THE OUTSIDERS Musical Adaptation Postponed at Goodman Theatre; Two Productions Added to 2021/2022 Season

Goodman Theatre will continue its 2021/2022 Homecoming Season into the new year with several scheduling updates. Tony Award-winner Robert Falls marks 35 years as Goodman Artistic Director-a position from which he will step down at season's end-by directing the world premiere of Rebecca Gilman's Swing State, his sixth play by his longtime collaborator, in the Owen Theatre. In addition, the Goodman will produce the Chicago premiere of composer/lyricist Britta Johnson's new musical Life After, directed by Annie Tippe in the Albert Theatre. NOTE: Life After replaces the previously announced musical adaptation of The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel and Francis Ford Coppola's film, which has been postponed to a future date to be announced.

Membership options for the 2021/2022 Season start at $50; to purchase, call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Homecoming. Individual tickets for the newly announced plays will go on sale soon.

Six plays (including one to be announced) are still to come in the 2021/2022 Season (through July 2022): Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (January 22 - February 27); The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman (February 11 - March 20); Good Night, Oscar by Doug Wright, directed by Lisa Peterson (March 12 - April 17); Swing State by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls (April 1 - May 1); and Life After by Britta Johnson, directed by Annie Tippe (June 11 - July 17).

The season began in August 2021 when live-in-person performances could safely resume-starting with School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. The season continued with American Mariachi by José Cruz González, directed by Henry Godinez; Fannie (The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer) by Cheryl L. West, directed by Henry Godinez; the 17th annual New Stages Festival including six plays-Nightwatch by Max Yu, directed by Chay Yew; Layalina by Martin Yousif Zebari directed by Sivan Battat; along with staged readings of Fires, Ohio by Beth Hyland, directed by Marti Lyons; Your Name Means Dream by José Rivera, directed y Audrey Francis; and Watching the Watcher by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Neel Keller; as well as the virtual reality experience Hummingbird by Jo Cattell, created by Daria Tsoupikova, Sai Priya Jyothula, Andrew Johnson, Arthur Nishimoto and Lance Long at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory in the University of Illinois as Chicago); and the 44th annual production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, directed by Jessica Thebus.

ABOUT THE PLAYS

Swing State

By Rebecca Gilman
Directed by Robert Falls
April 1 - May 1, 2022 in the Owen Theatre

Feuds erupt between once-friendly neighbors when an out-of-state power company starts a land grab in a rural Wisconsin community. Peg, a retired teacher, fights to save the land she loves - but it's hard to know who your friends are in a world where politics are more polarized than ever. In her 10th Goodman production, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman draws

a contemporary portrait of America's heartland in a time when it seems like everyone has a different idea of what it means to be an American. Robert Falls marks his 35th anniversary season-and his final year as Goodman Theatre Artistic Director-directing a world premiere from his longtime collaborator. Previous Falls/Gilman collaborations include Blue Surge (2001), Dollhouse (2005), A True History of the Johnstown Flood (2010), Luna Gale (2014) and Soups, Stews and Casseroles: (2016).

Life After

By Britta Johnson
Directed by Annie Tippe
June 11 - July 17, 2022 in the Albert Theatre

Frank Carter famously authored self-help books. But Alice, his 16-year-old daughter, finds cold comfort in his positivity platitudes when he tragically never comes home one night. As she puzzles out the events of the day that changed her family forever, Alice's relentless search for the facts reveals a more complicated truth.

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