The Theatre School Showcase, DePaul University, presents the contemporary drama SLEEP DEPRIVATION CHAMBER, by Adam P. Kennedy and Adrienne Kennedy, April 23 - May 2, 1999 (previews 4/21 & 4/22) at DePaul's Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Drive, Chicago. This is the fourth production the 1998-99 season celebrating DePaul University's Centennial with the theme "The American Experience in the 20^th Century: Dreams Denied & Delayed, Lost & Found." The play is directed by Phyllis E. Griffin and features scenic design by Ivan Giovanettina, costume design by Romana Hobeck, lighting design by Jeremy Getz and sound design by Jeffrey Webb.

This Obie Award-winning collaboration between two African-American writers shares the story of a mother and son who endured a difficult experience and came through it as a family. Teddy, a young African American, was stopped by the police late at night less than a block from his Arlington, Virginia, home. Without provocation, the policeman beat him, arrested him and charged him with assault and battery. First performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1996, this autobiographical drama is a dreamlike meditation on truth and justice.

"Sleep Deprivation Chamber is an extraordinary and challenging play that pushes the envelope in all directions," says director Phyllis E. Griffin. "The story shows how a family struggles with a dreadful shock that has happened to one of its members and how this shock reverberates throughout the American culture, affecting us all."

Sleep Deprivation Chamber runs April 23 - May 2, 1999 (previews 4/21 & 4/22). Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Morning matinees are scheduled at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 29. Both morning matinees and the evening performance on Thursday, April 29, will feature post-show discussions. Performances are held at the DePaul University Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Drive, Chicago. Discount parking is available with coupons from the Box Office.

Tickets are $6 - $10; $5 for college students with I.D. Seniors, Corporate Partners, DePaul employees and alumni are eligible for discounts. Group rates are available for 15 or more people. Wednesday, April 28, is DePaul Night: two tickets for the price of one for high school and college students with I.D.

INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: The performance on Saturday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. will be interpreted in American Sign Language by Sign On Stage. For information, call the Theatre Box Office or TTY: (773) 325-7975.

DINNER OFFER: The Theatre School has partnered with the Hilton Chicago and Towers to feature a special dinner offer at The Pavilion, the Mediterranean café on the lobby level of the hotel across the street from the theatre. Dinners are $20.00 for adults or $11.00 for children 12 and under and may be purchased through the Theatre Box Office.

Playwright ADAM P. KENNEDY is a writer and producer. His television company, R.A.V.E., has produced shows for teens that have aired nationally on PBS and network television, including the three-part series Africa/USA: The Connection in 1992-93 and Phat Traks, a weekly hip-hop music program, in 1994. R.A.V.E.'s most recent TV projects include espionage drama and a children’s program. Mr. Kennedy recently completed his first novel, The Congo Affair, a 1960s political thriller, and a screenplay entitled The Curia.

Playwright ADRIENNE KENNEDY wrote her first play, based on Elmer Rice's Street Scene, at age 22. She has been a member of Edward Albee's Playwrights' Workshop at Circle in the Square, a lecturer at Yale, taught at Princeton and Brown universities, and received Guggenheim Fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts and Rockefeller Foundation Grants. In 1992, the mayor of Cleveland declared March 7 to be Adrienne Kennedy Day. Mrs. Kennedy has also lived in Africa and Rome.

Director PHYLLIS E. GRIFFIN is an associate professor and Head of Voice and Speech at The Theatre School. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner and a Certified Lessac Teacher. She has served as vocal coach for The Goodman Theatre, assisting most recently on Blues for an Alabama Sky and I Am a Man. Her directing credits include Curse of the Starving Class, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf and co-directing The Sea Gull with Dr. Bella Itkin for The Theatre School Showcase and Buried Child and Action at Northwestern University. Ms. Griffin was a dialect coach for Joan Plowright on the feature film Dennis the Menace and has provided vocal instruction for several private business leaders and narrated documentaries for PBS and NPR.

Ms. Griffin is the daughter of Edna Griffin, recently called "the Rosa Parks of Iowa." Edna Griffin has been twice inducted into the Iowa Hall of Fame for organizing protests and sit-ins which led to a state Supreme Court decision for equal accommodation under the law at an all-white lunch counter in 1948 — all accomplished while carrying Ms. Griffin on her hip. She also organized Iowans to accompany Martin Luther King, Jr., on the 1963 march in Washington, D.C., and a building has been named for her in Des Moines, Iowa.

Further information about Sleep Deprivation Chamber and The Theatre School is available via the Internet on The Theatre School's website, located at http://theatreschool.depaul.edu. Purchase tickets to Sleep Deprivation Chamber via the Internet at TicketWeb: www.ticketweb.com.

For information and to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at (312) 922-1999.

The Theatre School was founded as the Goodman School of Drama in 1925 and is a member of the League of Chicago Theatres, the Illinois Arts Alliance and the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education.