Chicago—Lookingglass Theatre announced its 35th Season! A partnership with one of this city's leading Black theatre companies. A homegrown holiday hearth-warmer. Two original CHI-made works each featuring unconventional central characters. A twirl around five extraordinary homespun districts (from Englewood to Edgewater to Avalon Park and more). And a transcendent summer sunset ritual that draws us all back waterside. Distinct. Unique. Reflecting is our function.
The 2022-23 Season begins with Sunset 1919, an annual outdoor ritual memorializing Eugene Williams, whose tragic murder at 29th Street Beach marked the beginning of the 1919 Chicago race riots. Next comes the hit Congo Square Theatre production of Aleshea Harris' What to Send Up When It Goes Down, a vibrant, necessary, soul-stirring event in residence at Lookingglass Theatre. This fall, the next five short films in the series celebrating each of Chicago's 50 Wards: A Civic Mosaic make their genre-smashing debut. This year's group of films will spotlight Wards 5, 8, 16, 40, and 47. Returning this holiday season is Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier, a gorgeous invention of spectacle and music. Adapted from the Charlotte Bronte novel, the World Premiere of Sara Gmitter's Villette follows Lucy Snow on a solitary journey full of romance and intrigue. Also making its World Premiere is Matthew C. Yee's long-awaited Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon, the tale of two First Generation Asian American Renegades, featuring original country western and folk songs.
"It's hard to believe we are celebrating thirty-five years of creating new work together!" says Artistic Director Heidi Stillman. "As we celebrate the past and look towards the future, it's fitting that this season has work from some of our earliest artistic collective members, and our very newest."
This season's brilliant artists summon audiences back to the Theatre with their timely and timeless tales, and work that extends beyond the stage. Lookingglass Theatre's signature development process for new plays, gglassworks, the fountainhead from which the Water Tower-based Company's genre-defying, world premiere works flow, continues to provide writers the resources required to explore material through various forms of performative expression. The Department of Curiosity at Lookingglass will continue working with communities of all ages sparking curiosity, creativity, and collaboration in neighborhoods throughout Chicago in the coming year. Programming includes arts residencies in Chicago Public School classrooms, Young Ensemble program for youth 12-18, summer camp, arts-based residencies with community-based organizations, Arts for Brain Health workshops for people with dementia and their care-partners, and much more!
Playing now through July 31 is Lookingglass Alice, the circus-infused trip down the rabbit hole and deep into your heart. Accompanying select performances are REFLECT post-show conversations, free and open to the public. These specially curated panels offer audiences an opportunity to think, hear, and talk about the performance they just experienced. Lookingglass Alice also offers a variety of ticket options to ensure that theatre remains accessible for all. Explore new and exciting ways to save! Students, teens, healthcare heroes, industry, and military save on tickets. Lookingglass also offers 50% off day-of-show tickets. All discounted ticket options are available at lookingglasstheatre.org.
More information, including casting and season ticket sales, will be announced soon! Lookingglass gglasspass memberships go on sale July 13. Members receive ticket packages for productions, with invaluable opportunities to explore the creative process through deep-delving conversations on each play. Members also get the best seats at the best prices, and enjoy a bounty of benefits including priority seating, no ticket fees, unlimited ticket exchanges, savings when purchasing additional tickets for friends or family, a discount at our online store, and more! Tickets for What to Send Up When It Goes Down go on sale July 15 at lookingglasstheatre.org.
