Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is pleased to announce the cast, creative and production teams for the final production of its 2022-2023 season, the world premiere of Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey and directed by Marti Lyons, April 5 - May 14, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue.
Previews are Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m. with press opening Thursday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. Regular performances will run Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. with matinees Saturday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, May 6 at 2:30 p.m. and Thursday, May 11 at 2:30 p.m. Post-show discussions are held following Sunday and Thursday performances, April 16 - May 11. The audio description/touch tour performance is Saturday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m. and the open caption performance is Saturday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 - $40 and are now on sale at RemyBumppo.org.
Rattled by a personal crisis, a playwright flees to Florence to study the letters between Galileo Galilei and his eldest daughter, Maria Celeste. Maria Celeste, caught up in the threats against her father, must abandon her work and join a convent. Alternating between past and present timelines, award-winning playwright Jessica Dickey’s captivating world premiere features the directorial debut of Artistic Director Marti Lyons for Remy Bumppo and is a personal examination of faith, forgiveness and the cost of heeding one’s truth.
“I am delighted to be making my Remy Bumppo debut directing Jessica Dickey’s exquisite world premiere,” said Artistic Director Marti Lyons. “Jessica and I have been looking for an opportunity to collaborate in Chicago for many years and found the perfect opportunity at Remy Bumppo with Galileo’s Daughter.”
The cast for Galileo’s Daughter features Linda Gillum (she/her/hers, writer 1)~; Emily Bosco (she/her/hers, writer 2); Chike Johnson (he/him/his, writer 3); Laura Resinger (she/her/hers, writer 1 U/S); Drew Michele Billman (she/her/hers, writer 2 U/S) and Chris Hainsworth (he/him/his, writer 3 U/S).
The creative and production team for Galileo’s Daughter includes Marti Lyons (she/her/hers, director/artistic director); Christopher Thomas Pow (he/him/his, assistant director); Sarah Ellen Miller (she/her/hers/they/them/theirs, movement designer); Abhi Shrestha (they/them/theirs, dramaturg); Cori Lang (she/her/hers/they/them/theirs, assistant dramaturg); Sammi Grant (she/her/hers, dialect and vocal designer); Greg Geffrard (he/him/his, intimacy choreographer);Yeaji Kim (she/her/hers, scenic design)+; Finnegan Chu (she/her/hers/they/them/theirs, costume designer); Renee Moreno (she/her/hers, assistant costume designer); Becca Jeffords (she/her/hers/they/them/theirs, lighting designer); Liz Gomez (she/her/hers, assistant lighting designer); Christopher Kriz (he/him/his, sound design and original music)+; John Boesche (he/him/his, projections designer) and Amanda Herrmann (they/them/theirs, properties designer); Marcus Carroll (he/him/his, rehearsal stage manager); Jean Compton (she/her/hers, stage manager); Anna Vu (she/her/hers, assistant stage manager); Addoris Davis (they/them/theirs/she/her/hers, production manager); Harrison Ornelas (he/him/his, technical director); Emily Altman (she/her/hers, scenic charge artist); Nick Chamernik (he/him/his, head electrician); Gabi Sitze-Martin (she/her/hers, wardrobe supervisor) and Christina Casano (she/her/hers, creative producer).
~ Connotes Remy Bumppo Core Ensemble Member
+ Connotes Remy Bumppo Associate Artist
ABOUT MARTI LYONS, director
Marti Lyons is the Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo and most recently directed Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon at Northlight Theatre. She recently directed the co-world premiere of Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale at American Players Theatre and the world-premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in D.C. Lyons’s other productions include The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess at Writers Theatre; Cymbeline at American Players Theatre; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and both the stage and audio productions of Kings by Sarah Burgess at Studio Theatre; the world-premiere of How to Defend Yourself by liliana padilla, a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production; Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee at Victory Gardens and City Theatre; Witch by Jen Silverman at Geffen Playhouse and Writers Theatre (LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction); Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías at Victory Gardens; Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; I, Banquo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Laura Marks’s Bethany and Mine at The Gift Theatre. Marti is an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre and a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
ABOUT JESSICA DICKEY, playwright
Jessica Dickey is an award-winning playwright whose writing was hailed by The New York Times as having “freshness, economy, cheeky vulgarity, with a fine measure of poetic insight”, and New Yorker magazine as “funny, smart, deep and sad”. In addition to writing for the Apple TV show “Physical,” Dickey just developed a show with the network ABC, produced by the Academy Award-winner Tom McCarthy. She is set to write a feature film for Searchlight and is currently developing a series for Netflix. She is most known for her award-winning play The Amish Project, which premiered Off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and has since been produced around the world. Dickey’s most recent premiere was Nan and the Lower Body at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, about the creation of the Pap Smear and her maternal grandmother. Her play The Convent premiered Off-Broadway in a co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Rising Phoenix. Her play The Rembrandt had a sold out run at Steppenwolf starring John Mahoney and her plays Charles Ives Take Me Home and Row After Row both premiered Off-Broadway in New York and have been produced around the country. Sistering: The Art of Holding Close and Letting Go, a book Dickey co-wrote with her sister, will hit shelves May 2023 (Pilgrim Press). A proud member of New Dramatists, she divides her time between Brooklyn, Los Angeles and the south of France.
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s production of Galileo’s Daughter will run from April 5 through May 14 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago. Single tickets are on sale now at www.RemyBumppo.org or by calling the Theater Wit Box Office at 773.975.8150.
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022-2023 Presenting Sponsor is Geoffrey A. Anderson. Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s 2022-2023 Season Sponsors are Brenda and James Grusecki, Lynne and George Simon, and Charlotte Toerber.
Remy Bumppo’s programs and operations are also partially funded by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince Charitable Trusts, and the Shubert Foundation..
ABOUT REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY:
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches their community’s view of the world, and their own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. As an ensemble-driven theater company, Remy Bumppo authors a more humane culture that listens to, and seeks to understand, the voices, the ideas and the stories of one another.
Since its inception in 1996, Remy Bumppo has produced a blend of modern classics and complex contemporary works, presented in an intimate setting with clarity, wit and passion. We invite audiences to engage directly with the art through conversation with the artists.
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: Galileo’s Daughter
- Written by: Jessica Dickey
- Director: Marti Lyons
Cast (in alphabetical order): Emily Bosco (she/her/hers, writer 2); Linda Gillum (she/her/hers, writer 1) and Chike Johnson (he/him/his, writer 3)
Understudy Cast (in alphabetical order): Drew Michele Billman (writer 2 U/S); Chris Hainsworth (he/him/his, writer 3 U/S) and Laura Resinger (writer 1 U/S)
Creative & Production Team
- Artistic Director: Marti Lyons
- Assistant Director: Christopher Thomas Pow
- Movement Designer: Sarah Ellen Miller
- Dramaturg: Abhi Shrestha
- Assistant Dramaturg: Cori Lang
- Dialect and Vocal Designer: Sammi Grant
- Intimacy Choreographer: Greg Geffrard
- Scenic Designer: Yeaji Kim
- Costume Designer: Finnegan Chu
- Assistant Costume Designer: Renee Moreno
- Lighting Designer: Becca Jeffords
- Assistant Lighting Designer: Liz Gomez
- Sound Designer: Christopher Kriz
- Properties Designer: Amanda Herrmann
- Creative Producer: Christina Casano
- Stage Manager: Jean Compton
- Production Manager: Addoris Davis
- Assistant Stage Manager: Anna Vu
- Technical Director: Harrison Ornelas
- Scenic Charge Artist: Emily Altman
- Wardrobe Supervisor: Gabi Sitze-Martin
- Casting Director: Katie Galetti
- Casting Associate:Jasmine B. Gunter
Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60657
Dates: Previews: Wednesday, April 5 - Saturday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m.
Press/Opening Performance: Thursday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Run Time: 90 minutes with no intermission
Regular Run: Thursdays - Saturdays, at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Matinee Performances (other than Sundays): Saturday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, May 6 at 2:30 p.m. and Thursday, May 11 at 2:30 p.m.
Post Show Discussions: Post-show discussions are held following Sunday and Thursday performances, April 16 - May 11.
Audio Description/Touch Tour Performance: Saturday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m.
Open Caption Performance: Saturday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets:
Previews: $30.00
Regular Run: $32.00 - $40.00
Industry Tickets: $15.00, available for all performances using code INDUSTRY
Student Tickets: $10.00, available for all performances
Group Discounts: For groups of 10 or more, call the Theater Wit Box Office at 773-975-8150.
Photo of Linda Gillum, photo by Joe Mazza/Brave Lux