Livewire Chicago Theatre announces the line-up for its second annual VisionFest 2009, a short play festival exposing new voices to the community with a strong emphasis on conversation and audience feedback.
This year, LiveWire chose to use a shared environment in which all the different worlds would unfold. Through an online poll, the public voted for “Street Corner” and playwrights from across the country submitted their original work for consideration.
From Aug. 6 to Aug. 15, six versatile Chicago premiere short works will take place on the same street corner inside the Chemically Imbalanced Theater, 1420 W. Irving Park Rd. All shows begins at 8pm. Tickets are $10-15 and are currently on sale.
To purchase tickets go to brownpapertickets.com, livewirechicago.com or by calling the Livewire box office at 312-533-4666.
Mixing the hilarious with the dramatic, the dynamic line-up for VisionFest 2009 is:
“Fat Petey Gets it All Wrong”
Written by Ron Frankel (New Lebanon, N.Y.)
Directed by Glenn Proud, LiveWire Artistic Director
Larry has cheated on his wife. To spare her pain in discovering this, he decides to have her killed. Unfortunately, the hit man he chooses may not be the right person for the job.
“The Corner of Glamis and Cawdor”
Written by Michael W. Moon (Aurora, Ill.)
Directed by Amber Hilgenkamp, LiveWire Collective Member
In this retelling of the story of Macbeth, a street corner becomes Scotland and a witch, a shrouded figure, and an overacting Lady Macbeth help a young man learn the meaning of
“something wicked this way comes.”
“BE”
Written and Directed by Erin Barlow (Tulsa, Okla.), LiveWire Collective Member
A portrait of two young adults, Sarah and Dave, concluding their first date, both desperate to make a connection with another human being; however, their individual tactics are
fundamentally divergent.
“Canceling Christmas”
Written by James Armstrong (New York, N.Y.)
Directed by Glenn Proud
Imagining what might have happened when citizens first heard the news that a puritanical British parliament had banned the celebration of Christmas. Based on the true story of the
Canterbury Christmas riots of 1647.
“Recognition”
Written by Elizabeth Nell Dubus (Prairieville, La.)
Directed by Joshua Aaron Weinstein, LiveWire Executive Director
A man—a woman—an urban park at twilight. A romantic engagement? Chance encounter? Adulterous lovers meeting for the first time? The last time? Or two ships
passing in the night—or—nothing at all.
“Waiting for Oprah”
Performance piece created by Madeline Long (Arlington, Va.), LiveWire Collective Member
Strangers on a street corner somewhere outside Harpo Studios search for a reason why they wait for the-one-and-only… and why she’s going to make everything okay.
About VisionFest 2009
VisionFest 2009 runs Aug. 6 – 15; Thurs., Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased through brownpapertickets.com, livewirechicago.com or by calling the Livewire box office at 312-533-4666. Industry/students/senior tickets available for $10.
Advance tickets available for $10; offer ends Aug. 5. For more info, visit livewirechicago.com.
About Livewire Chicago Theatre
Incorporated in 2006, LiveWire Chicago Theatre has produced three seasons of new and established work scaling all genres. The 2006-07 season presented Jean-Paul Sartre’s mind-bending “No Exit,” described by Time Out Chicago as “appropriately dark and chilling” and received a four-star rating.
Resident Playwright Joshua Aaron Weinstein’s mysterious new love story “A/other Lover” premiered in February 2007. A time-shifting drama on plagiarism, love and murder, the production showcased the LiveWire Collective and garnered positive reviews. Time Out Chicago hailed, “there’s much to admire about director-writer Weinstein” and described the play as a “real joy.”
The season concluded with the epic tragedy “Love of the Nightingale” by Timberlake Wertenbaker. The production was praised by the Chicago Reader as “highly recommended…. neither rigidly classical nor self-consciously modern, placing the story in a thoughtful approximate antiquity,” and Windy City Times declared the production to be “…filled with plenty of standout performances.”
Livewire Chicago Theatre is a collective company of artists with a common drive to develop theatre that is unique and vital to the world we live in. Our mission is to expose honesty in the modern theatre of both new and established playwrights. We aim to provoke, shock and enlighten.
Learn more at livewirechicago.com. General inquires can be sent to P.O. Box 11226, Chicago, Ill., 60611-0226 or email info@livewirechicago.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Madeline Long, 703-600-9521
madeline@livewirechicago.com
Joshua Weinstein, 773-885-6033
joshua@livewirechicago.com