THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Cast: Dennis Bisto, Anna Klos, Miguel Long, David Lovejoy, Michael Mejia, Emily Nichelson, Manuela Rentea, Keith Surney, Carl Wisniewski

Tadeusz Rożewicz (Playwright) was a Polish poet and playwright born in 1921 in Radomsko. His work combines elements of the Polish avantgarde and the Theater of the Absurd. He developed an interest in writing and publishing his writings early on. He joined the Polish resistance against the Nazis under a partisan name Satyr and made use of his wartime experiences in his first two volumes of poems, Anxiety (1947) and The Red Glove (1948). In the 1960's he began writing plays including The Card Index (1961), The Witnesses, or Our Little Stabilization (1962) and The Old Woman Broods (1969). In the 1970's and 1980's his plays changed course-they deal with a strange evolution of the 20th century focusing on powerful historical figures, such as Franz Kafka. These plays still use fragmentation and collage as in his earlier plays, but they also see the stage as a public arena and workplace of provocation and controversy. The best known titles of this period include Dead and Buried (1972), White Wedding (1975), The Hunger Artist Departs (1976) and The Trap (1982). Rożewicz also wrote novels, short stories and works of nonfiction. He died in 2014 at the age of 93.

Nicole Wiesner (Director) has been a member of the Trap Door Theatre since 1999. Directing credits include Mark Brownell's Monsieur D'eon is a Woman, Jean Racine's Phedre, Meg Miroshnik's Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, and Howard Barker's Minna. Favorite Trap Door acting credits include First Ladies, (dir. Zeljko Djukic, Joseph Jefferson Citation: Outstanding Actress); OVERWEIGHT; unimportant: MISSHAPE, (dir. Yasen Peyankov); and the title roles in The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and Nana, (dir. Beata Pilch); and Alice in Bed. (Director Dado). Other credits include 2666 (dir. Seth Bockley and Robert Falls), Shining City, (dir. Robert Falls); Passion Play, (dir. Mark Wing-Davy, After Dark Award, Outstanding Performance) at the Goodman Theatre; The Book Thief (dir. Hallie Gordon), South of Settling (dir. Adam Goldstein) and Dublin Carol (Dir. Amy Morton) at Steppenwolf Theatre; Shining City, (dir. Robert Falls) at the Huntington Theatre in Boston; Passion Play (dir. Mark Wing-Davy) at Yale Repertory Theatre; Passion Play (dir. Mark Wing-Davy) at the Epic Theatre in NYC; Dying City (dir. Jason Loewith) at Next Theatre, Great Men of Science (dir. Tracy Letts) at Lookingglass Theatre.

Assistant Director Skye Fort/ Set Designer J. Michael Griggs/ Lighting Designer Richard Norwood/ Costume Designer Rachel Sypniewski/ Sound Design/Music Direction Danny Rockett/ Make-Up Designer Zsofia Otvos/ Graphic Designer Michal Janicki/ Dramaturg Milan Pribisic/ Stage Manager Anna Klos

When: Opens: Thursday, December 13, 2018 at 8PM Closes: Saturday, January 19, 2018 at 8PM Runs: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8PM Admission: $20 on Thursdays and Fridays, $25 on Saturdays, 2 for 1 Admission on Thursdays What: Written in 1969 by one of Poland's most revolutionary and prophetic playwrights, The Old Woman Broods is a dark satiric look at one woman's grotesque struggle against an unchecked power that is leading the world to disaster. The landscape has disappeared, garbage falls like snow, beachgoers still come to bask in the sun, and wars break out in this farce packed with terror and hope. Box Office Trap Door Theatre 1655 W Cortland Ave Chicago, IL 60622 https://trapdoor.ticketleap.com/ boxofficetrapdoor@gmail.com 773.384.0494

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Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland Ave. Chicago

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