Victory Gardens Theater Postpones Remainder of 2021 Season, Announces New Online Programming for Winter & Spring 2021

Victory Gardens Theater has announced the further postponement of the 2021 Season, which included the Chicago premieres of cullud wattah by Erika Dickerson-Despenza and Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery. Victory Gardens hopes to produce these productions, along with the previously postponed productions of Poor Yella Rednecks by Qui Nguyen, In Every Generation by Ali Viterbi, and Exit Strategy by Ike Holter, in a later season.

Acting Managing Director Roxanna Connor comments, "Even with the recent positive news of potential vaccines, there is not yet a clear timeline on when we will be able to welcome audiences back. We are not at the point that we can guarantee safe working conditions for our practitioners and staff in order to bring cullud wattah to the stage in April 2021. Live theater, no matter how important to our mental and emotional well-being, is not worth the potential loss of a single human life, and we must do our part to help stop the spread of the pandemic. For now, that means keeping our stages dark. We are determined to reopen when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, we will continue to engage and find ways to present new work online, such as our recent virtual showcase, Voices of Tomorrow."

Voices of Tomorrow: Their World on Stage, featuring a keynote address by André De Shields, is a showcase of CPS students' work, performed by professional actors, and a demonstration of the power of the theater to connect us, even from afar. The video of the event is available to stream here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/voicesoftomorrow.

Upcoming online events include the First Friday Open Mic Series, which begins January 1, 2021. This monthly open mic will feature 3-5 minute performances that focus on a central theme or group of performers. Additionally, Victory Gardens is pleased to announce New Plays for a New Year, a one-night-only online reading of new ten-minute plays. Featured artists include playwrights McKenzie Chinn and Preston Choi, and directors Brian Balcom, Lili-Anne Brown, and Devon de Mayo, with more artists to be announced. Both events are free and open to the public: the First Friday Open Mic Series will take place on Instagram and Facebook Live, and no registration is required. New Plays for a New Year will open for registration in early 2021 on the Victory Gardens Theater website.

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