Strawdog Opens 24th Season With OLD TIMES

Strawdog Theatre Company begins their 24th anniversary season with Harold Pinter's Old Times, directed by Kimberly Senior, October 6 - November 12, at the Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N Broadway. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Previews are October 6 and 7 with tickets being $15. There is a benefit performance, Saturday, October 8 at 7 p.m., $50 tickets include reception. Opening/Press Night is Sunday, October 9 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $28 with group, senior and student discounts available. Thursday, October 13 at 8 p.m. is an industry performance where available tickets are $10 for people presenting resume and headshots. The production runs approximately 80 minutes with no intermission. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

The New York Times' Clive Barnes calls Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter's Old Times "the finest play of a master dramatist." The play is set in a secluded country home where Kate (Abigail Boucher) and Anna (Michaela Petro) reunite for the first time in more than a decade to reminisce about their bohemian youth in the streets of London. But ifthey were as close as their stories suggest, why has Kate's husband, Deely (John Henry Roberts), never heard of Anna before tonight? After-dinner drinks turn dangerous as history is written and rewritten, and each new revelation or fabrication might eliminate one of them entirely.

The cast features Strawdog Company Ensemble Members Abigail Boucher (Kate), Michaela Petro (Anna) and John Henry Roberts (Deely)

The production team features Strawdog Artistic Associate Kimberly Senior, director; Strawdog Ensemble Members Mike Mroch, set designer; Aly Greaves Amedei, costume designer; Sean Mallary, light designer and Anita Deeley, vocal/dialect coach; as well as guests Marti Lyons, associate director; Tyler Wilsey, production manager, Jen Poulin, stage manager; Brett Gould, assistant stage manager Rachel Alulis, assistant light manager; Chris Kriz, sound designer; D.J. Reed, props/assistant costume designer; Danni Parpan, assistant props designer; Kate Hardiman, dramaturg; Matt Buettner, technical director and Dan Laushman, master electrician.

ABOUT KIMBERLY SENIOR
Strawdog Artistic Associate Kimberly Senior earned her place among Chicago's top directors by putting vibrant new spins on classic texts (like Strawdog's sold-out run of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard) or bringing dangerous intimacy to taut thrillers (like Redtwist's award-winning The Pillowman). Senior has worked professionally in Chicago in a variety of positions for more than 15 years and returns to Strawdog where she has directed The Conquest of the South Pole, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, Fuddy Meers, and Knives in Hens. At Next Theater, where she is an Artistic Associate, Senior has directed Madagascar, The Overwhelming, and The Busy World is Hushed. Additional Chicago credits include: The North Plan (Steppenwolf), Bad Dates and Mouse Cop (Fox Valley Repertory), Bug and Cripple of Inishmaan (Redtwist Theatre), Thieves Like Us (The House Theatre), All My Sons and Dolly West's Kitchen (TimeLine Theatre) among others. Regional: A Few Good Men (Peninsula Players), Mauritius (Theatre Squared, Fayetteville, AR). Upcoming: Waiting for Lefty (American Blues), Old Times (Strawdog), Want (Steppenwolf), Moonlight and Magnolias (Fox Valley) and The North Plan (Theater Wit). Senior is also an artistic associate at Chicago Dramatists. She is on the faculty of Columbia College Chicago (2010 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner). Senior lives in Evanston with scenic designer, Jack Magaw, and her children, Noah and Delaney, and is a proud member of SDC.

ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY
Strawdog Theatre Company, which welcomes Brandon Bruce as its new artistic director this season, is committed to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach, offering Chicago the premiere storefront theatre experience. The Company develops new work, re-imagines classic plays, explores new fusions of music and theatre, asks provocative questions, and delivers their audience the unexpected. Strawdog provides a home for their celebrated ensemble to work and play with the most sought after artists in Chicago theatre along with the best new talents in the city. Founded in 1988, the Strawdog ensemble has consistently produced shows built on authentic human connections, and the comfortable 70-seat theater in Lakeview is perfect for offering their audience a quintessential Chicago storefront theatre experience. "The whole wide world in a little black box." Strawdog is a proud member of the NortHalsted Area Merchant Association, The Theatre Communications Group and the League of Chicago Theatres.

Strawdog Theatre Company was formed in 1988 by a group of actors who had performed together in a production of Euripides's Helen at a (now defunct) theatre on the west side. The group took their name from Sam Peckinpah's movie "Straw Dogs" (Theatresaurus Rex was, thankfully, the runner-up), and they produced their first show, Len Jenkin's Five of Us at a (now defunct) space in Bucktown. At the time, the Chicago Reader said "Strawdog Theatre Company's inaugural production brings ... truth home with a vengeance," and Skyline Chicago added, "The Strawdog troupe shows us what an ensemble can do." Twenty-three years later, Strawdog Theatre Company has survived the ups and downs of Chicago theatre, and is still dedicated to bringing the truth to audiences through the committed work of an award-winning ensemble of actors and designers.

Harold Pinter's Old Times, directed by Kimberly Senior, October 6 - November 12, at the Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N Broadway. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Previews are October 6 and 7 with tickets being $15. There is a benefit performance, Saturday, October 8 at 7 p.m., $50 tickets include reception. Opening/Press Night is Sunday, October 9 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $28 with group, senior and student discounts available. Thursday, October 13 at 8 p.m. is an industry performance where available tickets are $10 for people presenting resume and headshots. The production runs approximately 80 minutes with no intermission. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

There is limited paid street parking and easily accessible on public transportation via the train: Red Line Sheridan stop or bus: 36-Broadway, 80-Irving Park and 151-Sheridan routes.

 

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