Lookingglass Theatre Company is emerging. After the uncertainty that has defined the past year plus, the Company’s coming back! Having weathered the virus thanks to stalwart support from its community, Lookingglass forges into the future with imaginative, boundary-breaking art focused on that community. The upcoming 2021-22 Season aims for more inclusion, better representation, and a renewed sense of purpose and growth in multiple directions. All pieces plotted are original works that have been incubated and developed by the brilliant artists in the Lookingglass Ensemble and Artistic Associate collective.
Join Lookingglass for the 2021-22 Season
Gglasspass members are brought into closer relationship with the art. It’s a badge of commitment. And by committing to Lookingglass, members add value and get value. With gglasspass, members receive tickets to all three productions in the 2021-22 Season: Her Honor Jane Byrne, Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon, and Lookingglass Alice plus direct access to the artistry! Throughout the year, members will have invaluable opportunities to explore Lookingglass’ creative process through oeep-delving conversations on each play, making engagement with Theatre fuller, stronger, more meaningful.
Members also get the best seats at the best prices, and enjoy a bounty of benefits including priority seating, no ticket fees, unlimited ticket exchanges, savings when purchasing additional tickets for friends or family, a discount at our online store, and more!
Ticket packages start at $75 and are now on sale: www.lookingglasstheatre.org/membership
Become A Scene Maker
Every moment of the creative process is crucial to the final production. And every bit of support from a community is key to building a thriving arts scene. From inside the storycastle, Lookingglass is looking forward. Forward to telling new stories. Forward to including new audiences. Forward to breaking all conventions of institutional Theatre. Starting now. Play a role in shaping a flourishing, arts-driven tomorrow.
Be a Scene Maker and support Lookingglass at www.lookingglasstheatre.org/scene-maker
About the Season
Her Honor Jane Byrne
Written and Directed by Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks
November 11- December 19, 2021
Lookingglass Theatre in Water Tower Water Works
Lookingglass Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks’ smoldering new play, Her Honor Jane Byrne, premiered onstage in March 2020 just five days before the theatre went dark due to COVID-19. We are thrilled this timely and brilliant play will now have its deserved run onstage.
Chicago is “The City That Works”—but does it work for everybody? It’s 1981, the city’s simmering pot of neglected problems boils over, and Chicago’s first woman mayor is moving into Cabrini-Green. Is this just a P.R. stunt, or will it bring the City together? For the next three weeks, residents, activists, media, the “Machine,” and the Mayor herself will collide as the City’s raw truths are exposed. Who will come out on top?
“A screamingly necessary show, executed masterfully” -Rescripted
“A deeply moving portrait of systemic failure and human resilience.” -Chicago Tribune
“A well-argued, passionately delivered piece of Chicago history.” -New City
“A stunning world premiere.” - Chicago Reader
Her Honor Jane Byrne is the recipient of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.
World Premiere
Lucy and Charlie‘s Honeymoon
Book and Music by Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee
Directed by Amanda Dehnert
February 16- April 10, 2022
Lookingglass Theatre in Water Tower Water Works
Hooray! Lucy and Charlie just got hitched…and they’re embracing the worst of the American dream. They do what they want. Take what they want. They’re First Generation Asian American Renegades. In love. And on the run.
Featuring original country western and folk songs, Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon tracks a young couple as they rev it down quintessentially American highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way.
Directed by Amanda Dehnert (Peter Pan (A Play), Eastland), Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee’s world premiere musical romp gives a nod to America’s past, takes tally of its present, and blows its future wide open.
Lookingglass Alice
Adapted and Directed by Ensemble Member David Catlin
From the Works of Lewis Carroll
Produced in Association with The Actors Gymnasium
May 12- August 21, 2022
Lookingglass Theatre in Water Tower Water Works
Lookingglass Alice returns for a fantastical trip down the rabbit hole, through the looking glass, and deep into your heart. The New York Times calls this circus-infused adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories “eye-catching entertainment.” The Chicago Tribune lauds it as “ingenious,” and the Chicago Sun-Times calls it “pure, unadulterated magic.”
This signature Lookingglass production, adapted and directed by Ensemble Member David Catlin (The Little Prince, Moby Dick), has toured the country, enchanting audiences of all ages, painted each time with a fresh coat of magic. Now, after a seven-year hiatus, the awe-inspiring production comes back home for a new generation (artist and audience) to rediscover.
50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic
Five Short Films
Filmmakers: Ensemble Members Kasey Foster, Kareem Bandealy, Philip R. Smith, J. Nicole Brooks with Latesha Dickerson, and Artistic Associate Matthew C. Yee
Premiering 2021
www.LookingglassTheatre.org
Chicago from above. Contiguous. Glittering. Bordered only by vast, shimmering Lake Michigan. A city connected.
Chicago at street level. Blocks sliced into 50 circuitous, disparate districts. A city splintered.
Practiced in “connection,” our artistic collective hits the pavement with cameras, curiosity, and storytelling savvy to bring you a series of multi and mixed media pieces from each of Chi-town's 50 municipal parcels.
50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic is an ambitious attempt to make our town feel like it looks from above: linked, complete. Watch as we weave together a dazzling tapestry of hometown experiences, bridge the distance between neighborhoods, and plot the line from our fascinating history to our complex present on through to tomorrow’s promise.
See your city through the glimmer of the artist’s eye and discover how and where we fit…together.
About Health and Safety
The health and safety of our audiences, artists, and staff is a top priority. The Health and Safety Guidelines will continue to be updated, and Lookingglass will communicate any COVID-19 protocols prior to audiences visit to the theatre.
About the Artists
Kareem Bandealy (he/him/his) (Ensemble Member) has previously appeared at Lookingglass in 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, Blood Wedding, Moby Dick (2015 & 2017), The Little Prince, Big Lake Big City, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Last Act of Lilka Kadison, and Peter Pan (A Play). His play, Act(s) of God, had its world premiere at Lookingglass in early 2019. Other Chicago credits: A Christmas Carol (2014–2020), Rock N’ Roll, Gas For Less, and King Lear at Goodman Theatre; The Wheel at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Oklahoma! at Paramount Theatre; Mother of the Maid at Northlight Theatre; The Good Book and The Illusion at Court Theatre; Julius Caesar, Hamlet, The Caretaker, and Heartbreak House at Writers Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Edward II, and Romeo & Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; A Disappearing Number and Blood and Gifts at TimeLine Theatre Company; Othello (as Othello) at The Gift Theatre, and many others. Regional credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Three Musketeers and The Tempest at Illinois Shakespeare Festival; Love’s Labours Lost at Notre Dame Summer Shakespeare; Julius Caesar and Stuff Happens at PICT Classic Theatre, and four seasons with Orlando Shakespeare Theater. He has appeared in several films including The Merry Gentleman directed by Michael Keaton, on TV in Chicago Fire (NBC), and is a recipient of the 2011 3Arts Artist Award. Kareem is also the Artistic Producer: New Work at Lookingglass Theatre Company. He lives in Albany Park with his two children Reza and Anouk.
J. Nicole Brooks (she/they) (Ensemble Member, Mellon Playwright in Residence) is an actor, playwright, and director. Recent theatrical credits include Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre), Beyond Caring (Lookingglass Theatre Company), and Immediate Family (Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theatre). Directing credits at Lookingglass include: Thaddeus & Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure (co-directed with Krissy Vanderwarker), Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting, and Black Diamond. J. Nicole is author of Fedra: Queen of Haiti, Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten, The Incredible Adventures of Yuri Kochiyama, HeLa, and Her Honor Jane Byrne. TV work includes season four of Fargo (FX).
David Catlin (he/him/his) (Ensemble Member) is a founding Ensemble Member, actor, writer, director, and former Artistic Director of Lookingglass. David adapted and directed Moby Dick, which debuted at Lookingglass in summer 2015, toured nationally, and played again at Lookingglass in summer 2017. Other Lookingglass writing credits include: Lookingglass Alice, Icarus, Her Name Was Danger, and The Idiot (Jeff Award for Adaptation). Additional Lookingglass directing credits include: The Little Prince, Black Diamond (co-director), Metamorphosis, and West. Lookingglass acting credits include: Hard Times, The Arabian Nights, Our Town, Argonautika, La Luna Muda, The Odyssey, and The Jungle. He recently directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s original, for Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.
David is an Artistic Associate with Actors Gymnasium and serves on the acting faculty at Northwestern University.
Amanda Dehnert (she/her/hers) recently co-composed The Steadfast Tin Soldier, with collaborator Andre Pluess at Lookingglass. Prior to that, she served as Director/Orchestrator for Eastland: A New Musical, and Director/Writer of Peter Pan (A Play), both for Lookingglass. Amanda’s other work in Chicago has included co-composing the World Premiere of Shining Lives (a musical) (Northlight Theatre), creating vocal arrangements for Iphigenia In Aulis (Court Theatre/Getty Villa), and directing Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), and her original musical, The Verona Project (American Music Theatre Project). Regionally, Amanda’s work includes: Love’s Labour’s Lost (Director/Co-composer, with Andre Pluess), Timon Of Athens (Director/Composer), Into The Woods (Director/Conductor), Julius Caesar (Director/Adaptor, Oregon Shakespeare Festival), West Side Story (Carnegie Hall at The Knockdown Center, conducted by Marin Alsop), Richard III (The Public Theater Mobile Shakespeare Unit), and Cabaret (Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Canada). Amanda is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Northwestern University.
Latesha Dickerson (she/her/hers) is a producer at Beti Films with multiple projects in development including Fighting Time, a multi-part series about Chicago police abuse, and Survivors of the Movement, following four survivors and merging the #MeToo and BLM movements to truly dismantle abusive systems of oppression. She’s also directing her first documentary project Teaching While Black which explores the lives of Black teachers in Chicago’s public schools. She is a 2017 Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs Fellow and a 2019 recipient of Kartemquin Films’ Accelerator Fund grant. She served as an impact coordinator for the short documentary ‘63 Boycott (Kartemquin Films). Latesha is a former educator with over twenty years of experience working in and with Chicago’s public schools. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Chicago State University and a Masters of Education in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Born in raised in the Washington Park and Englewood communities, she currently lives in Bronzeville in Chicago’s Third Ward.
Kasey Foster (she/her/hers) (Ensemble Member) is a performer, producer, choreographer, singer, and puppeteer. She is an Ensemble Member at Lookingglass Theatre, where she most recently performed in The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Ballerina). Other Lookingglass roles include: The Little Prince (Fox), Moby Dick (Fate/Sea), Treasure Island (Mrs. Hawkins/George Merry), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas (Professor Morgan Aronnax). Recent on-camera credits include: Chicago Med and IFC’s Documentary Now!
Kasey sings with bands Babe-alon 5, Grood, Nasty Buoy, Old Timey, and This Must be the Band, appearing at venues throughout the city and across the country. This Must Be the Band plays an annual benefit, raising funds for people in need. Last year’s benefit concert, in 2019, raised over $50,000 for the people of Yemen. Kasey has created over forty original works in Chicago and produces two annual series called Dance Tribute and The ACTual Show. As a choreographer, Kasey has recently worked with Actors Gymnasium, The House Theatre Chicago, Lifeline, and Trap Door Theatre. This past Spring 2020, she directed and edited The Actors Gymnasium Virtual Circus “Isolated.” Kasey is a professional puppeteer and believes that puppets are some of the world’s finest actors. Find out more at kaseyfoster.com
Philip R. Smith (he/him/his) (Ensemble Member) most recently appeared at Lookingglass as Dr. Astor in Life Sucks by Aaron Posner. Previous Lookingglass credits include Captain Smollett in Treasure Island, Bastian Podaris in Big Lake Big City, Ethan in Ethan Frome, Will in Trust and Ivan in The Brothers Karamazov. Other recent regional credits include: Doctor Sartorius in The March, Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Reverend Parris in The Crucible (all at Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Captain Smollett in Treasure Island at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days at Baltimore’s Center Stage. Additional Lookingglass credits include: The Wooden Breeks, Hillbilly Antigone, Metamorphoses, The Idiot, The Vanishing Twin, The Arabian Nights and Up Against It. Other regional credits include work at McCarter Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music (NYC), and The Actors’ Gang (LA). TV and film credits include: Boss, Prison Break, Friends, Chicago Hope, Early Edition, Kissing a Fool, The Dilemma, The Express, Since You’ve Been Gone, High Fidelity and the newly filmed feature, Widows, directed by Steve McQueen.
As Artistic Producer since 2000, he has helped produce over 60 plays. He also serves as the Lookingglass Casting Director. He is married to fellow Ensemble Member Louise Lamson. They have two boys, Guthrie and Wesley.
Matthew C. Yee (he/him/his) (Artistic Associate) has been a part of the Chicago theatre community since 2013. Previous Lookingglass credits include Treasure Island and Moby Dick. He has also appeared in productions at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, and Victory Gardens Theater. In addition to being an actor, Matthew is a musician, playwright, and filmmaker, having contributed multiple short stop-motion films to Lookingglass’ annual gala.
About Lookingglass Theatre Company
Inventive. Collaborative. Transformative. Lookingglass Theatre Company, recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award, was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students. Now in its 34th Season, Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. The Company, located in Chicago’s landmark Water Tower Water Works, has staged 70 world premieres, received 161 Joseph Jefferson Award Nominations, and produced work all across the United States. In 2016, Lookingglass received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions and in 2017, was the recipient of the League of Chicago Theatres’ Artistic Achievement Award.
Lookingglass continues to expand its artistic, financial, and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director Heidi Stillman, Executive Director Rachel L. Fink, a 29-member artistic ensemble, 22 artistic associates, an administrative staff, and a dedicated board of directors led by Chair Nancy Timmers and President Richard Chapman.
For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.
Engage with us on Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. #LookingglassTheatre