Sideshow Theatre Company's STUPID F**KING BIRD Returns to Victory Gardens Tonight

Carlisle Hart, LLC presents Sideshow Theatre Company, Chicago's preeminent theater company for presenting familiar stories in unorthodox ways, in a commercial remount of their wildly successful, sold-out smash hit production of STUPID f-ing BIRD. Aaron Posner's comic spin on Chekhov's The Seagull is directed by artistic director Jonathan L. Green, from tonight, July 23 through August 30, 2015 at Victory Gardens Za?ek McVay Theater, 2433. N Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.

STUPID f-ing BIRD's original cast remains the same: featuring Sideshow company members Matt Fletcher as "Dev," Nina O'Keefe as "Nina," Nate Whelden as "Con," Katy Carolina Collins as "Mash," Cody Proctor as "Trig," with Stacy Stoltz as "Emma," and Norm Woodel as "Sorn."

On the grounds of a country estate, two generations worth of Russians mope and love and hate and make a lot of bird-based metaphors. Sound familiar? It's Anton f-ing Chekhov versus the modern world in Aaron Posner's ballsy new play. A smash-hit on the east coast and a finalist for the 2014 ACTA Award, this heartbreakingly hilarious "sort-of" adaptation of The Seagull takes a baseball bat to one of theatre's most famous works and staunchly refuses to pick up the pieces. Sideshow's signature energy and wit are on full display in this hilarious examination of what drives us to make art and find love.

The production team for STUPID f-ing BIRD includes: Joe Schermoly (scenic designer), Noel Huntzinger (costume designer), William Kirkham (lighting designer), Sideshow company member Christopher M. LaPorte (sound designer/additional music), Cassy Schillo (properties designer), James Sugg (original music), Aaron Shapiro (production manager), Alison McLeod (stage manager), Frances Gecker (producer), Brian Loevner (general manager), Aurélia F. Cohen (general manager), Adam Lord (company manager).

Aaron Posner is a Helen Hayes and Barrymore Award-winning director and playwright. He is a founder and former artistic director of Philadelphia's Arden Theatre, an associate artist at both the Folger Theatre and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. His adaptations include Chaim Potok's The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev (both of which have enjoyed successful runs at more than 50 theatres across the country and the latter of which ran for ten months Off-Broadway and won both the Outer Circle Critics Award for Best New Off-Broadway play and the John Gassner Award), as well as Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion, Mark Twain's A Murder, A Mystery, and a Marriage, an adaptation of three Kurt Vonnegut short stories, entitled Who Am I This Time? (and other conundrums of love). His Chekhov inspired Stupid f-ing Bird debuted at Woolly Mammoth and won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Resident Play as well as the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Play or Musical. It has received productions and awards from around the country. His second Chekhov adaptation Life Sucks premiered this season at Theatre J and his musical for young audiences The Gift of Nothing received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Play and Musical Adaptation for its production at the Kennedy Center. Aaron was raised in Eugene, Oregon, graduated from Northwestern University, is an Eisenhower Fellow, and lives near Washington, DC.

Jonathan L. Green has directed and assisted for Sideshow Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Seven of Chicago, Pavement Group, Live Arts and the Earl Hamner, Jr. Theatre. Recent projects include Antigonick, The Golden Dragon, Idomeneus (Jeff Award for best ensemble), The Gacy Play, Midway Liquors, Heddatron, Theories of the Sun, and others. Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Virginia, currently serves on the board of directors of the League of Chicago Theatres, and is the literary management associate for Goodman Theatre.

It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine the collective unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration. Sideshow is currently a finalist for the 2015 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award.

From its first production, 2008's Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), to its Jeff Award-winning productions of Roland Schimmelpfennig's Idomeneus (named one of the best plays of 2012 by Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times) and Elizabeth Meriwether's runaway robotic hit Heddatron at Steppenwolf Theatre, Sideshow has consistently produced engaging, transcendent works across Chicago. Sideshow continues its multi-year residency at Victory Gardens in the historic Biograph Theater with ensemble member Walt McGough's Chalk, May 24-June 28. Sideshow also produces the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular interactive fundraising event that benefits Sideshow Theatre Company and other local charities. The next CLLAW match is scheduled for Saturday, July 18 at the Logan Square Auditorium. For more information, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org.

STUPID f-ing BIRD runs from Thursday, July 23 through Sunday, August 30, 2015. Preview performances are July 23 and 24 at 7:30 pm and July 25 at 2 pm. Opening night is July 25 at 7:30 pm. The regular schedule is Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Previews are $10-$39. Regularly priced tickets range from $15-$49. Tickets are available at www.victorygardens.org or by calling the Victory Gardens box office at (773) 871-3000.

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