The Ruckus Announces Casting for LITTLE TRIGGERS, Opens 1/12

The Ruckus Theater announces casting for the world premiere of Little Triggers starting January 12 at The Side Project Theatre in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. Created by Tympanic Theatre Company's Artistic Director Daniel Caffrey and developed with The Ruckus' artistic ensemble over the last year, the play is directed by Ruckus Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker.

The cast of four actors includes Ruckus Artists in Residence Kevin Lambert (Strangeloop Theater's Maid of Orleans; Theatre-Hikes' Our Town) and Neal Starbird (The Gay American; New Leaf's Curse of the Starving Class), along with Ruckus newcomers Rob Grabowski (Piccolo's Love's Labours Lost; Brain Surgeon's 1512 W. Studebaker Pl.) and Derek Van Barham (FreeTime!?!?'s The Pillowman; Chicago College of Performing Art's Compleat Works of Willm Shakspr (Abridged)). Puppeteers include Ruckus Ensemble Member Stevie Chaddock (15 Minutes; Ka-Tet's In the Jungle of Cities), Suzanne Keyes (Plymouth Community Theatre's Much Ado About Nothing: Blackfriars Theater's Urinetown), Liz Goodson (Escape from the Haltsburg Boys Choir; The Boarshead Theatre's The Book of Liz) and Jennifer Roehm (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati's Collected Stories and Melancholy Play). Performances of Little Triggers begin January 13 (Opening Night is January 14) and run through February 12, 2012 at The Side Project Theatre (1439 W Jarvis Ave); performances are Friday - Sunday at 8pm. Tickets are $15 and go on sale November 21 at ruckustheater.org. The Ruckus is partially funded by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Once upon a dark and blustery Christmas Eve, a young man namEd Martin sits waiting. In the corner of the office, a printer spits, smokes and hisses in a way that would seem malevolent if Martin didn't know better. He waits for the repairman, and watches the clock tick, and wonders what it is that he's doing with his life. Little does he know that before the evening's out, a series of mysterious strangers will force him to confront his ideas about success, happiness, and failure--and they're starting with what's hidden in the back of his drawer. In Little Triggers, Martin has to find the through-line for his story, and he had better do it fast, because the snow won't stop falling, and the printer's out for blood.

Playwright Dan Caffrey is the Artistic Director of Tympanic Theatre Company, which he founded in 2006 after moving to Chicago. As a playwright, his work has been produced by ARFTCO, Chicago Dramatists, Dramatis Personae, Dream Theatre, Hobo Junction, Infusion Theatre, MOB Productions, The Rough House, Tympanic and WildClaw. This year, his play Orange Orbs opens Tympanic's 2011/2012 season. He has directed for Tympanic, iO and the side project, and helmed The Ruckus' world premiere musical Escape from the Haltsburg Boys Choir. He occasionally acts, appearing this year in Brooke Allen's [REDACTED] series and in The Ruckus' workshop of Dumb Angel, and is a Staff Writer for the music publication Consequence Of Sound (consequenceofsound.net).

Director Allison Shoemaker is the Artistic Director of The Ruckus Theater, which she founded in 2006 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Directing credits for The Ruckus include 15 Minutes, The Gay American, Heist Play and Brooke Allen's [REDACTED] series. In addition to working with playwrights as a director and dramaturg, Allison has created Play (for Tell It & Speak It & Think It & Breathe It), Three Lennon Fugue (The Mill Theatre), Mercatorie (ElvisBride 3D), and rock and roll madcap happenings for the band Not Blood, Paint. She appeared in Scott T. Barsotti's Jet Black Chevrolet (Curious Theatre Branch), and will direct for Tympanic Theatre's Deliver Us From Nowhere and the storytelling series You're Being Ridiculous. When not fighting for truth, justice and the right of the playwright to revise in the rehearsal room, Allison writes things; her work has appeared in Contrary, Commonline, The Pedestal, Admit2, Barnwood and 42opus.

About The Ruckus Theater

Founded by an industrious group of Michigan ex-pats, The Ruckus is composed of actors, directors, playwrights, musicians, casting directors, publicity managers, grant writers, baristas, grad students, poets, computer fixers, appointment-makers and census-takers who aim to create a new kind of company-a casteless theater that blends the lines between playwright and actor, audience and company member. The Ruckus Theater is led by Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker, Associate Artistic Director Joshua Davis and a company and ensemble of nineteen.

We're here to create, to examine, to invent, to explode-to create a ruckus. The Ruckus develops new work and the artists who create that work. Our ensemble breaks down the walls of traditional methods to nurture new plays and challenge exceptional artists. We believe in creating our process for every project from the ground up. We commit to the growth of our ensemble, the artists we collaborate with, and the plays we develop. We aim to deepen the cultural bedrock of our community by giving megaphones to new voices and by making theater affordable. By fostering conversations that rip through the curtain, we aim to lead both artist and audience down an unexpected path with art that doesn't play by the rules.

See how we make a ruckus all over the internet on our blog, iruckus.blogspot.com; like us at facebook.com/theruckustheater; view our photostream at flickr.com/ruckustheater; follow our tweets at twitter.com/ruckustheater; and spend hours at youtube.com/theruckustheater.

 

 

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