THE GOD COMMITTEE Comes to Oil Lamp Theater

Executive and Artistic Director Keith Gerth and Associate Artistic Director Stephen Smith of the Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview announce their next production, Mark St. Germain's medical drama The God Committee. This production is directed by Josh Johnson and will be performed from August 16th through September 23rd, 2018 at 1723 Glenview Road in Glenview.

The God Committee, a medical drama that explores the moral, ethical and emotional issues surrounding decisions about organ transplantation, is the next presentation for Glenview's Oil Lamp Theater.

On any given day in the United States, about 120,000 people need life-saving organ transplants. Approximately a quarter of those will ultimately die for lack of donor organs. Playwright Mark St. Germain takes us into the boardroom of a major urban hospital for a meeting of the Transplant Selection Committee, a small group tasked with making a wrenching decision: who, from among the several candidates, will receive a donor heart that has just become available? And who won't?

The God Committee explores this gathering of seven professionals -- three doctors, a social worker, a psychiatrist, a nurse, and a priest - as they wrestle with their not only this profound question, but also with their professional responsibilities, their personal ethics, and their own emotions. Who should live? And who will die? And how would you decide?

The seven members of The God Committee include Dr. Alex Gorman, a surly and opinionated cardiac surgeon (Wendy Hayne); Nurse Neil Larkin, a down-to-earth registered nurse who is the transplant coordinator (Anthony Harden); Dr. Jackie Klee, a cardiologist who heads the hospital's transplant unit and who may have her own agenda, (Madeline Bunke); Dr. Andy Ross, a psychiatrist working hard to hide his own personal stress (Dennis Schnell); Dominique Piero, the eccentric and well-intentioned head of Social Services at the hospital, (Deveon Bromby); Father Charles Dunbar, a Catholic priest who is also the committee's lawyer (David

McNulty); and Dr. Kenneth Banks, a young surgeon filling in as proxy for another doctor, who must learn to vote his own conscience in this unrelenting environment (Mark Tacderas). The understudies for this production are Whitney Minarik, Rachel Silvert and Steve Smith.

Each one of these people is a qualified professional. Each is driven by the desire to achieve the best outcome possible for their patients in their care. But St. Germain's play reveals that those who "play God" are also complex individuals driven by ego, delusions of grandeur, ticking clocks... and the knowledge that their decisions are irrevocable.

With shades of Twelve Angry Men, Grey's Anatomy and ER, The God Committee will keep you on the edge of your seat as the committee argues, accuses, and moves inexorably toward its fateful decision.

Commenting on the how this play fits into the larger Oil Lamp 2018 schedule, Executive Director, Keith Gerth explained that The God Committee is the third in a trilogy of shows presented during the 2018 Oil Lamp Theater season that represent stories about women and are told by women.

The first, Love, Loss and What I Wore, focused on the intimate side of personal growth, looking at how women define and shape their sense of self in intimate ways.

The second show, The Odd Couple - Female Version show took this exploration to the next level as we considered how that sense of self affects relationships, both with men and with other women - especially in a world and at a time when the ability to make strong, independent choices really seemed possible.

The third show in this trilogy, The God Committee, will move this conversation into the workplace - in this case, the high-pressure world of medicine, specifically organ transplantation and cardiac surgery. This is a place where women in positions of power, and with important decision-making responsibility, have been rare until quite recently.

Each of these shows offers us fertile ground for exploring the challenges facing women, and for considering what it means to be a woman in society today. There's a lot to think about... but also a lot of fun to be had along the way!

The God Committee premiered at the Barrington Stage Company in July 2004, Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director and Mitch Weiss Managing Director.

The ensemble cast of this Oil Lamp Theater production of The God Committee features Deveon Bromby, Madeline Bunke, Anthony Harden, Wendy Hayne, David McNulty, Dennis Schnell and Mark Tacderas. Understudies for this production are Whitney Minarik, Rachel Silvert and Steve Smith. The Stage Manager for this production is MJ Dougherty.

Josh Johnson (Director) has been directing in Chicago for over twelve years, working with various theatres in the area, including Red Tape Theatre, Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, Red Theater Chicago as well as Oil Lamp Theater, too many times to count. Most recently Josh directed Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Oil Lamp Theater and prior to that, he was a Producer on last fall's Jeff Award winning production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity with Red Theater Chicago. He'd like to thank Keith and the Oil Lamp Family for having him back again, all of the wonderfully talented people involved in this show and as always, his roommate Bridget.

Keith Gerth (Executive and Artistic Director) founded Oil Lamp Theater in 2005. Prior to establishing the Theater, which was originally located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, Keith held a number of positions. After high school, Keith was a carpenter for eight years with Murray Countertops in Streator, Illinois. He left that position in 1989 to obtain a degree in Financial Accounting from Illinois State University. Keith graduated with honors and began working for the global professional services firm of Deloitte in 1991 and became a Certified Public Accountant. He worked at Deloitte for fifteen years in the Audit and Assurance practice, from which he retired in 2005 at the level of Director. Keith was professionally trained in acting at Act One Studios in Chicago, Illinois. Keith has been actively involved in the community through Chicago Cares and has served as a board officer for The Illinois Fatherhood Initiative and the Glenview Art League. Keith has also served on the board of Factory Theater in Chicago. Keith is married to Carole Flamm. They live in Northbrook.

Performances of The God Committee are presented Thursdays through Sundays, with evening performances at 8:00pm and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00pm. Tickets are $35 and include complimentary cookies and soft drinks. Oil Lamp Theater is BYOB with complimentary corkage and glasses. The complete performance schedule and tickets are available at 847-834-0738 or online at oillamptheater.org. Group and student rates are available.

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