Prop Thtr Presents New Work ON LOSS at the 28th Annual Rhinofest

Prop Thtr presents On Loss by Mark Chrisler (Chicago Reader's Best Playwright, 2010) and Groundswell by Karen Fort as part of the 28th Annual Rhinofest. Other Rhinofest events produced by Prop Thtr include A Full Moon Vaudeville featuring a large cast that includes writer/performer Ian Belknap kicking off Rhinofest on Saturday, January 21 and the Cabaret Prop'd series featuring jazz trumpeter Yves François that starts on Friday, January 27. Rhinofest is produced and curated by Prop Thtr and Curious Theatre Branch. Showcasing 40 shows, Rhinofest occurs Jan. 21-Feb 26, 2017 at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave, Chicago. View the complete schedule at www.rhinofest.com.

About Rhinofest

As Chicago's longest running multi-arts fringe festival, Rhinofest features theater and performance from Chicago and national artists alike. First organized over 25 years ago, in Wicker Park, Rhino is unique among national fringe festivals in that artists are never charged a fee to participate. The 28th Annual Rhinofest is curated and produced by Prop Thtr and Curious Theatre Branch, providing artistic and production opportunities to hundreds of artists, drawing thousands in attendance each year. Programs are individually curated rather than selected on a lottery basis.

"Rhinofest is now Chicago's No. 1 place for new work and performers to get their start," said Prop Thtr artistic director Stefan Brün.

"This year, we start with the appropriately light and fun Cabaret Prop'd to lighten the mood, then kick things up a notch with the timely and alarmingly beautiful On Loss and find our way to an activist heart with Groundswell."

Full Moon Vaudeville

Friday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.

Opening night at Rhinofest features Ian Belknap, folk/alt-rock band The Crooked Mouth, and a Marat/Sade sing-a-long.

Cabaret Prop'd

Produced by Prop Thtr

Fridays at 9 p.m. Jan. 27, Feb., 3, 10, 17 & 24

Rocumbu Jazz (Jan. 27) featuring New Orleans jazz led by Yves François; the vintage blues and jazz-inspired band ImPROPer Behavior (Feb. 3.) with Yves Francois on trumpet, Keith Fort on guitar, Gregory Redfeairn on bass, and Miss Sharon Waltham on vocals; alt-rock band The Push Push (Feb. 10); The Crooked Mouth (Feb. 17) featuring vocalist Jenny Magnus and Beau O'Reilly from Curious Theatre Branch; Miss Sharon Waltham and Kyle Greer present a mix of vintage and original musical songs (Feb. 24).

On Loss

Written by Mark Chrisler and directed by Stefan Brün

Saturdays at 7 p.m. Jan. 28, Feb. 4, 11, 18 & 25

A man holds a debate with his future self, another plummet from the sky to his death, an astronaut searches for God in the depths of space and a woman's entire life unfurls over the course of a train ride in this series of magical, metaphorical, cynical and cyclical short plays by Mark Chrisler investigating death, loss and mourning. Featuring: Mark Chrisler, MaEli Goren, Paul Brennan, Christopher Sylva, Rafael Hernandez Roulet, Joe Sergio, Jared Isaac, Hannah Simpson, Marlana Carlson, Nick Leininger, Arielle Buzil and Jamie Shriner.

Groundswell

Written by Karen Fort and directed by Elyse Dolan

Sundays at 7 p.m. Jan. 29, Feb. 5, 12, 19 & 26

Groundswell explores the resulting conflicts and feelings that transpire between and among people with various views about global warming. Fort wrote it to encourage those in passive despair over climate change and to model the productive seeking of solutions. In the play, a heat wave strikes down a farmhand before his son. The owners of country place are torn between the daughter's engagement party, a proposal for mountaintop mining, and a storm with flooding. Featuring: Casey Tutton, Dina Monk, Laurie Lister, Michael Applebaum, David Towne, Nathan Slate and James Shinkle.

All performances will be staged at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave, in Avondale.

All tickets are $15 or pay what you can.

Tickets purchased on Brownpapertickets.com are $12. Tickets are available through the Prop Thtr Box Office at (773) 742-5420. Featuring 40 shows, the 28th Annual Rhinofest starts January 21 at 7 p.m. with Full Moon Vaudeville and runs through February 26, 2017.

The complete Rhinofest schedule can be viewed at www.propthtr.org, rhinofest.com and curioustheatrebranch.com.

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