On March 1, Pegasus Theatre Chicago—the recipient of seventy-seven Joseph Jefferson awards— will present  The Green Book by Calvin A. Ramsey. Produced in association with ShPIeL Performing Identity Theatre, tickets are now on sale for the Chicago premiere and the unveiling of  new full-length version.

The play is an homage to the historical travel guide, “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” published by Victor Green from 1936 – 1967, and centers on the Davis’, an African-American family who open their home to Negro travelers needing during Jim Crow segregation and the dawn of civil rights activism. The Green Book takes place during a weekend when the Davis’ are hosting three travelers while anticipating the arrival of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois. Their plans are interrupted by the sudden, unexpected arrival of a Holocaust survivor seeking a room.

 

PRICES
Adult $30 | Seniors $25 | Students $18

Group Rates Available – Call Group Tix at 312.423.6612

About the Production Team

CALVIN A. RAMSEY (Playwright) is an Atlanta-based playwright, photographer, and folk art painter whose plays include Bricktop, The Musical; Damaged Virtues; Canada Lee; Sherman Town, Baseball, Apple Pie and The Klan; Enlightenment; Sister Soldiers; Kentucky Avenue; Somewhere In My Lifetime; Johnny Mercer: A Man and His Music, and The Age of Possibilities. His plays have been performed throughout the United States. Ramsey grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and Roxboro, North Carolina. He is a recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major for Justice Award. His children’s books are “The Last Mule of Gee’s Bend” and “Ruth and The Green Book.”

ILESA DUNCAN (Director) is the producing artistic director at Pegasus. Her recent directing work includes SHAKIN’ THE MESS OUTTA MISERY (Jeff Recommended), RUTHERFORD’S TRAVELS (co-adapter, Jeff Nominated), FOR HER AS A PIANO and BLACULA: YOUNG, BLACK & UNDEAD at Pegasus, DARLIN’ with Step Up Productions, BROKEN FENCES at 16th Street Theater, the Jeff Award-nominated NATIVITY with Congo Square, and the Jeff Award-winning JAR THE FLOOR at ETA Creative Arts. Duncan has also worked with Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Lifeline Theater, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). Ilesa’s creative nonfiction short stories have been published (Columbia College Chicago), and she’s written poems and screenplays.  For the stage, she was a co-writer and director of BLAKK LOVE: STOEEZ OF A DARKER HUE,  and facilitated the group writing project PORTRAITS (2007) for the Chicago Foundation for Women and the devised project DO YOU SEE WHAT I’M SAYING for Chameleon.

David Y. Chack (ShPIeL/Co-Producer) is Artistic Director of ShPIeL–Performing Identity Theatre in Chicago and the Bunbury-ShPIeL Identity Theatre Project in Louisville. He directed A Jewish Joke by Phil Johnson and Marni Freedman at Victory Garden and Skokie Theatre; and produced The Timekeepers from Israel. He teaches “Holocaust Theatre”; “Jewish-American Performance”; “Identity Theatre” at DePaul University. His doctoral work was under Elie Wiesel at Boston University; MA work at Tufts University in Drama and Holocaust Theatre; BFA from NYU / Circle-in-the-Square Theatre. He has written numerous articles on theatre and advised/curated exhibitions including the first exhibition on “The Yiddish Theatre and New York Theatre” at the Museum of the City of New York. He is also the Executive Director of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre.

Joan Mazzonelli (ShPIeL/Script Dramaturg) has produced, directed, and designed original works in Chicago and New York City.  She has served in leadership roles with City Lit Theater, Griffin Theatre, Midwest New Musicals, Athenaeum Theatre, Theatre Building Chicago, On Stage Productions, Opera Shop at the Vineyard Theatre, and National Shakespeare Company. Her musical books include: Bottom’s Dream with James L. Kurtz, the adaptation for the stage of All in the Laundry by Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Reasonable Terms with Karena Mendoza and Marianne Kallen, and High Fidelity, The Proposal, Dorabella’s Daughters and The Passion of John with Philip Seward, as well as the co-adaptation of Border Crossing with Marianne Kallen.

CAST

 

Dan Davis……………………………………………… Henri Watkins
Barbara Davis…………………………………………Stacie Doublin
Neena Davis……………………………………… Demetra Drayton
Keith Chenault……………………………………… Malcom Banks
Jacob Levinsky……………………………………….Michael Stock
Cpt. George Smith/Samuel……………………… Terence Sims
Jacqueline Smith…………………………………… Quenna Lené

PRODUCTION TEAM

Scenic Design/TD…………………………………….Nick Schwartz
Lighting Design…………………………………………Carley Walker
Costume Design………………………………………….Uriel Gomez
Sound Design…………………………………Devonte Washington
Props Design………………………………………………… Katy Vest
Production Manager…………………….. Noelle Hedges-Goettl
Master Electrician…………………………………………Becs Bartle
Stage Managers………………………………………..Taylor Hobart
……………………………………………………………..Auden Granger

January 4-27, 2018 | Chicago Dramatists

The Young Playwrights Festival (YPF) celebrates the 31st year of the program that inspires Chicago students to explore their histories, research their communities and mine their personal journeys to write dynamic one-act plays for the stage. YPF is the only event of its kind in Chicago and is the second largest in the country.

Under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago, the winning teen playwrights’ productions are work-shopped and staged as part of its main stage season with full casts and production teams. The competition enhances language arts, encourages independent, high-level thinking, strong personal values and influences career development for Chicago’s teens.

The competition received over 500 submissions in 2017 with this year’s selections being:

Maday Favela of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and her play Bullet With Butterfly Wings:  As  Lexa nears a year of friendship with her closest friend Juno, Leviathan uses her anxiety and depression to coax her into ending her friendship.

Mairi Glynn of Von Steuben High School, Monster: An Indonesian Hijabi teen is being held at a police station for questioning after a bomb goes off in Baltimore.

Abigail Henkin of Lane Tech College Prep, Decision Day: Lizzy is a high-achieving high school senior who struggles to decide which of the three colleges wooing her is really her best option. Her mom makes the decision-making tougher.

Aaron Powdermaker of Lane Tech College Prep, Pencils and Pens: Two friends are enjoying a simple life. However, conflict strikes when Perry wants to move up in the world and further his career at the cost of leaving his old life behind.

Be sure to witness the amazing results and enjoy an evening of theater from tomorrow’s theater stars.

Regular Performance Tickets: $18-30

Student Matinee Tickets: teachers and school administrators should contact ypf@pegasustheatrechicago.org.

 

 

 

 

 

All Performances at:
Chicago Dramatists
773 N. Aberdeen (Theatre Entrance)

 

DIRECTORS

Jerrell L. Henderson is a director and teaching artist. Recent directing credits include Bud, Not Buddy at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Franklin & Marshall College. Other credits include The Healer: A Workshop Production with Pegasus Theatre Chicago,  and In The Red and Brown Water at Northwestern University (co-director with Henry Godinez). As an assistant director, Jerrell has worked with The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Lookingglass. He received a BA in Theatre Arts from The Pennsylvania State University, an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University, is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and currently a member of Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative.

Emmi Hilger (Director, Bullet With Butterfly Wings) has directed THE CLEAN HOUSE by Sarah Ruhl, REFERENCES TO SALVADOR DALÍ MAKE ME HOT by José Rivera, DON’T LOOK by Gina Doherty, and JOHNNY 10 BEERS’ DAUGHTER for Something Marvelous (where is is producing artistic director). Emmi has also recently worked with Ensemble Dal Niente, Stage Left, The Jades, 20% Theatre Company, Concordia University, and Collaboraction.  She is an Associate Artist and Associate Dramaturg with Chicago Dramatists and an Artistic Associate with Stage Left.

ILesa Duncan (Director, Monster | Pencils & Pens) is Pegasus’ producing artistic director. Her recent directing includes the Jeff-recommended Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery, the Jeff nominated world premiere of Rutherford’s Travels (which she co-adapted from the National Book award winning Middle Passage), and For Her As A Piano (Pegasus). Other credits include Broken Fences at 16^th Street Theater (co-directed with Ann Filmer), The Nativity (Congo Square), Darlin’ (Step Up Productions) and Jar The Floor at ETA. Duncan has also worked with Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Lifeline Theater, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). Ilesa’s creative nonfiction short stories have been published (Columbia College Chicago), and she’s written poems and screenplays. Ilesa is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab, a NEA/TCG Directing Fellow, and an Associate Artist at Chicago Dramatists.

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In November 2017, Pegasus Theatre Chicago—the recipient of seventy-seven Joseph Jefferson awards— presented Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery by Shay Youngblood. The play follows “Daughter,” the main character and 25-year-old narrator who shares memories of being raised by a community of women after losing her mother as a child. This timeless coming of age tale explores passage into womanhood, race and rituals in the 1960s south. After tragically losing her mother, Daughter is raised by a community of women who share stories of survival, healing,deep faith and mystery. See the Chicago revival of this hit play!

About the Production Team

SHAY YOUNGBLOOD (Playwright) Georgia born writer Shay Youngblood is author of the novels Black Girl in Paris and Soul Kiss (Riverhead Books) and a collection of short fiction, The Big Mama Stories (Firebrand Books). She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a Pushcart Prize for fiction, a Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, an Edward Albee honoree, several NAACP Theater Awards, an Astraea Writers’ Award for fiction and a 2004 New York Foundation for the Arts Sustained Achievement Award. Ms. Youngblood received her MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University and has taught Creative Writing to faculty and graduate students at NYU and has been Visiting Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi and Texas A&M Universities. She was recently awarded a National Endowment for the Arts sponsored Japan-US Creative Artist Fellowship for 2011.

ILESA DUNCAN (Director) is the producing artistic director at Pegasus. Her recent directing work includes Rutherford’s Travels (co-adapter), For Her as a Piano and Blacula at Pegasus, Darlin’ with Step Up Productions, Broken Fences at 16th Street Theater, the Jeff Award-nominated The Nativity with Congo Square, and the Jeff Award-winning Jar the Floor at ETA Creative Arts. Duncan has also worked with Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Lifeline Theater, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington DC) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). Ilesa’s creative nonfiction short stories have been published (Columbia College Chicago), and she’s written poems and screenplays.  For the stage, she was a co-writer and director of BLAKK LOVE: STOEEZ OF A DARKER HUE,  and facilitated the group writing project PORTRAITS (2007) for the Chicago Foundation for Women and the devised project DO YOU SEE WHAT I’M SAYING for Chameleon.

SHAWN WALLACE (Music Director/Composer) is a keyboardist, composer and music director. He has music directed and composed for such theatres as MPAACT, Chicago Theatre Company and DanzTheatre Chicago.  He has worked with luminary artists such as Common, Ice Cube, Bobby Brown, Dwele, Johnny Gill, Jon B., Bilal, Estelle, Julie Dexter, Rene Neufville, Rakim, Eric Roberson, Maggie Brown, Ugochi and Cherisse Scott. Shawn studied Music Theory and Composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and currently serves as Musical Director for two New Thought congregations: The Emmaus Center and the Namaste Center for Spiritual Living-Chicago.  Shawn has worked for several years as a Teaching Artist throughout Chicago schools teaching Record Production and Theatre Tech to youth from 6th through 12th grades. His independent film score credits include; Severed Ties (Showcase Productions/ Lions Gate Films), Puzzle Love (Storybox Productions) and Son of America (Tanskin Productions/N’Spire Entertainment INC).

NICOLE CLARKE-SPRINGER (Choreographer) is a member of Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre where she has performed with artists such as Roberta Flack in Kevin Iega Jeff’s Flack as well as Jennifer Holiday in the world-renowned Penumbra Theatre’s Black Nativity. As a member of Deeply Rooted’s artistic team, Clarke-Springer choreographed works such as Nine, Dounia and Femme, and was Assistant Choreographer to Kevin Iega Jeff for Congo Square Theatre’s Nativity for two years.  In 2013, Nicole was named Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre’s Emerging Choreographer for the program Generations. Nicole received her B.S. in Arts Administration-Dance from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN where she received the award as Butler Ballet’s Outstanding Performer.

CAST

Melanie Loren: Daughter
Felicia McNeal: Big Mama
Stacie Doublin|Tina Marie Wright: Aunt Mae
debrah neal: Miss Corinne
Toni Lynice Fountain: Miss Lamama
Sandra Watson: Miss Tom/Miss Mary
Takesha Meshé Kizart: Maggie/Miss Rosa
Darian Tene: Fannie Mae/Miss Shine

PRODUCTION TEAM

Music Direction: Shawn Wallace
Choreography: Scenic Design: Elyse Balogh
Costume Design: Paul Kim
Sound Design: Kirstin Johnson
Props Design: Katy Vest
Production Manager: Kelly Butler