Irish Theatre of Chicago (formerly Seanachaí Theatre Company) Launches 20th Anniversary Season With SHINING CITY By Conor McPherson Directed by Ensemble Member Jeff Christian November 26, 2014 – January 4, 2015
Irish Theatre of Chicago, formerly Seanachaí Theatre Company, is pleased to launch its 20th anniversary season with Conor McPherson‘s haunting drama SHINING CITY directed by ensemble member Jeff Christian*, playing November 26, 2014 – January 4, 2015 at its artistic home, The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.seanachai.org or by calling (773) 878-3727. Photos by Emily Schwartz.
The cast of SHINING CITY includes Irish Theatre of Chicago ensemble members Brad Armacost, Coburn Goss, Shane Kenyon and Carolyn Kruse with Jillian Rafa.
Two Dublin men wrestle the living and the dead in this contemporary ghost story by the incomparable Conor McPherson, author of last season’s runaway hit The Seafarer. Ian, an ex-priest turned therapist takes on his first patient, John, a man who claims to have seen the ghost of his recently deceased wife. What follows is a haunting and suspenseful tale of what it means to lose faith – in God, in relationships and in one’s self.
Last season’s production of McPherson’s The Seafarer earned the company the 2014 Equity Jeff Award for Best Ensemble as well as nominations for Best Play, Best Director (Matt Miller), Best Actor (ensemble member Brad Armacost) and Best Supporting Actor (ensemble member Ira Amyx).
The production team for SHINING CITY includes: Ira Amyx and John Peplinski (scenic design), Aly Renee Amidei (costume design), Julian Pike (lighting design), Victoria DeIorio (sound design), Matt Kahler and Jeff Christian (original music), and Mikhail Fiksel and Victoria DeIorio (original music producers), Nadia Garofalo (props design) and Barbara Zahora (dialect design), Annaliese McSweeney (dramaturg) and Allison Amidei (stage manager).
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: SHINING CITY
Playwright: Conor McPherson
Director: ensemble member Jeff Christian
Cast: ensemble members Brad Armacost (John), Coburn Goss (Ian), Shane Kenyon (Laurence) and Carolyn Kruse (Neasa) with Jillian Rafa (Mari).
Location: The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Preview: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Friday November 28, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Saturday, November 29, 2014 – Sunday, January 4, 2015
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will be added performances on Monday, December 22 and Monday, December 29 at 7:30 pm; there will not be performances on Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving), Thursday, December 25 (Christmas Day) or Thursday, January 1 (New Year’s Day).
Tickets: Previews $12. Regular run $26 Thursdays & Fridays; $30 Saturdays & Sundays. Seniors/students $5 off. Tickets are available at www.seanachai.org or by calling (773) 878-3727.
*Denotes ensemble member of Irish Theatre of Chicago
About the Playwright
Conor McPherson is one of Ireland’s premier contemporary playwrights, currently produced worldwide, in London’s West End and on Broadway to both critical and audience acclaim. His other plays include The Veil (premiered at the Royal National Theatre October 2011, directed by the author), The Weir, The Seafarer, Port Authority, St. Nicholas, Shining City, Dublin Carol and The Night Alive.
About the Director
Jeff Christian has been an ensemble member since 2003. He directed Mojo Mickybo, Our Father and A Whistle in the Dark for the company, and appeared in Lay Me Down Softly, The Shadow of a Gunman, The Weir, Our Father, Scenes From The Big Picture, War and David Cromer’s production of Journey’s End. He shared in three Jeff Awards with The Journeymen’s Angels in America, and directed The Skin of Our Teeth for The Artistic Home, Proof and Driving Miss Daisy for New American Theater, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Two Gentlemen of Verona for Lakeside Shakespeare, Kill Me for WildClaw Theatre and James Krag’s one man show, According to Mark. He was the Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Project of Chicago for eight seasons and directed his adaptations of Dickens, Moliere, Ibsen, Euripides, Shakespeare, Marlowe and Goethe. He teaches directing in Columbia College’s Department of Cinema Art + Science and was the 2014 recipient of The Excellence in Teaching Award.
Irish Theatre of Chicago (formerly Seanachaí Theatre Company) is supported in part by The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs: City Arts Program.