A Red Orchid Theatre announces its 2014-2015 Season to include the US premiere of Abbie Spallen’s Strandline directed by JR Sullivan (Faith Healer); the Chicago premiere of Accidentally Like a Martyr by Grant James Varjas, directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray (Mud Blue Sky, The Aliens, Abigail’s Party); and the Chicago premiere of Red Handed Otter by Ethan Lipton, directed by Ensemble Member Dado (Simpatico).

Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald comments, “In Season 22 I look forward to collaborating with family and artists anew.  Each of these premieres has strong ensemble representation, as well as opportunities to work with many new faces both on stage and off. With each of this season’s plays we explore community in all its wonderful, terrible nakedness.”

A Red Orchid Theatre’s 2013-2014 Season includes:

The US Premiere of

Strandline

By Abbie Spallen

Directed by J.R. Sullivan

Featuring Ensemble Members Kirsten Fitzgerald & Natalie West

October 23 – December 7, 2014

A richly comic, searing drama by Abbie Spallen, one of Ireland’s most exciting playwrights and winner of the Steward Parker Trust Award and the The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.  In a small coastal village in Northern Ireland, three local women reluctantly join Mairin, an outsider and an artist, in mourning the death of her husband. Everyone is there for a reason, but each has a bloody good reason not to be there. With mythical echoes, Strandline turns a sharp eye on small-town social and economic realities.

Strandline premiered with Fishamble in Dublin, 2009.

The Chicago Premiere of

Accidentally Like a Martyr

By Grant James Varjas

Directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray

Featuring Ensemble Members Kamal Angelo Bolden, Steve Haggard & Doug Vickers

January 15 – March 1, 2015

In a dive-y gay bar on Manhattan’s lower east side the regulars and the restless others do battle, joke and drink their way through a lonely winter evening.  Different generations and backgrounds collide, secrets are revealed and old wounds are torn anew as these survivors come to grips with life, loss and aging in the 21st century.  Family and friendship are the focus of this humor filled drama in the tradition of The Time of Your Life and Small Craft Warnings.

Accidentally Like a Martyr premiered at The Paradise Factory in NYC, 2011

The Chicago Premiere of

Red Handed Otter

By Ethan Lipton

Directed by Ensemble Member Dado

Featuring Ensemble Members Guy Van Swearingen & Mierka Girten

April 9 – May 24, 2015

Not long ago, Paul had a girlfriend, a cat, and few complaints.  Now? Well, at least he’s got his health. In between shifts at their security guard posts, Paul’s work buddies try to cheer him up. In this comedy by one of New York’s hottest emerging playwrights, Paul’s friends’ awkward (and hilarious) attempts to console him may just prove that some comforts only come on four legs.

Red Handed Otter premiered at Cherry Lane Theatre in NYC, 2012. 

Ticket Information

A Red Orchid introduces the Flashpass, giving subscribers a 20% ticket discount, reserved seats, ticket and date flexibility and invitations to special events.  Three-show Flashpasses are $80 and includes three tickets to use anyway during the regular run, excluding opening nights and Red Nights.  Three-show Red Night Flashpasses are $130 and include a ticket to each Red Night Opening and a post-show reception with the cast and creative team.

Flashpasses may be purchased from the Box Office at 1531 N. Wells Street, Tuesday through Friday from 12 pm to 5:00 pm. Subscriptions may also be purchased by telephone during office hours by dialing (312) 943-8722, or online atwww.aredorchidtheatre.org. Individual tickets will go on sale at a later date.

About A Red Orchid

Since 1993 A Red Orchid Theatre has been an artistic mainstay of the Chicago theatre community; known and praised for its powerful ensemble, creative design and its gripping, intimate productions.  It was named Best Theatre of 2010 by Chicago Magazine. The resident Ensemble maintains the conviction that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit and that passionately committed theatre will draw passionately committed audiences, and the 2014-2015 subscription season promises to bring Ensemble and audience even closer together.

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Dado, Mike Durst, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.

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