World Premiere of LAST ASCENT & More Announced for The New Coordinates 2022 Season

The New Coordinates (TNC), formerly The New Colony, has announced its 2022 season, to presented at its resident home, The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood.

This summer, TNC welcomes back live audiences with a workshop production of Debbie Baños's bittersweet memoir American Side Efectos, directed by Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez. Originally produced as a solo show in the summer of 2021, TNC is pleased to present this piece-in-process as the artists deepen the storytelling to include an ensemble of actors.

In the fall, TNC present the world premiere of Kristin Idaszak's heart- wrenching cliffhanger Last Ascent, directed by Denise Yvette Serna. Tickets will go on sale at a later date at thenewcoordinates.org or by calling The Den box office at (773) 697-3830.

TNC is also pleased to welcome Persephone Van Ort (they/it) as the company's new Managing Director. They are a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist who also serves as an Associate Editor at Sixty Inches From Center and the Associate Artistic Director at the Prop Thtr. Van Ort has also written and performed with Chicago theaters including the Neo-Futurists, Prop, Walkabout, TUTA, Facility and others.

TNC Co-Artistic Directors Fin Coe and Stephanie Shum comment, "We are electrified right now. There's been so much going on behind the scenes these last few years, and we've slowly begun to make our careful return, starting with last year's Love in the Time of Jonestown. Now we get to announce the next steps, the next fruits of our workshop development process. We've long admired Debbie Baños's American Side Efectos, and we're honored to present its next evolution, giving the width and breadth of an ensemble and the perspective of our developmental experience to what started as a solitary labor of love. We are also pleased to announce our first project with Kristin Idaszak, whose Last Ascent is an ambitious masterwork that skillfully weaves together threads as seemingly disparate as humanity's impact on far-off microclimates, and the failing tissues of the heart. Having the time and space to work hand-in-hand with our artists to polish and elevate these pieces has been a joy. This year, we're so excited for the work to become public, and for our new Managing Director to join us as we build up to this momentous time. This is what we've been working towards, this is what it's all been for - it's exciting, and we're ready to go."

TNC's new Managing Director Persephone Van Ort comments "I'm excited to be working with the New Coordinates and helping to build an outlet for Chicago theater makers to develop their careers and their art in a considerate, process-oriented space. Fin and Steph have some great ideas of where they're taking the company and I'll happily build out structures for them to manifest those ideas."

The New Coordinates' 2022 Season includes:

July 22 - 31, 2022

American Side Efectos - Workshop Production!

By Debbie Baños

Directed by Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez

at The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Debbie's second favorite holiday, right after Christmas, has always been the 4th of July, but this year she's not even in the mood for a festive hot dog. Tag along as little Debbie tries to make sense of Mami's mysterious medical issues as adult Debbie revisits her mother's journey immigrating from El Salvador to Arkansas.

October 15 - November 7, 2022

Last Ascent - World Premiere!

By Kristin Idaszak

Directed by Denise Yvette Serna

at The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Press opening: Monday, October 24 at 7:30 pm

When Iris, a professional alpinist, is diagnosed with a heart condition that may prevent her from ever climbing again, she reluctantly turns to a therapist who specializes in supporting elite adventure athletes. But Iris begins unpacking a whole lot more than she bargained for as her therapist pushes her to unfurl a tragic accident that changed her life forever. Simultaneously moving forward and backward in time, Last Ascent investigates grief, chronic illness, imperialism and the ecological devastation wreaking havoc on our planet and on our bodies.

About The Artists

Debbie Baños (Playwright, American Side Efectos, she/her) holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) and has worked with Chicago theater companies such as Babes with Blades, Halcyon, Victory Gardens, Teatro Vista, Still Point and Erasing the Distance, and has recently had her network debut on Chicago Fire. When she is not acting, Debbie writes about family, love and immigration as a first-generation American and proud daughter of immigrants. She has written two plays, a solo show American Side Efectos and a one-act play Escape Velocity, developed at the Chicago Theatre Marathon. Escape Velocity was included in the 24-hour Women's Theatre Festival of 2018. American Side Efectos was developed through a grant with the National New Play Network, received an ALTA (Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists) Award nomination and was hailed as "a triumphant solo show full of anger, humor and heart." Dedicated to Debbie's mother on her 8th year as an American citizen, the play celebrates her strength and resilience in pursuit of the American Dream! In 2021, she collaborated with Colombian director Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez for a sold out run of American Side Efectos in The Edge Off-Broadway in Chicago. Debbie thanks all the artists, friends and family who inspire and support her, including her husband Jonathan, and her director Esteban! Debbie is represented by 10 Talent. debbiebanos.com

Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez (Director, American Side Efectos, he/him) is grateful to be collaborating with The New Coordinates! His most recent project was Miss You Like Hell, by Quiara Alegría Hudes (TheatreSquared). His credits include Sandusky by Daniela Mauleón (Collaboraction), Dreamers by Joseff Stevenson (Arc Theatre), Thoughts on Racism... by Sarah Illiatovich-Goldman (Encounter - Collaboraction), People's History of The Block by Kevin Coval (Collaboraction), Escape Velocity by Debbie Baños (Chicago Theatre Marathon) and Thundersnow (American Theatre Company). Other productions include Invitation To A Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov as Assistant Director and deviser (LookOut Series - Steppenwolf), The Stranger and The Shadow by Rough House Theatre (Adventure Stage Chicago), The Adding Machine (University of Arkansas), Tango Through The Revolution (Repertorio Español, New York), The Dumb Waiter (Step One Theatre) and Our Town and Pervertimento with Teatro Lunático, (Salamanca, Spain) as a company member and director. He has a Spanish Major from Universidad de Salamanca and holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Arkansas.

Kristin Idaszak (Playwright, Last Ascent, she/they) is a two-time Playwrights' Center Jerome Fellow and the former Shank Playwriting Fellow at The Goodman Theatre. Idaszak has received commissions from the Goodman, EST/The Sloan Foundation, Cleveland Play House, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and TimeLine Theatre. Her play Second Skin received the Kennedy Center's Paula Vogel Playwriting Award and the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, and her play Another Jungle was a Relentless Award Honorable Mention. Idaszak was the Kennedy Center Fellow at the Sundance Theatre Lab. Her work has been seen at or developed through the The Playwrights' Center, La Jolla Playhouse's WoW Festival, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Williamstown Theatre Festival's Directing Studio, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Drama League, Pasadena Playhouse, Circle X, Rivendell Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks and Perishable Theatre, among others. Idaszak's work has also received support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. She teaches at The Theatre School at DePaul University (where she is currently the Acting Head of Dramaturgy/Criticism BFA program) and Northwestern University. MFA: UC San Diego.

Denise Yvette Serna (Director, Last Ascent, she/ella) is a theatre practitioner and arts activist, and serves as Associate Artistic Director of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago. Her directing and curating credits include productions with Teatro Vista, The Latinx Theatre Commons, The Neo-Futurists, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Prop Thtr, Victory Gardens Theater, Strawdog Theatre Company, Steep Theatre Company, Earphoria Chicago, Pop Magic Productions and El Semillero. Denise co-founded Global Hive Laboratories, an international collective working toward a global theatre rooted in Active Access and community exchange. deniseyvetteserna.com

About The New Coordinates

The New Coordinates (formerly The New Colony) develops New Art and New Artists in order to educate and build New Audiences. Now in its 14th year, The New Coordinates has established itself as "one of Chicago's essential off-Loop companies" (Chicago Tribune). Through the development of countless new plays and musicals, 33 world premieres, and a conscious shift toward becoming an anti-racist theatre, The New Coordinates has cultivated a diverse audience of theatergoers eager to have a voice in the storytelling. Conversation, collaboration and innovation remain at the heart of everything they produce. The New Coordinates' work has been honored with five non-Equity Jeff Awards, Broadway In Chicago's 2011 Emerging Theatre Award, and their shows have gone onto productions across the country and beyond. thenewcoordinates.org

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