Lookingglass Theatre Company, a nationwide leader in the creation and presentation of new, cutting-edge theatrical works, is proud to announce its 2024 - 2025 season taking place both outdoors and in the newly named Joan and Paul Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. The season kicks off in July with the return of Sunset 1919, Saturday, July 27 and continues with Portal, Aug 1 - 11 as part of Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by the Mayor’s Office and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The first mainstage production in the season is the world premiere of Circus Quixote, February - March 2025, adapted and directed by Kerry and David Catlin and circus by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, in association with Actors Gymnasium and featuring Michel Rodriguez-Cintra. Running June - July 2025 will be the world premiere of Iraq, but Funny written by Atra Asdou and directed by Dalia Ashurina. Concluding Lookingglass’ season is the continued digital program 50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic. In addition to the 2024-2025 season, Lookingglass will be the first American theatre company to be added onto Digital Theatre Plus with their PBS broadcast of Lookingglass Alice, written and directed by David Catlin in Association with Actors Gymnasium, film produced by HMS Media. Digital Theatre+ reaches four million students a year and can be found in 3500 schools in 98 countries around the world. Information and memberships for the 24/25 season go on sale this summer at www.LookingglassTheatre.org or by calling 312.337.0665.
“Lookingglass is bringing new art forward. From hand drawn season artwork by Artistic Associate Sully Ratke and Ensemble Member Matthew C. Yee, to a new literary adaptation by Kerry and David Catlin that pushes the boundaries of circus, to a semi-autobiographical raucous satire by new Ensemble Member Atra Asdou. Each offering immerses the audience into a unique world of laughter, reflection, and togetherness. Each is an uplifting reminder of why the practice of expression is so important. Who would we be in this world without it?” said Lookingglass’s new Artistic Director Kasey Foster.
The 2024 - 2025 Lookingglass season includes, in chronological order:
Sunset 1919
Saturday, July 27 at 7 p.m.
The Eugene Williams Memorial, 125 Fort Dearborn Dr. north of 31st Street Beach Co-curated by Ensemble Members J. Nicole Brooks and Kareem Bandealy with Pugs Atomz, Rae Chardonnay, Aaliyah Christina, Glenn Felix Willoughby, olula negre, Julian Otis and Fawn E. Pochel
FREE
Launched in July of 2020, Lookingglass established Sunset 1919, an annual artistic ritual featuring music, movement and word commemorating the start of the 1919 Chicago race riots. Incited by the tragic murder of Eugene Williams, a Black teenager stoned to death by a White man, George Stauber, after drifting into a “Whites Only” section of Lake Michigan. Sunset 1919 is meant to honor the lives of Black people impacted by the deadly racial attacks that swept the nation that summer, the roots of which stretch back across centuries, the fruits of which we continue to pluck - a moment in an unbroken line.
Portal
Thursday, Aug. 1 at 5:30 p.m.
Chase Park, 4701 N. Ashland Ave.
Thursday, Aug. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Columbus Park, 500 S. Central Ave.
Saturday, Aug. 10 at 3:00 p.m.
Gage Park, 2411 W. 55th St.
Sunday, Aug. 11 at 5:00 p.m.
Talmadge Park, 927 Noyes St. Evanston
In Association with Actors Gymnasium
Directed by Artistic Director Kasey Foster
As part of the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Services’ and Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks, Lookingglass is proud to present Portal. This is an immersive performance experience full of circus, dance and puppetry amidst the grandest of all theatrical settings, nature.
WORLD PREMIERE
Circus Quixote
February - March, 2025
Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. Based on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote of La Mancha
Adapted and directed by Kerry and David Catlin
Circus by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi
In Association with Actors Gymnasium
Featuring Michel Rodriguez-Cintra
Somewhere in La Mancha there lived a man who read so many books that his brains dried up. Audiences may saddle up with Lookingglass and go tiltingly, acrobatically into the dreamy madness of Don Quixote and his impossible folly-filled quest to bring good-deed doing back into the world, whether the world wants it or not!
WORLD PREMIERE
Iraq, but Funny
June - July, 2025
Joan and Paul Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. Written by Atra Asdou
Directed Dalia Ashurina
A raucous satire about five generations of Assyrian women reclaiming their stories, as narrated by a British guy. Making its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre, Ensemble Member Atra Asdou’s original dark comedy jauntily marches through The Ottoman Empire to modern-day U.S.A. exploring history, family and dysfunction.
50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic
Summer 2025
50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic is Lookingglass’ ambitious video project to bring Chicago together despite the lines that divide us. The short films highlight each of Chicago’s 50 wards focusing on sites, sounds, people, restaurants and more that may be found in that specific ward. Each ward is showcased as a dazzling tapestry of hometown experiences, bridging the distance between neighborhoods and plotting the line from Chicago’s fascinating history to its complex present on through to tomorrow’s promise. The series, which currently has 10 wards available for viewing at www.LookingglassTheatre.org.
ABOUT THE JOAN AND PAUL THEATRE
The main stage at the Water Tower Water Works has been named in honor of longtime Lookingglass supporters Joan and Paul Rubschlager and their transformational gift to ensure the future of Lookingglass. The couple have been instrumental in their partnership with Chicago organizations, such as Rush University and The Field Museum. Nationally, their support extends to the American Heart Association and Alzheimer's Association. The Joan and Paul Theatre reconfigures the stage and audience seating as dictated by the needs of each season, with a capacity of 200 persons including the balcony.
ABOUT NIGHT OUT IN THE PARKS
Lookingglass Portal is presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by the Mayor’s Office and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The Night Out in the Parks program presents cultural events year-round in neighborhood parks throughout the city. The Chicago Park District in partnership with 100 local artists and organizations, presents engaging events and performances that enhance quality of life across Chicago and amplify the artistic and cultural vibrancy in every neighborhood. Through multiple disciplines, which include theater, music, movies, dance, site-specific work, nature programs, and community festivals, the series aims to support Chicago-based artists, facilitate community-based partnerships and programs, cultivate civic engagement, and ensure equity in access to the arts for all Chicagoans. For more information, please visit www.NightOutInTheParks.com.
ABOUT LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE
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. Lookingglass’ work defies conventional theatre definitions and expectations like its world premiere of Cascabel created by Chef Rick Bayless, Tony Hernandez and Heidi Stillman that included theatre, food and acrobatics. 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, The Arabian Nights and The Odyssey, 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 and David Catlin’s circus tribute to Lewis Carroll, Lookingglass Alice, which can be viewed on PBS through 2026. Lookingglass has a long history of developing works focused on Chicago’s history, including Andrew White’s Eastland, John Musials’s Our Future Metropolis and J. Nicole Brooks’ Her Honor Jane Bryne. Lookingglass’ work has been produced in more than a dozen cities throughout the United States.