Victory Gardens Announces Casting for Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman directed by Chay Yew June 13 – July 13, 2014

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 2013-2014 season with Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman, directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew. Death and the Maiden runs June 13 – July 13, 2014, with the press performance on June 20, 2014, at Victory Gardens Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. Tickets to Death and the Maiden go on sale to the public at noon on May 2, 2014.

The cast of Death and the Maiden includes Raúl Castillo, John Judd and Sandra Oh. 

The creative team includes: William Boles (scenic), David Hyman (costumes), Jesse Klug (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel(sound). Tina Jach is the stage manager.

“I’m thrilled to join the theater scene again under the direction of my long-time friend Chay Yew,” says Sandra Oh.  “Victory Gardens Theater is doing some amazing work and it’s very exciting to be a part of it. I have always been an advocate for local theaters and it’s wonderful to be able to support one with such an important mission of new work.”

Ariel Dorfman’s explosively provocative, award-winning drama is set in a rocky new democracy. Gerardo has just been chosen to head the commission that will investigate the crimes of the old regime when his car breaks down and he is picked up by a kind doctor. Gerardo’s wife, Paulina, thinks she recognizes the doctor as the man who tormented her as she lay blindfolded in a military detention center years before. Death and the Maiden is a riveting play about revenge, trauma and forgiveness. 

Raúl Castillo studied theater at Boston University’s School for the Arts before making a name for himself on both stage and screen as actor and writer.  Most recently he garnered accolades for his turn as Richie in the HBO series Looking. Raúl is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company in NYC and author of the play Knives and Other Sharp Objects. Acting credits include: Jose Rivera’s Adoration of the Old Woman (Intar), Fish Men (Goodman Theater), Smoke (Signature Theater), A Lifetime Burning (Primary Stages), School of the Americas (LAByrinth/Public Theater), and Flowers (Ensemble Studio Theater). Film credits include: Amexicano, Cold Weather, Don’t Let Me Drown, My Best Day, The Girland the screen adaptation of Rudolfo Anaya’s seminal novel Bless Me, Ultima.

John Judd makes his Victory Gardens debut with Death and the Maiden. He has appeared at the Goodman in Measure for Measure, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Iceman Cometh, A Christmas Carol, Magnolia, and Shining City. Other Chicago credits include: Three Sisters, Clybourne Park, Last of the Boys, The Dresser, Orson’s Shadow and The Butcher of Baraboo at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Romeo and Juliet and The Feast: an intimate Tempest at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; The Price, Crime and Punishment and Othello at Writers Theatre; The Cripple of Inishmaan andThe Lieutenant of Inishmore at Northlight Theatre; Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and Lettice and Lovage at Court Theatre; Gagarin Way at A Red Orchid Theatre; Execution of Justice at About Face Theatre; Come Back, Little Sheba at Shattered Globe Theatre and Great Men of Science Nos. 21 and 22 at Lookingglass Theatre Company. Mr. Judd’s New York credits include Orson’s Shadow and An Oak Tree at Barrow Street Theatre and Crime and Punishment at 59E59 Theaters. His regional and international appearances include American Buffalo at McCarter Theatre; Orson’s Shadow at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse and the Beaver Creek Theatre Festival; Shining City at the Huntington Theatre Company and Long Day’s Journey into Night at Town Hall Theatre in Galway, Ireland.

Sandra Oh began her career as the title role in the CBC television film The Diary of Evelyn Lau for which she received a Gemini nomination and a 1994 Cannes FIPA d’O, both for Best Actress. She won her first Genie for her leading role inDouble Happiness and won a Cable Ace award for Best Actress in a Comedy for her work on Arli$. Her most recent filmSideways was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Currently, Sandra is continuing her work with “Grey’s Anatomy” as Dr. Cristina Yang. for which she’s been nominated for five Primetime Emmy’s and won a Golden Globe. Her previous theater experience includes the world premieres of Jessica Hagedorn’sDogeaters at La Jolla Playhouse, the New York ensemble of The Vagina Monologues, and Diane Son’s Stop Kiss at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in New York where she received a Theatre World award.

The William and Orli Staley Foundation is the Lead Production Sponsor of Death and the Maiden.  Additional production sponsors include Abbot Downing, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, and Al and Pamella Captianini Family & the Village Restaurants.

About Victory Gardens Theater

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Managing Director Chris Mannelli, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals.  With Victory Gardens’ first new Artistic Director in 34 years, the company remains committed to the development, production and support of new plays that has been the mission of the theater since its founding, continuing the vision set forth by Dennis Zacek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theatre work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Zacek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 299-seat mainstage and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

In 2012, Victory Gardens Victory Gardens appointed new Ensemble Playwrights Philip Dawkins, Marcus Gardley, Samuel D. Hunter and Tanya Saracho, for seven-year residencies. The Playwrights Ensemble Alumni includes Claudia Allen, Lonnie Carter, Steve Carter, Gloria Bond Clunie, Dean Corrin, Nilo Cruz, Joel Drake Johnson, John Logan, Nicholas Patricca, Douglas Post, James Sherman, Charles Smith, Jeffrey Sweet and Kristine Thatcher.

For more information about Victory Gardens, www.victorygardens.org.  Follow up on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens and Twitter @VictoryGardens.

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Alphawood Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Allstate Insurance, Polk Bros. Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Leo S. Guthman Fund, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, William and Orli Staley Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts and REAM Foundation. Additional funding is provided by: Illinois Arts Council (a state agency), The Edgerton Foundation, Charles & M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, McVay Foundation, The Seabury Foundation, Wrightwood Neighbors Conservation Association, The Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Illinois Tool Works, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust,  Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, LLP, Abbot Downing, James S. Kemper Foundation, The Prince Charitable Trusts, Southwest Airlines, a City Arts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, The Irving Harris Foundation and The Saints.