CHICAGO ( June 17, 2016 ) — About Face Theatre is pleased to announce its 2016-17 Season, kicking off this fall/winter with a reimagining of I AM MY OWN WIFE, Doug Wright's Tony, Pulitzer Prize and Lambda Literary Award-winning play first developed at About Face in 2003.
I AM MY OWN WIFE is based on the true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf ( born Lothar Berfelde ) who, against all odds, hid from the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin in plain sight dressed a woman. Traditionally staged as a one-person play performed by a male actor, Director Andrew Volkoff's re-examination will feature transgender actress Delia Kropp and two additional actors. The new production will frame Charlotte's story through a transgender lens, celebrating transvisibility through the life story of one of the most fascinating transgender women in historical record.
"I'm excited to dig back into Charlotte's story with Delia, who brings a refreshing authenticity to the role," comments Andrew Volkoff. "Working with Delia and the two other actors removes the virtuosity from the piece, focusing instead on Doug Wright's fantastic text, re-emphasizing Charlotte's narrative, and creating new visibility for her in this context. Wright, who has remained a loyal AFT supporter, has given us his blessing to cast the role in this way. He is excited by its historical significance and the possibilities that new transgender and non-transgender audiences will be exposed not only to Delia's considerable talents, but Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's story in a new way."
About Face continues its 21st season next winter with the Chicago premiere of THE TEMPERAMENTALS, Jon Maran's Off Broadway hit about the founding of the Mattachine Society, the first sustained LGBT rights organization in the U.S., and the love affair of two of its founding members, Harry Hay and emigree Rudi Gernrich. Taking its title from 1950's slang for "homosexual," Maran's play examines what it took to stand up in the sea of grey flannel suits and demand your humanity, your visibility and your rights.
"The Temperamentals is stylish, sensitive and smart, exploring a time of incredible invisibility for the LGBTQ community," comments Volkoff. "Moran's play asks us take stock of where we came from and, in light of recent events like the Orlando shooting massacre and controversy over transgender restrooms, provides a sobering reminder that we still have a long fight ahead."
About Face's season continues into the spring with the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's contemporary love story BRIGHT HALF LIFE, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm and featuring AFT Artistic Associate Elizabeth Ledo.
Winner of the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for Best Play, BRIGHT HALF LIFE follows the ups and downs of a modern lesbian relationship. Their moving story is told through a series of fast moving, fragmented memories — from elevator rides as strangers to steamy workplace romances to heartache and building a family.
"I'm excited to feature Tanya Barfield's work, a fresh counterbalance to this season's historical pieces," comments Volkoff. "Tanya's language is muscular and sparkles, but it was her inventive structure that captured me. She's created a verbal tilt-a-whirl for the audience, echoing the ins and outs of modern relationships."
About Face Theatre is also pleased to announce that William Boles, Bob Kuhn and Mieka Van der Ploeg will be joining About Face Theatre as Artistic Associates.
About Face Theatre's 2016-17 mainstage season will also include a yet-to-be-titled world premiere devised by the About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble. About Face Theatre is in residence at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. AFT's On Demand Memberships — a flexible, year-round membership ticket are currently available at aboutfacetheatre.com . Single tickets for additional programming will go on sale at a later date.
About Face Theatre's 2016-17 Season:
November 4 — December 10, 2016
I AM MY OWN WIFE
By Doug Wright
Directed by Artistic Director Andrew Volkoff
Featuring Delia Kropp
January 13 — February 18, 2017
THE TEMPERAMENTALS
By Jon Maran
May 26 — July 1, 2017
BRIGHT HALF LIFE
By Tanya Barfield
Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm
Featuring AFT Artistic Associate Elizabeth Ledo
About the Playwrights
Doug Wright earned the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for I Am My Own Wife. Other stage works include War Paint ( receiving its world premiere this summer at Chicago's Goodman Theatre ), Grey Gardens ( Tony Award nomination ), The Little Mermaid and Hands on a Hardbody. Film credits include Quills, based on his Obie Award-winning play, nominated for three Academy Awards. Television credits include Tony Bennett: An American Classic, directed by Rob Marshall. Honors include the Benjamin H. Dank Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Tolerance Prize from Kulturforum Europa and the Paul Selvin Award from Writers Guild of America. He is the president of the Dramatists Guild, a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and on the board of the New York Theatre Workshop. Mr. Wright is married to singer/songwriter David Clement.
Jon Marans' works include The Temperamentals, which ran for over eight months Off-Broadway, nominated for a Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway play and was a 2012 American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book in Literature; Old Wicked Songs, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama which ran for a season off-Broadway, played in the West End starring Bob Hoskins and has been produced in over a dozen countries. Other shows include A Strange and Separate People, Jumping for Joy, Legacy of the Dragon Slayers and The Irrationals. Mr. Marans also rewrote the book to the musical Paint Your Wagon for the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle. The Temperamentals is in film/television development with Daryl Roth Productions. Mr. Marans is a recipient of a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship.
Tanya Barfield's Bright Half Life was the winner of the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for Drama. Her play Blue Door ( South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons ) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and The Call premiered at Playwrights Horizons in co-production with Primary Stages and was a New York Times Critic's Pick. Tanya wrote the book for the Theatreworks/USA children's musical, Civil War: The First Black Regiment, which toured public schools regionally. Other work includes: Feast ( co-writer, Young Vic/Royal Court ) and Of Equal Measure ( Center Theatre Group ), Chat ( New Dramatists' Playtime Festival ), The Quick ( New York Stage & Film ). Short plays include: Medallion ( WP Theater/Antigone Project ), Foul Play ( Royal Court Theatre, Cultural Center of Brazil ), The Wolves and Wanting North ( Guthrie Theatre Lab, named Best 10-Minute Play of 2003 ). A recipient of a Lilly Award, the inaugural Lilly Award Commission and a Helen Merrill Award, Tanya is a proud alumna of New Dramatists and a member of The Dramatist Guild Council.
About The Directors
Andrew Volkoff joined About Face Theatre in 2013 as Artistic Director, where he has directed the Chicago premieres after all the terrible things I do, Abraham Lincoln Was A F*gg*t and Brahman/i: A One-Hijra Stand Up Comedy Show. He is also a freelance director specializing in new and contemporary works and has directed numerous productions ( including several world and regional premieres ) in New York, across the U.S. and abroad. Andrew served as Associate Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company ( BSC ) in Massachusetts for five years and Genesius Theatre Group in New York City for three years. He also acted as the Co-Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre Lab for one season. Andrew has worked as the Associate Director on Ella for Rob Ruggiero at Dallas Theatre Center and other regional theatres, is a Drama League Directing Fellow, and an SDC member. Proud to be the first director chosen to participate in the U.S./Bulgaria Directors Exchange Project, Andrew directed the Bulgarian premiere of John Kolvenbach's Lovesong in Sofia at the Nikolai Binev Theatre, where it is still in repertory. B.A.: Macalester College, St. Paul, MN.
Keira Fromm is a Jeff Award nominated director, a casting director and a teacher based out of Chicago. Favorite recent directing credits include: How the World Began ( Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, ) A Kid Like Jake ( About Face Theatre ), Luce ( Next Theatre ), Charles Ives Take Me Home ( Strawdog ), The How and the Why ( TimeLine Theatre ), Broadsword ( Gift Theatre ) and Fallow ( Steep Theatre ). Keira is an Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre. She received her MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University and is a proud member of SDC. She is also a frequent guest director at DePaul as well as the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Keira will be directing the Chicago premiere of The Columnist with American Blues Theater next season.
About Face Theatre ( Andrew Volkoff, Artistic Director ) creates exceptional, innovative, and adventurous plays to advance the national dialogue on gender and sexual identity, and to challenge and entertain audiences in Chicago, across the country, and around the world.
