Clay- Lookingglass Theatre

Chicago can boast of yet another space for live theater this fall when Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside the historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 North Michigan Avenue, unveils its new Chase Studio Theatre with the American premiere of Clay.
 
Presented in a co-production with About Face Theatre, Clay is a groundbreaking one-man hip-hop musical written and performed by rising star Matt Sax, developed in collaboration with and directed by About Face Artistic Director Eric Rosen.  Expect to be awestruck as Sax blazes across Lookingglass' new second floor, 50-seat black box stage in an unforgettable breakout performance as Clifford, a kid with a rocky past who finds his redemption - and his fate - in the driving rhythm and raw power of hip-hop poetry.   
 
Clay originally premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004, when Sax was a sophomore at Northwestern University, and has been developed over the past year in workshops with Rosen.  An enormously gifted young talent, Sax is a musician, performer and writer whose recent graduating senior showcase in New York had him juggling offers from major agencies (he settled with Harden-Curtis Associates, the agency that represents acclaimed Chicago playwright Bruce Norris) and landed him a role on TV's Law & Order.  This summer, he will perform his comedy show Sax and Dixon:  This Plan is Definitely Crashing with fellow NU grad John Dixon at the New York International Fringe Festival.  Sax also appeared in Lookingglass' 2005 world premiere Manuscript Found in Saragossa.
 
Clay kicks off Lookingglass' 2006/07 season as the first show ever presented in the company's flexible black box space, on the second floor of Chicago's historic Water Tower Works.  Also on tap for Lookingglass' 2006/07 season:

Mary Zimmerman, Lookingglass Ensemble Member and one of the most acclaimed directors in the U.S., returns to her home theater to stage Argonautika, a world premiere spectacle based on the Greek adventure Jason and the Argonauts, October through December.  February brings the Midwest premiere of Glen Berger's fantastical new language play The Wooden Breeks, directed by Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman, followed in April by Black Diamond:  The Year the Locusts Have Eaten, a timely and explosive new story of an African American journalist and a young female Liberian freedom fighter by Lookingglass Artistic Associate J Nicole Brooks, co-directed by Brooks and Lookingglass Artistic Director David Catlin.  In June, the thrice-extended Lookingglass Alice, also directed by David Catlin, returns to the Water Tower Water Works to complete Lookingglass' 2006/07 season.
 
Following Clay, About Face Theatre's season continues at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse with Say You Love Satan, by Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa directed by About Face Artistic Associate Scott Ferguson, followed by Gary Griffin's reconceived production of Emily Mann's Execution of Justice, which examines the murder trial of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978 by Supervisor Dan White, who was convicted on a lesser charge based on the infamous "Twinkie Defense."  In the spring, About Face will re-present the 2004 Joseph Jefferson Award winning, critically acclaimed cult hit Pulp written by About Face Artistic Associate Pat Kane and directed by About Face Artistic Associate Jessica Thebus. The season will also include a major project from Eric Rosen and the creative team that wrote and directed Winesburg, Ohio, and the next installment of the About Face Youth Theatre.  For subscriptions or information on the About Face season call (773) 784-8565 or visit aboutfacetheatre.com.