Lead individual support provided by Raymond and Judy McCaskey, Burton X. and Sheli Z. Rosenberg, Timothy R. Schwertfeger and Gail Waller, Carl and Marilynn Thoma, and Donna Van Eekeren Foundation.

BARBARA GAINESArtistic DirectorCarl and Marilynn Thoma Chair

CRISS HENDERSON Executive Director

Annual support perennially provided by The Davee Foundation WorldStage Fund

PRODUCTION SUPPORT GIVEN In Memory of Doris Conant

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, Chicago Shakespeare has redefined what a great American Shakespeare theater can be—a company that defies theatrical category. This Regional Tony Award-winning theater’s year-round season features as many as twenty productions and 650 performances—including plays,

musicals, world premieres, family programming, and presentations from around the globe. The work is enjoyed by 225,000 audience members annually, with one in four under the age of eighteen. Chicago Shakespeare is the city’s leading producer of international work, and touring its own productions across five continents has garnered multiple accolades, including the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. Emblematic of its role as a global theater, the company spearheaded Shakespeare 400 Chicago, celebrating Shakespeare’s legacy in a citywide, yearlong international arts and culture festival, which engaged 1.1 million people. The Theater’s nationally acclaimed arts in literacy programs support the work of English and drama teachers, and bring Shakespeare to life on stage for tens of thousands of their students each school year. Over the summer, the company tours a professional production of Shakespeare’s work, free for all, to neighborhood parks across the city. In 2017 the Theater unveiled The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare—with its innovative design that has changed the shape of theater architecture. Together with the Jentes Family Courtyard Theater and the Thoma Theater Upstairs, The Yard positions Chicago Shakespeare as the city’s most versatile performing arts center.

–THE STAGE

PART OF

#CHICAGOSHAKES #USTHEM

MAJOR 2018/19 SEASON SUPPORTERS

written and directed by CARLY WIJS

ARTISTICRICK BOYNTON Creative Producer

BOB MASON Artistic Associate/ Casting Director

AISLINN FRANTZ Associate Producer

DOREEN SAYEGH Manager of International and Special Projects

ROSIE BROSS Producing Assistant

DIEGO ZOZAYA Interim Casting Assistant

MIKEY GRAY Assistant to the Creative Producer

ALYSSA SOTO Casting Intern

MANAGEMENTDEBORAH VANDERGRIFT General Manager

DANIEL J. HESS Company Manager

KEVIN SPELLMAN Associate General Manager

SAMANTHA BRAZILLER Executive Assistant

BEN GATES-UTTER Company Management Associate

EDWARD McCREARY KRISSI McEACHERN Arts Leadership Fellows

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTMARILYN J. HALPERIN Director of Education and Communications Ray and Judy McCaskey Chair

JASON HARRINGTON Education Outreach Manager

MOLLY TRUGLIA Learning Programs Manager

SARA B.T. THIEL, PH.D Public Humanities Manager

PASSION ROCHELLE ANASTASIA WRENN Education Interns

FINANCELINDA ORELLANA Director of Finance

DAN GRYCZA Human Resources Manager/ Finance Associate

ALANA RYBAK Assistant Director of Finance

ALYSSE HUNTER Accounting Manager

BECKY TRAISMAN Accounting Associate

ADVANCEMENTE. BROOKE FLANAGAN Managing Director for Advancement and External Affairs

DOTTIE BRIS-BOIS Associate Director of Advancement

JENNY SEIDELMAN Director of Partnerships

KRISTEN CARUSO Senior Advancement Manager/Board Liaison

GRACE SCHNECK Advancement Manager

BRYAN HOWARD Grant Writer

EMILY McCLANATHAN Advancement Communications Coordinator

KARL SISSMAN VIP Concierge and Stewardship Coordinator

VIKTORIA STEFANOVA Donor Records and Data Coordinator

FRANCZESKA VELEZ Advancement Coordinator

MELANIE LEFTAKES Advancement Intern

MARKETINGJULIE STANTON Director of Marketing and Sales

HANNAH KENNEDY Public Relations Director

CATHY TAYLOR Public Relations Consultant

AMANDA CANTLIN Senior Marketing Manager

JESSICA CONNOR Marketing and Communications Associate

MIKAYLA SHAW Marketing Assistant

ABIGAIL TOTH Digital Marketing Manager

DANIEL WALTERS Marketing and Communications Designer

AARON WEGNER Marketing Manager, Insights and Analytics

RACHEL HOLDERMAN MADISON KESSELRING Marketing Interns

PRODUCTIONCHRIS PLEVIN Director of Production

JEFF WILLIAMS Associate Director of Production

EMMALINE KEDDY-HECTOR Production Coordinator

ALEXA BERKOWITZ Production Office Manager

ALEXIS FACEMYRE Production Management Apprentice

STAGE MANAGEMENTDEBORAH ACKER Production Stage Manager/Associate Producer

MARY HUNGERFORD Stage Manager

SCENERYANGELA McMAHON ROBERT L. WILSON Scenery Supervisors

CALEB McANDREW Technical Coordinator

JACK BIRDWELL TYLER GUYNES ADAM HELD MICHAEL JANSSENS ADAM TODD House Carpenters

COSTUMESRYAN MAGNUSON Costume Shop Manager

CATHY TANTILLO Costume Design Assistant

REBECCA DOROSHUK Wardrobe Supervisor

ELECTRICSJEFF GLASS Lighting Supervisor

ALEC THORNE Assistant Lighting Supervisor

JOAN E. CLAUSSEN Lighting Crew Head

MARTHA TEMPLETON Lighting Technician

BRIAN ELSTON MEGHAN ERXLEBEN TRISTAN MEREDITH ALI WOJCIEWICZ Electricians

SOUNDJOSEPH DISBROW Sound Crew Head

MAT PIOTROWSKI Sound Technician

WIGS AND MAKE-UPRICHARD JARVIE Wig and Make-up Supervisor

MIGUEL ARMSTRONG Wig and Make-up Assistant

MEGAN PIRTLE Wig and Make-up Apprentice

PROPERTIES CASSANDRA WESTOVER Properties Supervisor

MARA RICH Assistant Properties Supervisor

LISA GRIEBEL Properties Carpenter

OPERATIONS/FACILITIESSUSAN KNILL Facilities and Operations Director

JEANNE DEVORE Technology Manager

DANIEL LOPEZ Assistant Facilities Manager

FELIX ROSS Custodial Supervisor

DWAYNE BREWER FLOYD CONWAY MARIBEL CUEVAS RESHARD HUFF OCTAVIOUS MOODY TAMAL STEVENS RICHARD TENNY SHENISE THOMAS Custodial Assistants

TICKETING, GUEST SERVICES AND EVENTSMAKEDA COHRAN Events Director

CAITLIN DUNLAP Front of House Coordinator/ House Manager

VICTORIA GILBERT RAECHEL KARAS JENN OSWALD ALEX ROGGOW House Managers

MEL GILL Concessions Supervisor

BESSIE BESS ERIN HUNTER JENNIFER SLOAN Interim Box Office Supervisors

MICHAEL RUSSELL JACQUELINE POJASEK Concessions Leads

ANTHONY BALDASARE DANIEL BALSAMO REBECCA BOERMAN TYRA BULLOCK MEGAN CLAUHS BYRON COOLIE ANGELA COTEY SARA CROUNSE NICK CUELLAR MEAGAN EDWARDS JEFFREY GOUGIS TIFFANY GOUGIS BRITTNEY GRANT MAYA HOPKINS KATE LASS BRI MCCABE WILL NICHOLSON DIANNE NORA ZACHARY PARKHURST DARA PRENTISS MAYA PRENTISS KATIE RANEY XAVIER ROE ANTHONY SANTIAGO AUDREY SIMON EMIL SUECK HANNAH WILLIAMS Front of House Associates

SARA BENBELLA ANEYA COBBS BLAKE CORDELL AARON ROBERTS ZOE ROSENFELD Box Office Associates

In 2013 I was asked to create a performance for BRONKS. The terrorist attack in a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, had just occurred. I had read about it in the newspapers and watched footage of it on television; I had not discussed it with my then eight-year-old son.But he had seen it for himself on the news and he came to tell me. The way he talked about the attack was very specific: objective, with the ability to overlook the emotional implications. He handled the news factually, as a sequence of events, and without connecting it to a judgment. It was as if the horror for him as an eight-year-old child had a completely different meaning because it was not possible to relate to his own life. A child, unlike an adult, does not think: ‘That could have been me.’ My son’s reaction to this attack gave me the idea to work around the Beslan school siege of September 2004 in the new piece that I was creating for BRONKS.If you type ‘Beslan’ into Google and look at the pictures, it is riveting. You cannot let go of the horror. The fact that it involved children makes that feeling even stronger. But how can we put such indescribable acts on stage? How can we make something that is totally incomprehensible, understandable? And isn’t it taboo to make a piece of theater about terrorism for audiences that include children?Ultimately, no subject is too taboo for children. It is just important that you use the right words. Discussing the topic of terrorism with children is a challenge, but it can be done.Why Beslan? The siege took place at a school, and the first day of school is something to which every child can relate. The fact that the terrorists chose that specific day and location to stage their attack reflects a profound perversion–but I did not want to talk about that. That is just an ongoing debate among adults: why is this happening? A child cannot and does not have to answer that question. That is the privilege of being a child.Whilst doing research, I came across a BBC documentary called Children of Beslan, in which the story of the siege is told by some of the children who were held hostage. These children gave factual accounts of those events, just as my son had done with the Nairobi attack. Aloof, almost. Which, of course, does not mean that these children do not have an enormous trauma to process. Unfortunately, the ramifications of what happened to them will probably hit them when they grow up. But the only thing that seemed to count for the children in the documentary was the story that was told as accurately as possible.It was because of this documentary that I decided to tell the story entirely from the perspective of children: one boy and one girl. There is a difference between their perspectives, but they both try to be precise in their accounts of what happened during the three-day siege.Sometimes children flee from horror, straight into the comforting arms of imagination. In the documentary, a boy fantasized that Harry Potter would arrive wearing his invisibility cloak and kill the terrorists one by one. Others fantasized that they were part of a film and none of it was really happening to them. In the play, the children devise their own endings to the siege that are either extremely happy or extremely sad.Almost 1,200 people, including 777 children, were held hostage during the siege. Outside the school there must have been several thousand people. And yet, in the news footage, Google search, and documentaries, you keep seeing the same group of about fifty photogenic people. In all of the footage that has survived from those fateful days, it’s always the scenes of greatest desperation and devastation that play on a loop, that come back time and time again. Even though the story–and other stories like it–need no further dramatization, the media keep pushing that sentimental ‘drama’ button. And we keep watching.The manipulation of our feelings, and the fact we allow it to happen, is neither innocent nor inconsequential. If–or when–we are blinded and overwhelmed by emotions, we stop being able to think and reflect and analyze. Our only response becomes ‘Oh my god, this is terrible.’ And yet it is essential that we don’t stop thinking and reflecting and analyzing. Only by doing so can we get to the origins of these atrocities–and then, we hope, start to think about preventing them.As adults, we are conditioned by our overly dramatized perspective, by the media, by ourselves, into black-and-white thinking: ‘Us’ versus ‘Them.’ The refreshing thing about a child’s gaze is that it is not colored by the need for ‘dramatic interpretation’ because that view of things does not connect to their own life. And if it does connect to their own life, it is tackled through imagination. That is what Us/Them is about.

A NOTE FROM WRITER/DIRECTOR CARLY WIJS

BRONKS’SFROM BELGIUM

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER, BRONKS, and RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS WITH THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH and BIG IN BELGIUM

IN ASSOCIATION WITH SUMMERHALL present

Big in Belgium—Chicago is curated by Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Richard Jordan Productions, and David Bauwens, and developed with Theatre Royal Plymouth.

Cast GYTHA PARMENTIER ROMAN VAN HOUTVEN

Writer & Director CARLY WIJS

Created with THOMAS VANTUYCOM

Designer STEF STESSEL

Lighting THOMAS CLAUSE

Sound PETER BRUGHMANS

Dramaturg MIEKE VERSYP

CST Stage Manager MARY HUNGERFORD* *denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Run Time: 60 minutes (no intermission)

THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH is the largest and best-attended regional producing theater in the UK and the leading promoter of theater in the South West. Theatre Royal Plymouth produces and presents a broad range of theater, including classic and contemporary drama, musicals, opera, ballet, and dance in its three distinct performance spaces—The Lyric, The Drum, and The Lab. Theatre Royal Plymouth specializes in the production of new plays, and has built a national reputation for the quality and innovation of its program. Recent Theatre Royal Plymouth productions include: Monster Raving Loony by James Graham; The Man with the Hammer by Phil Porter; The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez; After Electra by April de Angelis; Grand Guignol; Horse Piss for Blood by Carl Grose; Merit by Alexandra Wood; Another Place by DC Moore; Chekhov in Hell by Dan Rebellato; The Astronaut’s Chair by Rona Munro; Solid Air by Doug Lucie; and MAD MAN by Chris Goode. The Theatre Royal Plymouth also collaborates with some of the best artists and theater-makers in the UK and internationally. It regularly co-produces with: Ontroerend Goed; Richard Jordan Productions; Vooruit (World Without Us, Are we not drawn onward to new erA, Sirens, Fight Night, Audience, All That Is Wrong, Under the Influence, Teenage Riot); Paines Plough (The Angry Brigade by James Graham, Love Love Love by Mike Bartlett); Frantic Assembly (Othello, The Believers by Bryony Lavery, Lovesong by Abi Morgan); Told by an Idiot (My Perfect Mind, And the Horse You Rode in On); and Graeae (The Solid Life of Sugar Water).

SUMMERHALL presents engaging, challenging and exhilarating visual arts, theater, dance, music, literature, and education for people of all ages in the unique buildings of Edinburgh’s former Royal (Dick) Veterinary College. Summerhall hosts diverse programs of visual and performance art throughout the year, as well as events, parties, other festivals, and workshops–even weddings. Summerhall provides workspaces for artists, innovators, and community organizations, as well as encouraging the creation and application of new technologies in its high tech hub–the TechCube.

RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS is an Olivier and Tony Award-winning production company under the leadership of British producer Richard Jordan. Based in London, the company was founded in 1998 and enjoys associations with many of the world’s leading theaters and arts organizations. It has produced over 230 productions, including seventy world premieres and ninety-one US, UK, and Australian premieres by new and established writers, artists, and companies. The company’s past productions have won a number of major awards including: the Laurence Olivier Award; sixteen Scotsman Fringe Firsts; seven Total Theatre Awards; two Herald Angel Awards; two Jeff Awards; the Emmy Award; the Off-West End Award; the U.S. Black Alliance Award; the John Gassner Award; the Obie Award; three Helen Hayes Awards; the Tony Award (and eleven other Tony nominations); Drama Desk, Drama League, New York Critics, Broadway.com, and Outer Critic Circle Best New Play Awards. In 2013 Mr. Jordan became the first British producer to have won every notable Broadway and off-Broadway Best New Play Award. Described by The Stage newspaper “as one of the UK’s most prolific theatre producers” and named seven times in their annual list of the top 100 UK theater professionals, he was the first recipient of the TIF/Society of London Theatre Producers Award. Mr. Jordan enjoys a close relationship with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, with which he has produced: Itsoseng; enroute; A History of Everything; Roadkill; Dickens’ Women; BigMouth; Fight Night; Cadre; Since I Suppose; Circolombia – Acéléré; David Carl’s Celebrity One-Man Hamlet; undreamed shores; the London and New York premieres, Chicago season, and world tours of The Q Brothers’ Funk It Up About Nothin’ and Othello: The Remix, and the Chicago world premiere and revivals of Q Brothers Christmas Carol. For more information, please email: info@richardjordanproductions.com.

BRONKS’S

JANUARY 22–FEBRUARY 3, 2019

PROFILES GYTHA PARMENTIER (Cast) recently graduated from the KASK in Ghent. She previously worked as an actress with het KIP, Luxemburg vzw, and Alain Platel.

ROMAN VAN HOUTVEN (Cast) trained at P.A.R.T.S. dance school. During and after his studies, he worked on projects with fABULEUS, Impuls Company, Dancingkids (Rosas Education), DE studio, Galacticamendum, and Daniel Linehan/Hiatus. In association with BRONKS, De Munt, and Q-O2, he choreographed the music theater production Frankenstein.

CARLY WIJS (Writer/Director) is a writer and theater-maker, and has performed as an actress with Wim Vandekeybus/Ultima Vez, Guy Cassiers, Josse De Pauw, De Roovers, KOPERGIETERY, and Muziektheater Transparant. Her productions have toured internationally. Ms. Wijs is regularly invited to be a guest lecturer at the RITS and P.A.R.T.S. (both in Brussels). Her first novel, The Doubt Experiment, was published in May 2016 and was nominated for the Flemish debut prize “The Bronze Owl.” In 2016 Us/Them won an Edinburgh Fringe Festival First Award.

THOMAS VANTUYCOM (Collaborative Artist) graduated from the P.A.R.T.S. dance school. He previously worked with Carly Wijs and with fABULEUS in several dance and theater projects. Since 2015 he danced with Rosas, the renowned company headed by Anne Teresa Dekeersmaeker.

STEF STESSEL (Designer) has worked as a designer on several theater productions by HETPALEIS, de Roovers, Toneelhuis, and other companies.

MIEKE VERSYP (Dramaturg) has previously worked as dramaturg on Carly Wijs’ De papa, de mama end de nazi for KOPERGIETERY, as well as on productions with Studio Okra and Ontroerend Goed. She has written several children’s books, including Linus and Soepletters.

MARY HUNGERFORD (CST Stage Manager) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: The Merchant of Venice, I Malvolio, Short Shakespeare! Twelfth Night, CPS Shakespeare productions of Othello, Hamlet. CHICAGO: Familiar, You Got Older, Hir, Ironbound, Buena Vista, Drunken City (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, Hard Times, Blood Wedding, Treasure Island, Moby Dick, Lookingglass Alice (Lookingglass Theatre Company); The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre Company). REGIONAL: Moby Dick (Lookingglass Theatre Company, co-production with Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, South Coast Repertory).

BRONKS is a Brussels-based art house with a focus on theater for young audiences. The artistic guidance is in the hands of Veerle Kerckhove. With its artistic and education activities, BRONKS aims to stimulate children, youth, and their environment to discover and explore the possibilities in ourselves and in the world. Each season, BRONKS invites several artists to make a production for children or youth, work that results in three in-house productions per year, presented not only in the BRONKS theater, but also on tour. By offering both new theater-makers and established names and artists from other disciplines the opportunity to create their first performance for children, BRONKS aims to generate enthusiasm for the performing arts for a young audience. In addition to its own work, BRONKS also presents guest productions from new and experienced companies from Flanders, the Netherlands, and sometimes other countries. BRONKS focuses not only on theater, but also on music, dance, the visual arts, and film. BRONKS has developed extensive educational activities for schools, as well as for children and youth who wish to pursue the performing arts in their free time. Students and teachers can come to BRONKS for school performances, post-performance discussions, meetings, workshops, and long-term theater projects. STUDIO BRONKS also organizes workshops outside school hours in which children and youth can actively explore the theater medium.

BIG IN BELGIUM, now in its sixth year, provides a platform for some of the most significant theater companies from the Flemish part of Belgium. Each of the shows was successful on the European mainland before being chosen for its British premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe, where many have received multiple awards. A number of these productions have subsequently toured internationally. Big in Belgium was also created with the vision of being able to play as a season of Flemish works in other cities around the world. In April 2018 Big in Belgium presented its first of these seasons in Vancouver, and is currently curating a five-month program of works with Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Curated by David Bauwens, executive produced by Richard Jordan Productions, and developed with Theatre Royal Plymouth, Big in Belgium presents productions that are breaking new ground in English-speaking territories, aiming to create a greater visibility for Flemish theater on the international scene.

pictured throughout: Gytha Parmentier and Roman Van Houtven; photos by FKPH and Murdo McLeod

Learn more about upcoming Chicago Shakespeare productions at www.chicagoshakes.com

E. BROOKE FLANAGAN Managing Director for

Advancement and External Affairs

RICK BOYNTON Creative Producer

BARBARA GAINESArtistic Director

Carl and Marilynn Thoma Chair

CRISS HENDERSON Executive Director

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER, BRONKS, and RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS WITH THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH and BIG IN BELGIUM

IN ASSOCIATION WITH SUMMERHALL present