City Lit Theater

City Lit Theater will present its first festival of literary adaptations, The Art of Adaptation, August 17-19, 2007, Artistic Director Terry McCabe announced.  The festival will feature seven world premieres of stage adaptations of six pieces of fiction and one ancient mythic poem, chosen from 43 submissions to the festival.

"It's a fascinating assortment of voices," McCabe added.  "A comic tour de force about a talking dog in Lakeview, a PEN/Hemingway Award winner about a Korean-American man caught up in espionage, a darkly funny parable about the inter-relatedness of love potions and poison, an ancient Viking poem about the end of the world, a heartbreaking story of a young Belfast woman who unwittingly places herself in danger by reading graffiti, and classic stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Edgar Allan Poe.  Each of these seven pieces has been turned into an imaginative script by a talented adaptor, and we're proud to be presenting them all on our stage."

The Art of Adaptation is a competitive juried festival.  Four of the pieces will perform on Friday evening, August 17, and the other three will perform on Saturday evening, August 18.  All seven pieces will perform a second time on Sunday, August 19, as part of a festival-ending marathon.  At the end of Sunday's performance one of the seven adaptations will be named the best of the festival and awarded a $500.00 cash prize.  The judges for The Art of Adaptation are Bernard Beck, a member of Piven Theatre Workshop and an original cast member of Paul Sills's groundbreaking Story Theatre adaptation, Christina Calvit, four-time Jeff-winning adaptor based at Lifeline Theatre, and Paul Edwards, professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University and two-time Jeff winner for adaptations produced at the old Roadworks Theatre.  The Art of Adaptation is funded in part by The Saints, Chicago's volunteer organization for the arts.

The seven adaptations in the festival, listed alphabetically by title, are:

  • The Chaser by John Collier, adapted by Ed Rutherford
  • The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, adapted by Stephen F. Murray
  • Frigg's Grief, adapted from the ancient Scandinavian poem Voluspa (The Seeress Prophecy)by Russell Berns
  • Native Speaker by Chang Rae-Lee, adapted by Nambi E. Kelly
  • Taibele and Her Demon by Isaac Bashevis Singer, adapted by Jordan Mann
  • The Wall-Reader by Fiona Barr, adapted by Thomas Murray
  • Why Dogs Don't Talk by Dean Monti, adapted by David Rice

    • The performance schedule for The Art of Adaptation is as follows:

    Friday, August 17 at 8:00 p.m.
    Native Speaker
    The Wall-Reader
    Frigg's Grief
    The Chaser

    Saturday, August 18 at 8:00 p.m.
    The Fall of the House of Usher
    Taibele and Her Demon
    Why Dogs Don't Talk

    Sunday, August 19 at 3:00 p.m.
    Native Speaker
    The Wall-Reader
    Frigg's Grief
    The Chaser
    The Fall of the House of Usher
    Taibele and Her Demon
    Why Dogs Don't Talk

    City Lit Theater is located in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, one block west of Sheridan Road and a block and a half east of the Bryn Mawr Red Line L stop. The 84 Peterson bus, the 147 Lake Shore Express bus, and the 151 Sheridan bus all stop near City Lit. Valet parking is available for theatre customers at Francesca’s Restaurant, located across the street from City Lit.  Discounted self-parking is available for theatre customers with validation from the Edgewater Beach Café, located one block east of the theatre.

    City Lit specializes in literate theatre, including stage adaptations of literary material.  Its 28th season opens September 3 with the world premiere of McCabe's adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.  City Lit's work during 2007-2008 is supported in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs CityArts program, the Alphawood Foundation, Chase Bank, Kraft, Polk Bros. Foundation, and The Saints.  Its outreach program is sponsored in part by A.R.T. League.  For subscription information, call 773-293-3682.