RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN Extends Through Early April at Raven Theatre
Written by Sharyn Rothstein and directed by Sarah Gitenstein, this is a smart and timely story about human forgiveness in the age of the internet.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Mar. 03, 2023
Due to popular demand, Raven Theatre's critically-acclaimed Chicago premiere of Right To Be Forgotten has added an additional week of performances, extending through Sunday, April 2, 2023. Written by Sharyn Rothstein and directed by Sarah Gitenstein, this smart and timely story about human forgiveness in the age of the internet is playing on Raven's newly-dedicated, 85-seat Johnson Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Single tickets for all performances are now on sale at raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.
Right To Be Forgotten features Lucy Carapetyan, Kroydell Galima, Susaan Jamshidi, Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez, Adam Shalzi and Jamila Tyler.
The internet never forgets, and Derril Lark's mistake at 17 haunts him online a decade later. Desperate for a normal life, he goes to extraordinary lengths to erase his indiscretion. But freedom of information is a big business, and the tech companies aren't going down without a fight. Secrets, lies and political backstabbing abound in this riveting new drama about one man's fierce battle to reclaim his privacy by Primus Prize winning playwright Sharyn Rothstein (By the Water, Northlight Theatre).
Comments Director Sarah Gitenstein, "As the internet continues to record our personal narrative, from social media to the cloud, we must grapple with the concept that our memory, however subjective, has become permanent. Who we were and mistakes we may have made are cataloged, searchable and available for reinvestigation. But what if that could change? The European Union has recently legislated The Right to be Forgotten, an act that allows individuals to request the removal of personal information from search engines. But in the American constitutional system, where freedom of speech is protected, such an act is nearly impossible to adopt. So, what happens to people who want to escape the new digital permanence of memory? I'm excited to dig into these questions and ideas as we start work on Sharyn Rothstein's nuanced take on the inescapable impact the internet has on our lives."
The production team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec (Scenic Designer), Finnegan Chu (Costume Designer), Liz Gomez (Lighting Designer), Eric Backus (Original Music & Sound Designer), Ivy Treccani (Props Designer), Reese Craig and Liviu Pasare (Co-Projections Designers), Sarah Slight (Dramaturg), Nora Geffen (Assistant Dramaturg), Catherine Miller (Casting Director), Mia Thomas (Assistant Costume Designer), Tor Campbell (Assistant Director), Lorenzo Blackett (Production Manager), David Moreland and Alan Weusthoff (Co-Technical Directors), Rose Johnson (Scenic Artist), Mark Brown (Master Electrician), James Chapman (Stage Manager) and Shay Gordon (Assistant Stage Manager)
About the Artists
Sharyn Rothstein
(Playwright) is an award-winning playwright and television writer. Her plays and musicals have been produced around the country, as well as internationally. Sharyn is currently writing for the spin-off of the sci-fi hit Orphan Black, soon to be on AMC, and was a writer and producer for the USA legal drama SUITS for many years. Her play By The Water was first produced by Manhattan Theater Club and Ars Nova and was the recipient of the American Theater Critic's Association Francesca Primus Prize. Her play All The Days was produced at the McCarter Theater Center, directed by Emily Mann, and her technology drama Right To Be Forgotten premiered at Arena Stage, directed by Seema Sueko. Her audio drama Deep Fake, commissioned by Audible, was released this past fall. Sharyn holds an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and a Masters in Public Health from Hunter College. She teaches television writing at NYU, and lives in Brooklyn and Maine.
Sarah Gitenstein
(Director) is a freelance director and educator in Chicago and works as the Associate Producer to the MFA Theater Program at Northwestern University. She hails from Washington, D.C. and graduated from Kenyon College (BA Theater) and Northwestern University (MFA Directing). Directing credits include work at American Theater Company, Court Theatre, Curious Theatre, The Gift, Raven Theatre and A Red Orchid Theatre. For The New Coordinates, Sarah directed Kate and Sam Are Not Breaking Up (Jeff Nomination - New Work) and the world premiere, Off-Broadway, national tour and commercial runs of 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Winner Best Production 2012 New York International Fringe Festival). Sarah is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, where she teaches about her research in Best Practices in Directing. www.sarahgitenstein.com
About Raven Theatre
Raven Theatre tells stories of today and the past that connect us to our cultural landscape. Through its plays, as well as its educational programming, Raven is committed to serving our communities' needs through the arts.
Raven Theatre Company is funded in part by The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince, Polk Bros Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, S&C Electric Company Fund, Paul M. Angell Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
Photo credit: Michael Brosilow
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