages declared Peer Gynt to be a "sprawling dreamlike adventure," and Variety raved the show to have "intellectual charge and a pleasing emotional ambiguity."

"Ibsen doesn't pull any punches," said Robert Bly in an interview regarding the 2008 production. "The amazing thing about this play is that, though written in the 19th century, it looks forward to a thousand things that are happening now. Especially when Ibsen lays out capitalism in the 19th century, the play becomes a really powerful indictment of the kind of young male personality that will go into capitalism in such a way as to ignore all other qualities of human nature, and simply aim for the money."

"I am fulfilling a 10-year-long dream of directing Peer Gynt with this production," said Director Jeremy Wechsler. "Set in a rough-hewn barn that converts to multiple locations and featuring live Americana folk music, we use each corner of the DCA Storefront Theater space for this epic whirlwind tour of American mythic history as seen through a 21st century lens."

Robert Bly is a critically acclaimed poet, author, activist and leader who has had a profound impact on the shape of American poetry. National Book Award-winner and the Poet Laureate of Minnesota, Bly was born in Madison, Minnesota in 1926 to parents of Norwegian stock. He attended Harvard University and received his M.A. from the University of Iowa in 1956.

Bly is the author of more than 30 books of poetry including Reaching Out to the World: New and Selected Prose Poems (White Pine Press, 2009); My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy (2006); The Night Abraham Called to the Stars (2001); Snowbanks North of the House (1999); Loving a Woman in Two Worlds (1987); and The Light Around the Body (1967), which won the National Book Award. As the editor of the magazine The Sixties (begun as The Fifties), Bly introduced many unknown European and South American poets to an American audience. In 1966 he co-founded American Writers Against the Vietnam War and led much of the opposition among writers to that war.

Bly is also the author of a number of nonfiction books, including Iron John: A Book About Men (1990), an international bestseller that has been translated into many languages. Bly has been honored with Guggenheim, Rockefeller and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships.

Jeremy Wechsler is the artistic director of Theater Wit where he has directed Feydeay-Sideau, Men of Steel, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) by Will Eno, Two for the Show and The Santaland Diaries. He has directed more than 40 shows in the last 15 years at various theatres, including A Taste of Honey ("US Best of 2008" in The Wall Street Journal), The Play About the Squirrel, The White Devil, The Real Thing, Szinhaz, The Duchess of Malfi, Titus Andronicus, The Roaring Girl, Flight, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, This is the Rill Speaking, Hay Fever, Now Then Again and many more. He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres. His productions have been nominated for, and have won, multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work.

Artistic Director Richard Engling, who will play the role of Peer Gynt, has forged a close relationship with the poet. "Robert Bly has been a wonderful mentor to me for many years," shared Engling. "I was one of the actors Robert called in to read scenes when he was working on the Peer Gynt translation for the Guthrie. A few years later, he and I were walking in the woods when he suggested that Polarity should produce the script. 'I've seen the big Guthrie production,' he said. 'Now I'd love to see what your little company could do.' When I saw what a wild, zany version of this script he'd created, I knew we had to do this. Finding Jeremy Wechsler to direct and getting the DCA Storefront Theater put the final pieces into place."

The cast and creative team of Peer Gynt include: Elaine Bell, Erica Bittner, Bryan Breau, Joe Ciresi, Meg Elliott, Bryson Engelen, Richard Engling, Alex Fisher, Carrie Hardin, Hilary Holbrook, James Holbrook, Jim Morley, Clay Sanderson, Devorah Richards, Abbas Salem, Maggie Speer and Miranda Zola. Musicians include: Paul Gilvary (Bass), Christopher Gagnon (Violin) and Teddy Stuebi (Guitar and Banjo).

The production team includes: Heath Hays (Set Designer), Rachel Lambert (Costume Designer), John Kelly (Lighting Designer), Andrew Dallas (Sound Designer), Angela M. Campos (Props and Puppet Designer), Paul Gilvary (Original Compositions and Music Director), Nicole Smith (Stage Manager), Andrew Canada (Assistant Stage Manager), Steven Hill (Production Manager), Justin Krecker-Snyder (Technical Director), David Fehr (Fight Choreographer) and Karen Tarjan (Dance Choreographer).

Polarity Ensemble Theatre is a professionally diverse group of artists who strive to advance the state of Chicago theater for both local and international audiences by developing new works and bringing new life to the classics through live performance, workshops and publishing. For information, visit www.petheatre.com.

Schedule & Ticket Information
Previews for Peer Gynt are November 15, 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m.; press opening is Friday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m. The show runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through November 6. (No performance Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 24). A post-show discussion will take place after the Thursday, December 1 performance. A panel discussion exploring the show will take place on Monday, December 5 at 7 p.m. in the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Tickets $20 for general admission; $15 for seniors; $10 for students with a valid ID. Tickets are $10 for previews (November 15, 16 and 17). Military personnel tickets are $16 and ADA accessible tickets are available for $10.

All tickets are available by calling 312.742.TIXS (8497), visiting www.dcatheater.org, or stopping by the Chicago Cultural Center Ticket Office in the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington St., open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. When available, tickets go on sale one hour before each performance at the DCA Storefront Theater.

Additional discounts are available for Chicago Cultural Center Mosaic Members, theater industry affiliates, military personnel, ADA companions and large groups. Discounted parking is once again available at Wabash Randolph Self Park at 20 E. Randolph. Patrons can receive the $12 rate by validating their ticket at the Storefront Theater ticket office.

Panel Discussion: "Tale, Translation and Trajectory of Peer Gynt" - December 5
A panel discussion, "Tale, Translation and Trajectory of Peer Gynt Through a Contemporary Lens," will take place on Monday, December 5 at 7 p.m. in the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center. The discussion will feature the following local scholars: Dr. Victoria Frenkel Harris, Professor Emerita of English at Illinois State University and author of The Incorporative Consciousness of Robert Bly; Dr. Kimberly Kenny, Senior Lecturer in Norwegian Language and Literature and Ibsen scholar at the University of Chicago; and Director Jeremy Wechsler. Admission is free.

About DCA Theater
The DCA Storefront Theater and the Studio Theater, its companion theater located in the Chicago Cultural Center, comprise DCA Theater, an anchor of the downtown theater district. DCA Theater offers downtown audiences an unforgettable off-Loop theater experience with an exciting look at the vibrant theater companies that call Chicago home. The DCA Storefront Theater features a state-of-the-art and easily accessible theater located at 66 E. Randolph St. where audiences enjoy high quality work from Chicago's most dynamic theater companies at an affordable ticket price. In addition to fully staged productions, the DCA Theater presents many other programs that showcase the diverse Chicago theater community. Special limited-run and one-night-only events include staged readings, radio plays, directing workshops and festivals.

The DCA Studio Theater, housed in the Chicago Cultural Center just across the street from the DCA Storefront Theater, hosts the DCA Theater's Incubator Series, a program designed to support the creation of new work by emerging Chicago theater companies. Utilizing the generous offering of free rehearsal space and resources, participants explore new projects, develop and refine styles during a three-week period that ends with a public showcase performance and post-show discussion.

Each season, the DCA Theater accepts proposals from the city's emerging and developing theater companies who wish to bring their innovative productions downtown. Presenting companies receive free performance space and resources, while theater-goers get an exciting glimpse into Chicago's world-renowned theater scene. For more information and to apply to either space, visit http://www.dcatheater.org/yourshow/.

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is dedicated to promoting an ongoing celebration of the arts; supporting the people who create and sustain them; and marketing the city's abundant cultural resources to a worldwide audience. DCASE, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, programs and promotes thousands of high-quality free festivals, exhibitions, performances and holiday celebrations presented each year at Millennium Park, Grant Park, the Chicago Cultural Center and other venues throughout the city.

Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture
The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC) is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs. COTC supports local artists through grants and other resources and creates vital opportunities for artists of all levels. For more information please visit www.ExploreChicago.org.

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