LiveWire Chicago Theatre Presents the Chicago Premiere of PARTNERS June 21 – July 20, 2014
LiveWire Chicago Theatre continues its 2013-14 Season with the Chicago premiere of Dorothy Fortenberry’s PARTNERS, an intimate and humorous exploration of modern relationships in all their various forms, directed by Kendra Miller, playing June 21 – July 20, 2014 at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets for PARTNERS are available at www.livewirechicago.com or by calling (312) 533-4666.
PARTNERS will feature LiveWire Collective Member Brian Crawford with Lauren Pizzi, Blake Russell and Will Von Vogt.
Four friends in Brooklyn share everything – until it turns out they don’t. Clare is straight and obsessed with gay marriage. Her best friend Ezra is gay and obsessed with Clare’s career. Helpful hints turn into painful betrayals in this spiky comedy about sex and money that asks: how much do we owe to those we love?
“LiveWire first encountered Dorothy Fortenberry’s work during our original short play festival, VisionFest, where we were immediately struck by her talent and voice and sought to further our collaborative relationship,” comments Artistic Director Joel Ewing. “While Partners was in development, we included it in our new play reading series, LiveWire Unplugged, where it ignited much discussion and debate among our audience. Now, after a successful run at Louisville’s 2014 Humana Festival, LiveWire is thrilled to bring Partners back to Chicago for a full production. From the institution of marriage, to friendships among our chosen families, to romantic relationships, and partnerships in business, Partners questions what our expectations should be of these various partnerships and what we owe the people we love in our life,” adds Ewing.
The production team for PARTNERS includes: Michael Mroch (scenic design), Noël Huntziner (costume design), Claire Sangster (lighting design), Andrew Rovner (sound design), Dina Klahn (properties design/stage manager), Taylor Gabby (assistant stage manager) and Caitlin O’Rourke (production manager).
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Title: PARTNERS
Playwright: Dorothy Fortenberry
Director: Kendra Miller
Cast: LiveWire Collective Member Brian Crawford (Paul) with Lauren Pizzi (Clare), Blake Russell (Brady) and Will Von Vogt (Ezra).
Location: The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Saturday, June 21 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, June 22 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Monday, June 23 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, June 26 – Sunday, July 20, 2014
Industry nights: Monday, June 30 and Monday, July 7 at 7:30 pm
Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Tickets: Previews: $10 Regular run: $25; Discounts: $20 students, seniors and industry nights. Tickets are available at www.livewirechicago.com or by calling (312) 533-4666.
About the Playwright:
Dorothy Fortenberry’s other plays include Mommune, Caitlin and the Swan, Good Egg, and the play with music Status Update. Her work has been produced and developed by Arena Stage, Center REP and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among other theatres. She is working on a commission for Yale Repertory Theatre and writes for the television show The 100. Fortenberry is a winner of the 2011 Helen Merrill Award and holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama.
About the Director
Kendra Miller the Artistic Director of Walkabout Theater Company and a performing artist in Chicago. Recent credits include performing and devising The Wild (as part of Steppenwolf’s Garage Rep) and Core of the PUDEL (Trap Door Theatre), co-directing Thine (Walkabout) with Thom Pasculli and assisting Tina Landau on Steppenwolf’s production of The Wheel. Her last project in the Garage was dramaturging Ooh-rah! (LiveWire Chicago Theatre). Formerly she served as Artistic Assistant at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and as Development Associate at Redmoon Theater. She is a graduate of UC San Diego.
About LiveWire Chicago Theatre:
LiveWire prides itself on being a small arts organization with a big artistic impact. Since 2006, the company has produced over thirty Chicago and world premieres. Each season, LiveWire works with playwrights, directors, actors, designers, technicians and arts administrators from around the world to bring two full-length productions to life, as well as its annual short play festival, VisionFest. Along with these productions, LiveWire use its resources to develop new plays and artistic relationships through various workshops, alternative programming and its reading series, LiveWire Unplugged. LiveWire Chicago is a collective of artists who create theatre that reflects the current cultural landscape of our community through productions of original and contemporary works. Previous productions include the Chicago premiere of Oohrah! by Bekah Brunstetter presented as part of Garage Rep 2012 at Steppenwolf Theatre; the Chicago premieres of A Bright New Boise and A Permanent Image by 2011 Obie Award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter; the Chicago premiere of The 13th of Paris by Mat Smart, the world premiere of Emily Dendinger’s Hideous Progeny, presented at Chicago’s DCASE Storefront Theater and the Chicago premiere of Red Angel by Eric Bogosian, among others. For more information, visit www.livewirechicago.com, www.facebook.com/livewirechicago and www.twitter.com/LiveWireChicago.