Remy Bumppo and Silk Road Rising present the Chicago Premiere of GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Remy Bumppo and Silk Road Rising are pleased to announce that they are joining artistic forces to bring the American premiere of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, adapted by Tanika Gupta, to Chicago.

This bold re-imagining, set in 19th century Calcutta during the British Raj, will be co-directed by Lavina Jadhwani and Nick Sandys. Press Opening is Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 8:00 pm at Pierce Hall in the Historic Chicago Temple Building.

"This new version transports Dickens' narrative with a specificity and theatricality that is truly exciting-and yet 90% of the dialogue comes directly from the novel," comments Remy Bumppo Producing Artistic Director Nick Sandys.

"Gupta has adapted this classic with absolute valour and aplomb," agrees Silk Road Rising Artistic Director Jamil Khoury. "This is not an attempt to superimpose or meld cultural contexts. Rather, it's a telling of the Dickens' story that brilliantly reimagines and recenters it-all while honoring the genius of the 19th century narrative."

It's this skillful blend of a Western literary classic with a fresh Bengali perspective that inspired the companies to pursue Great Expectations as a co-production.

"As Gupta has collaborated so seamlessly with Dickens," says Sandys, "so we hope Silk Road Rising's inclusive polyculturalism and experience with South Asian theatrical traditions will combine successfully with Remy Bumppo's skills with classical language and Western theatrical styles and texts."

Says Khoury, "Remy Bumppo brings to the table its rich commitment to the Western literary canon, while we bring our rootedness in the artistic voices of Asian and Middle Eastern Diasporas. The two blend beautifully into Gupta's Great Expectations: a tale not of 'East meets West,' but of binaries and barriers being broKen Down."

Great Expectations will run May 11 - July 2, 2017. Previews start May 11th. Press Opening is Saturday, May 20th at 8pm.

Tickets
Preview Performances: $25 General Admission | $12.50 Students
Regular Run: $35 General Admission | $15 Students
Tickets are available at www.GreatExpectationsPlay.org or by calling (312) 857-1234 ext. 201.

ABOUT PLAYWRIGHT/ADAPTOR TANIKA GUPTA
Tanika Gupta is a British playwright of Bengali origin. Her work for theatre includes Voices on the Wind, which was workshopped at the National Theatre Studio in 1995. Other stage plays include Skeleton (1997) at Soho Theatre; an adaptation of Geeta Mehta's A River Sutra at Indoza (1997); The Waiting Room (2000) at the National Theatre; a translation of Brecht's The Good Woman of Setzuan at National Theatre Education (2001); Sanctuary (2002) at the National Theatre; Inside Out (2002); Meet The Mukherjees (2008) at Bolton Octagon theatre. Her adaptation of Hobson's Choice (2003) played at the Young Vic; Fragile Land (2003) at Hampstead; and Gladiator Games (2005) at Sheffield Crucible and Stratford East theatres. A group play, Catch (2006), was performed at The Royal Court Theatre, and White Boy (2008) at the National Youth Theatre/Soho. Her most recent plays include 2 Young 2 LUV, Ananda Sanada and Brood in 2010. She adapted Great Expectations for the stage in 2011. Gupta has also written for television. In 2008, Gupta was awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire).
ABOUT CO-DIRECTOR, Lavina Jadhwani
Lavina Jadhwani is an Artistic Associate at Silk Road Rising (Yellow Dress, Ching Chong Chinaman) and Oak Park Festival Theatre (Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona). She is also the Casting Director of Lifeline Theatre and The Hypocrites. As the former Artistic Director of Rasaka Theatre Company, her credits include Much Ado About Nothing, and the Chicago premieres of Gruesome Playground Injuries, A Widow of No Importance, and Yoni Ki Baat. Lavina is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University (MFA, Directing) and Carnegie Mellon University (BFA, Scenic Design; Masters, Arts Management). She is also the recipient of the following awards/fellowships: Phil Killian Directing Fellowship, Drama League Classical Directing Fellowship, LMDA Residency Award, and TimeOut Chicago's "Best Next Generation Stage Director."

ABOUT CO-DIRECTOR, Nick Sandys
Nick Sandys became the Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company in 2012, having been an Artistic Associate since 2002. He has directed Travesties (Jeff Nomination 2015), Our Class (Jeff Nomination 2014), Seascape, Fiction, American Ethnic, and 365Days/365Plays for the company, as well as productions for First Folio, Eclipse, Chamber Opera Chicago, Stage West, and Ft. Worth Shakespeare in the Park. Nick is also a certified Fight Director with The Society of American Fight Directors, his Jeff Award-winning choreography having appeared at The Metropolitan Opera, on Broadway (Steppenwolf's Tony-winning Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), Goodman Theatre (over 25 productions), Lyric Opera (over 45 productions), and many others, including The Theatre School at DePaul University (adjunct professor since 1995). He holds MAs in English Literature from both Cambridge University and Loyola University Chicago. He is also the recipient of 14 Jeff Nominations, one Jeff Award, an After Dark Award, and a 2011 Achievement Award from The Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Charitable Foundation of the Arts.

ABOUT THE COMPANIES
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company produces theatre that thrills the ear, stirs the heart, feeds the mind, and sparks a conversation. As an ensemble-based producer of intellectually and emotionally inspiring plays that reveal the power and pleasure of language, we explore timeless ideas in timely productions that celebrate our common humanity; and we invite audiences to converse directly with the art and the artists.

Silk Road Rising creates live theatre and online videos that tell stories through primarily Asian American and Middle Eastern American lenses. In representing communities that intersect and overlap, we advance a polycultural worldview.

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