Samuel Beckett's HAPPY DAYS To Be Presented For Limited Engagement at City Lit Theater This Spring
Beckett's critically acclaimed tragicomedy centers on Winnie, a woman who is trapped in a large mound which is slowly consuming her.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Feb. 22, 2023
A limited engagement of Samuel Beckett's absurdist masterpiece "Happy Days" will be presented by KB Productions March 17-April 2 at City Lit Theater. Directed and designed by Jon Dambacher, the production features a scenic installation made of exclusively recycled materials and stars Kayla Boye in one of modern drama's most challenging female roles. The press opening is Friday, March 17, at 7:30 p.m.
Beckett's critically acclaimed tragicomedy centers on Winnie, a woman who is trapped in a large mound which is slowly consuming her. While a relentless sun burns above, Winnie will not budge until some change occurs, buoyed by a determined spirit of optimism in the face of oblivion.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. General admission tickets are now on sale for $30 and must be purchased online in advance at: https://happydayschi.com/tickets
ABOUT Kayla Boye, actor/producer
Kayla Boye (Winnie) has previously appeared in productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Mercury Theater Chicago, Music Theater Works, BrightSide Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Fireside Theatre, Capital City Theatre, Bigfork Summer Playhouse, The Huron Playhouse, and The Youngstown Playhouse. She has an affinity for new stagings of classic works and explorations of the contrast between the neatness of mid-century ideals and the comparative chaos of the contemporary world. She is the creator of "Call Me Elizabeth," a one-woman show about the early life of Elizabeth Taylor. The play continues to tour nationally since its live world premiere in the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles. The piece premiered virtually during the pandemic via Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Broadway On Demand, SaltboxTV, 7Arts, The Youngstown Playhouse, and Porchlight Music Theatre. Presentations have been awarded grants from Illinois Arts Council and the Arts Midwest Touring Fund. For Hollis. www.kaylaboye.com
ABOUT JON DAMBACHER director/production designer
Jon Dambacher (director and production designer) is a Chicago-based theatre director and artist. Theatre highlights include three West Coast tours of presenting plays for elementary and high school students, serving as Artistic Director in a rural California gold-mining town, an all-inmate production of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," two Eric Bogosian premieres ("SubUrbia" and "Pounding Nails in the Floor With My Forehead"), premieres of Neil LaBute and Yasmina Reza plays, as well as a regional premiere of Eugene O'Neill's "Hughie." In Los Angeles, he wrote, financed, produced and directed three feature films, a television pilot, and worked for CBS and The Food Network. As a writer, Jon has had a modest stack of books and articles, (biography, fiction, and nonfiction), published on a variety of cultural subjects. He was honored to be on a short list included in the Design Museum of Chicago's exhibit "Setting The Stage: Objects of Chicago Theatre" featuring a sculpture he built for a production of "Below The Belt" he directed. Past work has taken Jon to Vienna, Washington D.C., and he has served as a guest lecturer at UCLA and the prestigious Criterion Collection. He owns and operates a small publishing label, A Jabber Publication, specializing in emerging authors of sub-genre non-fiction, poetry, photography, and art books.
ABOUT Samuel Beckett, playwright
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is widely recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. Beckett is most renowned for his play "Waiting for Godot," which launched his career in theatre. He then went on to write numerous successful full-length plays, including "Endgame" in 1957, "Krapp's Last Tape" in 1958, and "Happy Days" in 1960. Beckett received his first commission for radio from the BBC in 1956 for "All That Fall." This was followed by a further five plays for radio, including "Embers," "Words and Music" and "Cascando." Like no other dramatist before him, Beckett's works capture the pathos and ironies of modern life yet still maintain his faith in man's capacity for compassion and survival, no matter how absurd his environment may have become.
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