Feb 04, 1999
The Theatre School New Directors Series Presents Naomi
Wallace's "Slaughter City," Directed By Jimmy McDermott, February 26 - March 7
The Theatre School New Directors Series Presents Naomi
Wallace's "Slaughter City," Directed By Jimmy McDermott, February 26 - March 7
The New Directors Series of The Theatre School,
DePaul University, announces free performances
of the Chicago premiere of Naomi Wallace's SLAUGHTER CITY, directed by Jimmy
McDermott in partial fulfillment of requirements for the The Theatre School's Master of
Fine Arts degree in Directing. The play features scenic design by Rene Renner, costume
design by Heather Lindsten, lighting design by Ben Spicer and sound design by Jeffrey
Webb.
Performances of Slaughter City are February 26 - March 7, 1999 (previews 2/24 &2/25). Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Athenaeum Stage Three, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. A post-show discussion is scheduled for Thursday, March 4. Performances are free and open to the public. For reservations, call (312) 922-1999.
Naomi Wallace turns a packing town inside out with her 1996 play. Heavily influenced by Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, the play oscillates between past and present, reality and dreamscape. Slaughter City unflinchingly inspects the working conditions and the conditions of the soul in a not-fictitious-enough slaughterhouse. "This is one of the most unique settings for a play that I have ever seen," says director Jimmy McDermott. "The social bite of the play is that it pins down the 20th-century labor union movement, questioning whether it actually improved conditions or rather spun into the unions’ own interests, making workers’ rights secondary."
Naomi Wallace's plays have been produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Bush Theatre in London, American Repertory Theatre and the Long Wharf Theatre. She is the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Mobil Prize for playwriting, and is under commission by the Royal National Youth Theatre, the BBC, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Wallace is also the author of In the Heart of America and the critically acclaimed One Flea Spare, which received its Chicago premiere at The Theatre School last year.
Jimmy McDermott is a 3rd-year student in the M.F.A. Directing program at The Theatre School. He received his B.F.A. in Acting/Directing from Florida Atlantic University in 1996. While there, Mr. McDermott directed Self Torture and Strenuous Exercise by Harry Kondoleon, and Prelude and Liebested
by Terrance McNally. He has directed Judith: A Parting from the Body, Coyote Ugly and Bertolt Brecht’s Jungle of Citiesat The Theatre School.
CALENDAR LISTING INFORMATION
WHO: New Directors Series
The Theatre School, DePaul University.
WHAT: Slaughter City by Naomi Wallace.
Directed by Jimmy McDermott and featuring Scenic design by Rene Renner, costume design by Heather Lindsten, lighting design by Ben Spicer and sound design by Jeffrey Webb.
Naomi Wallace turns a packing town inside out with her 1996 play. Heavily influenced by Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and oscillating between past and present, the play inspects the working conditions and the conditions of the soul in a not-fictious-enough slaughterhouse.
WHEN: February 26 – March 7, 1999 (previews 2/24 & 2/25)
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Athenaeum Stage Three
2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago.
ADMISSION: FREE and open to the public.
SPECIAL EVENT: A post-show discussion with director Jimmy McDermott and the cast is scheduled for Thursday, March 4.
BOX OFFICE: For information and reservations, call (312) 922-1999.