Rivendell Presents AMERICAN WEE-PIE, Beginning 1/10

 Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (RTE ), Chicago's only Equity theatre devoted to the work of women theatre artists, is proud to announce American Wee-Pie as the second production in its 2012-2013 Season of Reinvention. The production reunites the core artistic team from Rivendell's critically acclaimed 2009 world premiere of The Walls––RTE Resident Playwright Lisa Dillman and director RTE member Megan Carney. American Wee-Pie runs January 10 – February 16, 2013, at Rivendell's new performance venue, 5779 N. Ridge.  Previews are $15 and run Thursday, Jan. 10 – Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 at 8 p.m. There is a gala benefit performance, tickets for the gala benefit are $50, Sunday, January 13, at 6 p.m., and the press opening is Monday, January 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets for regular performances are $30 with the schedule Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.  Tickets are now on sale online at www.RivendellTheatre.org or by phone, 773.334.7728.

Lisa Dillman's American Wee-Pie explores the story of a disenfranchised textbook editor (Kurt Brocker) returning to his small midwestern hometown to bury his mother, having no reason to expect this visit might change his life.  However, after a chance encounter with an old high school acquaintance (Jennifer Pompa), he finds himself pulled along on a journey of self-discovery-a personal renaissance that eventually transforms him from a lonely wrangler of commas and semicolons to an intuitive cupcake chef with a passion for making others happy one delicious confection at a time.  American Wee-Pie is a big-hearted comedy about economic recession, career second acts, and the sometimes life-altering wonder of a small, good thing.

The play was originally commissioned by and developed with the Goodman Theatre as part of the theatre's inaugural Playwrights Unit in 2011, and was later presented as part of Philadelphia's prestigious PlayPenn Conference and in public staged readings at theatres around the country.

Rivendell's production of American Wee-Pie will reunite playwright Dillman with director and fellow RTE member Megan Carney, following their successful collaboration on The Walls, an ensemble-based work about women and mental illness, which Rivendell produced to wide acclaim in 2009. The cast includes RTE members Keith Kupferer, Mark Ulrich, and Jane Baxter Miller.

The production team includes Regina Garcia (set), Jessica Carson (lights), Lauren Lowell (costumes), Josh Horvath (sound), Joanna Iwanicka (props), Stephanie Hurovitz (production stage manager), and Jen Seleznow (production manager).