TimeLine Theatre Announces Chicago Premiere Of CARDBOARD PIANO

TimeLine Theatre Company announces the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Cardboard Piano, Hansol Jung's powerful story of faith, love, and the human capacity for forgiveness set amidst violent conflict in northern Uganda, playing January 9 - March 17, 2019.

The first Chicago staging of Cardboard Piano, a breakout hit when it premiered at the 2016 Humana Festival of New American Plays, will be directed by TimeLine Company Member Mechelle Moe.

The play features a quartet of actors, all making their TimeLine debut: Adia Alli (she/her) has previously appeared at Stage Left, Jackalope and Court Theatre; Kai Ealy (he/him) performed in Migration for eta Creative Arts Foundation and Frankinland at Jackalope Theater; Kearstyn Keller (she/her) was featured in MadKap's Equus, Organic Theater's King Ubu, and is co-artistic director with MUSE Collective where she appeared in The Love Talker. Freedom Martin (he/him) is a senior at ChiArts, the Chicago High School for the Arts, and is making his professional debut in Cardboard Piano.

TimeLine's production team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec (Scenic Designer, he/him); Elle Erickson (Costume Designer, she/her); Brandon J. Wardell (Lighting Designer, he/him); David Kelepha Samba (Sound Designer, he/him); Amy Peter (Properties Designer); Kristina Fluty (Intimacy Choreographer, she/her); Eva Breneman (Dialect Designer, she/her); Jared Bellot (Dramaturg, he/him); Dina Spoerl (Lobby Designer, she/her); and Luci Kersting (Stage Manager, she/her).

Cardboard Piano begins previews on January 9. Press Night is Wednesday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. Opening Night is January 17. Performances run through March 17 at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. For tickets and information, visit timelinetheatre.com or call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6.

At the dawn of the millennium in a darkened church in northern Uganda, the daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl prepare to exchange vows in a secret, makeshift wedding ceremony. But when the brutality of the war zone around them encroaches on their fragile union, the two are faced with a reality they cannot escape. Confronting the religious and cultural roots of intolerance, Cardboard Piano explores violence and its aftermath, as well as the human capacity for hatred, forgiveness, and love.

Cardboard Piano premiered as a part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays in March 2016. The Louisville Courier-Journal called it "haunting" and "authentic," writing that "Jung's characters never offer clear answers to what is to be done when hearts and lives are broken from violence and denunciation, but this promising playwright's story suggests a power in facing the damage done and picking up the pieces to inform each step forward." And Louisville Insider reflected, "Jung leaves herself plenty of room for questions and accusations that reach far beyond the borders of Uganda."

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