Congo Square Theatre Company (Congo Square) proudly presents WELCOME TO MATTESON!, a dark comedy by Chicago born playwright Inda Craig-Galván that examines relevant issues like housing injustice and classism. In this Rolling World Premiere production, WELCOME TO MATTESON! follows two Black couples over the course of a dinner party; one couple has lived in the Chicago suburb of Matteson for years, the other has just moved in after being forcibly relocated from the Cabrini-Green housing projects. Tensions rise as each couple is forced to confront their own biases. WELCOME TO MATTESON! will be performed at Abbott Hall at Northwestern University Chicago Campus, 710 N DuSable Lake Shore Dr., September 6 – October 1, 2023. The official opening night is September 29.
The notorious Cabrini-Green public housing projects on Chicago’s Near North side were long seen by outsiders as a dangerous and violent no-go zone. To residents of the projects, however, Cabrini-Green represented an affordable housing option close to downtown, and a tight knit, multigenerational community that functioned through systems of mutual aid. When the city decided to tear down nearly all of the Cabrini-Green buildings, residents were forced out of not only their long-term homes, but also away from their systems of support. Displaced residents landed in numerous communities in the city and its suburbs including the Southwest suburb of Matteson, but they did not always receive a warm welcome. Neighbors in the receiving communities balked at the arrival of low-income residents, fearing an influx of criminal activity and a decrease in property values.
In WELCOME TO MATTESON! Regina and Corey Baker have just moved to the suburban village of Matteson, IL after the demolition of their home in Cabrini-Green. Matteson welcoming committee and long-time residents Patricia and Gerald Griffith host the Bakers for dinner- despite having misgivings about their new urban neighbors.
Directed by Congo Square Theatre Artistic Director Ericka Ratcliff, the play features Congo Square Ensemble Members Ronald L. Conner (Gerald Griffith), Anthony L. Irons (Corey Baker), and Alexis J. Roston (Regina Baker) alongside Sydney Charles(Patricia Griffith). Rita Wicks, April Lowery, and Stanley King serve as understudies.
The production team includes Julie Jachym (stage manager), Jake Snell (assistant stage manager), Victor Hugo Jaimes (production manager), Ariel Beller (assistant production manager), Joe Schermoly (set designer), Kieran O’Connor (master electrician), Gabrielle Strong (lighting designer), Gabrielle Strong (lighting designer), Jos N. Banks (costume designer), Willow James (sound designer), and Mariah Bennet (props designer).
Congo Square’s production of WELCOME TO MATTESON! is part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere program in which a new play is premiered by multiple companies over an 18-month period allowing the playwright to collaborate and make adjustments while working with unique perspectives from each company. WELCOME TO MATTESON! will receive its World Premiere at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch, New Jersey (SuzAnne Barabas, Artistic Director; Gabor Barabas, Executive Producer) on September 28, 2023.
“We are thrilled to be working with the National New Play Network to ensure that one of WELCOME TO MATTESON!’s rolling world premieres happens in Chicago.” Said Ratcliff “I am honored to work alongside such a talented cast and creative team to bring this vital work to life and share it with the greater community. Between the production, our Celebration of Healing initiative, and our community ticket program, Congo Square’s commitment to radical community, radical generosity, and radical expansion boldly proceeds in our 25th season.”
Celebration of Healing
As an extension of WELCOME TO MATTESON! Congo Square will continue its Celebration of Healing initiative to provide audiences with a curated space geared toward individual and community healing. Celebration of Healing events pair artists with community leaders for conversations about relevant issues highlighted in the performance, and the intersection of art and social justice. All Celebration of Healing events precede or follow a performance of WELCOME TO MATTESON! and are free for ticket holders- registration is required. Registration forms can be found at congosquaretheatre.org/welcome-to-matteson. Celebration of Healing events include:
Celebration of Healing Talk Forwards
Welcome To Matteson! From the Stage to the Streets – September 17 immediately following the performance
A panel discussion featuring the cast and director of WELCOME TO MATTESON!, with community organizers and housing justice advocates around the creative development of the show and the intersection of using the arts as a vehicle to mobilize justice efforts.
Blurred Lines: Where Artistry Meets Activism – September 24 immediately following the performance
Artists, community leaders, and organizers use themes of Housing Equity and Justice, as seen in the production of WELCOME TO MATTESON!, as a jumping off point for a larger discussion about the power of community in creating hope and healing from the systemic issues of housing relocation, displacement and redlining.
Celebration of Healing Community Cookouts- September 14, 21 & 28 immediately preceding performances
Congo Square Theatre hosts three pre-performance cook-outs featuring opportunities for fellowship in community over food, drinks, and resources while celebrating, highlighting, and engaging with the work of community leaders and organizations in Chicago who are advocating for housing equity and justice.
Tickets & Performance Schedule
General admission tickets are $45. Radical Generosity tickets are $75 and cover the cost of a single ticket and sponsor a second community member ticket. Discounted tickets are available for students, seniors, and industry professionals. To purchase tickets, visit congosquaretheatre.org/welcome-to-matteson.
Congo Square continues its Radical Generosity model partnering with community organizations throughout the city to donate up to half of all tickets for every performance. In this way, Congo Square continues to expand access for audiences traditionally excluded from the theater. Interested organizations should reach out to Congo Square at communitypartner@congosquaretheatre.org
Previews for WELCOME TO MATTESON! begin September 6, opening night is September 29 with performances through October 1. Performances are weekly Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM. WELCOME TO MATTESON! is 90 minutes long and presented without an intermission.
About the Creative Team
Inda Craig-Galván (Playwright) is a Los Angeles-based playwright and screenwriter, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. Her work often explores conflicts and politics within the African-American community, grounded in reality, and with a touch of magical realism. Plays include Black Super Hero Magic Mama (Geffen Playhouse world premiere), The Great Jheri Curl Debate (East West Players world premiere), a hit dog will holler (Playwrights’ Arena/Skylight Theatre co-produced world premiere; Radiotopia podcast adaptation), and A Jumping-Off Point (Round House Theatre world premiere, Spring 2024). She is the recipient of the Kesselring Prize, Jeffery Melnick New Play Award, Blue Ink Prize, Jane Chambers Award, and Kennedy Center’s Rosa Parks Award for plays focused on social justice and/or civil rights. Her plays have been developed at the O'Neill, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Ashland New Play Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference, JAW, OSF, Orlando Shakes, Geffen Writers Room, and CTG Writers Workshop. She’s under commission to write new plays for The Old Globe and Round House Theatre. On the TV side, Craig-Galván is Co-Executive Producer of ABC’s Will Trent and previously wrote for The Rookie, How to Get Away with Murder, Happy Face, and JJ Abrams’ Demimonde. MFA in Dramatic Writing, University of Southern California.
Baltimore-bred Ericka Ratcliff (Director) is Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre Company where she works to amplify the mission of celebrating the complexities of Black life and culture on stage. Most recently Ratcliff directed WHITE with Definition Theatre and was co-director on the Chicago premiere of What To Send Up When It Goes Down at Congo Square. She has worked regionally and locally with Alliance Theater, Steppenwolf, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Chicago Shakespeare, Collaboraction, House Theater of Chicago, Mixed Blood, Milwaukee Rep, Kansas City Rep, CENTERSTAGE, Pittsburgh Playwrights and Second City to name a few. Ratcliff is a recipient of the Chicago 3Arts Make A Wave Award, 2017.She is also an artistic associate with Lookingglass Theater.
About Congo Square Theatre Company
Congo Square Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to producing transformative work rooted in the African Diaspora. Congo Square is a haven for artists of color to challenge and redefine the theatrical canon by amplifying and creating stories that reflect the reach and complexities of Black Culture and is one of only two African American Actors’ Equity theater companies in Chicago. Founded in 1999 with a mission to provide a platform for Black artists to present work that exemplified the majesty, diversity, and intersectionality of stories from the African Diaspora, Congo Square’s guiding principles are radical generosity, radical community, and radical expansion.
Congo Square has risen to become one of the most well-respected African American theaters in the nation. Previously mentored by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, Congo Square’s August Wilson New Play Initiative has cultivated talents such as playwright Chadwick Boseman (Marvel Studio’s Black Panther), who penned the 2006 Jeff nominated play Deep Azure, Lisa Langford who’s play How Blood Go was premiered by Congo Square in 2023, and playwright Lydia Diamond, who penned the massively successful Stick Fly, a critically acclaimed play that explores race, class, and familial friction. Stick Fly ultimately ran on Broadway and is currently being developed into a full-length series for HBO with Alicia Keys serving as a producer. Congo Square also produced the widely praised Seven Guitars, which won top honors for best ensemble, best direction, and best production at the 2005 Joseph Jefferson Awards. This would earn the theater company the distinction of being the first African American theater company to receive such an honor.
Congo Square’s Samuel G. Roberson Next Up Fellowship celebrates young playwrights by providing resources for college and high school aged students to enhance their writing and identity as a playwright. Each selected fellow not only has their ten-minute play workshopped into a full-length play with Congo Square, but they also receive a yearlong writing mentorship with founding ensemble member and playwright, Aaron Todd Douglas. The 2023-24 Fellow is Maria D. Smith.
Congo Square’s Community Engagement and Education programs bring the impact of theater to young audiences. Its outreach programs, CORE (Curriculum Objectives Residency Enrichment), and CAST (Congo After School Theater), present and teach theater arts by providing classroom and after-school residencies that provide Teaching Artists to build upon already established Chicago Public Schools literature and art curriculums. CORE and CAST impact students, schools, and community organizations located on the South and West sides of Chicago.
For more information on Congo Square’s 2023-24 Season, visit www.congosquaretheatre.org.