Strawdog Theatre Company is pleased to launch its 32nd season, “Truth,” with the Chicago premiere of Lucy Prebble’s bold drama THE EFFECT, directed by ensemble member Elly Green*, playing October 13 – November 23, 2019 at 1802 W. Berenice Ave. in Chicago’s Northcenter neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.strawdog.org. The press opening is Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 pm.
THE EFFECT features ensemble members Sam Hubbard*, Daniella Pereira* and Justine C. Turner* with Cary Shoda.
Photo: Ensemble members Daniella Pereira and Sam Hubbard
Hearts pounding, thoughts racing, and sleepless nights. Connie and Tristan are falling in love – or are they? Stuck in a clinical trial for an antidepressant, they cannot tell what is love and what is the drug. As the trial’s supervising doctors untangle this relationship, everyone involved has to question what they know.
Comments Strawdog Artistic Director Leda Hoffmann, “I’m thrilled Lucy Prebble’s brilliant play opens Strawdog's 32nd season, my first as Artistic Director. The Effect was one of the first plays the ensemble suggested to me, and upon reading it, I could immediately see why this is a Strawdog play. Giving us a platform to talk to each other about what we know and don’t know about the human condition, this production is a true ensemble effort with longtime ensemble members and new collaborators coming together. As we examine the theme of ‘Truth’ this season, we ask the question – can you really know you are in love when pharmaceuticals are changing your brain chemistry?”
The production team for THE EFFECT includes: Yeaji Kim (scenic and projection design), Leah Hummel (costume design), Claire Chrzan* and John Kelly* (lighting design), Isaac Mandel (sound design), Hillarie Shockley (props design), Tristin Hall (intimacy and violence design), Kamille Dawkins* (assistant director), Madeline Scott (stage manager) and Alyssa Maldonado (assistant stage manager).
*Denotes Strawdog ensemble member
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: THE EFFECT
Playwright: Lucy Prebble
Director: Elly Green*
Cast (in alphabetical order): Sam Hubbard* (Tristan Frey), Daniella Pereira* (Connie Hall), Cary Shoda (Dr. Toby Sealey) and Justine C. Turner* (Dr. Lorna James).
Understudies: Zhanna Albertini (Connie Hall), Al Herrmann (Dr. Toby Sealey), Kelly Levandar (Dr. Lorna James) and Shane Richlen (Tristan Frey).
Location: Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Sunday, October 13 at 7:30 pm, Monday, October 14 at 7:30 pm and Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 pm
Board Night Performance: Friday October 18 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Sunday, October 20 – Saturday, November 23, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 4 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Sunday, November 17.
Industry Performance: Monday, November 4 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: Previews $18. Regular run $35. Seniors: $26. Board Night: $55. Tickets are currently available at www.strawdog.org. Half price rush and student tickets available at every performance and other discounts available. Call (773) 644-1380 for details.
About the Artists
Lucy Prebble (Playwright) is a writer for film, television, games and theatre. She is Co-Executive Producer and writer on HBO’s media mogul drama, Succession, for which she has been nominated for a WGA Award. The Effect, a study of love and neuroscience, was performed at the National Theatre and won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Play. Previous to that, she wrote ENRON, a hugely successful piece about the infamous corporate fraud, which transferred to the West End and Broadway after sell-out runs at both the Royal Court and Chichester Festival Theatre. Her first play, The Sugar Syndrome (2003), won her the George Devine Award and was performed at the Royal Court. Her latest play, A Very Expensive Poison, will be on at the Old Vic Theatre in 2019. For television, she is the creator of the TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl (ITV/Showtime), and has recently made a pilot for HBO starring Sarah Silverman. Lucy also writes for Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC) and appears on the TV show as a guest as well as appearing regularly on Have I Got News For You. She is currently working on a new TV series starring Billie Piper. Lucy is fascinated by new technology and where it meets the arts. She wrote a weekly Tech column for the Observer newspaper and was Head Scene Writer for Bungie’s massive first-person shooter video game, Destiny.
Elly Green (Director) is a Chicago-based director, originally from the UK. She recently directed Yen by Anna Jordan for Raven Theatre and In the Canyon by Calamity West for Jackalope Theatre. Other credits include: The Woyzeck Experiment (Goodman Playwrights Unit), You for Me for You, No More Sad Things (Sideshow), Pillars of the Community, The Night Season, After Miss Julie (Strawdog), The Woman in Black (Wildclaw), The Distance (Haven), The Woman Before (Trap Door), Happy (Redtwist), Rabbit (Stage Left), Unwilling and Hostile Instruments (Theatre Seven) and The Tomkat Project (Playground & NY Fringe). Her Assistant Director credits include: Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Proof (Court Theatre), Oedipus, Mrs Affleck, Her Naked Skin (Royal National Theatre, London). She is an ensemble member with Strawdog Theatre and Sideshow Theatre, and an Associate Artist with Stage Left Theatre. Elly trained in the UK at Birkbeck College, LAMDA and the National Theatre Studio.
About Strawdog Theatre Company
Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.
Strawdog Theatre Company is supported in part by The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council Agency.