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Writers' Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Brett Neveu's Old Glory, a world premiere production commissioned through Writers' Theatre Literary Development Initiative. The production, directed by William Brown, will run February 3-March 29, 2009, at Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.
Shrouded in mystery, the circumstances surrounding six ordinary people grappling with the emotional casualties of war unfold in the latest work from Brett Neveu, one of Chicago's hottest young playwrights. William Brown, director of last season's triumphant As You Like It, explores with fierce wit and gritty honesty what happens when you play by the rules-and lose.
Old Glory is part three of Neveu's three-play series, "Trilogy: '04-'05-'06" (Part I: Harmless, Part II: Weapon of Mass Impact).
Regarding the trilogy, Neveu comments, "The subject matter, the general tone of the play and how war affects people at home are the linking devices. The plays are about regular people and how they're dealing with what the American government has done in Iraq and what people ask of each other in times of crisis. The trilogy is a response to terrorism, people not trusting each other and deceit within the American government. If the plays were only about the Iraq War it would ground them too specifically in time. I think they speak past the present day to a place where people relate to each other."
Brown adds, "What I love about this play is that it's six strangers getting emotionally naked in front of each other, and the event that brings them all together is the death of a soldier. A large extent of the play is about transparency, what we're willing to reveal and what we need to hide from each other, which fuels the mystery. You don't know who's telling the truth or how much of the truth they're willing to tell."
Tickets are $40-$65 and are available at the Box Office, 376 Park Avenue, Glencoe; 847-242-6000 or online at www.writerstheatre.org.