Theatre News Wire

AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to welcome back live audiences this fall, kicking off with a revival of Yasmina Reza's frenetic dark comedy God of Carnage, translated by Christopher Hampton and co-directed by directed by Derek Bertelsen and Robert Tobin. The cast includes Maggie Antonijevic, Mike Newquist Erin O'Brien and Mark Tacderas. As part of the company's ongoing Salon Series, artists from this year's production will join those who worked on AstonRep's 2012 production of God of Carnage for a discussion about the show to be streamed for free during the run.

The season continues this winter with AstonRep's 13th Annual Writer's Series, featuring free readings of new works by emerging writers. This year's two-day festival will take place virtually via Zoom.

AstonRep's 2021-22 season concludes next spring with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Treem's courageous drama When We Were Young and Unafraid, directed by Sara Pavlak McGuire. The company's original production was in rehearsals in spring 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

God of Carnage and When We Were Young and Unafraid will be staged on The Edge Off-Broadway Theatre, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave. in Chicago. Tickets for all productions will go on sale at a later date. 


AstonRep Theatre Company's 2021-22 Season includes:

November 12 - December 12, 2021
God of Carnage
By Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Co-Directed by Derek Bertelsen and Robert Tobin
Featuring Maggie Antonijevic (Annette), Mike Newquist (Michael), Erin O'Brien* (Veronica) and Mark Tacderas (Alan).
at The Edge Off-Broadway Theatre, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago

Two high-strung couples, Alan and Annette Raleigh and Michael and Veronica Novak, decide to meet one evening for a civilized discussion about a playground altercation between their two young sons. What follows is a comically explosive downhill slide from polite, political correctness to full-on character assassination. A no-holds-barred look at what happens when the littlest things end up pushing us completely over the edge.

January 29 - 30, 2022
The 13th Annual Writer's Series - Virtual Performances!
Titles to be announced.

Since the company's founding, AstonRep has hosted its annual Writer's Series - a festival featuring Chicago-based and national playwrights who get an opportunity to workshop near-finished plays and works in development. This season's readings will be streamed for free via Zoom, followed by talkback sessions with the writers.

May 13 - June 12, 2022
When We Were Young and Unafraid 
By Sarah Treem
Directed by Sara Pavlak McGuire
at The Edge Off-Broadway Theatre, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago

In the early 1970s, before Roe v. Wade, before the Violence Against Women Act, Agnes has turned her quiet bed and breakfast into one of the few spots where victims of domestic violence can seek refuge. But to Agnes's dismay, her latest runaway, Mary Anne, is beginning to influence Agnes's college-bound daughter Penny. As the drums of a feminist revolution grow louder outside of Agnes's tiny world, Agnes is forced to confront her own presumptions about the women she's spent her life trying to help.