Redtwist Theatre Presents World Premiere of SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY

Redtwist Theatre presents the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere** Surely Goodness and Mercy by Chisa Hutchinson, directed by Wardell Julius Clark. The show opens Saturday, February 17, 2018, at 3pm and runs Thu, Fri, Sat at 7:30pm; Sun at 3pm, through Sun, March 18.

**SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY is produced at REDTWIST THEATRE as a part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other partnering theaters are SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY (SALT LAKE CITY, UT) and WRITERS THEATRE OF NEW JERSEY (MADISON, NJ). For more information, please visit www.nnpn.org

A powerful new drama with incredible heart and humor. Tino is a Newark schoolboy sent to live with an abusive aunt after his mother dies protecting him in a street fight. Seeking solace, Tino befriends the cantankerous lunch lady at school who has been diagnosed with MS. The moving, heartwarming climax shows these two unlikely friends helping each other navigate a harsh world.

THE CAST (in alphabetical order) Cast: Renee Lockett (Bernadette), Katrina D. RiChard (Alneesa), Donovan Session (Tino), Charlita "Charli" Williams (Deja)
Voiceover: Brianna Buckley (Teacher), Wardell Julius Clark (Minister), Julia Skeggs (Principal)
Understudies: Nicholia Aguirre (Bernadette), Nic Bell (Tino), Sophie Hoyt (Deja), Jessica Vann (Alneesa)

THE STAFF Wardell Julius Clark (Director), Brianna Buckley (Assistant Director), Brennan T. Jones (Stage Manager), Josy Gonzalo (Assistant Stage Manager), Buzz Leer (Tech Director), Lauren Nichols (Set Designer), Daniel Friedman (Lighting Designer), Grover Hollway (Sound Designer), Kotryna Hilko (Costume Designer), Dana Macel (Props Designer), Natalie Santoro (Scenic Charge), Almanya Narula (Fight Designer), Jan Ellen Graves (Graphic Designer/Marketing), Charlie Hano (Casting Director), Noelle Simone (Dramaturge), E. Malcolm Martinez (Box Office Manager), Charles Bonilla & Johnny Garcia (Box Office Associates), James Fleming & Michael Colucci (Producers)

Opens: Sat, February 17, 3pm (note: there is no evening performance on opening day)
Showtimes: Thu, Fri, Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 3pm
Understudy Performance: $20, (seniors & students $5 off), Tue, Mar 13, 7:30pm
Closes: Sun, March 18
Previews: $15; Wed, Thu, Fri, Feb 14, 15, 16, at 7:30pm
Tickets: Thursdays, $35; Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, $40 (seniors & students $5 off)

A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: This play is highly relevant given our polarized political climate which shows a disturbing resurgence of marginalizing certain groups of people. We're especially grateful to Chisa for writing such a beautifully heartwarming story and we look forward to having her with us during the process of producing this brand new play. Also, Redtwist is thrilled to welcome an entire team of exciting guest artists to collaborate on the project of this NNPN Rolling World Premiere.

In an under-funded public school in Newark, New Jersey, a motherless, bible-toting boy with a photographic memory and a tender heart befriends the cantankerous woman who works in the cafeteria. Against all odds, they help each other through the bullshit of growing up and growing old. --Chisa Hutchinson

Chisa Hutchinson's socially probing plays, which include SHE LIKE GIRLS, SEX ON SUNDAY, THE SUBJECT, DEAD & BREATHING, and SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER among others, have been presented by such venues as Second Stage Theater, City Parks' Summerstage, the Lark, the National Black Theater, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Atlantic Theater Company. She's won a GLAAD Award, the John Golden Award for Excellence in Playwriting, a Lilly Award, a New York Innovative Theatre Award, the Paul Green Award, a Helen Merrill Award, the Lanford Wilson Award, and has been a finalist for the highly coveted PoNY Fellowship. She's also been a Lark Fellow, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a resident at the William Inge Center for the Arts, a New York NeoFuturist, a staff writer for the Blue Man Group, a Humanitas Fellow, and most recently, Resident Playwright at Second Stage Theater. In addition to venturing into screenwriting, Chisa is currently a proud fourth-year year member of New Dramatists and a Creative Writing Professor at the University of Delaware. (B.A. Vassar College; M.F.A NYU - Tisch School of the Arts.) chisahutchinson.com

Wardell Julius Clark hails from Fairfield, Alabama. Chicago Acting Credits include SILENT SKY (First Folio Theatre); APARTMENT 3A (Windy City Playhouse); GEM OF THE OCEAN (Court Theatre); A RAISIN IN THE SUN (TimeLine Theatre); THE WHIPPING MAN (Northlight Theatre); WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT... and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES (Victory Gardens Theatre); INVISIBLE MAN (Court Theatre); THE BEATS (16th Street Theater); GHOSTS OF ATWOOD (MPAACT), for which he received the Black Theater Alliance Denzel Washington Award for Most Promising Actor; and TOPDOG/UNDERDOG (American Theater Company/Congo Square Theater). Regional credits include THE WHIPPING MAN (Cardinal Stage); CYMBELINE (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival); FENCES (Carver Theatre). Chicago Directing Credits include The One Minute Play Festival, SHOLA'S GAME (Black Lives, Black Words Chicago 2), Assistant Director for SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF and GEM OF THE OCEAN (Court Theatre). TV/Film: Chicago Fire Seasons 1 and 4, Transformers: Dark the Moon. Wardell is an Associate Artist with TimeLine Theatre Company, where he also serves as a Teaching Artist in the Living History Program, he is also an Associate Artist with the Black Lives, Black Words theatre collective. He holds a BFA in Acting from The Theatre School, at DePaul University.

National New Play Network (NNPN) is the country's alliance of non-profit professional theaters dedicated to the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has supported more than 250 productions nationwide through its innovative National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere program, which provides playwright and production support for new works at its Member theaters. Additional programs--its annual National Conference, National Showcase of New Plays, and MFA Playwrights Workshop; the NNPN Annual and Smith Prize commissions; its residencies for playwrights, producers and directors; and the organization's member accessed Collaboration, Festival, and Travel banks and online information sessions--have helped cement the Network's position as a vital force in the new play landscape. NNPN also strives to pioneer, implement, and disseminate ideas and programs that revolutionize the way theaters collaborate to support new plays and playwrights. Its most recent project, the New Play Exchange, is changing the way playwrights share their work and others discover it by providing immediate access to information on more than 16,250 new plays by living writers. NNPN's 30 Core and 75 Associate Members--along with the more than 250 affiliated artists who are its alumni, the thousands of artists and artisans employed annually by its member theaters, and the hundreds of thousands of audience members who see its supported works each year--are creating the new American theater. nnpn.org | newplayexchange.org

Redtwist is located at 1044 W Bryn Mawr, 2 blks W of LSD, 2 blks E of the Red Line EL station.

Valet parking for Redtwist is available across the street in front of Francesca's Bryn Mawr for most performances-hours vary. Dining is not required. Limited FREE street parking is available on side streets. There is metered street parking via ParkChicago.com app or 3-hour Paybox on Bryn Mawr Av and 2-hour Paybox on side streets. Free on Sundays, and after 10pm Mon thru Sat.

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