Theatre News Wire

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announced today casting for its 25th Anniversary Season production of The Feast: an intimate Tempest, an original CST commission and artistic collaboration with Redmoon. A bold collision of text with extraordinary objects and imagery ignites this muscular, innovative adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest-carved out by three actors, a menagerie of handcrafted puppets, and original music and animations. Co-created and co-directed by Jessica Thebus and Frank Maugeri and developed for CST by Creative Producer Rick Boynton, the production features John Judd as Prospero with Adrian Danzig as Caliban and Samuel Taylor as Ariel.

The Feast: an intimate Tempest was developed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through several workshops in 2011. Performing role of Prospero is John Judd, a multiple Jeff Award nominee who has worked across Chicago at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Court Theatre and Writers' Theatre. Judd's recent film and TV credits include a recurring role on the STARZ series Boss, Public Enemies and Chicago Code. Adrian Danzig, appearing as Caliban, is a co-founder and producing artistic director of 500 Clown, a Chicago company specializing in action-based performance, improvisation and circus arts. Danzig has worked with Goodman Theatre, The Second City and The Public Theater in New York. Performing the role of Ariel is Samuel Taylor, who has appeared onstage at Redmoon, Lookingglass Theater Company and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, in addition to numerous Shakespeare productions with the Guthrie Theater. Taylor also played a recurring role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Co-Creators and Co-Directors Jessica Thebus and Frank Maugeri last worked at CST on Redmoon's production of Salao: The Worst Kind of Unlucky, an inventive telling of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea presented Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Maugeri, the co-artistic director of Redmoon, led hundreds of collaborators to create the large-scale animation graphic novel The Astronaut's Birthday, projected on the 80-foot façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art in September 2010. Other recent projects include the remount and Brazilian tour of the critically acclaimed The Cabinet, which he originally conceived and directed; the co-direction of Festival J.O.E.: A Joyous Outdoor Event around Chicago's Belmont Harbor; and the Chicago Humanities Festival's "Stages, Sights, and Sounds" festival, which featured Cape and Squiggle and Laika's Coffin.

Multiple Jeff Award-nominated director Jessica Thebus is an Associate Artist at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where her credits include Intimate Apparel, Dead Man's Cell Phone, No Place Like Home, When the Messenger is Hot (also at 59 E. 59th in NYC) Sonia Flew and Sex with Strangers (First Look Repertory of New Work). Thebus' credits across Chicago include the world premiere of Stage Kiss at Goodman Theatre and productions for Victory Gardens Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Court Theatre and About Face Theatre. She is a faculty member in the Directing Program at Northwestern University and an artistic associate at The Corn Exchange in Dublin, Ireland.

The creative team for The Feast: an intimate Tempest includes Art Director/2D and Silhouette Puppet Designer Andrea Everman, 3D Puppet Designer Jesse Mooney-Bullock, Scenic Designer Neil Verplank, Light Designer Andrew Myers, Projection Designer Mike Tutaj, Composer/Sound Designer Jeff Thomas and Costume Designer Sue Haas.
 
The Feast: an intimate Tempest runs January 18 through March 11, 2012 Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Tickets are on sale now for $35-$45 with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. All patrons receive a 40% discount on guaranteed parking in Navy Pier garages. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com/feast.