World Premiere of WARPED, A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG & More Set for Stage Left Theatre's 32nd Season

Stage Left Theatre is pleased to announce the programming for its 32nd season. The company will offer three mainstage productions that examine the concept of responsibility. Parents, teachers, law enforcement officers-they have a responsibility to guide us and look out for us. Season 32 examines what happens if they can't. Or won't.

The season begins with the world premiere of Warped, which was developed through a Downstage Left Residency in 2011 and appeared in a workshop production in Stage Left's LeapFest 9. Based on local events, Warped marks the Stage Left mainstage debut of local playwright Barbara Lhota. Next, in the winter, we present a revival of the modern British classic A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. First produced in 1967 and widely recognized as one of the great plays of the twentieth century,A Day in the Death of Joe Egg has not been seen in Chicago for over 20 years. Finally, in partnership with Theatre Seven of Chicago, Stage Left Theatre will present a spring co-production of Joe Zarrow's Principal Principle. "We at Stage Left have long been admirers of playwright Joe Zarrow and all of the other great artists at Theater Seven of Chicago. I could not be more excited about partnering on a production that will serve the mission of both companies so well. On top of being extremely entertaining, Principal Principle draws on Joe's own experience as a teacher in the Chicago Public School system to spark an important conversation about the state of public education. We plan to make a special effort to engage the education community in this conversation," Smith said. The company will close out the season with LeapFest 11, its annual festival of new work.

About the Plays

the world premiere of
Warped
by Barbara Lhota
directed by ensemble member Jason Fleece
August 31 - October 6, 2013
Two Chicago police officers give a ride home to a young, drunk twenty-something. Several hours later, the young woman emerges from her apartment screaming rape. Influenced by the film Rashomon, Warped presents the contradictory stories from each character's perspective and asks the question: Is the truth constant, or is it as malleable as our own perceptions?

Warped was developed at Stage Left through a Downstage Left Residency in 2011 and appeared in LeapFest 9.

Barbara Lhota received an M.F.A. from Brandeis University, where she was an artist-in-residence and taught playwriting. Her plays have been produced in Boston, Chicago, New York and throughout the country. Local companies she has worked with include: American Blues Theater, Artistic Home, Babes with Blades Theatre Company, Bailiwick, Circle Theatre, Pride Films and Plays, Rascal Children's Theater, The Side Project, Strangeloop, Symposium, Theatre of Western Springs, 20% Theatre Company and Women's Theater Alliance. Publishing credits include Strangers and Romance - Women Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2001 (Smith and Kraus) and co-author 4-volume series - The Forensic Duo Plays. Her monologues are included in Young Women's Monologues from Contemporary Plays (Meriwether), The Best Men's Stage Monologues of 2001 and The Audition Arsenal Series. She is a recipient of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Award forHanging by a Thread, the JS&P Margaret Martin Award for Los Desaparecidos. The Vanished Echo, a Eugene O'Neill semi-finalist, was chosen this year for the Athena Project. She is collaborating with Chicago Dramatists resident playwright M.E.H. Lewis on 180 Degree Rule with Babes with Blades Theatre Company. www.barbaralhota.com.

The production will feature Stage Left ensemble member Kate Black Spence (Hope), Lisa Herceg (Jules) and Mark Pracht (Hal), as well as guest artists Nick Mikula (Alex), Victoria Caciopoli (Kim), and Max Ganet (Josh)

a revival of
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
by Peter Nichols
January 11 - February, 16 2014
Brian and Sheila always make the best of a bad situation-he cracks jokes, she plays the caretaker. But after ten years of raising their severely disabled daughter, Josephine, Brian and Sheila's best isn't quite good enough. A British classic not seen in Chicago for over 20 years, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is a highly theatrical, heartbreaking, and hilarious look at the love that brings people together and the strains that rip them apart.

First staged at the Citizens Theatre in Glascow, Scotland in 1967, Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg transferred first to London's West End that same year in a production starring Albert Finney and Zena Walker. In 1968 that production moved to Broadway, where it earned a Tony nomination for Best New Play. It has been twice revived on Broadway. The 1985 production earned the Tony, Outer Critics Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival. A 2003 revival starring Eddie Izzard and Victoria Hamilton received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Best Revival. It was named by the The National Theatre of London as one of the top 100 plays of the 20th century.

the world premiere of
Principal Principle
by Joe Zarrow
a co-production with Theatre Seven of Chicago
April 12 - May 18, 2014
Armed with her dreams of changing the world and six weeks of training, Kay quits her corporate job to teach English in a Chicago public high school. She arrives to find that the copy machine, the system, and the spirits of her fellow teachers are all broken. Or are they? A dark comedy of academic intrigue, Principal Principle is a world premiere by playwright and former CPS teacher Joe Zarrow that takes a peek at the politics behind the closed doors of the teachers' lounge.

Principal Principle was developed in the summer of 2012 at Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre, under the artistic direction of Lowry Marshall and Kenneth Prestininzi. In 2012, Principal Principle was a part of Theatre Seven's Shikaakwa Reading Series.

Joe Zarrow is a playwright and actor and is an artistic associate of Theatre Seven of Chicago. Walkabout Theater produced his site-specific farce The Pigeons(originally developed with Stage Left), and he has performed his original solo shows Hold Me, Drill Me, Kill Me and Dead White Men in Bed in Chicago, New York, Providence, Winnipeg, and Washington, DC. Other Chicago performances have included roles in Bulrusher (Congo Square), Arcadia (New Leaf), Amuse Bouche(Pavement Group), A Midsummer's Night Dream (Sankofa), State and Madison: The Grid (Theatre Seven of Chicago), Walk Two Moons (Adventure Stage), and 200Funny Things (Collaboraction). Joe is also an artistic associate of Pavement Group and serves as that company's Literary Director. After attending Brown University and NYU, Joe taught high school and middle school English for seven years, including a four year stint with Chicago Public Schools.

Founded in 2007, Theatre Seven of Chicago's mission is to transform the way Chicagoans engage with their city and to become the premiere center for the creation, development and showcase of theatrically-based Chicago stories. The company has earned nominations for four Jeff Awards and won the 2012 League of Chicago Theatres' Emerging Theatre Award. The company's noted World Premieres include The Chicago Landmark Project, We Live Here and Diversey Harbor. Theatre Seven company also hosts a robust menu of auxiliary programming, including a free monthly reading series, Shikaakwa, featuring new looks at Chicago plays and one of the best post-show discussions in town.

LeapFest 11
Summer, 2014
See what's next in Chicago theatre - LeapFest's first ten years have so far graduated seventeen plays to world premiere productions in Chicago and beyond, with three of these receiving the Jeff Award for Best New Work. This annual new play development festival features workshop productions of exciting new plays in rotating repertory.

All performances will take place at Theater Wit: 1229 W Belmont, except for LeapFest 11. The location of LeapFest 11 is TBA.

Subscriptions to Stage Left Theatre's 32nd season are $55 and include admission to all three mainstage productions as well as other advantages such as guaranteed seating and special subscriber-only events. Subscribers will be offered discounted admission to LeapFest 11, but the festival will not be included as a part of the regular subscription season. For more information or to purchase a subscription, patrons should call 773-883-8830 or visit www.stagelefttheatre.com.

Founded in 1982, Stage Left Theatre is committed to nurturing voices for the American theatre by developing and producing plays that raise debate and challenge perspectives on political and social issues. Through a full subscription season and Downstage Left, one of Chicago's most prolific new play development programs, Stage Left strives to bring high-quality new work and world premieres to the Chicago stage.

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