Stage Left Theatre Presents LeapFest 8 June 14-July 3

Stage Left Theatre is proud to present LeapFest 8, Stage Left's annual new-play festival, running June 14 - July 3, 2011. LeapFest is an annual event featuring five new plays with socio-political themes, presented as workshop productions in rotating repertory. This year's festival includes new works from Randall Colburn, Rob Smith, Steve Spencer, Kate Wenner, and SLT ensemble members Anita Chandwaney and MEH Lewis.

The festival name stems from the Downstage Left logo, which features a frog about to "take the leap." The three-week event is designed to help playwrights and their plays bridge the gap between development and full production. To further this objective, the festival features an extensive rehearsal process for each play, multiple workshop performances before the public, and post-show audience discussions after each performance. In addition to our general audiences, regional theater producers and artistic directors are invited to attend the festival in order to get an advance look at some of the best new plays in the country.

For LeapFest 8, the first held in its new home at Theater Wit, Stage Left has added some new elements to its usual programming and outreach, including partnerships with Rasaka Theatre Company and A Safe Haven, and a special workshop for theater artists dedicated to new-play development.

Partnership with Rasaka Theatre Company

Thirst by M.E.H. Lewis and Anita Chandwaney, is being presented in partnership with Rasaka Theatre Company. The partnership provides additional artistic opportunities for Rasaka's artists, and will bring a more diverse audience to the festival.

Rasaka Theatre Company is based in Chicago and is the Midwest's first South Asian American ensemble. Their goal is to increase diversity among artists and audience by engaging and illuminating the South Asian American experience. They are particularly dedicated to providing a platform for the artistic expression of South Asian artists. For more information, visit www.rasakatheatre.org

Audience/Feedback Partnership with Safe Haven

Due to the subject matter of Make Sure It's Me (see below for details), Stage Left is partnering with A Safe Haven, an organization which works with veterans in transition back to civilian life, in order to serve the developmental needs of the play by soliciting feedback directly from veterans and the people who work with them. The collaboration will include a pre-festival discussion involving some veterans and some members of the cast, as well as blocks of complimentary tickets for A Safe Haven to offer its clients.

A Safe Haven Foundation is a social business enterprise that empowers families and individuals experiencing homelessness or crisis to achieve sustainable self-sufficiency. Through its holistic approach, A Safe Haven Foundation provides evidence-based programs of supportive housing, addiction treatment, recovery management, education, and life skills that lead directly to employment, permanent housing, and self-sufficiency.

Neli Vazquez-Rowland, President and Co-Founder, and Brian Rowland, Veteran and Co-Founder: "We commend Stage Left Theatre for the timely production of Make Sure It's Me, promoting support for struggling military veterans when they are returning every day from our nation's two current war zones, many finding assistance at A Safe Haven Foundation. LeapFest is an important opportunity for audiences to learn about the need for access to healthcare and other assistance for returning vets, which we are honored to fulfill."

Responding to the Production: Talkback Techniques for Writers, Directors, Designers, Performers, Dramaturgs.

In addition to the festival performances, Stage Left is offering a workshop in talkback techniques. On Saturday, June 25th, at 11 am, emeritus ensemble member David Rush will be leading a workshop entitled Responding to the Production, which will look at ways to achieve the most effective post-production feedback in a variety of both professional and academic settings. The workshop will contain a mix of theory, discussion, exercises and games. Participants should have a working knowledge of "Macbeth." Registration is $10 or free with a LeapPASS. Space is limited. Reservations can be made by emailing laura@stagelefttheatre.com.

David Rush has recently retired from his position as Head of Playwriting at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is a past writer-in-residence at Chicago Dramatists and an Emeritus Member of Stage Left. In this capacity, he has conducted, participated in, and/or observed numerous talkback sessions in all disciplines. This workshop is based on his work on Talkbacks published in "The Dramatist," "Theater Topics" and elsewhere.

First Night

Stage Left will kick off LeapFest 7 with its First Night celebration on Tuesday, June 14 at Cuna (1113 W Belmont in Chicago). The event begins at 7:00, with a preview of the five plays to begin at 7:30. Join the playwrights, directors, cast, designers, members of the Stage Left ensemble, and our friends and supporters for a meet-and-greet event at this bar just down the street from Theater Wit. A portion of all food and drink purchases will help support LeapFest 8.

Tickets, LeapPASS & General Information

LeapFest 8 will be performed at Theatre Wit at 1229 W. Belmont in Chicago. Tickets and information for all events are available by calling the Theater Wit box office at 773.975.8150 or online at www.stagelefttheatre.com. Single tickets for LeapFest performances are $13 each. Patrons can save by purchasing a LeapPASS for $30, which is a flex-pass good for five admissions to the festival. Detailed performance schedules and information on the plays are provided below. The theatre is handicapped and CTA accessible via the Belmont El (Red & Brown).

The LeapFest 8 Plays and Performance Schedule

BLESSED ASSURANCE: THE STORY OF BOSTON CORBETT, SLAYER OF BOOTH
by Randall Colburn
directed by Greg Werstler*
Performances: Sun. 6/19 @ 7:30 p.m., Fri. 6/24 @ 7:30 p.m., Fri. 7/1 @ 7:30 p.m.
John Wilkes Booth's death in a burning barn came courtesy of Boston Corbett, a mercury-addled, born-again Christian who claimed he was ordered by the Almighty to pull the trigger. But when a young lawyer suggests that Booth may be living in Texas, and that the victim was a stranger, Boston's divine mandate is called into question. Blessed Assurance was developed through a Downstage Left residency in the Spring of 2011.

MAKE SURE IT'S ME
by Kate Wenner
directed by Drew Martin*
Performances: Fri. 6/17 @ 7:30 p.m., Sun. 6/26 @ 7:30 p.m., Sat. 7/2 @ 2:00 p.m.
As waves of vets return from Iraq, doctors confront a devastating new war injury - brain damage from the concussive force of repeated IED's. Scrambling to keep a lid on a what could be very expensive problem, the military enlists Dr. Josephine Fitch to secretly study five injured vets. Seeing their courage and profound losses, she questions how long she can keep quiet about Pentagon stonewalling.

THE NEWS ALL THE TIME
by Steve Spencer
direcTEd Scott Bishop*
Performances: Thur. 6/16 @ 7:30 p.m., Sat. 6/25 @ 7:30 p.m., Sun. 7/3 @ 2:00 p.m.
Leslie Gutierrez is Chicagoland's #1 news reporter. She's just found out that she's pregnant five minutes before the most important broadcast of her career. The News All The Time is comedy about the confluence of crises we face and the reasons we find to continue the human experiment as things fall apart.

THIRST
by Anita Chandwaney* and M.E.H. Lewis*
directed by Lavina Jadhwani
Performances: Sat. 6/18 @ 7:30 p.m., Sun. 6/26 @ 2:00 p.m., Thu. 6/30 @ 7:30 p.m.
In an "Untouchable" Indian village crippled by drought, an intrepid young reporter investigates the corrupt water delivery system. But when her sister suddenly disappears, the investigation becomes personal. Thirst is an NYCWAM Honored Finalist and a 2011 O'Neill Conference semi-finalist.
Thirst is presented in partnership with Rasaka Theatre Company

UNDERNEATH
by Rob Smith
directed by Jason Fleece*

Performances: Sun. 6/19 @ 2:00 p.m., Thur. 6/23 @ 7:30 p.m., Sat. 7/2 @ 7:30 p.m.
Macie survived cancer at an early age with the support of her new husband, but when it returns a few years later, she desires one final wish... a one-night stand with a former lover. Is it an act of betrayal or an act of love?

The LeapFest 7 Staff and Production Team

The LeapFest 7 production team includes includes Jessica Fike (stage management), Elizabeth Flauto (projections co-design), Alex Fliess (props design), Matt Kooi (lighting design), Jeffrey Levin (sound design), Greg Poljacik (fight choreography), Vance Smith (technical direction/ projections co-design), Jessica Snyder (costume design) and Kristin Toerpe (production management).

ABOUT STAGE LEFT

Founded in 1982, Stage Left Theatre is committed to nurturing voices for the American theatre by developing and producing plays that raise debate and challenge perspectives on political and social issues. Through a full subscription season and Downstage Left, one of Chicago's most prolific new play development programs, Stage Left strives to bring high-quality new work and world premieres to the Chicago stage.

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