FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
the side project to feature local premiere of Adam Rapp’s Faster, five world premieres in 2007-08 

Critically heralded Rogers Park theater celebrates new work, expanded ensemble in eighth season

CHICAGO – 12 months. 11 productions. 10 staged readings. One Season. Less than 500 square feet.

In its 2007-08 season, their eighth, the side project theatre company in Rogers Park will present six plays (5 world premieres and the Midwest premiere of Adam Rapp’s Faster); expand their Harvest staged readings series to include a separate series of local female playwrights; expand their Visiting Artist Series to include children’s programming; present the second-to-last week of the 365 Days/365 Plays Project, to feature 14 plays, 7 of Parks’ and 7 of their own, helmed by 14 directors; and host 3 other companies’ seasons (LiveWire, Bruised Orange, DreamTheatre).

World and Midwest premieres focusing on young love, lust, need and desire
Continuing its dedication to new works, the side project will present world premieres from Chicago, Los Angeles, Ireland, and New York, as well as the Midwest premiere of Faster, by Adam Rapp. 

Mainly featuring characters in their teens and early 20s, oftentimes set against the backdrop of – or as the foreground to – adults in similar situations, Artistic Director Adam Webster describes the season overall as “sultry, smoky, young, vibrant and diverse.” Webster says the plays all “check in on individuals at extreme moments in their lives. From the aftermath of murder to the consideration of abortion, from illegal and/or immoral sex to the precipice of human trafficking, the season promises to deliver high stakes,” Webster said.

Fall 2007:
Smart by Robert Fieldsteel; Directed by Adam Webster
Opens November 8, 2007 – In 2002, high schoolers Robert Tulloch and James Parker killed two Dartmouth College professors as part of a scheme to get to Australia. In this fictionalized account, college senior Doug Fisk interviews one of them as he and girlfriend Cathy plot their own future. A look at goals, dreams, values and America.
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Butt Nekkid by Laura Jacqmin; Directed by Gina LoPiccolo
Opens November 11, 2007 – Jewish music producer Marty manipulates 27-year old black producer Lawrence, who his daughter then starts dating in this vibrant tension-filled world premiere from Chicago Dramatist resident playwright Laura Jacqmin. Ensemble member Gina LoPiccolo (assistant director Raised and Henry Hettinger) makes her side project directing debut.

Winter 2007
Perfect, by Philip Dawkins; Directed by Stephen Cone
Opens February 4, 2008 – When high school senior Natalie gets an afterschool job taking care of Robbie, a 37-year old with Asperger’s, roles get confused: from parent-child to counselor-student to supervisor-worker. Stephen Cone (Sarah Kane’s Crave) returns to directing other folks’ work after having directed two of his own (Henry Hettinger and Raised) for the 2006-07 side project season.

Spring 2008
Faster, by Adam Rapp; Directed by Jarrett Dapier
Opens March 6, 2008 – On the South side of Chicago, three malnourished youth wait in a dilapidated apartment for the arrival of a man for a shady business transaction. Director Jarrett Dapier returns to the side project after last season’s Thief River to tackle the Midwest premiere of Adam Rapp’s 2002 apocalyptic play.  

Slipping, by Daniel Talbott; Directed by Adam Webster
Opens March 9, 2008 – After his father dies and his abusive lover abandons him, gay high school senior Eli gets a fresh start in Ohio, but will he seize it, or continue his emotionally destructive ways? The production, postponed from the 2006-07 season, will travel to Ireland in May for the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.

On My Parents’ One Hundredth Wedding Anniversary by Jesse Weaver; Directed by Matt Hawkins
Opens April 13, 2008 – Explosive language and an evocative narrative style turns the nostalgic memory play upside down in this haunting elegy to a couple’s ups and downs, in and out of the dance world of 1920s France. The House Theatre’s Matt Hawkins makes his side project debut with the world premiere of ensemble member Jesse Weaver’s inventive new play. 
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365, Harvest and Visiting Artist Series (including Rascal Children’s Theatre) 
Among the other projects the side project has planned for its next season are the expansion of its monthly reading series promoting local writers, Harvest, to also include a female playwrights’ series; participation in the 365 Days/365 Plays Project; and expansion of its Visiting Artist Series to include children’s theatre.

365 Days/365 Plays
the side project has been selected as the second-to-last of over 50 companies to perform in the year-long festival of Suzan Lori-Parks’ short plays. Join the side project on November 3-4, as the company presents the last “live” week (Steppenwolf’s will be via podcast) featuring 7 new works along with Parks’ 7 daily plays to form a riveting, cohesive evening of theatre.

Visiting Artist Series
In 2007-08, the side project will continue hosting other theatre companies’ full seasons. In addition to continuing its relationship with LiveWire Theatre and DreamTheatre, the side project will host Bruised Orange (producers of the long-running I Saw You) in May. LiveWire, who produced last year’s No Exit will present The Collector in September and Soldiers: The Desert Stand in April and DreamTheatre will perform remounts of Anna in the Darkness in October and Antigone in January and world premiere Electra in July.

Visiting Artists Series Part II – Rascal Children’s Theatre
Additionally, Rascal Theatre a division of Rogue Theater, will present four children’s plays, slated for Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m. Guess Who, Gum Shoe? will run October 13 through November 3; Cinderella Goes Disco will run November 17 through December 15; The Red Hood will run February 9 through March 1; and the Scottish folk tale, Tam Lin, will play March 15 through April 5.

Expanded Ensemble
Originally founded by Artistic Director Adam Webster in 2000, and remaining, for the most part, a one-person operation until 2005, when they added six members, the side project has officially added an additional eight new members to form its current 15-member ensemble. Joining existing ensemble members Stephen Cone, Elliott Fredland, Jen Goode, Nick Keenan, Jimmy McDermott, Jesse Weaver and Adam Webster are new company members Anna Bahow (Chicago Dramatists), Sean Bolger (School at Steppenwolf), Jarrett Dapier (Dog & Pony), 
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Gina LoPiccolo (The Gift), Steven Marzolf (independent actor, Chicago Shakespeare), Sadie Rogers (independent actress, Red Light Winter/Crave), Will Schutz (formerly of Defiant) and Marsha Villanueva (costume design).

Welcome to Jarvis Square
The Side Project Theatre marks one of six relatively new food and entertainment entries on the corner of Greenview and Jarvis, dubbed Jarvis Square. The Side Project Theatre – along with Poitin Stil (an Irish bar in the former Charmer’s bar locale), Charmer’s Café (a coffeeshop furnished in the aforementioned bar’s former art deco panelling and columns), Dagel and Beli (steamed sandwiches and deli meats and cheeses) and Gruppo di Amici (a wood-burning pizza kitchen) – will be joined by a fine wine shop, A Taste of Things to Come, this fall.

About the company
the side project is dedicated to examining and portraying the human condition at the peak of adversity. At its core, the troupe celebrates the individual and its relation to society, striving for the betterment of both through the portrayal of life’s extremes. Since being founded in 2000, the ensemble has presented over 35 productions featuring over 75 world and Midwest premieres, including 25 one acts in four annual “Evenings of One Acts.” With participation in this season’s “365 Project,” the company aims to reinstate their annual commitment to short form.

Highlights from last season include the world premiere of Mark Young’s New Orleans, which was named to the Tribune’s Top 5 Fringe shows of the year and four weeks running on TimeOut’s “Don’t Miss” list, and an intense revival of Fassbinder’s Katzelmacher, heralded as a “clenched-fist of a play [that] seizes the mob-mentality head-and-blood rush toward violence” garnering 4 Stars and “Don’t Miss” accolades by TimeOut Chicago. They also presented three other world premieres (Sweet Pretty Love Jam, Henry Hettinger and Raised), a sketch comedy show, Actual Size! and the Midwest Premiere of Thief River.
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