Theater Wit Presents COMPLETENESS, 2/7-3/24

Modern romance is more complex than any scientific problem ever in Itamar Moses's smart, sexy new comedy Completeness, receiving its Midwest premiere in a Theater Wit production at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Previews begin Feb. 7, 2013. Press opening is Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 pm. Performances run through March 24. Regular show times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm; and Sunday at 2 pm. No show Thursday, Feb. 21. Tickets are $18-$36. For tickets and information, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150.

Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler will stage Moses's newest play about brainy grad students toggling in and out of love. Matt Holzfeind, Time Out Chicago's "Performer of the Week" for his recent outing in Bailiwick Chicago's Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and Kristina Valada-Viads, who appeared on Broadway in August Osage County and in Time Stands Still at Steppenwolf, play Elliot and Molly respectively, with Rae Gray (Victory Gardens' Circle Mirror Transformation, Jailbait at Profiles) as Lauren, and Andrew Jessop (Lobby Hero and The Pillowman at Redtwist Theatre) as Don.

Moses, author of Wit's 2011 hit The Four of Us and Writers' Theatre's acclaimed Bach at Liepzig, returns to Theater Wit bringing his trademark wit, insight and humanity to this new romantic comedy about two grad students who are smart about their work, but stupid about each other. Computer-science grad Elliot strikes up a conversation in the university library with ambitious molecular biologist Molly, and they agree to collaborate on a cross-departmental experiment. But while unraveling the complexities of science, Eliott and Molly get tangled up in the unsolvable problems of love. In this smart new rom-com about passion and programming, Moses asks: if love brings infinite possibilities, how can we ever be complete?

Itamar Moses (Playwright) is the author of The Four of Us, which also had its Midwest debut under Jeremy Wechsler's direction at Theater Wit in 2011, earning three-and-a-half stars from the Chicago Tribune, four stars from Time Out Chicago, and for Moses, the new designation "one hell of a playwright" from the Chicago Reader. His subsequent play Completeness has received east and west coast premieres at Playwrights Horizons and South Coast Repertory respectively. Moses' other plays include Bach at Leipzig, Outrage, Celebrity Row, Yellowjackets, Back Back Back, and an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress Of Solitude. His work has appeared Off-Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theaters across the U.S. and Canada, and has been published by Faber & Faber, Vintage Heinemann Press, Playscripts Inc., and Samuel French, Inc. He has received commissions from The McCarter Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Wilma Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and South Coast Rep. Moses holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, MCC Playwrights Coalition, Naked Angels Mag 7, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Moses has written for HBO's hit series Boardwalk Empire and he was just featured in New York Magazine's "Reasons to Love New York 2012" issue. He was born in Berkeley, California, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Jeremy Wechsler (Director) is the artistic director of Theater Wit where he has directed Tigers Be Still (Kim Rosenstock), This (Melissa James Gibson), The Four of Us (Itamar Moses), Spin (Penny Penniston), Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries (David Sedaris/Joe Mantello). Other directing credits include: A Taste of Honey (Shelagh Delaney), The Play About the Squirrel (Mia McCullough), The White Devil (John Webster), The Real Thing (Tom Stoppard), Szinhaz (Itamar Moses), The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare), The Roaring Girl (Thomas Middleton), Flight (Mikhail Bulgakov), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Paul Rudnick), This is the Rill Speaking (Lanford Wilson), Hay Fever (Noel Coward) Now Then Again (Penny Penniston), A Month in the Country (Brian Friel), Europe (David Grieg), Henry VI: Blood of a Nation (Shakespeare), The Promise (Jose Rivera), Un Robot (Laura Jacqmin), The Coarse Acting Show (Michael Green), Life is a Dream (Calderon), The Prisoner's Dilemma (David Edgar), Cabaret (Kander/Ebb) and The Threepenny Opera (Brecht). Wechsler's productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres.

The design team for Completeness includes Joe Schermoly (set), Michael Rourke (lights), Janice Pytel (costumes), Joseph Fosco (sound/original music), Michael Stanfill (projections) and Karen LaCoursiere (props). Sarah J. Luse is stage manager.

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