CHICAGO ( October 18, 2017 ) — About Face Theatre and Theater Wit are pleased to present the Midwest premiere of the romantic comedy SIGNIFICANT OTHER by Joshua Harmon, playwright of the hit comedy Bad Jews. Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm, SIGNIFICANT OTHER will play November 3 — December 9, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently on sale at aboutfacetheatre.com or theaterwit.org, by calling ( 773 ) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. The press opening is Wednesday, November 8 at 7 pm.
SIGNIFICANT OTHER will feature AFT Artistic Associates Benjamin Sprunger and Alex Weisman with Ninos Baba, Amanda Drinkall, Tiffany Oglesby, Cassidy Slaughter-Mason and Ann Whitney.
Jordan Berman is a single gay man in New York City. Mr. Right is nowhere on his horizons. As he's nearing his 30s, his close group of girlfriends begin getting married en masse. What happens when you feel like life is leaving you behind but you're still expected to be at the forefront cheering on your friends on their perfect wedding day? Significant Other is a bittersweet comedy about friendship, single-hood and hoping you're not the one choking on car exhaust as the "Just Married" sign disappears from view.
In 2015, Joshua Harmon's play Bad Jews hit Theater Wit and performed to capacity crowds for eight months. A breakaway playwright of his generation, Harmon's work offered a unique and searingly funny look at a new generation of American Jews. Now, with Significant Other he turns his compassion and considerable wit to marriage.
"This feels like the perfect moment to be bringing Significant Other to the stage," comments Director Keira Fromm. "On the surface, Significant Other is a very funny play about single-hood and friendship. On a deeper level, our protagonist, Jordan, is enduring an existential crisis. On the brink of turning 30 and recognizing that being gay today no longer means you're immune to expectations of marriage, Jordan is failing at the task of finding his soulmate. He begins to feel that life is passing him by and finding his way in the world starts to feel like a gargantuan undertaking. In our increasingly alienating world, I find that quest intensely moving and relatable."
"I am very excited to join About Face Theatre in presenting the Midwest premiere of Joshua Harmon's newest work," comments Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler. "I think Josh is a remarkably original writer with a gift for showing us the utterly real and utterly unexpected. His plays are always about deeply human characters with a writerly perspective we've not seen previously dramatized, and Significant Other is no exception. Bad Jews was a legitimate theatrical event of 2015 — and Significant Other promises, in its writing and casting, to be another for 2017."
The production team for SIGNIFICANT OTHER includes Jeff Kmiec ( scenic design ), No�l Huntzinger ( costume design ), John Kelly ( lighting design ), Christopher Kriz ( sound design ), Pauline Oleksy ( props design ), Catherine Allen ( production manager ) and Helen Lattyak ( stage manager ).
Artist Biographies
Joshua Harmon's ( Playwright ) play Bad Jews received its world premiere at Roundabout Underground and was the first production to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre ( Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play ). It became the third most-produced play in the U.S. during the 2014-15 season and transferred to London's West End after sell-out runs at Theatre Royal Bath and the St. James Theatre. His newest play, Significant Other, opened at Roundabout this summer. His work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor's Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation. Joshua is a recent graduate of Juilliard and at work on commissions for Roundabout Theatre Company and Lincoln Center Theater.
Keira Fromm ( Director ) is a Jeff Award nominated director, a casting director and a teacher based out of Chicago. Favorite recent directing credits include: Bright Half Life ( About Face Theatre ), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital of New York City ( Route 66 Theatre Company ) The Columnist ( American Blues Theater ), How the World Began ( Rivendell Theatre Ensemble ), A Kid Like Jake ( About Face Theatre ), Luce ( Next Theatre ), Charles Ives Take Me Home ( Strawdog ), The How and the Why ( TimeLine Theatre ), Broadsword ( Gift Theatre ) and Fallow ( Steep Theatre ). Keira is a proud Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre. She received her MFA from DePaul University and her BFA from Boston University. She is a member of SDC, as well as the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Keira is a frequent guest director at DePaul, as well as Roosevelt University.
SIGNIFICANT OTHER was developed during a residency the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference in 2013. Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director.
About The Theatres
About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative, and adventurous theatre and educational programming that advances the national dialogue on sexual and gender identity, and challenges and entertains audiences in Chicago and beyond.
Theater Wit, Chicago's "smart art" theater, is a major hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene, where audiences enjoy a smorgasbord of excellent productions in three, 99-seat spaces, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago.
"A thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters" ( Chicago Tribune ) and "a terrific place to see a show" ( New City ), Theater Wit is now in its seventh season at its home at 1229 N. Belmont, in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. The company's most recent hits include 10 Out of 12 and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Naperville by Mat Smart, The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, The ( curious case of the ) Watson Intelligence and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, and Completeness and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses.
In 2014, Theater Wit was awarded the National Theatre Award by the American Theatre Wing for strengthening the quality, diversity and dynamism of American theater. Theater Wit also brings together Chicago's best storefront companies at its Lakeview home, including 2017-18 resident companies About Face, Kokandy Productions and Shattered Globe.
