Victory Gardens Continues Ignite Chicago Readings With Two New Plays This December

Victory Gardens Theater presents two Ignite Chicago readings in December 2021. Tokens of Promise, by Ada A. and directed by Sydney Chatman, on Saturday, December 4, 2021a??at 3pma??in partnership witha??ABJ Community Services/ABJ Arts, located at Trinity Episcopal Church, 125 E. 26th St, Chicago, and The Bottoming Process, by Nicholas Pilapil and directed by Hutch Pimentel, on Friday, December 10, 2021 at 7pm, in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave in Chicago.

Tokens of Promise and The Bottoming Process are the second and third Ignite Chicago readings this season, presented as part of The Ignition New Play Program. Tickets are FREE but very limited and must be reserved through the box office ata??773.871.3000a??or online at www.victorygardens.org.

In Tokens of Promise, there's only one open "diversity" position at this start-up, and the White Corporate Boss Guy is ready to watch the minorities duke it out for the sweet, sweet privilege of employment. Ada A.'s wicked satire about modern-day job search and employment culture offers a scathing rebuttal of the working world-and the cost of surviving within it.

In The Bottoming Process, two writers meet at WeWork and fall in love-or something like it. One is a famed novelist, and the other is a nobody who's mostly funny on Twitter. One is nearing middle age, and the other is flailing through their twenties. One is White, and the other is definitely Not. As they mate, date, and cohabitate, they'll grapple with issues of race, sex, power, and the model minority myth, all to find out who's really on top.

Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin comments, "Through the new play development process, Victory Gardens is offering additional resources and opportunities for Ignite Chicago playwrights. One important element of this program is giving several playwrights the opportunity to develop their work in a community of their choice, thereby making free work accessible to audiences across the city. The reading of Ada A.'s Tokens of Promise will be held at ABJ Community Services, one of our Neighborhood Arts Collective-Chicago partners, as we continue to expand our partnership."

Ignite Chicago is part of The Ignition New Play Program (formerly the Ignition Festival of New Plays), and is sponsored by The Pritzker Foundation and The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation. The Ignition New Play Program consists of two events for the 2021/22 season: the Ignite Chicago reading series, offering six free readings of new works between October 2021 and July 2022, and the 20/50 Festival in June 2022, featuring three new works by playwrights over 50, staged by VG Directors Inclusion Initiative Fellows. Ignite Chicago readings will take place throughout the season, both at Victory Gardens' home in Lincoln Park, the Biograph Theater, and at partner locations throughout the city, to bring new plays into Chicago's many communities.

Flex Passes to the 2021/22 Season are currently on sale at victorygardens.org or by phone at 773.871.3000, and offer 20% savings over single ticket prices. Single tickets will go on sale later this fall, and range from $29-$62.

For complete details on the 2021/2022 Season and artists, Flex Passes, and the Ignition New Play Program, please visit victorygardens.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.