Writers Theatre To Produce THE LAST MATCH Online

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, continues its 2021 online programming with Anna Ziegler's The Last Match, directed by Keira Fromm. The Last Match will be filmed by HMS Media this spring in The Gillian Theatre before streaming online.

Single tickets will go on sale to the general public in early April, and will be available by calling the Box Office at 847-242-6000 and online at writerstheatre.org.

The cast includes: Kayla Carter (Mallory), Heather Chrisler (Galina), Ryan Hallahan (Tim), and Christopher Sheard (Sergei).

The creative team includes: Steph Paul (Choreographer), William Boles (Scenic Designer), Noël Huntzinger (Costume Designer), Christine Binder (Lighting Designer), Pornchanok Kanchanabanca (Sound Designer & Composer), Rachel Watson (Props Designer), Bobby Kennedy (Dramaturg) and Eva Breneman (Dialect Coach). Natalie Cohen is the Assistant Stage Manager, and Rebecca Pechter is the Stage Manager.

With all the passion and tension of a U.S. Open tennis final, The Last Match serves up a thrillingly theatrical look at what motivates our greatest ambitions and fuels our strongest desires.

When a young Russian tennis phenom and an American superstar in his prime meet at center court, it's a tough call whether the greatest drama is playing out off the court or on! As the swift action volleys between primetime tennis matches and the most pivotal moments in the personal lives of the competitors and their equally driven romantic partners, sharp and insightful playwright Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51) draws you inside the minds of all four as they face challenges in sport, life and love. What results is a fast-paced and moving montage exploring family, the sacrifices we make for success and the legacy we leave behind.

Chicago director Keira Fromm brings her finely tuned vision to this gripping drama, staged in the intimate Gillian Theatre. You won't want to miss this engrossing, rapid-fire take on what it means to finally achieve greatness, only to be left wanting more. In The Last Match, there is much more than just a championship on the line!

"I am delighted to welcome back Keira Fromm to Writers Theatre and to finally bring her beautiful production of Anna Zielgler's The Last Match to audiences," comments Artistic Director Michael Halberstam. "The Last Match is ostensibly about tennis, but it is also about the process of aging, the navigation of a relationship amidst an all-consuming passion, the toll of obsessive commitment to work on family and the things we do in order to feel young, current and important. Our superb team at Writers Theatre and HMS Media working closely with Actors' Equity Association have managed the seemingly impossible task of facilitating live rehearsals and a shooting process that will both celebrate the innate theatricality of the play but use the medium of film to bring audiences into an even more intimate relationship with the production. It is pure Writers Theatre and I can't wait to share it with you."

"Being away from the play for a year has brought it into sharper focus for me. For a long time I'd been thinking of The Last Match primarily as a sports drama about the nature of ambition, and the lengths we go to feel relevant. Ever since the pandemic hit and our industry has been shuttered, I've been more focused on the theme of reckoning in the play, and how we address major shifts in our lives. Do we let them derail and destroy us, or do we use them as growth opportunities to reevaluate and redefine ourselves?," comments director Keira Fromm. "Like the characters in the play, we're all in a period of self-examination and endeavoring to live our lives with greater purpose. At the heart of The Last Match is a reminder that we're only alive for precious little time and it's incumbent upon us to be thoughtful and purposeful in how we spend that time."

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