Chicago’s Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company is proud to announce plays and creative teams for its inaugural new works festival: GglassFest, September 5 - 13, at The Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. GglassFest includes five different readings where attendees will hear a reading of a work. Tickets to GglassFest are $20 each or three readings for $45 or all five for $60 at LookingglassTheatre.org or by calling 312.337.0665.
For the first time in Lookingglass’ history, audiences are invited to go behind the scenes and experience its new play development program, gglassworks, with the inaugural GglassFest. Attendees will have the opportunity to see how the Lookingglass Ensemble proposes new work to one another, and to preview stories coming to the Lookingglass stage.
Lookingglass has produced 70 world premiere plays to date, the majority of which were created by ensemble members and artistic associates through its year-round new play development program, gglassworks. Created by the ensemble, shepherded by many makers through many years, gglassworks is currently guided by Ensemble Member and Creative Producer – New Engagements Kareem Bandealy and Artistic Director Kasey Foster and ushers new productions through a multi-phase process.
“What is it we do here at Lookingglass? The simplest way I can say, ‘We Make New,’” said Ensemble Member & Creative Producer – New Engagements Kareem Bandealy. “ I think that’s what we do. It’s a succinct summary of our core values: Collaboration, Invention and Transformation.”
The Inaugural GglassFest Line Up Includes:
Sophia Hayden Deserves Better
Friday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m.
Written by Stephanie Alison Walker
Directed by Wendy Mateo
In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building The Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, but she was sent to a sanitarium. Diagnosed with melancholia due to overexertion. Silenced. After the fair, her building was destroyed and she never built another building again. Her name was Sophia Hayden and she deserves better.
But Many are the Stars
Saturday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m.
Written by Sara Gmitter
Co-Directed by Leslie Buxbaum-Danzig and Sara Gmitter
A group of Soviet female combat pilots fighting at the Eastern Front during World War II confront the limits of their personal and political power as they face the enemy in front of them, wondering who they can trust among them.
The Last Beyond
Saturday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.
Written and Directed by Ike Holter
The Last Beyond is a new fantasy epic following the fight to save a world on the brink of collapse. A funny, sharp and R-rated look at the hero’s journey, destiny- and the fine print that’s written underneath accepting any call to adventure.
Prince Hal
Saturday, Sept. 13 at 11 a.m.
Written and Directed by J. Nicole Brooks
Prince Hal is inspired by the life and political legacy of Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington. Using choreography, oral history and spoken word to explore Hal’s rise to power, dealings with a contentious city council and his untimely death.
Madame X
Saturday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.
A loosely-fit adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s “Queen of Spades”
Written and Directed by Phil Smith based on an adaptation with Tommy Rapley and Dennis Watkins
Who is really holding the cards at Madame X’s high stakes gaming parlor? Find out as Lookingglass unspools a feverish take of Alexander Pushkin’s unrivaled tale of gambling and the supernatural. Live music, jump scares, high rollers, sleep walkers, the living dead and most importantly FUN, all combine into a one of a kind theatrical event.
ABOUT LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY
Founded in 1988 by graduates of Northwestern University, Lookingglass Theatre Company is a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works and in sharing its ensemble-based theatrical techniques with Chicago-area students and teachers through Education and Community Programs. Guided by an artistic vision centered on the core values of collaboration, transformation and invention, Lookingglass seeks to capture audiences’ imaginations leaving them changed, charged and empowered.
Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and ensemble-based theatrical innovation. Notable world premieres include Mary Zimmerman’s Tony Award-winning Metamorphoses and The Odyssey, J. Nicole Brooks' Her Honor Jane Byrne, David Schwimmer’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Studs Terkel’s Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession, Matthew C. Yee's Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon and David Catlin’s circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice, which was captured by HMS Media and reached 1.6 million PBS viewers.Looking Alice is now available to more than four million students worldwide through Digital Theatre+. Work created by Lookingglass artists has been produced in Australia, Europe and dozens of cities throughout the United States.
Chicago’s Tony-Award winning Lookingglass Theatre Company is proud to announce plays and creative teams for its inaugural new works festival: GglassFest, September 5 - 13, at The Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. GglassFest included five different readings where attendees will hear a reading of a work and offer feedback to the creative teams and members of Lookingglass. Tickets to GglassFest are $20 each or three readings for $45 or all five for $60 at LookingglassTheatre.org or by calling 312.337.0665.
