Theatre News Wire

Edward Carr, an ordinary man, an adoring father of four and a successful business owner, sees his world shattered by the death of his beloved wife JoJo. Through his grief, he picks through his past, piecing together the story of his life, like the wrecks of the cars he so lovingly restores. In this fiercely passionate, unflinching and concise powerhouse of a play, LaBute explores the boundaries of love, and the extent of what society accepts as opposed to what the heart desires.

 

Commissioned and produced by the Everyman Palace Theatre in Cork, Ireland as part of the city's Capital of Culture program, Wrecks premiered in 2005. In 2006, it received its American debut at the Public Theatre in New York, followed by an extended run. Both productions, directed by Neil LaBute, starred Ed Harris as Edward Carr.

 

This marks Profiles Theatre's eleventh premiere by Neil LaBute, now a Resident Artist at Profiles. Previous productions include the World premiere of the revised stage version of In The Company of Men (Jeff Nomination for Best New Adaptation), the American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep and acclaimed Midwest premieres of reasons to be pretty, The Mercy Seat, and Fat Pig.

 

Guest Director Jason Gerace, an Artistic Associate of American Theater Company, directed their production of It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play since 2009, and also Associate Directed the World Premiere of The Big Meal. Guest Artist John Judd marks his Profiles Theatre debut follwing recent appearances in Measure for Measure and The Iceman Cometh at the Goodman as well as Three Sisters and Clybourne Park at Steppenwolf.

 

"It's so great to have another play safely in the hands of Profiles Theatre," says playwright Neil LaBute. "I love this story and I am grateful to have a Midwestern home for this kind of material, where I know it will not only be taken care of but will be pushed to within an inch of its theatrical life and asked to pull its own weight in front of their very savvy audiences. Profiles does theater the way it was intended to be done: in your lap and in your face."

 

The designers for Wrecks are Eric Broadwater (set), Mike Durst (lights), Jeffrey Levin (sound and original music), and Raquel Adorno (costumes), with Jessica Winn serving as stage manager.

 

Profiles Theatre, currently celebrating their 25th Anniversary Season, will alternate four more productions between their two venues, The Main Stage at 4139 N. Broadway and The Alley Stage at 4147 N. Broadway. Also planned are Midwest premieres of the award-winning plays Cock by Mike Bartlett, Gidion's Knot by Johnna Adams and Hunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb along with Profiles' acclaimed production of Hellcab by Will Kern, returning for the holiday season.

 

Tickets for Wrecks are $35 for Thursdays, $40 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available by phone, (773) 549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org. Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 5:00 and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 7:00 p.m.