The Hypocrites’ JOHANNA FAUSTUS – May 20 – 29, 2016 at The Den Theatre – World Premiere!
The Hypocrites will conclude its 2015-16 Season with the world premiere of JOHANNA FAUSTUS, co-adapted by Emily Casey and Artistic Director Sean Graney from Christopher Marlowe‘s The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus and directed by Graney. JOHANNA FAUSTUS will play a limited engagement May 20 – 29, 2016 at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.the-hypocrites.com. The press opening is Friday, May 20 at 8 pm.
JOHANNA FAUSTUS will feature Breon Arzell, Kate Carson-Groner, Whitney Dottery, Dana Omar, Sasha Smith and Lauren Vogel.
In the spirit of Sean Graney’s previous hits including 12 Nights and Romeo Juliet, six actors tell a modern Faust story. The performers are also the design team, with purposeful limited resources they will enact the tale using the barest elements. In this new adaptation, Faust is a woman questioning her choices that brought her to success but also isolation. What would you trade for happiness?
Comments adapter/director Sean Graney, “I have long been attracted to the myth of Faustus, the character that would sacrifice his mortal soul to achieve success. I think it acts as a great morality against ambition generating self-obsessed so much that it destroys any hope for compassionate human connection. I knew that I wanted to approach the tale from the perspective of a woman. I turned to my long time artistic collaborator, Emily Casey, knowing that her intelligence and sense of humor would add much to this oft-told tale.”
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: JOHANNA FAUSTUS
Adapted by: Emily Casey and Artistic Director Sean Graney
From: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Cast: Breon Arzell (Pope Innocent XIV, The Ghost of Johanna’s Father and Ensemble), Kate Carson-Groner (Mephistopheles, Ensemble), Whitney Dottery (Mrs. Cornelius, Brenda, Ensemble) Dana Omar (Doctor Johanna Faustus), Sasha Smith (Stranger, Lucifer, Ensemble) and Lauren Vogel (Mrs. Wagner, Ensemble).
Location: The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Press Performance: Friday, May 20 at 8 pm
Regular run: Saturday, May 21 – Sunday, May 29, 2016
Curtain Times: Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.
Tickets Prices: Regular run: $36. Students: $15. Groups of 8 or more: $18 per person. Tickets are currently on sale at www.the-hypocrites.com.
The production team for JOHANNA FAUSTUS includes: Miranda Anderson (stage manager) and Pat Fries (production manager).
About the Creative Team
Emily Casey’s (Co-Adapter) past credits include All Our Tragic (The Hypocrites, Getty Villa), Sailress Billi/Captain Cat Coran in HMS Pinafore (The Hypocrites and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), Yum-Yum/The Mikado in The Mikado (The Hypocrites, Steppenwolf Garage, American Repertory Theatre), Pirates of Penzance (The Hypocrites, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, American Repertory Theatre), Frederick (Chicago Children’s Theatre), The Casuals (Jackalope Theatre), Woody Sez (Northlight Theatre), Scapin (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre). She holds a BA in Theatre from Hope College. www.emily-casey.com
Sean Graney (Co-Adapter/Director) has directed over 30 productions for The Hypocrites since 1997, including the critically acclaimed All Our Tragic. He recently returned from a Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. In 2004, Graney was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. He has won four Joseph Jefferson Citation awards for the Direction and Adaptation for Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses, and Directing of Equus and Machinal. He has directed Edward II (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), The Hairy Ape (Eugene O’Neill Festival at Goodman Theatre), The Comedy of Errors, The Mystery of Irma Vep and What the Butler Saw (Court Theatre), Yankee Tavern (Milwaukee Rep) and The Elephant Man (Steppenwolf for Young Audiences). Graney currently serves as the Hypocrites’ Artistic Director.
About The Hypocrites
Artistic Director Sean Graney created The Hypocrites in 1997. The company is currently run by Graney and Executive Director Kelli Strickland. One of Chicago’s premier off-Loop theater companies, The Hypocrites specializes in mounting bold productions that challenge preconceptions and redefining the role of the audience. The company has a reputation in Chicago for creating exciting, surprising and deeply engaging theater as it re-interprets classics and tackles ambitious new works.
Their recent production of Graney’s All Our Tragic, a twelve-hour adaptation combining all 32 surviving Greek Tragedies, garnered the company six 2015 Equity Jeff Awards in its first year of eligibility. Graney’s musical adaptations of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore have become audience and critic favorites, being remounted numerous times in Chicago as well as going on tour to American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Olney Theater Center. The company has grown significantly in the past few years, receiving acclaim for productions at the Steppenwolf Garage, Goodman Theatre, Museum of Contemporary Art, DCASE Storefront, Chopin Theater and nationally at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville.
The American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Tony Awards, presented The Hypocrites with one of the 2013 National Theatre Company awards. The company’s smash-hit production of Our Town, directed by David Cromer, transferred in 2009 to Off-Broadway, Los Angeles and Boston. Since the company’s founding, The Hypocrites have produced over sixty mainstage productions and a dozen festival pieces, securing thirty-one Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson awards, six Equity Joseph Jefferson awards and two After Dark Awards.
The Hypocrites’ 19th season is supported by The Alphawood Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Brenda and James Grusecki Family Foundation, Dr. Scholl Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Jordan and Jean Nerenberg Fund for the Future, The Ann Barzel and Patrick Henry Arts Fund, 3Arts, The Negaunee Foundation, Nixon Peabody, The Reva and David Logan Foundation.
This program partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
For more information, please visit www.the-hypocrites.com.