Strawdog's Hugen Hall to Present BEST BELOVED: THE JUST SO STORIES, 3/10-4/1

Strawdog Theatre Company's Hugen Hall has announced the world premiere of Best Beloved: The Just So Stories, devised by the Forks & Hope Ensemble from Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories for Little Children" and directed by Josh Sobel, March 10 - April 1 at the Strawdog Theatre's Hugen Hall, 3829 North Broadway St. The performance schedule is Sundays at 12 p.m., Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Opening/Press Night is Monday, March 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

The Forks & Hope Ensemble, the creative team behind last season's Hunting of the Snark returns to Strawdog's Hugen Hall with their latest inspiration, Best Beloved: Just So Stories. A troupe of magical creatures jumps from the pages of Kipling into the imagination of a young mother struggling to recover from a great personal loss. She soon discovers that her story shares some tragic similarities with that of Kipling, who wrote down Just So Stories four years after the death of his six-year-old daughter, Josephine. Both funny and heartbreaking, Best Beloved: The Just So Stories takes an entertaining and poignant look at grief, healing and the power of storytelling.

Starring the Forks & Hope Ensemble: Kelsey Shipley, Errol McLendon, Andrew Bailes, Alexis Randolph, Casey Pilkenton, Christian Stokes, Emily Gann, Suzanna Ziko, Austin Oie.

The production team features Claire Chrzan (lighting design), EL Hohn (costume design), Carmine Grisolia (set design), Aileen McGroddy (movement director), Michelle Maier (stage manager), Nikki Veit (assistant director), Alex Huntsberger and Julia Meese (textual adapters), Mike Mroch (production manager) and Anderson Lawfer (Hugen Hall artistic director).