The Impostors Theatre Company Continues Fifth Season With BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE

The Impostors Theatre Company will continue their fifth season with Beyond the Garden Gate, written by ITC ensemble member Mallory Swisher and directed by ITC Artistic Director Stefan Roseen. Beyond the Garden Gate runs April 12  – April 27, 2024 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622. Press are welcomed to join any time from Thursday, April 11 until closing.

“The liminal spaces are where all magic whispers and warps.” 

Two sisters come of age listening to the simultaneously comforting and unsettling fairytales their grandmother tells them. Now adults, the sisters are living through Grandma’s stories once again — this time in a very unexpected and real way. 

When Maeve moves in with their grandmother, ostensibly to care for her ailing health, her younger sister Kat learns that Maeve has become entrenched in solving the mystery at the heart of the stories they always took for fantasy. As Grandma’s health continues to deteriorate, Maeve becomes convinced that defeating the curse echoed throughout the fairytale will restore her Grandma’s vitality. 

Venturing into the world hidden beneath the garden at the edges of their backyard, Kat will follow her sister down the rabbit hole to the depths of the darkest fairytale. There, they face the darkness encroaching and the darkness within.

The cast of Beyond the Garden Gate features ITC ensemble member Jaclyn Jensen as The Morrigan, with Maria Clara Ospina as Katherine (Kat), Eliana Deckner-Glick as Maeve, Hilary Sanzel as Grandmother, Jasmine Robertson as The Watcher, Annika Andersson as The Musician/Fey, and Sam Martin, Whitney Ann Bates, Antonio Cruz, and Mikayla De Guzman as The Fey.

Following Beyond the Garden Gate, The Impostors Theatre Company’s fifth season will conclude with Footholds Vol. 5, an anthology play written by the community. Footholds Vol. 5 will run June 7 – June 15, 2024 at The Edge Off Broadway.

About the Artists

Stefan Roseen (Director) is a Chicago director, playwright, and designer who serves as the artistic director of The Impostors Theatre Company (ITC). Stefan most recently directed for ITC on the critically acclaimed The Last Living Gun. Additional directing credits include: ITC’s Jeff Nominated Miranda: A War-Torn Fable, Windwalkers; the Jeff Nominated Hertha Nova; The House of Baba Yaga; Summer & Smoke; Tippy: Stories from the River; Footholds (2020 & 2019); Caged: An Allegory; The Wood; as well as The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan; Art; and The Altercation in the Underworld — Winner “Best Of” for MadKap Productions Short Play Festival. Stefan has been Jeff Nominated for Best Director for his work on Hertha Nova, and has earned a nomination for “Best Stage Director” by the Chicago Reader every year since 2019. He earned his degree in Theatre and Studio Art from Valparaiso University where he has since returned to teach and direct. Stefan’s more recent theatrical designs include sets for 25/25, Occidental Express, the Jeff Recommended They, and the Jeff Nominated The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui — all for Trap Door Theatre.

Mallory Swisher (Playwright) is a founding ensemble member of The Impostors Theatre Company (ITC). She is a playwright (The Wood, ITC's inaugural full-length production), actor, and designer. Recent acting credits include: Mary Poppins (Memorial Opera House), A Staged Reading of Tippy: Stories from the River (ITC), The Altercation in the Underworld (“Best of the Fest” at the Annual Madcap Production Short Play Festival), South Pacific (The LaPorte Symphony Orchestra), and Assassins (Crown Point Theater). Lighting design credits include: Footholds Vol. 4, Miranda: A War-Torn Fable, Footholds Vol. 3, The House of Baba Yaga, Summer & Smoke, Tippy: Stories from the River, Footholds Vol. 1, Caged: An Allegory, and The Wood, all for The Impostors. Mallory studied at the iO Theater and received her degree from Valparaiso University. Catch her voicing Poppy on Roll 4 Your Life, a D&D podcast. New episodes are available every Monday on your preferred podcasting platform! 

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.