LEAPFEST X and OMPF 3

Tomorrow, Mark Pracht takes the stage as Henry in my play YOUR TEACHER IS OUT TODAY, part of Stage Left Theatre’s LeapFest X at the DCASE Storefront Theater.

YOUR TEACHER IS OUT TODAY

Saturday, June 15
2:00pm
DCASE Storefront Theater
66 E. Randolph, Chicago

Then, THEN!, on Monday June 17 and Tuesday June 18, Victory Gardens is hosting the 3rd Annual One-Minute Pay Festival.  I have a piece in the festival, titled My Best Attempt At An Apology, directed by Sarah Gitenstein.  Here’s a great promo featuring some sage words, especially from that guy in the hat.

One Minute Play Festival from Victory Gardens on Vimeo.

Actually, it’s really unfair to put the rest of us in a video with Philip Dawkins, because really, that guy is so charismatic he should have his own talk show.

LEAPFEST X at Stage Left Theatre

Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 15!

YOUR TEACHER IS OUT TODAY will be presented by Stage Left Theatre as a part of LeapFest X at the DCASE Storefront Theater.  Drew Martin directs Mark Pracht for this special event in the festival, ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!!

Saturday, June 15
2:00pm
DCASE Storefront Theater
66 E. Randolph, Chicago

Check out Stage Left’s website (www.stagelefttheatre.com) for more info about LeapFest, which begins on June 13 and also features plays by Jayme McGhan, Steven Haworth, Steven Simoncic, Katie Watson, and Kristin Idaszak.

FACING ANGELA coming soon

Rehearsals are underway for FACING ANGELA.  Here’s a teaser image:

This will be the second process in a row for me that going into it almost doesn’t feel like a new play, because ANGELA has been with me for so long (BREWED was that way too).  But it most certainly is a new play, and I can’t wait to see where Kyra and our insane cast take ANGELA in her new incarnation.  Tickets go on sale May 27!

The Ruckus presents

FACING ANGELA

by Scott T. Barsotti

directed by Kyra Lewandowski

June 29 – July 28

No show July 4; industry performance Monday, July 8

Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N Southport, Chicago

Angela has lost her face.  Acquiring a new face alters more than skin and tissue, cutting into Angela’s relationship with her husband, Wes, and mutating her sense of self.  As Angela re-constructs, re-invents, and re-defines her identity, Wes ceases to recognize the woman he loves, and doubts whether he really knows himself either.  This re-imagining of my 2003 play (my first ever professionally produced), challenges how we recognize ourselves and those we go to bed with, and the collateral damage of transformative change.

(Photo: Gerard Van Halsema)

KILL ME at The Visceral Company in LA

Later this month, KILL ME will open at The Visceral Company in Los Angeles!

The Visceral are the gents who produced THE REVENANTS in LA in 2009, and you horror fans on the west coast should check them out if you haven’t already, not just for KILL ME but for all of their productions.  They’re racking up all sorts of great notices and awards, and I’m thrilled to be working with them again!

KILL ME
by Scott T. Barsotti
directed by Dan Spurgeon

The Lex Theatre
6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038

Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm, Sunday matinees at 3 pm
April 19 through June 2, 2013
Preview performances April 19-21; opening Friday, April 26
$20 for all performances
$10 preview performances
Advance tickets available at http://www.thevisceralcompany.com

Whiskey Radio Hour Quarterly

My short horror play FEVER DREAM will be presented as a live radio drama tomorrow night, Tuesday April 2 at 8pm, as part of Whiskey Rebellion Theatre’s Whiskey Radio Hour Quarterly, a new live radio series at the Black Rock Pub (Addison & Damen).

Amanda Link will direct FEVER DREAM, which will be presented alongside 3 other radio plays, all accompanied by live music.  Come check it out tomorrow night, and see Whiskey Rebellion’s Facebook event for more info on the artists involved!

BREWED is open (and the fists are flying)

Update: BREWED closed on March 24 after a very successful run at Theater Wit. Thanks to everyone who came out to see the show! Stay tuned.

The Ruckus and Tympanic co-production of BREWED is now open and runs through March 24!  You can get your tickets here, and if you use the discount codeword SISTER you’ll get $5 off our first two Thursday performances (3/7 and 3/14).  Check out some snippets from early reviews below.

RECOMMENDED “When the first line of a play is “motherfucker,” you know you’re probably in for a good time.  BREWED is a lively production full of everything from ultra violence to the supernatural and even some dark family issues.”  ~ New City, John Accrocco (full review)

“My brother and I sometimes fight, but in the world of BREWED the sisters look like they are auditioning for Fight Club (by the time the play was over there were mangled feet, bloodied noses, and blackened eyes)…BREWED is recommended for its very dark satire and wickedly awesome fight scenes.” ~ Splash Magazine Chicago, Noel Schecter (full review)

“[C]austic, darkly funny family drama…What does it mean when loyalty among sisters might in fact be a dirty word? What happens when you can’t turn your back on a person who may be psychotic? What happens when all that estrogen starts to resemble testosterone? I suspect it would look a little something like BREWED.” ~ Chicago Tribune, Nina Metz (full review)

YOU AND ME, SISTER…

(Photos by Gerard Van Halsema)

BREWED co-production opening soon!

On March 2, the joint Ruckus and Tympanic Theatre production of BREWED opens at Theater Wit (1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago).  You can get advance tickets here!

It’s almost surreal.  BREWED has been such a long time coming, with many iterations in festivals, staged readings, and workshops.  I started writing BREWED in 2005, and Anna and I first worked on it together in 2008.  I’ve lived with this family for so long, and I’m out of my mind excited to finally share them in all their brutal wonder.

The badass cast is made up of Dana Black as Juliette, Stevie Chaddock-Lambert as Babette, Charlotte Mae Ellison as Collette, Meredith Rae Lyons as Nannette, Susan Myburgh as Roxette, Erin Myers as Paulette, and Elise Mayfield as Lee.

Violence design by R&D Choreography.  Scenic design by Dustin Pettegrew.  Lighting design by Christine Grodecki & Brian Berman.  Sound design by Maxwell Shults.  Costume design by Ashley Ann Woods.  Props design by Casey Bentley.  Makeup design by Chrissy Weisenburger.  Prosthetic design by Ruth McCormack.

Directed by the intrepid Anna C. Bahow, with assistant director Casey Cunningham, stage manager Holly McCauley, assistant stage manager Lizzy Powers, and production manager Brian Ruby.

Tympanic Theatre Company and The Ruckus present

BREWED

by Scott T. Barsotti

directed by Anna C. Bahow

March 2-24

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm

@ Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

The task is stirring a pot…all day, every day. The sisters don’t share it as they once did. With Nannette busy racing stock cars and Roxette off doing her own thing, the others are left to shoulder the burden. But Paulette is fed up; Collette is clueless; and Babette, crippled in more ways than one, is volatile. Juliette does her best to maintain order and civility…for now. But why must they do this? And where else can fights go when you already use your fists?

When Roxette brings her new girlfriend home and calls everyone together, old venom bubbles up and grievance flares, setting into motion an impossible moral struggle. BREWED is a play about gatherings, sacrifice, and the dark art of obligation.

(Psst…by the way, east coasters…BREWED will be going up in Boston in the fall of 2013 with Happy Medium Theatre)

(Photos by Gerard Van Halsema)