Shattered Globe Theatre, in association with Interrobang Theatre Project, is pleased to welcome back audiences this fall with the Chicago premiere of Chloë Moss’s drama This Wide Night, directed by ITP Artistic Director Georgette Verdin, playing October 8 – November 13, 2021 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.sgtheatre.org, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. The press opening is Monday, October 11 at 7:30 pm.
This Wide Night will feature Aila Ayilam Peck+ and Linda Reiter*.
Linda Reiter and Aila Ayilam Peck in a publicity image for Shattered Globe Theatre and Interrobang Theatre Project’s Chicago premiere of This Wide Night. Photo by Joe Martinez.
Lorraine, released from prison after twelve years inside, treks to her former cellmate Marie’s new flat. Marie, dodgy and ashamed of their shared past, hesitates to welcome Lorraine back into her life. But no one makes Marie laugh like Lorraine. Can two friends, uniquely bonded by their former circumstances, find belonging in each other once more? This gutsy story of female friendship and winner of the 2009 Susan Smith Blackburn prize is inspired by real accounts of women in a UK prison. This Wide Night holds and humanizes two formerly incarcerated women in an isolated studio that may or may not be equipped for real freedom.
Comments Director Georgette Verdin “I believe audiences will find this play even more resonant after living through a pandemic for over a year. We’ve been forced to reinvent our day-to-day, find new purpose and manage our anxiety as we navigate this strange new world. Much like Lorraine and Marie, we too have a whole new understanding of the devastating toll that loneliness and isolation take on one’s body and soul, as well as the light and laughter that can stem from any hardship.”
The production team includes Sotirios I. Livaditis (scenic design), LaVisa Angela Williams (costume design), Trey Brazeal (lighting design), Christopher Kriz+ (original music and sound design), Rae Watson (props design), Gaby Labotka (fight director and intimacy director), Elise Kauzlaric (dialect coach), Mason-Vivit Consulting Group (EDI consultants), Alexis Ward (assistant director, COVID compliance officer), Richie Vavrina (production manager), Johnnie Schleyler (technical director), Nick Chamernik (master electrician), Tina M. Jach (stage manager) and Becca Smith (assistant stage manager).
Please note: Theater Wit currently requires all audience members to wear masks and to provide proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test within 48 hours of curtain time. All cast and crew members are fully vaccinated. For additional information on COVID safety guidelines and Theater’s Wit’s ticket refund policy, visit www.theaterwit.org.
Additionally, two performances of This Wide Night will be available for live streaming during the run. Shattered Globe Theatre is closely monitoring the news and data surrounding the Delta variant, and has a plan to go fully virtual in the event that it is not safe at the time of the production for our community and audiences to congregate in person.
Title: This Wide Night
Playwright: Chloë Moss
Director: Georgette Verdin
Cast (in alphabetical order): Aila Ayilam Peck+ (Marie) and Linda Reiter* (Lorraine)
Understudies: E.M. Davis (Marie) and Amy J. Johnson (Lorraine)
Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, October 8 at 8 pm, Saturday, October 9 at 8 pm and Sunday, October 10 at 3 pm.
Press Performance: Monday, October 11 at 7:30 pm.
Regular Run: Thursday, October 14 – Saturday, November 13, 2021
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, October 28, there will be an added performance on Saturday, November 13 at 2 pm.
Industry Night: Monday, October 25 at 8 pm
Touch Tour/Audio Description Performance: Friday, November 5 – 6:45 pm touch tour, 8 pm performance with audio description. $20 tickets available with code “ACCESS.”
Tickets: Previews: Friday: pay-what-you-can; Saturday & Sunday: $25 general admission, $10 students. Regular Run: $45 general admission. $15 students. $35 seniors. $25 under 30 years old. $15 industry tickets on Thursdays and Fridays with code “INDUSTRY.” Tickets are currently available at www.sgtheatre.org, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. Group discounts are available by contacting groupsales@shatteredglobe.org or by calling (773) 770-0333.
Shattered Globe understands that ticket prices can pose a financial burden and, at times, an obstacle for theatregoers. A number of waived tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis for students and community members experiencing access barriers to theatre. If you would like to be added to SGT’s Waived Ticket Waitlist, please reach out to info@shatteredglobe.org.
*Denotes SGT Ensemble Member +Denotes SGT Artistic Associate
About the Artists:
Chloë Moss (Playwright) is an accomplished playwright and screenwriter. Her celebrated play This Wide Night 2008/2009 (Clean Break, Soho) won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn prize and was subsequently produced off Broadway, starring Edie Falco. Chloë has written numerous other shows including The Gatekeeper 2012 (Royal Exchange Theatre), Fatal Light 2010/2011 (Soho Theatre), Catch 2006 (Royal Court), How Love is Spelt 2002 (Bush Theatre & New York’s Summer Play Festival) and Christmas is Miles Away 2005/2006(Bush theatre and off Broadway). Site-specific work includes I Do (for Dante or Die theatre company/ Almeida Theatre festival then touring 2013/14), Handle with Care (Touring production with Dante or Die 2016) and Sweatbox (Clean Break theatre for Latitude Festival 2015 and toured UK Autumn 2019). Chloë has also written extensively for television. Credits include Six Wives (BBC One) Dickensian (BBC One), New Tricks (BBC One) The Smoke (Sky1) and Prisoners’ Wives (BBC One). She has also written Care, a single drama for Warp Films and Sky Arts, and an original series Switch, co-written with Tim Price (ITV2).
Georgette Verdin (Director) is a Cuban-American freelance director, theatre and speech educator, arts integration specialist and the Managing Artistic Director of Interrobang Theatre Project. Recent directing credits include Tribes (Nina Raine) at Western Michigan University, Jeff recommended productions of Out of Love (U.S. Premiere, Elinor Cook), Grace and Recent Tragic Events (Craig Wright) and Time Stands Still (Donald Margulies), as well as the 2013 & 2016 Yale Drama Series winners, Still (Jen Silverman) and Utility (Emily Schwend). Georgette has also worked with Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Facility Theatre and Chicago Dramatists, among others. Georgette holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA and a Master in Directing from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She is an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
About Shattered Globe Theatre
Shattered Globe Theatre (Sandy Shinner, Producing Artistic Director) 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 42 Jeff Awards and 107 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike.
Shattered Globe Theatre seeks to discover new connections between story, artist and audience by exploring drama from bold, challenging perspectives, and continuously redefining what it means to be an ensemble theater.
SGT’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 our 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 is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, The James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, Bayless Family Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Kovler Family Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council, The Shubert Foundation, the Chicago Community Foundation, and The Saints.
For more information on Shattered Globe Theatre, please visit www.sgtheatre.org.
About Interrobang Theatre Project
The recipient of 2019's Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre award, Interrobang Theatre Project, now in its twelfth season and under the artistic leadership of Georgette Verdin, has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as a “company to watch” and by Time Out Chicago as “one of Chicago’s most promising young theatre companies.” Chris Jones called Foxfinder, which kicked off Interrobang’s 2017-18 season, “...a ripping good yarn,” earning it 3.5 stars from the Chicago Tribune. Foxfinder also garnered seven non-Equity Jeff Awards nominations including Best Director and Production of a Play, and took home two awards for Best Original Music and Set Design. The company also earned seven non-Equity Jeff Nominations for their seventh season, including Best Director, Production of a Play, Solo Performance and acting nominations for Lead Actor, Actress (win) and Actor in a Supporting Role (win). Productions have included the world premiere of Calamity West’s Ibsen is Dead (Jeff Recommended), the Jeff Recommended The Pitchfork Disney, Orange Flower Water, Recent Tragic Events, The North Pool, The Amish Project, Falling, Grace, The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, I Call My Brothers and Out of Love.
What’s an interrobang?
An interrobang is the combination of a question mark and an exclamation point, joining the Latin for “question” (interro) with a proofreading term for “exclamation” (bang). Through the plays we produce, Interrobang Theatre Project aims to pose worthwhile and exciting questions which challenge our understanding and assumptions of who we are and the world in which we live.
For more information, please visit interrobangtheatreproject.org.