Chicago’s Shattered Globe Theatre has unveiled its 2024-25 season, launching in October with the Midwest premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s bewitching new dark comedy, Becky Nurse of Salem, followed by a revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s comic masterpiece, Lobby Hero, and the Midwest premiere of a classic, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, in a new adaptation by Brendan Pelsue.
Shattered Globe’s 2024-25 season includes the Midwest premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s Becky Nurse of Salem, Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, and the Midwest premiere of Brendan Pelsue’s new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. All three productions will be presented at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago.
Becky Nurse of Salem, Shattered Globe’s 34th season opener, is a darkly comic exploration of the Salem witch trials' legacy. It’s penned by Chicago native Sarah Ruhl, one of America’s top contemporary playwrights. Shattered Globe has secured Polly Noonan, Ruhl’s creative muse and frequent collaborator, to direct. The cast includes Shattered Globe Ensemble Members Linda Reiter as Becky, Rebecca Jordan as the Witch and Adam Schulmerich in multiple roles.
Becky Nurse is a quick-witted tour guide at the Salem Museum of Witchcraft, where she’s straining to navigate life in post-Obama America. She’s also a descendant of Rebecca Nurse, who was executed for witchcraft in 1692. In today’s “lock her up” era, Ruhl’s new work delves into a woman grappling with her family's past while finding her own voice with a little help from a witch.
Let Becky Nurse of Salem cast her spell on you this October. It is, after all, the Season of the Witch. Performances are October 4 – November 16. Press opening is Thursday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Next, Shattered Globe Artistic Producer Nate Santana will direct Kenneth Lonergan’s 2001 comedic masterpiece, Lobby Hero. Time Out New York called it “A masterpiece. The best drama, the best comedy and the best romance of the year, all rolled into one.”
Lobby Hero is set during the graveyard shift at a mid-rise apartment foyer in Manhattan. A rudderless security guard, his demanding supervisor, a rookie cop, and her self-centered partner are forced to navigate whether doing the wrong thing for the right reason can ever be justified. As Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "motives come in every shade but black and white" in Lobby Hero, creating a 'combustible brew of impulses.'"
Charm, romance, and humor abound in this darkly comedic drama by Lonergan, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Manchester by the Sea. Performances of Lobby Hero are January 24 – March 1, 2025. Press opening is Thursday, January 30 at 7 p.m.
It’s the best of times, and it’s the worst of times. Still today. So what better time to take a new look at A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens? Shattered Globe will present the Midwest premiere of Brendan Pelsue’s bold new adaptation of Dickens’ classic tale of revolution.
Acclaimed Chicago director Mikael Burke will make his Shattered Globe debut staging this new riff on Dickens’ classic, chillingly timely novel about privilege, poverty and political adaptation. A Tale of Two Cities may be 165 years old, but with Burke at the helm, Shattered Globe’s new production will remind us that some things never change.
Or, can they? In a society where the gap between the rich and poor widens, and the cries for revolution grow louder, one can hope. Performances of A Tale of Two Cities are April 18-May 31, 2025. Press opening is Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m.
“Shattered Globe’s 34th season offers many compelling opportunities to showcase the work of our talented ensemble and introduce exceptional new artists to our audiences,” said Producing Director Artistic Director Sandy Shinner. “This is a season of love, moral choices, humor and imagination. It also marks a joyful reunion with MacArthur award-winner, playwright Sarah Ruhl. In our winter slot, Lonergan's modern classic Lobby Hero will give audiences good reason to share some communal laughter and a great night out. For our season finale, SGT will be the first to introduce Chicago to Brendan Pelsue’s new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, which should be electrifying in our intimate space. SGT enthusiastically supports director Polly Noonan, ensemble director Nate Santana, and Jeff Award-winner Mikael Burke who take the helm of all three plays that speak passionately and with humor to the moment we are living in.”
All three productions in Shattered Globe’s 2023-24 season will be presented at the company’s resident home, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
Season Traveler Memberships range from $55 to $115, include all three shows, and are on sale now at sgtheatre.org/memberships. Single tickets are $15-$52, with discounted early bird tickets now on sale at sgtheatre.org, by calling the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150, or purchasing in person at Theater Wit. For discounted group discounts, email groupsales@shatteredglobe.org or call (773) 770-0333.
Visit sgtheatre.org for more information, including photos and video clips, news of special events, accessible and waived ticket programs and show content warnings. Find and follow the company on social media @shatteredglobe on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Shattered Globe’s 2024-25 Season: Meet the artists
Sarah Ruhl (playwright, Becky Nurse of Salem) is an award-winning American playwright, author, essayist and professor. Her plays include The Oldest Boy, Dear Elizabeth, Stage Kiss, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2010), The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2005; Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004), Passion Play (Pen American Award, Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play), Melancholy Play, Demeter in the City (nine NAACP Image Award nominations), Scenes From Court Life, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, Eurydice, Orlando and Late: a cowboy song. Her plays have been produced on Broadway and across the country as well as internationally, and translated into 14 languages. Originally from Chicago, Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University, where she studied with Paula Vogel. She is the recipient of a Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, a Whiting Writers’ Award, a PEN Center Award for mid-career playwrights, a Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, and a Lilly award. She is a member of 13P and New Dramatists and won the MacArthur Fellowship in 2006. She teaches at Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Polly Noonan (director, Becky Nurse of Salem) has worked on Sarah Ruhl’s plays for more than 20 years, including the premieres of Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination), Passion Play: a cycle in three parts (Arena Stage, Helen Hayes nomination), Eurydice (Madison Rep), Melancholy Play and Orlando (Piven Theatre Workshop). Noonan also performed in Passion Play: a cycle in three parts at Goodman Theatre, and first worked at Steppenwolf as part of the New Plays Lab, where she directed the workshop and the premiere of Goodbye Stranger by Carrie Luft. She was a member of Piven Theatre Workshop’s Young People’s Company. She attended Vassar College and SAIC. Her other credits include Eurydice, Brilliant Traces and American Voices (Piven Theatre Workshop); Orlando (Actors’ Gang); Melancholy Play (the Echo); Methusalem and Accidental Death of An Anarchist (New Criminals); and new works at Sundance, the Geva Theatre Center, New Dramatists, Soho Rep, REDCAT and Playwrights Horizons. She was a founding member of the New Criminals. Films include Novocaine, High Fidelity, Arizona Dream and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. If you like music, check her out on the cover of the Lemonhead’s album “It’s a Shame About Ray'' or listen to her random phone message (track 11) on “Lovey.” She lives in New York City.
The cast for Becky Nurse of Salem features (from left) Shattered Globe ensemble members Linda Reiter (Becky), Rebecca Jordan (Witch) and Adam Schulmerich (Jailer, Officer), with Ramón Camin (Bob), Diego Rivera-Rodriguez (Stan), Isabella Maria Valdés (Gail) and Hilary Williams (Shelby).
The cast for Becky Nurse of Salem features Shattered Globe ensemble members Linda Reiter (Becky), Rebecca Jordan (Witch) and Adam Schulmerich (Jailer, Officer), with Ramón Camin (Bob), Diego Rivera-Rodriguez (Stan), Isabella Maria Valdés (Gail) and Hilary Williams (Shelby). The production team includes Jack Magaw (set design), Jessica Gowens (costume design), Christine Binder (lighting design), Andre Pluess (music and sound design), Mariah Bennett (properties design), Julie Jachym (production manager) and Tina M. Jach (production stage manager).
Kenneth Lonergan (playwright, Lobby Hero) is an acclaimed American playwright, screenwriter and director known for his character-driven dramas that capture the intricacies of everyday life. Born and raised in Manhattan, Lonergan was encouraged to write from a young age, eventually pursuing dramatic writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His breakthrough play, This Is Our Youth (1996), explores the disillusionment of young people in the 1980s and marked the start of his successful theater career. Other notable plays include The Waverly Gallery (2000) and Lobby Hero (2001), both of which later had successful Broadway revivals. Lonergan's film career includes the Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me (2000) and Manchester by the Sea (2016), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. His work, whether on stage or screen, is celebrated for its deep empathy and nuanced portrayal of complex human experiences.
Nate Santana (director, Lobby Hero, Artistic Producer, Shattered Globe Theatre, he/him) joined the company as an Ensemble Member in 2018. For three years, he taught and directed the Protege Program at SGT as well as produced and oversaw the inaugural Global Playwriting Series (GPS), which received over 150 submissions in its first year. Theatre credits include Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe Theatre); Ironbound (Raven Theatre); The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf); Legend of Georgia McBride, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility (Indiana Repertory Theatre); SS! Romeo and Juliet, SS! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy (Griffin Theatre); The Abuelas, White Tie Ball, Momma’s Boyz (Teatro Vista); The Rainmaker (BoHo Theatre); References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis) and What Happened When, Slipping (the side project). Television credits include Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Suits and The Exorcist. Santana is also an Ensemble Member with Teatro Vista. He studied at the School at Steppenwolf, The Moscow Art Theatre, and received his BA from Valparaiso University.
Brendan Pelsue (adaptor, A Tale of Two Cities) is a playwright, librettist and translator whose work has been produced in New York and regionally. His play Wellesley Girl premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Hagoromo, a dance-opera for which he wrote the libretto, appeared at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Pocantico Center, and was a first-round ballot nominee for a Grammy Award. Recent projects include a new translation and adaptation of Molière’s Don Juan at Westport Country Playhouse, and Read to Me at Portland Stage, which won the 2019 Clauder Prize. His new adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities premiered at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA in 2024. Commissions include South Coast Repertory, American Opera Projects, Westport Country Playhouse, and the Actors Theatre of Louisville. He was a 2017 artist-in-residence at Château de la Napoule, France, where he produced the podcast We Are Not These People. He was a MacDowell Fellow in 2023, and will be a fellow at Green College, University of British Columbia, in 2024. Originally from Newburyport, MA, he received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama and his BA from Brown University, where he received the Weston Prize in playwriting. He teaches at Rutgers University.
Mikael Burke (director, A Tale of Two Cities) is a Chicago-based director, deviser and educator. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre and Jeff Award-winning director, his recent credits include Oak by Terry Guest (Urbanite Theatre, World Premiere); Othello by William Shakespeare (Theatreworks Colorado Springs); Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Milo Imagines the World, adapted by Terry Guest (Chicago Children’s Theatre, World Premiere); Notes from the Field by Anna Deveare Smith (TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Premiere); The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers (Yale Repertory Theatre, World Premiere); Tambo & Bones by Dave Harris (Refracted Theatre Company, Chicago Premiere, winner of eight Jeff Awards); Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest (About Face Theatre, Chicago Premiere, winner of two Jeff Awards); and Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage (Theaterworks Hartford). Burke is also an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University and Roosevelt University. He earned his MFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University. mklburke.com
About Shattered Globe Theatre
Shattered Globe Theatre seeks to redefine what it means to be an ensemble theatre, discover new connections between story, artist and audience, and explore drama from bold, challenging perspectives.
Shattered Globe Theatre was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 80 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 44 Jeff Awards and 118 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike.
Guided by Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner, Shattered Globe’s values are rooted in a commitment to racial equity, respect for all artists and support for the ensemble, while creating new opportunities to amplify traditionally marginalized voices and collaborate in all aspects of its work. Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience.
Shattered Globe Theatre’s Ensemble has 29 members: Judy Anderson, Louis Contey, David Dastmalchian, Demetra Dee, Joe Forbrich, Christina Gorman, Daria Harper, Tina M. Jach, Rebecca Jordan, Steve Kleinedler, Vivian Knouse, AmBer Montgomery, Tina Muñoz Pandya, Eileen Niccolai, Jazzma Pryor, Hailey Rakowiecki, Deanna Reed-Foster, Linda Reiter, Nate Santana, Drew Schad, Adam Schulmerich, Leslie Ann Sheppard, Sandy Shinner, Joe Sikora, Shelley Strasser, Devonte E. Washington, Sarah Jo White, Joseph Wiens and Brad Woodard.
SGT’s Artistic Associates now number 20 including Daniela Colucci, Mikey Gray, Lawrence Grimm, Darren Jones, Christopher Kriz, Jason Lynch, Elizabeth Margolius, Kelsey Melvin, Tim Newell, Jane Nix, Aila Peck, Steve Peebles, David Antonio Reed, Jasmine Cheri Rush, Angie Shriner, Abbey Smith, Becca Smith, Michael Trudeau, Ayanna Wimberley and Austin Winter.
Shattered Globe Theatre is partially supported and funded by generous grants from Brenda and James Grusecki, The Bayless Family Foundation, The Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, Carol P. Eastin, The Shubert Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Judith and David Sensibar, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council and Barbara and Randy Thomas.
Visit sgtheatre.org for subscriptions, tickets and information, and follow the company @shatteredglobe on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.