The Gift Theatre is pleased to continue its 2023/24 season with a revival of Jim Cartwright’s powerful, award-winning drama The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, directed by Devon de Mayo and Peter G. Andersen, playing September 14 – October 15, 2023 at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071. Season subscriptions are currently available. The press opening is Monday, September 18 at 7:30pm.
The production features ensemble members Emjoy Gavino, Alexandra Main and Martel Manning with Julia Rowley, Watson Swift, and Ben Veatch.
Blown fuses, real and metaphorical, punctuate the action with flashes of pent-up energy in this acclaimed play. The heroine frequently plunges the dilapidated house she shares with her alcoholic mother into darkness by playing her dead father's records at a volume matched only by the soulful power of her vocal impressions. She hides in her room, crooning and dreaming of love, while her disheveled mother mistakes a seedy agent's interest as affection rather than enthusiasm for the gold mine buried in her daughter's throat. This is an engaging fairy tale of despair, love and finally hope as LV finds a voice of her own.
“We loved the idea of presenting a Cinderella story, but in a way that would resonate with The Gift ensemble and audience – dark and quirky, with unexpected monsters and heroes,” write co-artistic directors Brittany Burch, Emjoy Gavino and Jennifer Glasse. “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is equal parts hilarity, heartbreak and song. Our industry can disregard the people behind the show – this play explores that exploitation but also shows how art can help us find our humanity, despite the forces and systems that seek to overshadow it. Also, it’s just incredibly funny.”
The production team includes Hannah Clark (Scenic Designer), kClare McKelaston (Costume Designer), Gabrielle Strong (Lighting Designer), Forrest Gregor (Sound Designer), Lily Anna Berman (Props Designer), Adam Goldstein (Dialect Coach), Jessie Oliver (Vocal Consultant), David Preis* (Technical Director), Jennifer Aparicio (Production Manager), Sarah Luse* (Stage Manager), Diane Fairchild (Master Electrician), Aly Easton (Caption Design), and Suzanne Petri (Audio Description).
*Denotes The Gift Theatre Ensemble Member
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
Playwright: Jim Cartwright
Director: Devon de Mayo and Peter G. Andersen
Cast: (in alphabetical order): ensemble members Emjoy Gavino (LV), Alexandra Main (Mari), and Martel Manning (Billy), with Julia Rowley (Sadie), Watson Swift (Mr. Boo), and Ben Veatch (Ray Say).
Location: Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Thursday, September 14 at 7:30 pm, Friday, September 15 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, September 16 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, September 17 at 3 pm.
Press opening: Monday, September 18 at 7:30 pm.
Regular run: Thursday, September 21 – Sunday, October 15, 2023.
Accessible Performances: Saturday, September 23, 2023 (Captioned), Sunday, September 24, 2023 (Captioned/Audio Described), and Sunday, October 1, 2023 (Sensory Friendly). All Thursday performances will be masked.
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.
Tickets: Previews $20. Regular run $35 - $45. Students $15. Veterans/Seniors $35. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071.
Season subscriptions are currently available at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071. The 2023/24 GiftFlex Subscription Package ($90) includes 20% off all tickets, admission to any performance of The Rise and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Mothers, tickets to “In the Works, the Gift’s exclusive staged reading series, two free ticket exchanges and a discount to the Gift Gala.
About the Artists
Jim Cartwright (Playwright) is a multi-award winning, international playwright, screenwriter and director. His work is in almost continuous production around the world and has been translated into over 35 languages. His plays have been performed at The National Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre, The West End of London and on Broadway and in many of the principle theatres of the world. His plays include Road, now considered a modern classic and winner of The George Devine Award, The Plays and Players Award, Drama Magazine Award and The Samuel Beckett Award. Voted third best play of the decade and in the top 50 best plays in the history of theatre. The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, nominated for six Olivier Awards, winning three including Best Comedy and winner of the prestigious Evening Standard Award. Two-time winner of the M.E.N best new play award. Bed, Eight Miles High, Prize Night, Hard Fruit, A Christmas Fair, and most recently at the National Theatre Mobile Phone Show and Raz Fringe First winner 2015 at the Edinburgh Festival.
Film and television include Road, Vroom, June, Wedded, Village, Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise, Strumpet, King of the Teds and the award-winning film Little Voice, adapted from his play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. He has received an Honorary Doctorate from Bolton University, has been a visiting professor at The University of Salford and his old school Harper Green have named a building in his honour.
His plays have been in constant publication since 1986 and are on school, college and university curriculums.
Devon de Mayo (Co-Director) is a Chicago-based theatre director and devisor. Her Chicago professional credits include: In Every Generation and If I Forget (Victory Gardens Theater), First Love is the Revolution (Steep Theatre); The Tasters, Laura and the Sea and The Scientific Method (Rivendell Theatre); Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Theater Wit); The Burn (Steppenwolf Theatre); Harvey (Court Theatre); Sycamore (Raven Theatre); You on the Moors Now (The Hypocrites); Animals Out of Paper (Shattered Globe Theatre); You Can’t Take it With You and Lost in Yonkers (Northlight Theatre); Everything is Illuminated and Compulsion (Next); Roadkill Confidential, The Whole World is Watching, As Told by the Vivian Girls and The Twins Would Like to Say (Dog & Pony). Outside of Chicago, Devon served as Resident Director on The Audience by Peter Morgan (Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway, under the direction of Stephen Daldry). She co-wrote and co-directed Guerra: A Clown Play, a collaboration with Mexico City based artists La Piara (performances in New York, Chicago, Albuquerque, Mexico City and Bogota). Devon is an ensemble member at Rivendell Theatre and co-founded Dog & Pony Theatre. She received her MFA in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University in London and a BA in Drama and Political Science from Kenyon College. She did further studies at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) in Moscow and the Indonesian Institute for the Arts in Bali. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Performance in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago.
Peter G. Andersen (Co-Director) is the Artistic Director of Oak Park Festival Theatre. He is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s MFA directing program. He is also a graduate of Emerson College where he obtained his BFA in Acting. Formerly, he was the education manager at Writers Theatre in Glencoe. He has also worked at Steppenwolf Theatre Company as the Education Apprentice and Multicultural Fellow. Directing projects include: Measure for Measure (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oak Park Festival Theatre), At Your Own Risk (University of Chicago TAPS Program), The Kennedy Plays (Carnegie Mellon University), 21 (Carnegie Mellon University), a rock-musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Carnegie Mellon University), The American Myth (Shakespeare and Company), At Your Own Risk (Carnegie Mellon University), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Catskill Mountain Shakespeare), Queer Shakespeare, The Cafe Collections, O/A: The Sophocles Project, As You Like it, Macbeth and Measure for Measure. He has also worked at TimeLine Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Writers Theatre and American Players Theatre as an assistant director; and Chicago Shakespeare as an associate director.
About The Gift Theatre
Since 2001, with over 70 productions, The Gift Theatre has been dedicated to telling great stories onstage with honesty and simplicity by being the most intimate professional Equity theatre in the country, leading to national acclaim for both the theatre and ensemble and creating a cultural revolution on Chicago’s northwest side.