The Jungle

The Jungle

Oracle Theatre
1802 W. Berenice Chicago

Originally published in 1906, Upton Sinclair's novel tells the story of immigrants trying to find their way to the American Dream in the Chicago stockyards at the turn of the 20th century. Sinclair tried to expose the economic disparity and corruption of the time, but audiences fixated on the horrid conditions in which food journeyed to their tables, leaving Sinclair to lament that he, "aimed at the public's heart and by accident hit its stomach." Foss's world premiere adaptation confronts the squalid working conditions by focusing on the story of a small immigrant family from Lithuania, navigating what seems to be a rigged game. As they fight for the American Dream, the family will engage modern audiences in conflicts of immigration, class struggle, and the equal chance to fulfill their destinies.

Thru - Apr 25, 2015