The About Face Theatre season will feature three hyper-intimate main stage productions that reveal multiple perspectives within the LGBTQ+ community, along with our award-winning education and outreach programming.
PACKING
World Premiere
Written and performed by AFT Artistic Associate Scott Bradley
Directed by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Chay Yew
October 31 — December 7, 2019
at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago
Half of discovering who you are is finding where you belong. Packing, a solo performance from writer/performer Scott Bradley ( We Three Lizas, Scooty & Jojo's Alien Queen and Carpenter's Halloween ), is the tale of a genderqueer vagabond leaving small-town boyhood on an Iowa farm in the 1960s and '70s on a three-decade long odyssey through England, New York City, and Chicago. His journey of reinvention captures a snapshot of recent history through personal accounts of assaults, addictions, the plague years of the AIDS crisis, and the fight for marriage equality. Combining personal memoir, historical record, popular music, and ancestral frontier stories, Bradley's story illuminates the deeply personal LGBTQ struggles too-often erased from U.S. history.
AFT Artistic Associate Scott Bradley and Victory Gardens Artistic Director Chay Yew
THE GULF
Chicago Premiere
Written by Audrey Cefaly
Directed by AFT Artistic Director Megan Carney
Featuring AFT Artistic Associate Kelli Simpkins
January 9 — February 15, 2020
at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago
In the middle of a river and long past the middle of their relationship, Kendra and Betty are questioning where their life together will go next. On a muggy summer evening somewhere down in the Alabama Delta, the two women troll the flats looking for redfish. As passions and tensions flare over past infidelities, life-choices, and job struggles, the couple must confront what it takes to overcome the space between them. The Gulf won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama, the David Calicchio American Playwright Prize, and the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival.
Playwright Audrey Cefaly, AFT Artistic Director Megan Carney, and AFT Artistic Associate Kelli Simpkins
LACED
World Premiere
Written by Samantha Mueller
Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Lexi Saunders
May 13 — June 13, 2020
at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago
The night after a queer bar outside of Tampa, Florida, is vandalized, three twenty-something bartenders gather to grieve, riot, and above all, piece together the events of the night before. But as these three friends process the violation of their space, they must decide if it is healthier to understand what happened or to just clean up and move on. Fiery, poetic, and up-to-the-minute contemporary, Laced ferociously celebrates the spaces in which we find our truest selves and the spectrum of ways the LGBTQ community comes together in the face of hate.
Playwright Samantha Mueller and AFT Artistic Associate Lexi Saunders
About Face Youth Theatre & Outreach Programs
KINSHIP
An all-ages queer variety show performance series
Curated by Youth Task Force Members
Angelica Grace, Micah Manternach, and Sharon Pasia
Centering on the voices of LGBTQ youth of color, KINSHIP is an all-ages queer variety show series that brings emerging artists center stage. Curated through a partnership between rising LGBTQ community leaders and the artistic staff at About Face Theatre, KINSHIP invites brave acts of storytelling, drag, and music, and connects LGBTQ people and their allies throughout the city. Five KINSHIP events will take place in the 2019-2020 season.
POWER IN PRIDE
An Original Touring Performance and Civic Dialogue Program
Developed by the AFT Outreach cast including Aimy Tien, Dionne Addai, and Youth Task Force Member Angelica Grace
Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Lexi Saunders
Power in Pride uses humorous and brave stories about gender and sexuality to spark conversations with middle and high school students, educators, church groups, workplaces, and community members of all ages. Based in true experiences of building chosen family, maintaining self-care, being a strong ally, and finding personal joy, Power in Pride meets audiences where they are to build understanding about gender and sexuality and take conversations to the next level. This touring show will be performed at approximately 20 venues around the Chicagoland region, reaching approximately 5,000 people during the season.
Experience the Entire Season with an All-Access Membership
AFT All-Access Memberships are on sale now! Memberships are a flexible, affordable way to make sure you never miss an About Face Theatre show or reading. Unlike traditional subscriptions, AFT Memberships can be purchased at any time and last for a full 365 days no matter what. Join now to catch all of our 2019-2020 Season, including the OUT FRONT series and a full season of World and Chicago premieres for as low as $7.50/month!
—From a press release
