THREE STORIES UP Will Plunge Audiences Into Total Darkness

Theatre in the Dark, a new company that focuses on performances staged entirely in complete darkness, will mount as its inaugural production the Chicago premiere of the noir mystery thriller THREE STORIES UP by the Canadian-born Chicago playwright Mackenzie Gordon.

In Gordon's 80-minute drama, Vancouver transit cop Beatrice Dulaurier has found her detective husband's dead body, The police call it a suicide, but Beatrice doesn't buy that explanation. To find the truth, she enlists the help of her late husband's last known informant, a drug runner who carries secrets of his own. The two embark on a hair-raising investigation through the city's colorful characters in search of justice... and revenge. Inspired by hard-boiled paperback novels and the radio mystery plays of the '30s and '40s, it introduces the audience to sadder-but-wiser, hard-boiled detectives and shady characters whose loyalties are never certain.

The new company is the brainchild of Director Corey Bradberry and Associate Producers Mackenzie Gordon, Kelly Greene, James McDougald, and Zachary Parkhurst.

Performed entirely in the dark, as it was in its 2016 world premiere in Vancouver, THREE STORIES UP will combine recorded sound, live Foley effects, and the human voice -- in front, beside, and behind the audience -- to create a three dimensional soundscape that will be far more enveloping and environmental than a mere radio play. Audiences will be blindfolded after their arrival at the performance venue and guided to their seats. They will remove their blindfolds after the performance begins in pitch darkness and the lights will remain out until curtain call. THREE STORIES UP will be unique among Chicago theatre productions in that patrons with low visibility will enjoy exactly the same experience as their fellow audience members.

Bradberry says, "One of the oldest traditions in noir storytelling is the use of setting as a main character. No set designer could outdo the descriptive language of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett, or for that matter, our playwright Mackenzie Gordon. THREE STORIES UP leans so hard into the words, we decided to turn out the lights altogether."

THREE STORIES UP will be performed in a "found space" - the building that was originally the Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church - at 1244 W. Thorndale in Edgewater. The Chicago production will be directed by Corey Bradberry and the cast will include the playwright, Mackenzie Gordon, and Bethany Arrington.

Tickets and further information are available at www.theatreinthedark.com

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