Victory Gardens Theater announces its first play of 2013-14 Season: The Co-World Premiere of APPROPRIATE by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Gary Griffin
Victory Gardens Theater announces the first play of its 2013-14 Season: the Co-World Premiere ofAppropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Gary Griffin. Appropriate is presented in association with Actors Theatre of Louisville and was developed, in part, by IGNITION 2012.
“Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an undeniably unique, dynamic and political voice in American Theatre. Inspired by Chekhov and O’Neill, Branden’s fiercely original play speaks powerfully and relevantly to America’s timeless issues of race, history and family,” says Artistic Director Chay Yew. “I first read Branden’s new play Appropriate during the selection process for Victory Gardens’ 2012 IGNITION Festival. During the IGNITION workshop process—and before the public reading—I immediately promised him a production at Victory Gardens. I knew this play had to be experienced our Chicago audiences.”
He adds, “I’m extremely pleased to have one of this country’s most exciting directors, Gary Griffin, join our VG family and direct our production. We are proud to partner with Les Waters and Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival to give Branden and Gary a longer creative process with Appropriate.”
The Co-World Premiere of
Appropriate
by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
directed by Gary Griffin
in association with Actors Theater of Louisville
When the Lafayettes descend upon a crumbling Arkansan plantation to liquidate their dead patriarch’s estate, his three adult children collide over clutter, debt, and a contentious family history. But after a disturbing discovery surfaces among their father’s possessions, the reunion takes a turn for the explosive, unleashing a series of crackling surprises and confrontations. A play about the trouble with inheritance, memory loss, and the art of repression.
Appropriate was developed, in part, at Vineyard Arts Project, Ashley Melone, Founder and Artistic Director; the 2012 Sundance Institute Theatre LAB at the Sundance Resort; and Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago, Illinois, Chay Yew, Artistic Director, Jan Kallish, Executive Director, as part of IGNITION 2012.
IGNITION, Victory Gardens daring and hugely successful new play development initiative, was conceived to support the theater’s mission of new play development and diversity. In the spring of 2010, 120 writers of color under 40 years of age from around the United States submitted new scripts for the first phase of IGNITION. The top six plays were then selected, workshopped and presented as staged readings in a weeklong festival later that same summer. IGNITION plays include the Pulitzer finalist The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Year Zero and We Are Proud to Present…, among others.
About Victory Gardens Theater
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Jan Kallish, 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. Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theatre work and cultivating an inclusive 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. Our commitment to developing, supporting and producing new theatre work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New Plays.
In 2006, Victory Gardens successfully completed an $11.8 million renovation of Chicago’s famed Biograph Theater, and moved two blocks north from its longtime venue at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, to its beautiful new home in one of Chicago’s most celebrated historic landmarks. Renamed Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, the new venue is a state-of-the-art 299-seat mainstage which has greatly expanded the company’s artistic flexibility.
In 2009, Victory Gardens completed the second phase of renovation at the Biograph, building an intimate, new, 109-seat studio theater on the second floor. On March 1, 2010, at a special launch event for Victory Gardens $1 million Campaign for Growth, the theater’s new studio was officially named the Richard Christiansen Theater, in honor of the Chicago Tribune chief critic emeritus and longtime champion of Chicago’s live theater scene. Visit www.victorygardens.org for more details.
Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Alphawood Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Allstate Insurance, The Boeing Company, Crown Family Philanthropies, Leo S. Guthman Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Polk Bros. Foundation, and REAM Foundation. Additional funding is provided by: Illinois Arts Council (a state agency), The Edgerton Foundation, The James S. Kemper Foundation, Charles & M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Sara Lee Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund, 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, Motorola Mobility Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, a City Arts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, The Irving Harris Foundation, PNC Foundation, and The Saints.