Will Act For Food Presents THE TRAIN PLAY, Now thru 11/17

Will Act For Food will present the Chicago premiere of THE RECKLESS, RUTHLESS, BRUTAL CHARGE OF IT, or THE TRAIN PLAY, by Liz Duffy Adams, directed by WAFF Artistic Director Andrew Jordan, opening tonight, October 25 and running through November 17 at Oracle Theater, 3809 N. Broadway. Performances will be Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM.

The cast features Scottie Caldwell, Dennis Frymire, Volen Iliev, Tricia Rodriguez, Colin Sphar, Reece Thornbery, Melissa Tropp, and Adam Welsh.

A scientist in flight from a terrifying truth she's only glimpsed. A twelve-year-old superhero running from her ordinary life. A goddess on the lam from boredom, and a trio of Russian brothers on a musical mission. Eight strangers unknowingly face the end of the universe one night on a train in America, hurtling along a comic-poetic collision course with time, history, and a supernatural climax.

It’s the end of the world as we know it. Or possibly the beginning.

Subtitled as a “comi-threnody,” The Reckless, Ruthless, Brutal Charge of It, or, The Train Play is a Wesley Willis-worthy hellride into apocalypse, carrying science, Christianity, Greek mythology, and comic-book heroism among its unsuspecting passengers. Will Act For Food is beyond delighted to punch Chicago’s ticket to this play for the first time, just in time for (if you take the Mayans’ word for it) the 2012 apocalypse.

In a 2011 interview with Clyde Fitch Report editor Leonard Jacobs, playwright Liz Duffy Adams spoke about her predilection for doomsday scenarios: "I’ve come to realize all my plays, pretty much, take place in times of disaster, where the reinvention of civilization in some sense is on the table. I’m just irresistibly drawn to questions of how human systems can be uprooted and recreated, and how people navigate upheavals of history and the disruption of ordinary life."

Luckily, the prophesized end of days isn't until December 21, 2012, so there’s plenty of time to catch the show before it all goes down.

WAFF is particularly excited to produce this play at Oracle Theater, partly because of its proximity to Lakeview Pantry, WAFF’s partner in community service. Just a few doors down from the theater, Lakeview Pantry was designated as WAFF’s permanent recipient of all food donations in 2005.

Tickets: Due to the specific license held by Oracle Theater, all admission prices are suggested voluntary donations. Reservations will be available at willactforfood.com/tix closer to the production’s opening. While WAFF technically cannot offer their usual discounted admission to an already free performance, they are working with Lakeview Pantry to develop incentives for patrons to donate “most needed” food items. More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available.

Events

Tonight, October 25- Patrons are invited to attend an opening night reception immediately following the performance.

Thursday, November 1- Theater Thursday event, in collaboration with The League of Chicago Theatres. 

Other events, speakers, discussions, etc., will be announced via WAFF’s website, Facebook, and Twitter as they are confirmed.

About the playwright: Liz Duffy Adams is a New Dramatists alumna (2001-2008) and a recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Award, a Will Glickman Playwright Award, a Frederick Loewe Award in Music Theatre, a Weston Playhouse Music Theater Award, and a commission from Children's Theater Company, Minneapolis. Her work has been written, produced, or developed at the Humana Festival, The Women's Project, Portland Center Stage, Portland Stage Company, Syracuse Stage, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, MacDowell Colony, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Millay Colony for the Arts, New Georges, Shotgun Players, Moxie Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and Crowded Fire Theater, among other places. Very recently, her play Or, produced by Caffeine Theatre, was revived for Theatre on the Lake’s 2012 season in Chicago. Ms. Adams was profiled in American Theatre magazine's December 2004 issue.

About the company: Will Act For Food (WAFF) has nourished the Chicago community artistically and literally since its inception in 1997. We take a collaborative approach to theater; finding the light in darkness, revealing truth within fiction, and celebrating the absurd in the everyday. By offering discounted admission in exchange for non-perishable food donations, we empower our audiences to help feed those in need.

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