Profiles Theatre announces the American premiere of Neil LaBute’s In a Forest, Dark and Deep, to open the company’s newest theater space, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway, next door to its current venue.  With the acquisition of the former National Pastime space, Profiles now operates 3 theatres in total, including its long-time home at 4147 N. Broadway, as well as The Second Stage at 3408 N. Sheffield.  In a Forest, Dark and Deep, directed by Joe Jahraus and featuring Co-Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, runs April 13, 2012 – June 3, 2012 with the opening night on Thursday, April 19 at 8:00pm. The previously announced production of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon will be postponed until next season.

Profiles’ newest theatre space resides in the same building as its long-time home, thus creating a Theatrical Arts Center on the 4100 block of north Broadway. The opening of the new venue at 4139 N. Broadway in April will unveil a 99-seat theatre named The Main Stage, while the original 65 seat Profiles space at 4147 N. Broadway will be re-named The Alley Stage. With the addition of The Main Stage, Profiles now operates 3 theatres in total, which includes their long-time home at 4147 N. Broadway, as well as The Second Stage at 3408 N. Sheffield.

“Profiles has been growing steadily over the years. We need more seats to accommodate our expanding audience base and more flexible staging options for our productions,” says Profiles Co-Artistic Director Joe Jahraus.  “We remain committed to producing intimate plays at our original home, but now we can present larger productions with more demanding technical requirements at The Main Stage. We’re honored that our good friend and collaborator Neil LaBute entrusted us to introduce his newest work, the American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep.  We’re thrilled to open our new space with this significant new play.”

“Due to this extraordinary opportunity, our Midwest premiere of The Break of Noon will be postponed until next season,” adds Co-Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox. “Neil’s commitment to Profiles and Chicago's thriving theatre community is once again demonstrated by choosing to have his newest play receive its American premiere here. For this we are thankful, as Profiles' dedication to Neil's work and his evolution as an artist continues to be one of the most influential and gratifying relationships in our history.”

"I feel very lucky to have In a Forest, Dark and Deep making its American premiere at Profiles Theatre in Chicago,” says playwright Neil LaBute. “It's a play that means a great deal to me and I wanted it to find a home in the states that can give it all the attention and dignity that it deserves. I've been extremely happy with my relationship to this little powerhouse of a theater and I'm excited to see these characters come to life in the dual hands of Artistic Directors Darrell W. Cox and Joe Jahraus. This kind of collaboration is why I keep coming back to the stage, because as a writer, I feel completely free and entirely safe.  Profiles is everything an American playhouse should be: bold, fearless and constantly challenging the audience and itself."

Profiles, opens the Midwest premiere of Leslye Headland’s Bachelorette at its original home, 4147 N. Broadway, January 26, 2012. The company’s critically acclaimed World premiere production of Assisted Living by Deirdre O’Connor continues its extended run through February 19, 2012 at The Second Stage, Profiles’ venue located at 3408 N. Sheffield.

ASSISTED LIVING

World Premiere

By Deirdre O’Connor

Directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus

Previews: November 4 - 9, 2011

Press Opening: November 10, 2011

Run: Extended through February 19, 2012

 

Anne Kelly needs help.  She’s pushing 40 and still lives with her mother.  Her deadbeat brother won’t even return her calls and the ancient family home seems to be falling down around her. When Levi, a sweet but dim-witted younger man, comes into her life, Anne begins to see the upside of not always being the grown up. 

Assisted Living makes its World premiere at Profiles Theatre, their second production by Deirdre O’Connor follows last season’s long-running hit Jailbait.  O’Connor, a 2008 Cherry Lane Project Fellow mentored by Michael Weller and a 2008 - 2009 Lark Playwrights Workshop Fellow, graduated from Hampshire College and Columbia University's MFA Playwriting program where she received the John Golden Playwriting Award.

 

 

BACHELORETTE

By Leslye Headland

Midwest Premiere

Directed by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox

Previews: January 20 - 25, 2012
Press Opening: January 26, 2012
Closing Date: March 11, 2012

Ten years out of high school, three unhappy friends show up “not-quite-invited” to their classmate’s hotel room for the perfect bachelorette celebration. Half a bathtub of booze later, the former prom queen is melting down, the nice-girl cokehead is on a mission to mend the mauled wedding dress, and the lacerating maid of honor finds her picture-perfect life less stable than it seemed.  A smash hit Off Broadway, Leslye Headland’s shrewd and biting play is an aria to the anxiety and self-loathing of a generation.

Bachelorette premiered at New York’s Second Stage Theatre Uptown in July 2010 where it enjoyed a sold-out extended run.  Leslye Headland, a Los Angeles-based playwright and screenwriter, wrote and directed the Seven Deadly Plays series, which premiered at the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles.  Her new play, Assistance, receives its New York premiere at the Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater this season.  She’s currently developing two projects with Gary Sanchez Productions (Adam McKay and Will Ferrell), her screenplay of Bachelorette and a pilot based on Julie Klausner’s memoir, I Don’t Care About Your Band.  Headland studied at the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School where she won the Robert Moss Prize.

 

 

IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP

American Premiere       

By Neil LaBute

Directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus

Previews April 13 - April 18, 2012

Press Opening: April 19, 2012

Runs April 19 - June 3, 2012

 

On a dark and stormy night, all Bobby thought he was doing was helping his sister Betty clear out her cottage in the forest. But in this cabin of lies nothing is as it seems and the truth refuses to be packed away. What is she hiding? Does he really want to find out? In A Forest, Dark And Deep is a dark comedy of sibling rivalry escalating into a psychological thriller bursting with savage conflict.

Profiles Theatre presents the first US production of LaBute’s most recent play, In a Forest, Dark and Deep. The acclaimed new work received its World premiere production in London at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre in March 2011 for a limited run, starring Matthew Fox and Olivia Williams.

This marks Profiles Theatre’s ninth Midwest premiere of LaBute’s work following their acclaimed productions of reasons to be pretty, The Mercy Seat, and Fat Pig.

Profiles is once again offering its popular FLEX PASS to offer big savings on the exciting new shows for the 23rd Season: ASSISTED LIVING, BACHELORETTE and THE BREAK OF NOON. Get a 4 Ticket Pass for $120 or get an 8 Ticket Pass for $200. Save up to $120 off the price at the door and the passes are good for any performance! Tickets can be used in any combination of quantity and date throughout the season with advance reservations. Flex Passes are still available by calling the box office at (773) 549-1815.