Victory Gardens Theater Extends RIGHTLYND Through December 30

Victory Gardens Theater announces the extension of the critically-acclaimed hit Rightlynd, written by Ike Holter and directed by Lisa Portes with original music by Charlie Coffeen. With six additional performances, the production now runs through December 30, 2018, at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Rightlynd was commissioned by Victory Gardens Theater as part of the Chicago Play Cycle. It was funded by The Wallace Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, and The Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation with developmental support from the Edgerton Foundation.

"Given the audiences' and critics' enthusiastic response, I'm thrilled that we are extending Victory Gardens ensemble playwright Ike Holter's new work, Rightlynd," says Chay Yew, Artistic Director of Victory Gardens. "Brimming with lyricism, inventiveness and wit, this timely play explores the political complexities of Chicago and the immediate need to speak truth to power. Ike is the poet of our time who is committed to telling Chicago stories that matter."

Rightlynd is Chicago's 51st Ward. The L doesn't run here anymore and it is full of abandoned storefronts, crumbling apartment buildings, and its fair share of crime. A powerful real estate conglomerate is planning a massive redevelopment project that would gentrify the neighborhood and change Rightlynd forever. Only one woman stands in the way: Alderman Nina Esposito. In award-winning local playwright Ike Holter's ambitious new work, one woman tries to use her street smarts and raw determination to save the Chicago neighborhood she loves. But will the political machine turn her into the very person she is trying to destroy Lisa Portes (BREACH, A Little Bit Not Normal) directs the first play that sets in motion Holter's ongoing seven play saga set in this fictional Windy City neighborhood; the story cycle that includes previous pieces Exit Strategy, Sender, Prowess, and The Wolf at the End of the Block.

The cast of Rightlynd includes Jerome Beck (Applewood/Denizen 1), Robert Cornelius (Robinson/Denizen 5), LaKecia Harris (Amena/Denizen 2), Anish Jethmalani (Platt/Denizen 4), Eddie Martinez (Pac), Monica Orozco (Nina) and Sasha Smith (Manda/Denizen 3).

The creative team includes Collette Pollard (scenic design), Samantha Jones (costume design), Jared Gooding (lighting design), Mikhail Fiksel (sound design and additional composition), Eleanor Kahn (props design), Skyler Gray (dramaturg), Jaq Seifert (violence director), Breon Arzell (choreography) and Mara Sagal (production stage manager).

About the Artists

Ike Holter (Playwright) is a 2017 winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize, one of the highest awards for playwriting in the world. Holter is a resident playwright at Victory Gardens Theater, and has been commissioned by The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, South Coast Rep and The Playwrights' Center. His work has been produced at the Steppenwolf Garage, The Philadelphia Theater Company, Off Broadway at Barrow Street and Cherry Lane, The Lily Tomlin Center in L.A, True Colors in Atlanta, Forward Theater in Wisconsin, Water Tower Theater in Dallas, 3oaks in Michigan, and Jackalope, Teatro Vista, A Red Orchid , and The Inconvenience in Chicago. He is the artistic director of The Roustabouts and is a regular performer at Salonathon in Chicago.

Lisa Portes (Director) returns to Victory Gardens where she directed BREACH by Antoinette Nwandu, Slingshot by Kia Korthron, A Little Bit Not Normal by Arlene Malinowski, and Undone by Andrea Thome for IGNITION. Other Chicago credits include: Steppenwolf: This is Modern Art by Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval, Goodman: Ghostwritten by Naomi Iizuka; Northlight: Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons; Timeline: Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West by Naomi Iizuka; Next Theatre: In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks and Far Away by Caryl Churchill. Recent regional credits: Disgraced (Cincinnati Playhouse), Glass Menagerie (CalShakes). NYC credits: Wilder (Playwrights Horizons). Upcoming: Native Gardens (Denver Center). Awards: 2016 SDC Zelda Fichandler Directors Award. Lisa heads the MFA Directing program at The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Jerome Beck (Applewood/ Denizen 1) Victory Gardens debut. Pink Orchids: The HIV Monologues (Pride, Films and Plays), Dontrell Who Kissed The Sea (First Floor Theater), Skin of our Teeth (Remy Bumppo), Dirty Butterfly (The Blind Owl), Our Lady of 121st Street (U/S) (Eclipse Theatre).

Robert Cornelius (Robinson/Denizen 5) Chicago credits include Picnic with American Theatre Company; Wit at The Hypocrites; Aida at Drury Lane Oak Brook; Taming of the Shrew at First Folio Theatre; Raisin at Court Theatre; Takunda, On The Block and Wheatley at Victory Gardens Theater; The Boys Next Door at Provision Theatre Company. Regional credits include Spunk at St. Louis Black Repertory; The Rivals, The Jeremiah and You Can't Take it With You at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre; Blues For an Alabama Sky at Madison Repertory Theatre and My Children, My Africa at Montana Repertory Theatre. Film and Television credits include Hoodlum, Chicago P.D. and Turks.

LaKecia Harris (Amena/Denizen 2) A Wonder in my Soul U/S (Victory Gardens). Marie Antoinette U/S (Steppenwolf). Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona (Midsommer Flight). Haymarket: An Anarchists' Songbook. Waltzing Mechanics: El Stories; Cosmic Events are Upon Us.

Anish Jethmalani (Platt/Denizen 4) Homeland Security (Victory Gardens). In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play, A Disappearing Number, Inana, Blood & Gifts (Timeline), Wit, A Christmas Carol (Goodman), Water By The Spoonful, Titus Andronicus, Mary Stuart (Court), Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare), Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo, Around The World in 80 Days, Sita Ram (Lookingglass), The Caretaker, To the Green Fields Beyond (Writers), Hatfield & McCoy (House), The Room (Red Orchid), Twelfth Night (First Folio), Merchant of Venice (Silk Road), Henry VII, Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Film & TV: Batman v. Superman, Empire, Chicago Med, Boss, Leverage.

Eddie Martinez (Pac) Ensemble member of Teatro Vista seen in Parachute Men, Fade and In the Time of the Butterflies (Victory Gardens) Other credits include: Native Gardens (The Old Globe) Fade (Denver Center, Cherry Lane, and TheaterWorks), As You Like It (Denver Center) Big Lake Big City, Cascabel (Lookingglass Theater); Our Lady of 121st Street (Steppenwolf); and Romeo y Julieta (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Film/TV credits include: Sense8 (Netflix), Sirens (USA Network), Chicago Fire (NBC) and The Dilemma (UNIVERSAL).

Monica Orozco (Nina) Victory Gardens debut. Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre's New Stages), Six Corners (American Blues Theater), The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, ShawChicago. TV: Chicago Med. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate.

Sasha Smith (Manda/Denizen 3) Victory Gardens debut. Johanna Faustus (The Hypocrites), Stay Lit (The Roustabouts), and The Aristophanesathon (The Hypocrites). Choreography: You Got Older (Steppenwolf), Smart People (Writers Theatre), Fear and Misery of the Third Reich and The Toilet (Haven Theatre), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center Of New York City (Route 66), Ideation (Jackalope), and Octagon (Jackalope). TV: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Green Screen Adventures. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

Remaining performances run through December 30, 2018: Tuesday - Friday at 7:30pm; Saturday at 3pm and 7:30pm; Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $27-$55.

Performances are at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. For tickets and information, call the Victory Gardens Box Office, 773.871.3000, email tickets@victorygardens.org, or visit www.victorygardens.org. Ask the Box Office about discounts for students, seniors, and those with access needs. Groups of 10 or more, call 773.634.9862 for discounted rates

www.victorygardens.org.

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