Audible Inc., the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, is pleased to announce the New York premiere of the acclaimed Goodman Theatre production of Swing State, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman (The Glory of Living, Spinning Into Butter, Boy Gets Girl) and directed by Tony Award winner Robert Falls (Death of a Salesman).
The original cast of Chicago powerhouses – Mary Beth Fisher (Peg), Kirsten Fitzgerald (Sheriff Kris), Anne E. Thompson (Dani) and Bubba Weiler (Ryan) – will reprise their roles in Gilman’s contemporary portrait of America's heartland in a time when it feels like everyone's way of life is in danger of disappearing.
Performances of this seven-week limited engagement will begin Friday, September 8, with opening night set for Sunday, September 17 at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane, between MacDougal & 6th Avenue – one block south of W. 3rd Street), Audible’s creative home for live performances in New York. The show will also be recorded and released on Audible at a later date, extending its reach to millions of listeners around the world.
Swing State opened at the Goodman Theatre in the Fall of 2022 to great acclaim, with critics raving:
“★★★★. AN EXTRAORDINARY NEW PLAY. I’VE BEEN REVIEWING GILMAN’S PLAYS FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS NOW; THIS IS A NEW LEVEL FROM THIS PARTICULAR WRITER. SHE’S PENNED A MYSTERY WITH ENOUGH NARRATIVE TENSION THAT NO ONE AT THE GOODMAN THEATRE MOVED A MUSCLE. SWING STATE DESERVES THE BROADEST POSSIBLE AUDIENCE.
- Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune
“AN ENGROSSING WORK OF INTENSE MELANCHOLY, FILLED WITH SYMPATHY FOR ITS CHARACTERS, AND FOR THE COUNTRY. ROBERT FALLS BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN HIS ACTORS – THE PERFORMANCES ARE SUPERB.”
- Steven Oxman, Chicago Sun-Times
“GILMAN, FALLS AND THIS ENORMOUSLY TALENTED CAST ARE A WINNING COMBINATION. THIS PLAY MOVES AUDIENCES FROM LAUGHTER TO TEARS.”
- Barbara Vitello, Daily Herald
“A RARE PIECE OF STORYTELLING, WITH A QUARTET OF EXCELLENT ACTORS, THAT YOU’LL BE TALKING ABOUT FOR DAYS AFTERWARD”
- Paul Lockwood, Northwest Herald
Gilman is the most-produced contemporary playwright in Goodman Theatre history. Swing State marks Gilman's sixth play with Robert Falls; their collaborations span more than 35 years.
Kate Navin, Head of Audible Theater, said: “Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State is a powerful human story that, with humor and compassion, makes us examine who we love and what we value. We’re thrilled to bring together again the stellar cast and creative team from the critically acclaimed world-premiere staging at the Goodman, so they can introduce this important play to New York audiences and to Audible listeners across the globe.”
Playwright Rebecca Gilman said, “I’m thrilled to be working with Audible and delighted to have this opportunity to expand the audience of Swing State beyond our world premiere run in Chicago. The past few years have been so volatile and have left us all feeling vulnerable. But there's also been a great deal of joy. As emotional states continue to swing pretty wildly, we’re faced with the question of where we find hope and how we connect again. We have to focus on who we love, and how we love them—and how we can help one another not only survive, but thrive.”
Director Robert Falls said, “The conversation Swing State invites audiences to consider has really only just begun. It’s a dream come true to bring Rebecca’s brilliant play to Audible and continue that conversation on the New York stage, and most especially to get back into the rehearsal room and on stage with our original company of actors.”
Evenings on the prairie are relatively quiet for Peg, a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin who still cooks for two. Which doesn’t go to waste whenever Ryan, a dear friend with a troubled past, pays her a visit. However, after noticing her husband’s toolbox is missing, she places a call to the local authorities—unwittingly setting off a series of events that will forever reverberate through the small community. In a divided country where the lines separating family, friend, and foe have been further blurred in the wake of a global pandemic, Tony Award® winner Robert Falls and Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman masterfully unweave a complex, humanistic yarn the Chicago Sun-Times calls "an engrossing work of intense melancholy, filled with sympathy for its characters, and for the country."
The creative team of Swing State includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Evelyn M. Danner (costume design), Eric Southern (lighting design), Richard Woodbury (original music and sound design), Nick Sandys (fight and intimacy director), Alice Maguire (properties), Patrick Fries (production stage manager), and Lauren Port CSA & Rachael Jimenez CSA & (casting). Technical supervision is by Hudson Theatrical Associates’ Sean Gorski with general management by Baseline Theatrical’s Jonathan Whitton.
Understudies include Laura T. Fisher (u/s Peg), Jessica Ervin (u/s Dani), and Jack Lancaster (u/s Ryan).
TICKETING INFORMATION
Tickets for Swing State are on sale at www.swingstateplay.com.
Audible Theater is proud to collaborate with TodayTix to offer $25 mobile rush tickets for all three shows beginning at 9am each performance day. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis exclusively through the TodayTix app.
Masks are encouraged but not required for patrons at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
BIOGRAPHIES
MARY BETH FISHER (Peg) has been a frequent collaborator at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, appearing in over 20 productions including The Sound Inside, Blind Date, Luna Gale, The Little Foxes, God of Carnage, The Seagull, Vanya, Sonia, Masha & Spike, and The Clean House. Other Chicago credits include: Domesticated (Jeff Award), Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Dresser (Steppenwolf); Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (with Harris Yulin), Three Tall Women, The Year of Magical Thinking (Jeff Award), and others (Court Theatre). She has appeared at TimeLine, Victory Gardens, AboutFace, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight, Writer’s, and Remy Bumppo theatres. NY credits include: Frank’s Home (Playwrights’ Horizons), Boy Gets Girl (Drama League Honoree, Drama Desk and Lucile Lortel nominations), The Radical Mystique, and By the Sea… (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Night of the Iguana (Roundabout), Extremities (Westside Arts), and others. She has worked at regional theatres all over the country. TV/Film credits include: Saint Frances, “Sense8,” “Chicago Justice,” “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago Code,” “Without a Trace,” “Numb3rs,” “Prison Break,” “NYPD Blue,” “Profiler,” “Dragonfly,” and “Trauma.” Ms. Fisher was an Inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellow at the Ten Chimneys Foundation representing Goodman Theatre. She is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent and HCKR Agency.
KIRSTEN FITZGERALD (Sheriff Kris) is a proud member of the Artistic Ensemble at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago and has served as the Artistic Director since 2008. In addition to Swing State, she’s originated roles in the world premieres of Grey House by Levi Holloway and Traitor, Pilgrim’s Progress, Weapon of Mass Impact by Brett Neveu (A Red Orchid); I hate It Here by Ike Holter (Goodman); Lettie by Boo Killebrew and Appropriate by Brandon Jacob Jenkins (Victory Gardens); Tracy Letts’ Mary Page Marlow and Bruce Norris’ The Qualms (Steppenwolf). Kirsten earned Jeff Awards for her performance in The Sea Horse and for her direction of The Moors at A Red Orchid. Television credits include “Shining Girls,” “Somebody Somewhere,” “The Big Leap,” “The Exorcist,” “Sirens,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Underemployed,” and “ER.” Films include Widows, Killing Eleanor and Working Man. Kirsten is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent.
ANNE E. THOMPSON (Dani) makes her Off-Broadway debut in Swing State in a role she originated at Goodman Theatre. Additional Goodman credits include: the world premiere of Rebecca Gilman’s Twilight Bowl; Uncle Vanya; A Christmas Carol; and the New Stages Festival productions of Fires, Ohio and Twilight Bowl. Regionally, Anne has worked with American Players Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Door Shakespeare, and Montana Shakespeare in the Schools. Chicago credits include: work with Writers Theatre, Silk Road Rising, and The Sound. Film and television credits include “Chicago Med” (NBC), “The Bear” (FX), and Beth Hyland’s Clambake. She is a graduate of the School of Theatre at Illinois State University and represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent.
BUBBA WEILER (Ryan) is thrilled to be returning to Swing State after creating the role of “Ryan” at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. New York stage appearances include the first American principal cast playing “Scorpius Malfoy” in Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Parts One And Two, Dead Poets Society (CSC), and The Burnt Part Boys (Vineyard). Films include Puzzle, The Ranger, and Antarctica and on television he can be seen in “Kaleidoscope,” “Dopesick,” “Run The World,” “Pose,” “Chicago PD,” “Chicago Justice,” “The Good Fight,” “Odd Mom Out,” “The Mysteries Of Laura,” “The Slap And Unforgettable.”
LAURA T. FISHER (u/s Peg). Chicago: Goodman: Swing State, Seagull, Trojan Women, Finishing the Picture, The Shawl, Home; Steppenwolf: Mary Page Marlow, Homebody Kabul; Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre: Sound of Music; Famous Door: Early and Often (Joseph Jefferson Award). Regional: Kansas City Rep: FLOOD; Indiana Rep: Arcadia, Morning After Grace; Milwaukee Rep: Good People. Film: Contagion, Widows, Captive State, Princess Cyd. TV: “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD,” “The Redline,” “Work in Progress,” “Empire.” Representation: Stewart Talent, Chicago. AEA, SAG-AFTRA. lauratfisher.com
JESSICA ERVIN (u/s Dani) is an ensemble member at Rivendell Theatre. Select credits: Swing State (Goodman, u/s); Dry Land (Jeff Nomination); Motherhouse; I Wanna F*cking Tear You Apart; The Firebirds Take the Field (Rivendell); On the Greenbelt (Strawdog); and Killing Game (A Red Orchid, u/s). Select Film/TV: “Chicago Fire” (NBC); Princess Cyd; Provo; and Teacher. Jessica graduated from The School at Steppenwolf and Ball State University. Representation: Actor’s Talent Group. www.jessicaervin.com
JACK LANCASTER (u/s Ryan) makes his off-Broadway debut. Chicago credits include the world premiere of Lift Every Voice (Collaboraction co.) and multiple productions at the Theatre School at DePaul University, where he received his BFA in acting. Regional credits include Titus Andronicus and Richard III (Independent Shakespeare Co.) Television credits include “The Bear” (FX); “Shining Girls” (AppleTV+); “Power Book IV: Force” (Starz); and “Chicago Med” (NBC). Film credits include Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Roku) and Bella & Bernie. He is represented by DDO Artists Agency.
REBECCA GILMAN (Playwright) is an artistic associate at Goodman Theatre. Her plays include Luna Gale; A True History of the Johnstown Flood; Dollhouse; Boy Gets Girl; Spinning Into Butter; Blue Surge (all of which were originally produced by the Goodman); Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 and The Crowd You’re in With (also at the Goodman); The Glory of Living; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Gilman is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, The Harper Lee Award, The Scott McPherson Award, The Prince Prize for Commissioning New Work, The Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The George Devine Award, The Theatre Masters Visionary Award, The Great Plains Playwright Award, a Global Connections Grant by Theatre Communications Group, an American Scandinavian Foundation Creative Writing Grant and an Illinois Arts Council playwriting fellowship. Boy Gets Girl received an Olivier nomination for Best New Play. Gilman was named a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for The Glory of Living. She is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America and a board member of the ACLU of Illinois. A graduate of the MFA in playwriting program from the University of Iowa, Gilman is now a professor of playwriting and screenwriting at Northwestern University as part of its MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage program. In 2016, she was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame.
ROBERT FALLS (Director)’s theater and opera work over four decades has included ground-breaking new plays, reimagined classics, large-scale musical works and more. Falls’ major recent projects include a new production of Don Giovanni (Lyric Opera of Chicago/Dallas Opera); David Cale’s We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time (Goodman Theatre and the Public Theater NYC); The Winter’s Tale; An Enemy of the People; a new adaptation for the stage of Roberto Bolaño’s epic novel 2666; and The Iceman Cometh, starring Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Two of Falls’ most highly acclaimed Broadway productions—Death of a Salesman and Long Day’s Journey into Night—first staged at the Goodman, were honored with seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Other noteworthy Broadway productions include Desire under the Elms; The Night of the Iguana; Conor McPherson’s Shining City (Tony Award nomination); Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio (Tony Award nomination); The Rose Tattoo at Circle in the Square (Tony Award nomination); Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man from Atlanta; and Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. Off-Broadway productions include Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian; Rebecca Gilman’s Blue Surge; Nicky Silver’s The Food Chain; and Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia at Lincoln Center Theater (Obie Award). For the Goodman, Falls’ extensive credits include King Lear; Uncle Vanya; Measure for Measure; Galileo; The Tempest; Hughie; A Touch of the Poet; The Misanthrope; Landscape of the Body; Three Sisters; Uncle Vanya; his own adaptation of The Seagull; and the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey for which he wrote a new book. He also directed the American premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s House and Garden, and the world premiere of Arthur Miller’s final play Finishing the Picture. He is the recipient of multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards, as well as such prestigious honors as the O’Neill Medallion (Eugene O’Neill Society) and the Savva Morozov Diamond Award from the Moscow Art Theatre. In 2015, Falls was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
ABOUT AUDIBLE THEATER
Audible Theater makes outstanding performances and powerful storytelling available to millions of people all over the world. As part of this initiative, Audible has produced Girls & Boys with Carey Mulligan, The Half-Life of Marie Curie with Kate Mulgrew, Harry Clarke starring Billy Crudup, Billy Crystal’s Have A Nice Day with Annette Bening and Kevin Kline, the revival of Aasif Mandvi’s Sakina’s Restaurant, and many others at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City. In May 2018, Audible announced that the Minetta Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village will serve as its creative home for live performances in New York. Audible hosts and produces a wide variety of live performances at the Minetta Lane including dramatic plays, comedic shows, engaging panel discussions, and more, with Audible members receiving exclusive access to discounted tickets and related audio content.
Audible was co-producer for the Broadway transfer of the Tony Award-nominated Latin History for Morons written by and starring John Leguizamo and for the Tony Award-nominated Sea Wall /A Life starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge. The initiative also saw the release of John Lithgow’s Stories By Heart, Judith Light’s All The Ways To Say I Love You, Sharon Washington’s Feeding The Dragon, and more. Since June 2017, Audible has commissioned 40 theater playwrights to receive support from its $5 million Emerging Playwrights Fund dedicated to developing innovative English-language works from around the globe. The $5 million fund enables the creation of original plays driven by language and voice, keeping with Audible’s core commitment to elevating listening experiences through powerful performances and extraordinary vocal storytelling.
ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering global audiences a powerful way to enhance and enrich their lives through extraordinary content. Audible’s catalog includes more than 800,000 audio titles, including Audible Originals as well as audiobooks and podcasts from leading studios, print, audio and magazine publishers and world-renowned entertainers.
ABOUT THE GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre (Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer) is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the downtown theater district, distinguished by artistic excellence and civic engagement. The theater’s artistic priorities include new play development, large-scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle. The 2022 world premiere of Swing State, principally supported by The Roy Cockrum Foundation, marked the 10th production of a play by Pulitzer Prize nominee Rebecca Gilman at Goodman Theatre, where previous works include Twilight Bowl (2019); Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 (2016); Luna Gale (2014); A True History of the Johnstown Flood (2010); The Crowd You’re in With (2009); Dollhouse (2005); Blue Surge (2001); Boy Gets Girl (2000); and Spinning Into Butter (1999). Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.
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