( Chicago, August 20, 2019 ) — The Beverly Arts Center announces the productions for their upcoming 2019-2020 season, dubbed the "Season of Inclusion." The content in each play represent themes of race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, and more. The season will feature "Topdog/Underdog," "Love Letters," "Next to Normal," "Mothers & Sons," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "The Good Body."
"The season will take an in-depth look at stories that are frequently overlooked in society," says Andrew Orrego-Lindstad, Director of Development for the BAC and member of the organization's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. "In collaboration with our Diversity and Inclusion Committee, we wanted to further explore and exemplify the values of diversity and equity, and creating an entire year of theatre to explore that is something that excites us greatly. We're happy it's come to fruition with these incredible productions that will challenge how we perceive aspects of humanity."
Tickets to each production will be $24 ( $22 for BAC Members ). Also offered is a "Theatre Season Flex Pass," which will allow purchasers to get six tickets that they can use in any way they see fit. Tickets can be used one for each production, all six for one performance, or mix and match. The "Theatre Season Flex Pass" is $120. All tickets and flex passes can be purchased at the BAC box office on the corner of 111th and Western, via phone at 773-445-3838, or online at beverlyartcenter.org .
Season of Inclusion Productions
Top Dog Under Dog
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Oct. 12 — 20, 2019
Lincoln and Booth are two brothers coping with racism, poverty, and relationships, with the possibility of card-hustling always looming. Haunted by their past, the two confront their future and address their familial wounds in this darkly comic fable. Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Top Dog Under Dog explores brotherly love, family identity, and what it means to connect with somebody else.
Love Letters
By A.R. Gurney
Feb. 13 — 16, 2020
Love knows no bounds, whether it be war, marriage, or death. Childhood friends Andrew and Melissa go their separate ways but form a lifelong correspondence that follows them through the highs and lows life. Physically apart, but spiritually close, their love story endures through their letters.
Next to Normal
By Brian Yorkey
Music by Tom Kitt
April 16 — 19, 2020
Dad's an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; Daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens. By all appearances, a typical American family. And yet their lives are anything but normal because mother has been battling manic depression and bipolar disorder for 16 years. Next to Normal takes audiences into the minds and hearts of each character, presenting the family's story with love and sympathy through an energetic pop and rock score.
Mothers & Sons
By Terrence McNally
June 25 — 28, 2020
Losing her son to AIDS 20 years ago, a mother makes an unexpected trip to New York to see her son's former partner. Challenged to face how society has changed around her, the two attempt to reconcile. Generations collide as she revisits the past and begins to see the life her son might have led in this funny and powerful story.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
By William Shakespeare
June 11 — 14, 2020
When a group of lovers elope to a forest, it creates the perfect environment for the fairy queen and king to work their mischief. A quintessential Shakespearian comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream comes to the BAC, performed in the courtyard with a gender-blind casting.
The Good Body
By Eve Ensler
August 20 — 23, 2020
Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," turns her unique eye to the rest of the female form with "The Good Body." Whether undergoing botox injections or living beneath burqas, women of all cultures and backgrounds feel compelled to change the way they look in order to fit in. The Good Body merges cross-cultural explorations with Eve's journey of coming to terms with the "less-than-flat, post-forties stomach."
Link to Theatre Season: beverlyartcenter.org/17/ .
—From a press release