Profiles Theatre Artistic Directors Darrell W. Cox and Joe Jahraus announce the 25^thAnniversary Season featuring a full slate of new and challenging works premiering at the Profiles Theatre Complex on North Broadway. The upcoming season features six productions including the Midwest premieres of Wrecks by Neil LaBute, the award-winning play Cock by Mike Bartlett, Hunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, In God’s Hat by Rhett Rossi and Gidion’s Knot by Johnna Adams. Additionally, Profiles acclaimed production of Hellcab by Will Kern, one of Chicago theatre’s longest running hits, returns for the holiday season. These six productions alternate between Profiles’ two venues, The Main Stage at 4139 N. Broadway and The Alley Stage at 4147 N. Broadway.

“It’s an incredible feeling for all of us at Profiles to celebrate 25 years of producing theatre in Chicago,” Joe Jahraus said. “The diversity of this season’s new selections provides an exciting cross-section of the type of work Profiles proudly explored for more than two decades.”

Darrell W. Cox added, “We’re deeply grateful to Resident Artist Neil LaBute as we continue our ongoing collaboration with his quintessential monologue play Wrecks. Profiles has premiered a number of British plays in our history–we are thrilled to be presenting the Midwest Premiere of Cock by Mike Bartlett, one of the most controversial and provocative new plays Off-Broadway last season. We will introduce audiences to Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s outrageous social satire Hunter Gatherers—a study on man’s eternal war between civil decorum and our more primal instincts.”

Jahraus went on to say, “In God’s Hat is a dark, visceral and often humorous new play by Rhett Rossi – the type of hard-edged theatre that put us on the map. We continue our ongoing pursuit to produce work from the most talented, unique female voices in the country with Johnna Adam’s devastating and emotionally charged new play Gidion’s Knot. We also plan to bring back our acclaimed production of Hellcab for another ride during the holiday season. This Chicago classic is so beloved by the theatre community, it could easily become our perennial holiday event.”

Profiles Theatre concludes its acclaimed 24th season with the World premiere of the newly revised stage version of In the Company of Men by Neil LaBute, opening May 16, 2013 at The Main Stage.

The 2013-2014 Profiles season includes:

 

IN GOD’S HAT

Midwest Premiere

by Rhett Rossi

directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus

The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway

Previews: August 23 – 28, 2013

Press Opening: August 29, 2013

Run: August 29 – October 13, 2013

In God’s Hat examines the extremes of humanity and the love of family as well the contempt for it. For nearly a decade, estranged brothers Roy and Mitch found themselves kept apart by prison bars and a nefarious history. On the day of Mitch’s release, he is shocked to see Roy waiting for him, unsure of his intentions. Together they travel down a desolate road stopping at the only lodging around – a fleabag motel where confrontation and tension manifest themselves through darkly comical situations. In the end, the brothers must confront both the past and present as some secrets are revealed and new ones must be kept.

Produced off-Broadway by the Apothecary Theatre Company, Rhett Rossi’s critically acclaimed play In God’s Hat premiere in July 2010. His other plays include the one-man show Burnt, first performed by the Present Company Theatorium and From Red to Black, runner up for the Laurents/Hatcher Prize, which received a reading at South Coast Rep. Rossi currently lives in Brooklyn and recently developed a pilot for HBO about minor league hockey.

WRECKS

Midwest Premiere

by Resident Artist Neil LaBute

directed by Guest Artist Jason Gerace

The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway

Previews: September 27 – October 2, 2013

Press Opening: October 3, 2013

Run: September 26 – November 17, 2013

Edward Carr, an ordinary man, an adoring father of four and a successful business owner, sees his world shattered by the death of his beloved wife JoJo. Through his grief, he picks through his past, piecing together the story of his life, like the wrecks of the cars he so lovingly restores. In this fiercely passionate, unflinching and concise powerhouse of a play, LaBute explores the boundaries of love, and the extent of what society accepts as opposed to what the heart desires.

Commissioned and produced by the Everyman Palace Theatre in Cork, Ireland as part of the city’s Capital of Culture program, Wrecks premiered in 2005. In 2006, it received its American debut at the Public Theatre in New York, followed by an extended run. Both productions, directed by Neil LaBute, starred Ed Harris as Edward Carr.

This marks Profiles Theatre’s tenth premiere by Neil LaBute, now a Resident Artist at Profiles. Previous productions include the American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep and acclaimed Midwest premieres of reasons to be pretty, The Mercy Seat, and Fat Pig as well as the upcoming World premiere of his newly revised play In the Company of Men. Guest Director Jason W. Gerace, an Artistic Associate of American Theater Company, directed their production of It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play since 2009, and also Associate Directed the World Premiere of The Big Meal.

HELLCAB

by Will Kern

Return of the Seasonal Favorite

directed by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox

The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway

Previews: November 8 – 13, 2013

Press Opening: November 14, 2013

Run: November 14 – January 12, 2014

Presented last season for its 20^th Anniversary, Profiles remounts their acclaimed production for the holidays. Hellcab portrays the story of a cab driver during the longest night of his life as he transports a bizarre and mysterious array of customers through the gritty streets of Chicago. Playwright Will Kern draws from personal experience as a former cab driver to create this alternately frightening, hilarious and poignant journey. Throughout his long shift, the eclectic collection of passengers includes a trio of drug-addicts, a born-again couple, a smug lawyer, and a randy duo on their way to a motel. Set during a bitter cold Christmas Eve, Hellcab presents a rear-view image mirroring the passing parade of humanity.

First produced as a late-night show by Famous Door Theatre in 1992, the play, originally scheduled for twelve performances, ended up running for over nine years, becoming one of the longest running shows in Chicago theatre history. Hellcab, performed all over the U.S. and abroad, including Scotland, Israel, Singapore, and Ireland, won numerous awards, including a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival and later adapted for the screen by Kern in 1998.

GIDION’S KNOT

by Johnna Adams

directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus

The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway

Previews: January 17 – 22, 2014

Press Opening: January 23, 2014

Run: January 23 – March 9, 2014

Over the course of a 90-minute parent/teacher conference, a grieving mother and an emotionally overwhelmed primary school teacher engage in a fraught conversation about the tragic suicide of Gidion, the mother’s son and the teacher’s student. Gidion may have been bullied severely — or he might have done the abusing. As his story slowly reveals itself, the women try to reconstruct a satisfying explanation for Gidion’s act as well come to terms with their excruciating feelings of culpability.

Gidion’s Knot received its World premiere in July 2012 at The Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University in West Virginia. At the 2013 Humana Festival, Gidion’s Knotreceived the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for best script premiering outside New York. Johnna Adams won the 2011 Princess Grace Award and was a 2012 Finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Other plays include The Anguisher, Hued Moll, Lickspittles, The Sans Merci,Cockfighters and The Sacred Geometry of S&M Porn. Adams’ plays have been read or produced by The Alliance Theatre Lab, The New Group, Impetuous Theater, Rude Guerilla Theater Company, the Hunger Artists Theatre Ensemble and the Chicago Dramatists Workshop among many others.

COCK

by Mike Bartlett

directed by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox

The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway

Previews: February 14 – 19, 2014

Press Opening: February 20, 2014

Run: February 20 – April 6, 2014

In this tense comedy about sexual identity, Cock explores one man’s choices about which path of love to pursue. When John takes a break from his longtime boyfriend, the last thing he expects is to fall in love with a woman. Trapped between two lovers, John feels the physical and emotional tug as neither party wants to lose the battle for his heart. John must make a choice as he navigates his sexuality, selfhood, and the intersection of the two.

Cock received its World premiere at London’s Royal Court Theatre, selling out its entire run in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs before opening in November 2009. Directed by James Macdonald, it won the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre as well as a nomination for Best Play at the 2010 Evening Standard Theatre Awards. The American premiere, also produced by Royal Court and staged by Macdonald, opened off-Broadway in May 2012 and received a nomination for Outstanding Play for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards. Mike Bartett won the Old Vic New Voices Award for Artefacts at the Bush Theatre while Contractions at Royal Court received a nomination for the TMA Best New Play Award. Bartlett, a Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Royal Court in 2007, currently works as Associate Playwright at Paines Plough.

HUNTER GATHERERS

by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

directed by Resident Artist Rick Snyder

The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway

Previews: May 16 – May 21, 2014

Press Opening: May 22, 2014

Run: May 22 – June 29, 2014

Every year, Pam and Richard host their best friends, Wendy and Tom, for a dinner get-together. This time, an animal sacrifice kicks off the party, followed by a little more sex, violence, deception, wrestling, and dancing than ever before. A darkly comic evening, Hunter Gatherers, explores the thin line between civilized and primal man, where not everyone survives long enough to enjoy the brownies for dessert.

 

Hunter Gathers won the 2007 ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award and the 2006 Will Glickman Award. Originally produced by Killing My Lobster Theater Project in San Francisco, it received its World Premiere in June 2006. Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s works include boom, TCG’s most produced play in 2009-2010, BOB, presented at the 2011 Humana Festival for New American Plays at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville which also received the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award, and T.I.C. (Trenchcoat In Common). His work appeared off-Broadway and across the country at Ars Nova, Woolly Mammoth, Seattle Repertory, and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Parking is available for $10 – $12 at 4100 N. Clarendon (one block east of the theatre at the corner of Clarendon and Belle Plaine). Performances are Thursdays, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 7:00 pm.

Ticket prices range from $30 – $40.  Profiles Theatre offers a FLEX PASS for discounts on the season, now available at www.profilestheatre.org or (773) 549-1815.  A Five Ticket Pass is $150; a Ten Ticket Pass is $200 (a savings of over $100) when ordered before August 31, 2013. Tickets can be used in any combination of quantity and date throughout the season with advance reservations.

ABOUT PROFILES THEATRE

Profiles Theatre, founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, joined shortly thereafter by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, was formed as an actor-driven theatre ensemble dedicated to creating provocative and emotionally truthful productions. Passionate about shaping an original vision for new works, they focused on performing World, American and Midwest premieres as well as rarely performed plays. Critically acclaimed hits, such as BLACKBIRD, FAT PIG, GRACELAND and the multiple Jeff Award-winning KILLER JOE, established Profiles as a destination for challenging and edgy theatre. Their unique collaboration with playwright Neil LaBute led the ensemble to perform an entire season of his plays in 2007-2008. Now a Resident Artist at Profiles, LaBute remains an unequivocal artistic influence on the ensemble.
After performing at 4147 North Broadway for more than two decades, Profiles acquired an adjacent theatre at 4139 North Broadway in 2012. Profiles’ new theatre, The Main Stage, with its larger seating capacity, increased performance space and higher ceilings, accommodates more ambitious and technically demanding productions. Their long-time venue, renamed The Alley Stage, continues as the home for plays strengthened by a more intimate staging. Driven by an undiminished appetite for creating honest and resonant theatre, Profiles still seeks to present work that illuminates the determination and resiliency of the human spirit.

For more information about Profiles Theatre and its historic 25th Season, visit www.profilestheatre.org.