The Hypocrites’ THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Through March 6, 2016 at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage

Photos by Evan Hanover

This winter, Hans Fleischmann re-imagines his groundbreaking conception of Tennessee Williams’ classic drama in a new The Hypocrites production of THE GLASS MENAGERIE, playing February 3 – March 6, 2016 at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Fleischmann’s original production and subsequent remount with Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. enjoyed critical praise and sold-out houses. Now for The Hypocrites audiences, Fleischmann will push his own vision further and redefine his inventive and magical touch on this American classic. Tickets for THE GLASS MENAGERIE are available at www.the-hypocrites.com.  

Directed by and featuring Hans Fleischmann himself as Tom, the cast of THE GLASS MENAGERIE also includes Kate Buddeke as Amanda, Joanne Dubach as Laura and Zach Wegner as The Gentleman Caller. The production features an original score by Daniel Knox.

Beautiful and heart-wrenching, THE GLASS MENAGERIE focuses on a man obsessed with regrets from his past. Living on the streets, he navigates an audience through the gritty back-alleys of his imagination. Truth and delusion collide in director Hans Fleishmann’s newest re-imagining of Tennessee Williams’ classic memory play.

The production team for THE GLASS MENAGERIE includes: Grant Sabin (scenic design), Mieka Van Der Ploeg  (costume design), Aaron James Stephenson (sound design), Matt Gawryk (lighting design), Brontë DeShong (properties design), Paul Deziel (projections), Andrew Donnelly (assistant director), John Kelly (master electrician), Pat Fries (production manager), Casey Peek (stage manager).

PRODUCTION DETAILS: 

Title: THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Playwright:Tennessee Williams

Re-imagined and directed by: Hans Fleischmann

Original Score by: Daniel Knox

Cast: Kate Buddeke (Amanda), Joanne Dubach (Laura), Hans Fleischmann (Tom) and Zach Wegner (The Gentleman Caller).

Location: The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Dates:  Previews: Wednesday, February 3 at 8 pm, Thursday, February 4 at 8 pm, Friday, February 5 at 8 pm and Saturday, February 6 at 3 pm & 8 pm.

Press Performance: Sunday, February 7 at 3 pm
Regular run: Thursday, February 11 – Sunday, March 6, 2016

Curtain Times: Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will be added performances on Thursday, February 11 at 8 pm, Thursday, February 18 at 8 pm and Thursday, March 3 at 8 pm.

Tickets Prices: Previews: $28 ($10 industry). Regular run: $36. Students: $15. Groups of 8 or more: $18 per person. Tickets are currently on sale at www.the-hypocrites.com.

⁺This production is based on an original re-imagining of The Glass Menagerie that was first staged for nine weeks with Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. in Chicago at Angel Island under the direction of Hans Fleischmann. The Mary-Arrchie production later moved to Theater Wit facility in Chicago for an additional 16-weeks again, under the direction of Hans Fleishmann.

CREATIVE BIOGRAPHIES
Hans Fleischmann makes his acting and directorial debut with The Hypocrites. His last performance was for Northwestern Theater in Brett Neveu’s American Dead. The original conception of The Glass Menagerie was staged for Mary­Arrchie Theatre Co., where Hans had previously served as their Producing Director, acting and directing in numerous productions. Hans has also had the pleasure of working with these fine Chicago theater companies: A Red Orchid Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Goodman Theatre, Griffin Theatre and Walkabout Theatre Company. He picked up a Joseph Jefferson award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Neil LaBute’s A Dark, Dark House at Profiles Theater. Hans’s Film resume includes Steppenwolf Film’s The Last Rites of Joe Mae. His television credits include guest starring roles on NBC’s Chicago PD, A&E’s The Beast, and FOX’s Chicago Code. Next April, Hans will direct The Realization of Emily Linder for Redtwist Theatre.

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 through unusual staging (such as promenade and in-the-round) and direct engagement. The company has a reputation in Chicago for creating exciting, surprising, and deeply engaging theater as it re-interprets well-known works for contemporary audiences, reveling in the absurd while revealing the core of what makes classics classic.

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’s 19^th 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.