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Appearing as Lila, the actress whose visit changes the lives of her hosts, will be Eliza Stoughton. Stoughton recently performed as Sister James in Doubt at Writers Theatre and has also played key roles in Raven’s Vieux Carré and Dividing the Estate. Kenny, the 21-year-old with whom Lila becomes involved, will be played by Sam Hubbard, who won raves for his performance in the title role of Raven’s The Playboy of the Western World in 2014 and recently appeared in The Long Christmas Ride Home at Strawdog. Abigail Boucher, who recently appeared as Donny in The Cryptogram at Profiles Theatre, has been cast as Kenny’s mother Helen.
Also appearing in the cast will be Jeff-nominated Joel Reitsma (Raven’s Vieux Carré), playing Lila’s erstwhile boyfriend Ricky Powers; Antonio Zhiurinskas (Peter Van Daan in Writers’ recent The Diary of Anne Frank) as Jelly Beamis, Lane Flores (About Face’s Abraham Lincoln was a Faggot) as Ronny Cavendish, and Barbara Roeder Harris (Principal Principle at Stage Left/Theatre Seven and Plainsong at Signal Ensemble Theatre) as Madame Olga St. Valentine.
William Inge (Author) is best known for his plays Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic (Pulitzer Prize winner), Bus Stop and Dark at the Top of the Stairs. Inge was one of the first American dramatists to deal with the quality of life in the small towns of the Midwest, and he achieved notable success throughout the 1950s. Inge received an Oscar for his original screenplaySplendor in the Grass (1961), which starred Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood.
Cody Estle (Director) is Associate Artistic Director at Raven Theatre, where he has directedDividing the Estate, Vieux Carré, Good Boys and True, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Boy Gets Girland the world premiere of Dating Walter Dante. His other Chicago direction credits include Don’t Go Gentle for Haven Theatre, Watch on the Rhine at The Artistic Home; Uncle Bob at Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company and Hospitality Suite at Citadel Theatre Company. He’s had the pleasure of assistant directing at Northlight Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Court Theatre, Writers Theatre, Next Theatre and Strawdog Theatre. Estle serves on the faculty of Cherubs at Northwestern University and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.
Two American masters to be represented at Raven Theatre this winter.
A Loss of Roses will be one of two lesser-known plays by American masters to be staged at Raven in winter 2016. Horton Foote’s The Old Friends was written in the mid-1960s, but wasn’t fully staged until September 2013, when New York City’s Signature Theater Company staged its World Premiere. Warmly received by New York critics and audiences, that production directed by Michael Wilson was remounted at the Alley in Houston, Texas in August 2014. Raven’s Midwest Premiere will be just the second full production of the piece since the Signature/Alley mounting.
The Old Friends will be the first of these two plays to open, with previews from January 27 – February 1 and the official opening on Tuesday, February 2, 2016. A Loss of Roses will have previews from February 17-21, with press performances Monday, February 22 and Tuesday, February 23. The two plays will be performed concurrently at Raven for six weeks – with The Old Friends running on Raven’s East Stage through March 26, 2016 while A Loss of Roses plays on Raven’s West Stage through April 2, 2016. Casting for The Old Friends, to be directed by Raven Co-founder/Co-Artistic Director Michael Menendian, was previously announced.
Nearest El station Granville Red Line, Buses: #22 (Clark), #36 (Broadway), #151 (Sheridan), #155 (Devon), #64 (Peterson).
Tickets: $42.00 ($39.00 if purchased online), Seniors $37.00 ($34.00 if purchased online) and students/teachers/military are $18.00 ($17.00 if purchased online). Groups of 10 or more are $21 per person for Thursday and Friday performances and $25 per person for Saturday and Sundayperformances. Student groups are $12.00 per person for groups of 10 or more for Thursday andFriday performances.
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