Idle Muse Theatre Company (IMTC) begins its 2019-20 Season with Equivocation, by Bill Cain, directed by Artistic Director Evan Jackson*, September 20 – October 10 at The Edge Theatre Off Broadway, 1133 W Catalpa Ave. Previews are Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. Opening night is Monday, Sept. 23, at 8 p.m. The regular performance run is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with an additional performance: Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m. Industry nights are $10 every Thursday for industry professionals. Tickets are $10-$20 and are on sale now at www.idlemuse.org; or by calling 773.340.9438.
In the aftermath of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 to assassinate King James I and destroy the British Parliament, playwright William Shagspeare (after a contemporary spelling of the Bard's name) is commissioned by the powerful Lord Robert Cecil to write the "true historie" of the plot...to the particular specifications of His Majesty. As they work to unravel the truth behind the conspiracy, navigating clandestine meetings, betrayals, and brawls, the King’s Men acting company tests just how far they’re willing to go for each other and to speak truth to power. When duty to country and pursuit of the truth collide, the Globe Theatre becomes the stage for Shag’s darkest play yet - and the battle for a nation’s soul. Fact, fiction, politics and comedy all vie for control in this critically acclaimed dramatic account of an historical national crisis.
The cast of Equivocation includes Jake Baker, (Richard, and others); Kade Cox, (Sharpe, and others); Michael Dalberg*, (Nate, and others); Emerson Elias, (Armin, and others); Brendan Hutt, (Shag) and Kali Skatchke, (Judith).
The Equivocation creative team includes Evan Jackson*, director; Shellie DiSalvo* production manager; Libby Beyreis, violence designer; Heather Zink, stage manager; Milo Bue, scenic designer; William Sidney Parker*, master carpenter; Joshua D. Allard, costume designer; Laura Wiley*, lighting designer; L.J. Luthringer, music and sound designer; Tristan Brandon*, props designer; Jennifer L. Mickelson, intimacy designer; Carrie Hardin, voice and dialect coach; and Shellie DiSalvo*, makeup designer.
*Connotes Idle Muse Theatre Company Member
ABOUT BILL CAIN, PLAYWRIGHT
Bill Cain is an American playwright. His play Equivocation received its world premiere production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and its New York premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club, as well as being produced at the Geffen Playhouse (Ovation Award for Best Play), Seattle Rep, Marin Theatre, and Arena Stage.
He is also the author of How to Write a New Book for the Bible and 9 Circles as well as Stand-Up Tragedy, which earned six LA Critics Awards (including best production and distinguished writing) for its premiere at the Mark Taper Forum before moving around the country and eventually to Broadway, four Helen Hayes Awards, (including Production of the Year), a Writers Guild nomination for the screenplay and the Joe A. Callaway Playwriting Award for the Broadway production. Screen credits include the series “Nothing Sacred” (co-creator/writer/producer) which aired on ABC, an adaptation of “Clover” for the Hallmark channel and HBO, “Nightjohn,” which was named best American film of the year by “The New Yorker,” “Thicker Than Blood” (TNT), which was an adaptation of Stand-Up Tragedy, “Everything That Rises” (starring Mandy Patinkin), “Papa’s Angels” (starring Scott Bukula, Cynthia Nixon, and Eva Marie Saint), and “Sounder.”
Additional awards include the Steinberg New Play Award (first ever recipient two years in a row), multiple Edgerton grants, a Peabody, the WGA Award for Episodic Drama and a Christopher Award. “Nothing Sacred”: the George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Achievement as co-creator, writer and producer of the ABC-TV series. His work for television has won Writers Guild, Humanitas, Christopher and Alma awards, among others.
He is the founder of the Boston Shakespeare Company, where he was artistic director for seven seasons, directing most of the Shakespeare canon.
ABOUT EVAN JACKSON, DIRECTOR
Evan Jackson serves as the Artistic Director of Idle Muse Theatre Company, a position he has had the honor of holding since the company’s inception. He has directed 12 previous productions for Idle Muse Theatre Company, including Best for Winter, being a short Shakespeare adapted from the Winter’s Tale and other works, The Lion in Winter and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (both Jeff-Recommended); The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Talking Cure; Rites and Sacrifices, a world premiere by Chicago playwright Jennifer L. Mickelson and Enchanted April; The Scullery Maid. He was also director and co-adaptor of Shotgun Shakespeare: What the Weird Sisters Saw with IMTC Literary Director, Tristan Brandon. Outside directing projects include several short plays in the Martin de Maat New Works Festival at Boxer Rebellion Theatre, and two summers serving as Assistant Director for Shakespeare on the Green in Lake Forest. Jackson is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, where he received his MFA in Directing.
ABOUT IDLE MUSE THEATRE COMPANY
Idle Muse Theatre Company’s mission is to produce theatre that is transporting, timely and true. The company was established in 2006 by theatre artists interested in exploring the relationship between individuals and the worlds they inhabit. Seeking to create production opportunities for themselves and other artists, we believed the best way was to build a modern ‘guild’ of players in an environment where theatre artists of different experiences and backgrounds could develop our craft and learn from each other. Today, IMTC remains focused on the following core values:
Transporting: We believe that great theatre removes both audience member and artist from their respective realities and transports them to another world.
Timely: We believe that human connection can be accomplished through meaningful, relevant, and accessible storytelling here and now.
True: We believe in unflinching honesty in our signature form of storytelling.
ABOUT 2019 YEAR OF CHICAGO THEATRE
Idle Muse Theatre Company is proud to be part of the 2019 Year of Chicago Theatre, presented by the City of Chicago and the League of Chicago Theatres. To truly fall in love with Chicago, you must go to our theatres. This is where the city bares its fearless soul. Home to a community of creators, risk-takers and big hearts, Chicago theatre is a hotbed for exciting new work and hundreds of world premieres every year. From Broadway musicals to storefront plays and improv, there’s always a seat waiting for you at one of our 200+ theatres.
IDLE MUSE THEATRE COMPANY 2019-20 EVENTS
Setting the Stage: Objects of Chicago Theatre
NOW – January 5, 2020
Design Museum of Chicago at Expo 72
72 E. Randolph
FREE
Design in theatre can take many forms, including costumes, lights, sound, props, and sets, among countless other examples. Setting the Stage celebrates the myriad ways design is employed in stage productions. Using objects on loan from Chicago theatres, this exhibit will emphasize the diversity, depth, and breadth of theatres in the city and explore how words are translated by designers into a production. See the process behind the final products and learn more about how and why design decisions in theatres are made. Celebrate the Year of Chicago Theatre and discover all that the city’s theatre has to offer through the objects that exemplify the soul of each institution. As part of the exhibition, Idle Muse Theatre Company is displaying limited items from its production of Best for Winter. More information on the exhibit and IMTC’s participation is available from the articles featured in the Chicago Reader and ThirdCoastReview.com.
The Idle Musings of Sherlock Holmes Radio Play: The Boscombe Valley Mystery
Sunday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
The Edge Theatre Off Broadway
1133 W Catalpa Ave.
TICKETS: On sale Monday, Sept. 23
Idle Muse Theatre Company presents The Idle Musings of Sherlock Holmes, with its third episode in the series, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, by Michael Dalberg. Join IMTC for an evening of Sherlock Holmes featuring a live radio performance and delectable drinks. Watch the wheels spin rapidly off the wagon as the world’s greatest detective takes on a classic and compelling murder mystery with new twists in this original adaptation voiced by IMTC ensemble members. It is a live radio play where we once again meet the inimitable duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in another baffling mystery and an onstage foley artist providing all the sound effects.
Idle Muse Theatre Company (IMTC) begins its 2019-20 Season with Equivocation, by Bill Cain, directed by Artistic Director Evan Jackson*, September 20 – October 10 at The Edge Theatre Off Broadway, 1133 W Catalpa Ave. Previews are Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. Opening night is Monday, Sept. 23, at 8 p.m. The regular performance run is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at
3 p.m.. with an additional performance: Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m. Industry nights are $10 every Thursday for industry professionals. Tickets are $10-$20 and are on sale now at www.idlemuse.org; or by calling 773.340.9438.
Idle Muse Theatre Company is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The MacArthur Funds for the Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.
The Edge Theater Off-Broadway has paid street parking and is wheelchair accessible with complimentary assisted listening devices available. It is located near both the Red Line Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stops and is on the 36 Broadway bus route.