Season 27 (2008-09)
Season 26 (2007-08)
Season 25 (2006-07)
Season 24 (2005-06)
Season 23 (2004-05)
Season 22 (2003-04)
Season 21 (2002-03)
Season 20
(2001-02)
Season 19 (2000-01)
Season 18 (1999-00)
Season 17 (1998-99)
Season 16 (1997-98)
Season 15 (1996-97)
Season 14 (1995-96)
Season 13 (1994-95)
Season 12 (1993-94)
Season 11 (1992-93)
Season 10 (1991-92)
Season 9 (1990-91)
Season 8 (1989-90)
Season 7 (1988-89)
Season 6 (1987-88)
Season 5 (1986-87)
Season 4 (1985-86)
Season 3 (1984-85)
Season 2 (1983-84)
Season 1 (1982-83)
Stage Left Theatre Production History |
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† - Ensemble Member at time of production |
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Season 27: Rise Up (2008-09) |
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| After Ashley Gina Gionfriddo directed by Greg Werstler † Chicago Premiere Downstage Left Graduate Jeff Nomination: Brian Plocharczyk/ Actor |
The national media's hunger for violence, sex and redemption grabbed hold of the tragedy that struck Justin's family when he was only 14 years old. Three years later, tele-cash-registers still ringing, he fights back with his only weapon: no-holds-barred wit. But when he also discovers the beginnings of love and the capacity for wisdom and understanding, will his battle against the media vultures and amateur celebrities also destroy his own new-found hope? Gina Gionfriddo's razor-sharp wit provides an incisive, satirical reflection on a round-the-clock media culture obsessed with 'reality,' celebrity and sensationalism. |
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The Day of Knowledge |
Forty days after an unimaginable trauma, survivors and families are still haunted by volatile memories of the three-day standoff. As they struggle to mourn the loved ones they've lost and to rebuild their shattered lives, their paths collide in a single night. An act of charity threatens to divide a husband and wife; a single mother searches obsessively for her lost daughter; and a woman from the provinces claims an as-yet unidentified child who hasn't spoken since the explosive end of the hostage crisis. Above and around them all, something is... watching. The Day of Knowledge explores the human spirit's capacity for healing and hope in the face of overwhelming tragedy. |
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Season 26: Global Voices (2007 - 08) |
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| Spare Change by Mia McCullough † directed by Ann Filmer World Premiere Downstage Left Graduate Jeff Nomination - New Work |
A young Chicago urbanite is shaken out of his comfortable existence by the urge to help a young woman who is fleeing an abusive relationship. In the face of her apparent mental instability, his attempts upset his life and relationship as he is forced to ask: how can one person truly help another? Mia McCullough is the award-winning author of Echoes of Another Man, Taking Care, Since Africa and Chagrin Falls. Her plays continue to receive productions across the country. |
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Skin in Flames |
A young girl looks gently into the camera lens, her clothes and hair aflame, thrown through the air by an exploding bomb. Twenty years later the photojournalist returns to this war-torn country and agrees to an interview with an upstart female reporter who challenges his standing as a national hero. But the hotel room where they meet holds more secrets than either expects. Skin in Flames received the prestigious Barcelona Critics Award for best script of the year in 2005. |
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| Omniscience by Tim Carlson directed by Kevin Heckman† U.S. Premiere |
In this multimedia paranoid thriller, Warren struggles to finish a war documentary while coping with his troubled wife, a military officer who has just returned from the conflict. Under the pressure of constant corporate and government surveillance, he might be cracking up…or is he coming to see the truth of his world? Tim Carlson is a playwright, journalist, and co-founder and co-artistic producer of Theatre Conspiracy in Vancouver, British Columbia. Omniscience is currently in publication in English and German, with Dutch and Portuguese translations to be released in Europe in 2008. |
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Season 25: The Silver Season (2006 - 07) |
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| In Times of War by David Alan Moore† directed by Ann Filmer World Premiere Downstage Left Graduate Jeff Citation: New Work |
In 1942, German saboteurs land a U-boat on Long Island and, armed with explosives, blend into American society with the intent to wreak havoc. When their leader voluntarily surrenders to the FBI, President Roosevelt creates a special commission specifically ordered to try and convict the eight men. Their defense rests in the hands of a Jewish lawyer who faces an impossible pursuit of justice. |
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| One Fine Day by David Rush† directed by Drew Martin† World Premiere Jeff Citation: Lindsay Weisberg/Performance Jeff Nomination: New Work |
Has Fred Miller gone too far? A popular and tenured professor, he shocks his students by showing up to class dressed up as Adolf Hitler. When a Jewish student voices her displeasure to the campus newspaper, Miller finds himself in a fight for his career. But how far is he willing to go to rattle the institutional cages one last time? Join us for this poignant, funny and very personal story about the limits of free speech. |
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| Live Girls by Victoria Stewart directed by Kevin Heckman† Midwest Premiere |
Live Girls challenges our preconceptions of art, sex and truth by taking a highly critical look at where art ends and exploitation begins. An African American, female performance artist named Sarah Brown is creating a show on injustice. She is gathering personal material in interviews from which she crafts her performances when she encounters Sonia, a porn star. Sonia confounds Sarah's expectations by revealing that she's very much at peace with her line of work. Sarah, believing that any woman working in the sex industry must be somehow damaged or the victim of some personal injustice, presses harder until Sonia relents. |
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Season 24: Glass in the Paint (2005 - 06) |
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Echoes of Another Man |
In a startling breakthrough in biotechnology, the brain and nervous system of a famous artist is transplanted into the body of a young, professional golfer. Marguerite Hammersley returns to Stage Left in this poignant and compelling story of medical ethics, identity, and one man’s extraordinary search for who he is, and who he loves. |
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| Fellow Travellers by M.E.H. Lewis† directed by David M. Schmitz† World Premiere Downstage Left Graduate Jeff Citation: New Work |
Max and Karl are best friends and students at a prestigious Berlin art academy in the 1930s. As social freedoms erode and the nation becomes increasingly polarized, Karl, a rising star of the avant-garde, is labeled a Degenerate, while Max, the traditionalist, takes advantage of the shifting tides. When the situation between them becomes impossible, one of them escapes Germany in a gut-wrenching, twisted betrayal. Forty years later the survivor, now a world renowned artist, struggles with both his failing health and the ghosts of his past. |
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Season 23: Reality Check (2004 - 05) |
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| The (W)hole Thing by John Green directed by Chad Eric Bergman World Premiere |
A rude, crude geopolitical farce for the rude, crude times in which we flounder. When the Sandonians attack the Corncopians, bringing their mighty tower to the ground, the men immediately prepare for war while three women notice the divine light emanating from where the tower once stood. |
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The Vow |
Jihad. Holy War. Crusade. At the end of the last crusade, three men flee a burning city, each sworn to fight the infidel and ascend to the presence of God. Now faced with defeat, each man must decide whether to uphold his vow, or to return to a home barely remembered. |
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Season 22: Tracing the Roots (2003 - 04) |
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| Cuttings by David Rush† directed by Jessi D. Hill† World Premiere |
A former psychologist attempts to rescue a teenage run-away to redeem a lifetime of wrong-doing, but ultimately spins a web of betrayal and destruction. |
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Prairie Lights |
In this holiday musical, two Jewish children take the orphan train west to Nebraska in December of 1905, and are paired with the only Jewish couple in town. This new family struggles to come together as they and the townsfolk rediscover the true essence of the winter holidays. |
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Burying the Bones |
One woman faces the secrets of her shattered country as she searches for the truth about her 'disappeared' husband through South Africa's Truth and Reconcilliation Commission. |
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Season 21 (2002 - 03) |
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| Empty by Brett Neveu directed by Jessi D. Hill † World Premiere |
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| Prairie Lights book by Susan Lieberman lyrics by David Rush† music by Rosalie Gerut directed by Drew Martin† World Premiere Downstage Left Graduate Jeff Nomination - New Work |
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| Train of Thought...featuring Suicide by Mia McCullough† directed by Jessi Hill† World Premiere Tens & Twenties by Gregory Hardigan directed by John Sanders† U.S. Premiere |
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Cyber Serenade |
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Season 20 (2001 - 02) |
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Chagrin Falls |
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| The Sensitive Swashbuckler and Other Dating Myths by Christian Murphy & Gail Stern directed by Jessi Hill† Remount of 2000 Production |
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Mrs. Mackenzie's Beginner's Guide to the Blues |
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| The Good Woman of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht transl. Eric Bentley directed by David M. Schmitz |
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Season 19 (2000 - 01) |
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| Police Deaf Near Far by David Rush† directed by Drew Martin† Remount at the Storefront Theatre (Season 18) Jeff Award - New Work |
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| Dimly Perceived Threats to the System by Jon Klein directed by Jessi Hill† |
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The Memorandum |
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Season 18 (1999 - 2000) |
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| Private Passage by Louise Bylicki & James Serpento directed by Jessi Hill† |
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Police Deaf Near Far |
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| Tartuffe by Moliere transl. Ranjit Bolt directed by Alice M. Kroman† |
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| The Sensitive Swashbuckler and Other Dating Myths by Christian Murphy & Gail Stern directed by Jessi Hill† World Premiere |
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Season 17 (1998 - 1999) |
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| The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer directed by Robin Stanton Midwest Premiere |
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| Econo-Manic Depression by Peter Bernstein directed by Doug Ryan |
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| Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare directed by Drew Martin† |
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| The Secret of the Old Queen by Paul Boesing & Timothy Cope directed by Sandra Verthein† Remount (Season 14) |
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Season 16 (1997 - 1998) |
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| Sing for Your Supper Laurence Arancio, adaptor directed by Drew Martin† World Premiere |
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| Sincerity Forever by Mac Wellman directed by Blake Lawrence† Midwest Premiere |
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| Flow My Tears the Policeman Said by Linda Hartinian adapted from Philip K. Dick directed by Beatrice Bosco Midwest Premiere |
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| The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret by Susanna Centlivre directed by Mary Booker† Midwest Premiere |
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| Amelia: First to Fly by Julia Fabris† directed by Drew Martin† Tour |
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Season 15 (1996 - 1997) |
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| Leander Stillwell by David Rush† directed by Drew Martin† Produced in Los Angeles |
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| Out of Spite: Tales of Survival in Sarajevo by Elma Softic, Damir Andrei & Cynthia Ashperger directed by Drew Martin† Midwest Premiere |
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Season 14 (1995 - 1996) |
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| Three Ways Home by Casey Kurtti directed by Melissa Lindberg† |
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| The Secret of the Old Queen by Paul Boesing & Timothy Cope directed by Sandra Verthein† Remount (Season 14) |
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Season 13 (1994 - 1995) |
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| Just A Little Bit Harder by Jimmie Cumbie conceived by Beatrice Bosco directed by Beatrice Bosco |
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| Amelia: First to Fly by Julia Fabris† directed by Drew Martin† World Premiere |
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Season 12 (1993 - 1994) |
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| Dapples and Grays by David Rush directed by Drew Martin† World Premiere After Dark Award - New Work |
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| Boomtown by Steven Dietz directed by Sandra Verthein† World Premiere |
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| Bocon! by Lisa Loomer directed by Sandra Verthein† Tour |
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| Escape from Happiness by George F. Walker directed by Drew Martin† Midwest Premiere |
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Season 11 (1992 - 1993) |
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Leander Stillwell |
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| Kid Dinosaur by Jim Houle directed by Drew Martin† Tour |
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| In White America by Martin Duberman directed by Drew Martin† |
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| Sunken Land by Martin Duberman directed by Michael Troccoli† World Premiere |
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| Bocon! by Lisa Loomer directed by Sandra Verthein† Midwest Premiere |
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| Clue in the Old Birdbath by Sandra de Helen & Kate Kasten directed by Sandra Verthein† |
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Season 10 (1991 - 1992) |
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| Kid Dinosaur by Jim Houle directed by Dennis McCullough† Midwest Premiere |
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| Mad Forest by Caryl Churchill directed by Sandra Verthein† Midwest Premiere |
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| We the People by Tanya White directed by Dennis McCullough† Tour |
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Season 9 (1990 - 1991) |
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| The Big Bang by Performing Ensemble directed by Sandra Verthein† World Premiere |
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| Never in My Lifetime by Shirly Gee directed by Dennis McCullough† Midwest Premiere |
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Double Every Minute The Saliva Milkshake Statements Made After Arrest Under the Immortality Act Fair Slaughter Chopin in Space |
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Season 8 (1989 - 1990) |
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| TEECHERS by John Godber directed by Dennis McCullough† Midwest Premiere |
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| ¿De Donde? by Mary Gallagher directed by Michael Troccoli† Midwest Premiere |
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| Minnesota by George Sand directed by Sandra Verthein† |
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| 4:45 A.M. by Jaime Meyer directed by Sandra Verthein† |
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Season 7 (1988 - 1989) |
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| Masterpieces by Sara Daniels directed by Christine Sumption |
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| Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind by Performing Ensemble conceived by Greg Allen directed by Ensemble & Greg Allen World Premiere |
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| Antigone by Sophocles adapted by Dennis McCullough† directed by Dennis McCullough† |
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Season 6 (1987 - 1988) |
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| Overruled by George Bernard Shaw directed by Melissa Lindberg† |
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| A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner directed by Bart DeLorenzo Midwest Premiere |
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| The Return of Pinnochio by Richard Nelson directed by Dennis McCullough† |
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Season 5 (1986 - 1987) |
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| A Different Moon by Ara Watson directed by Ann Fournier† |
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Season 4 (1985 - 1986) |
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Still Under Construction Pardon Our Dust! |
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