The Gift Theatre continues its 2023/24 season with the Chicago Premiere of Anna Ouyang Moench’s powerful and dark comedy Mothers, directed by Halena Kays, playing February 1-March 3, 2024 at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071. Season subscriptions are currently available. The press opening is Monday February 5 at 7:30 pm.
The production features guest artists Caren Blackmore, Alex Iyres, Lynnette Li, Krystel McNeil and Stephanie Shum.
Three moms, a stay-at-home dad and a nanny watch their kids play at Mommy-Baby Meetup. One mom is the queen bee and one is here to shake things up. The dad just wants to fit in, and the nanny doesn't say a word. When catastrophe comes, the five of them have to figure out how to survive a war and each other. Mothers examines the primal heartache of raising children in a disintegrating world.
Co-Artistic Director Brittany Burch comments, "I first read Mothers nearly a year after giving birth to my daughter. I immediately identified with the vicious humor of the first act, and by the end of the second act I was completely gutted. I love that it sheds light on the blinders we wear in this country to the world around us. The invincibility we can feel and the denial of an inevitable future if we continue to allow our human rights to be stripped from us." Adds Co-Artistic Director Emjoy Gavino, “This play delves into the very important conversation of what mothers must sacrifice and what lengths of ferocity they are willing to go through to protect what they love. Having some incredible artists who are also parents in our cast, artistic and production team will help us interrogate those topics on an excitingly deep level.”
“I read Mothers and realized, it's been a while since I've laughed so hard, then felt sincere surprise, then was shocked, and then moved to tears. This play is a rollercoaster, a comedy, a nightmare, and perhaps the most challenging text I've engaged with in a long time. It is exciting to be so inspired. It is why we make art—to untangle some things about being human,” comments director Halena Kays. “I'm grateful to have the opportunity to take an amazing script and bring it to the community and care of The Gift. It is going to be rigorous fun to make this work. I cannot wait to see an audience watch these performers.”
The production team includes Lauren Nichols (Scenic Designer), Gregory Graham (Costume Designer), Josiah Croegaert (Lighting Designer), Jeffrey Levin (Sound Designer), Lily Anna Berman (Props Designer), Gaby Labotka (Intimacy and Violence Director), Emjoy Gavino* (Casting/Access Director), David Preis* (Technical Director), Jennifer Aparicio (Production Manager) and Sarah Luse* (Stage Manager).
*Denotes The Gift Theatre Ensemble Member
The cast of The Gift Theatre’s Chicago Premiere of Mothers includes: Top (From Left to Right): Caren Blackmore, Alex Iryes, Lynnette Li; Bottom (From Left to Right): Krystel McNeil and Stephanie Shum
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: Mothers
Playwright: Anna Ouyang Moench
Director: Halena Kays
Cast: (in alphabetical order): Caren Blackmore (Arianna), Alex Iryes (Ty), Lynnette Li (Gladys), Krystel McNeil (Vick) and Stephanie Shum (Meg)
Location: Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: February 1-March 3, 2023
Previews: Thursday, February 1- Saturday, February 3, 2023 at 7:30pm
Press opening: Monday, February 5, 7:30pm
Regular run: Thursday, February 8 – Sunday, March 3, 2024
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.
Captioned performances: Saturday February 17 at 7:30pm, Sunday February 18 at 3pm
- Audio Description and Touch Tour Sunday February 18 at 3pm
- Sensory Friendly performance Sunday February 25 at 3pm
Tickets: Previews $20. Regular run $35 - $45. Students/veterans $15. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071.
About the Artists
Anna Ouyang Moench (Playwright, Mothers) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays have been produced at The Geffen Playhouse, the Playwrights Realm, East West Players, InterAct Theater, and many other theaters across the country and around the world. Anna is a 2020 Steinberg Award winner and the recipient of a Gerbode Special Award in the Arts commission for a new play that will be produced at Magic Theater in 2022. She has been commissioned by NAATCO for a new play premiering in 2021. In television and film, Anna has worked with Netflix, Apple TV+, HBO, UCP, eOne, PictureStart and Universal. Anna lives in Los Angeles with her family.
Halena Kays is a founding member of the artistic collaborative, The Ruffians, an artistic affiliate of American Blues Theater, a former member of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care unit, past artistic director of The Hypocrites, former co-artistic curator for Theater on the Lake, and co-founder and former artistic director of Playmakers Lab. Halena is an Artistic Associate with the Neo-Futurists Chicago where she directed Comfortable Shoes, Pop/Waits, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Burning Bluebeard, Daredevils, Daredevils Hamlet, Fake Lake, and Wildcat! (Jeff nominated for Best Direction, Best New Work, and Best Actor).
Selected Chicago directing credits: Endgame, Ivywild, Six Characters in Search of an Author (The Hypocrites); The Magic Play (The Goodman), Lord of the Flies (Steppenwolf); How a Boy Falls (Northlight Theatre); On Clover Road (American Blues Theater); Feast (part of a collaborative directing effort) with The Albany Park Theatre Project (The Goodman). Regionally Halena has directed Do You Feel Anger? (Circle X, LA), Shapeshifter (Bard at the Gate with the McCarter Theatre Center), The Magic Play (The Olney Theater Center, The Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Portland Center Stage, and Syracuse Stage), Love Song and The Welkin (Nashville Story Garden), and Secretary (Nashville Rep’s Ingram New Works Festival).
Halena has been nominated for Jefferson awards for Best Supporting Actress, Best Direction, Best New Work, and Best Production, named one of the top 50 “players” in Chicago theater by NewCity, is a recipient of the prestigious 3Arts Award, and received a signed letter from Mr. Rogers saying she was “special” in 1978. She is a UT-Austin and Northwestern grad, a proud member of SDC, and Head of Directing at the University of Michigan.
About The Gift Theatre
Since 2001, with over 70 productions, The Gift Theatre has been dedicated to telling great stories onstage with honesty and simplicity by being the most intimate professional Equity theatre in the country, leading to national acclaim for both the theatre and ensemble and creating a cultural revolution on Chicago’s northwest side.