Shattered Globe’s TRUE WEST runs Sept 8 – Oct 22 at Theater Wit

Shattered Globe Theatre is pleased to launch its 2016-17 season with a revival of Sam Shepard’s quintessential American drama TRUE WEST, directed by James Yost, playing September 8 – October 22, 2016 at Theater Wit 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.theaterwit.org, in person at the Theater Wit Box Office or by calling (773) 975-8150. 

TRUE WEST features Shattered Globe Ensemble Members Joseph Wiens^†*, Kevin Viol^† and Rebecca Jordan^†* with Rob Frankel.

Estranged brothers claw for their piece of the American Dream in Sam Shepard’s deeply personal iconic play. In their Mother’s house, amidst the surreal terrain of the California desert, screen writer and family man Austin is confronted by his brother Lee whose reckless nature threatens to obliterate everything he has been working towards.  Envy fuels a wild and side splitting attempt to escape into each other’s lives.

“As a director I have always been fascinated by the idea of double nature and duality,” comments James Yost. “Shepard’s True West has introduced two of the most interesting characters to ever live on a stage. More than 30 years later, the play still resonates with contemporary audiences, as it is the most pointed and personal of all his plays. With a mix of humor and intensity, True West is the kind of raw, dirty, in-your-face kind of theater that Chicago audiences have come to know and love.

The production team for TRUE WEST includes Greg Pinsonault (scenic design), Sarah Jo White^† (costume design), Shelley Strasser Holland^† and Drew Schad^† (lighting design), Morgan Lake (sound design), Clara Wendland (props design) and Judy Anderson^† (production manager).

^†Denotes Shattered Globe Ensemble Members. *Denotes Member of AEA.

About the Creative Team:

Sam Shepard (Playwright) is a celebrated American playwright, actor, author, screenwriter and director. In a career spanning over 40 years, Shepard has written nearly 50 plays. His first two plays Cowboys and The Rock Garden were produced in 1966 on a double bill off-off Broadway at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery. Two years later in 1968, he won OBIE Awards for three of his plays, an unprecedented achievement. His iconic play True West was written in 1980, when he was playwright in residence at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre. It was part of his family tragedy series, which also included the Pulitzer Prize Award-winning Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class. One of his most produced plays,True West has enjoyed many high profile revivals over the years.

James Yost (Director) is the co-artistic director of Interrobang Theatre Project and previously served as the producing artistic for BareBones Theatre Group, a company he co-founded in 1998. Selected credits include: Mr. Marmalade, Psycho Beach Party and Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical, The Graduate, The Play About the Baby, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Drift, Ugly Art, bash; the latter-day plays, Squirrels, The Wizard of Oz, Lend Me A Tenor, The Graduate, Mr. Marmalade, The Pitchfork Disney, Noises, Orange Flower Water (Jeff nomination for best supporting actor, Joseph Wiens), Ibsen is Dead, The North Pool and last season’s critically acclaimed Really, Really. Yost also teaches acting, directing, production design and film at the high school and collegiate level. He is published in Teaching Theatre Journal, a publication of Dramatics Magazine. 

Shattered Globe Theatre (Sandy Shinner, Producing Artistic Director; Doug McDade, Managing Director) was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 60 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 42 Jeff Awards and 102 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. Shattered Globe is an ensemble driven theater whose mission is to create an intimate, visceral theater experience that challenges the perspective of audience and artist alike through passionate storytelling. Shattered Globe is inspired by the diversity of our city and committed to making the theater available to all audiences.   Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience. 

Shattered Globe Theatre is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, The James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council, The Field Foundation of Illinois, The Blum-Kovler Family Foundation, and The Robert J. & Loretta W. Cooney Family Foundation and the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.

For more information on Shattered Globe Theatre, please visit www.shatteredglobe.org.