CHICAGO — EVERY WAITING HEART, the full-length play by Lauren Ferebee that was planned pre-COVID for a fully staged production in June 2020, will be produced as an audio drama streaming for an open-ended run and premiering on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
All of the actors who had been cast for the play's full production will be heard in the new audio production, which will be available free on the company's website and will also be featured in the bi-weekly ARTEMISIA FEMINIST PODCAST series. Artemisia Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot, who is directing the production, made the announcement today.
The winner of Artemisia's 2018 Fall Festival of new feminist plays, EVERY WAITING HEART centers on the relationship between an overworked single mother and her rebellious teenaged daughter. Sherri and Annette have been an unbreakable mother-daughter duo since childhood, but suddenly Annette's rebelling and Sherri's terrified. Desperate for help, Sherri goes to a speed-dating event at a Pentecostal church that unexpectedly changes the course of both of their lives and fractures the bond that has held them together for so long. A deep and intimate dive into what it means to be a strong woman, EVERY WAITING HEART is an unflinching examination of faith and the many variations of love. Director Proudfoot says, "We are living in a time when cultural gaps are becoming dangerously wide, blurring our common humanity with religious imperatives. Lauren's fearless play mirrors our collective crisis of faith and empowers us to follow the truth we discover in our own hearts."
In the leading roles of mother and daughter Sherri and Annette are Sarah Beth Tanner as Sherri and Patty Malaney as Annette. Sarah Beth Tanner has been seen recently in A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (Pride Films & Plays), SOUTHERN GOTHIC (Windy City Playhouse), TWO DAYS IN COURT (City Lit Theatre), and HAYMARKET: A NEW FOLK MUSICAL (Underscore Theatre Company). Patty Malaney's previous credits include THE WOLVES (Flint Repertory Theatre), CHEWING ON BECKETT (Artemisia Theatre), BELFAST GIRLS (Artemisia Theatre), THE CHANGELING (The Shakespeare Project of Chicago) and THE MERRY WIDOW (Michigan Opera Theatre). Also in the cast are Anita Kavuu Ng'ang'a (Miriam), Harmony Zhang (Ruth), Myesha-Tiara (Hannah), John Ham (Leon) and Tamarus Harvell (Charlie). Willow James is sound designer.
EVERY WAITING HEART will be available to hear and download at www.artemisiatheatre.org and will also be delivered to subscribers of the bi-weekly ARTEMISIA FEMINIST PODCAST. This podcast series that began in May 2020 is now focused on audio productions of rarely produced classics and all-new feminist plays, such as EVERY WAITING HEART, and to discussions of the plays with the creative teams. Julie Proudfoot is teaming with Charlique C. Rolle, Executive Director of Congo Square Theatre, as Co-Curator and Co-Director of the readings, and with Sound Designer Willow James. The first audio drama in the podcast series was THEY THAT SIT IN DARKNESS, by the pioneering African American playwright Mary P. Burrill, directed by Rolle and sound designed by James.
Each reading will be followed by a full-length podcast, released two weeks later, that will deliver a discussion of the plays and the impact of their messages and social justice themes. The podcasts will be released biweekly on Tuesdays and listeners can visit artemisiatheatre.org to subscribe to the podcasts and Artemisia's newsletter. The discussion of EVERY WAITING HEART will be released on November 24, 2020. Proudfoot says, "We hope to recreate the passion for women-focused plays generated by Artemisia's past Fall Festivals by presenting virtual performances and exciting discussions about rarely produced classic and all-new plays by BIPOC & white feminist writers." The series will continue on December 8 (discussion on December 22) and with an additional eight audio dramas streaming in 2021. Titles and casts to be announced.
EVERY WAITING HEART
By Lauren Ferebee
Directed by Julie Proudfoot
Sound Design by Willow James
Audio drama available at www.artemisiatheatre.org beginning November 10, 2020
No charge. Donations gladly accepted
Overworked single mother Sherri and her rebellious teenaged daughter Annette have been an unbreakable mother-daughter duo since childhood, but suddenly Annette's rebelling and Sherri's terrified. Desperate for help, Sherri goes to a speed-dating event at a Pentecostal church that unexpectedly changes the course of both of their lives and fractures the bond that has held them together for so long.
BIOS
Lauren Ferebee (playwright). Lauren's plays have been developed across the US. Most recently, her play BRILLIANCE was featured as part of Boomerang Theatre Company's First Flight Festival in NYC, and EVERY WAITING HEART (Artemisia Fall Festival 2018 winner, O'Neill semifinalist) had a reading in Fall 2019 at TheatreSquared. Her play WILD EDEN (semifinalist, BAPF 2020) will be developed in Fall 2020 at the University of Arkansas. Her one-acts and ten-minutes WINTER IN THE HOUSE, THE MEETING, and THE BOX have been regional/national finalists for the Kennedy Center's John Cauble and Gary Garrison Awards in 2018 and 2019. Monologues from her play THE RECKLESS SEASON (finalist, Princess Grace Award, 2016), which was produced by Boomerang Theatre Company in 2017 (dir. Dominic D'Andrea), were featured in the 2018 Smith & Kraus BEST ORIGINAL MONOLOGUES anthologies. She also writes original music and collaborates as a founding member of Scrappy Shakes, a theatre collective in South Carolina. Her 2019 original score for their production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING was recently named Best Original Score by Carolina Curtain Call. BFA, NYU/Tisch, current MFA candidate at the University of Arkansas.
Julie Proudfoot (Founding Artistic Director, Director) founded Artemisia and has served as its Artistic Director since 2011. Julie's work at Artemisia includes curating and producing eight Fall Festivals featuring staged readings of new feminist plays, playing Viola in CHEWING ON BECKETT, and Lauren in VISITING, both written by Ed Proudfoot and staged as world premieres at Artemisia. Julie most recently won critical and audience acclaim for her direction of Artemisia's Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING, by Traci Godfrey. A Chicago-based actor, director & producer, Julie's work onstage has also been seen at TimeLine Theatre, Midsommer Flight, Akvavit Theatre, The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, and Equity Library Theatre. Julie's on-camera acting credits include THE CHI, CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO JUSTICE, and independent short film HOW LITTLE GIRLS GET STOLEN.
Charlique C. Rolle (Co-Curator, Co-Director, Artemisia Feminist Podcast Readings). Charlique is thrilled to join Artemisia to select and direct feminist plays for Artemisia's podcast. She is an arts administrator, performing artist, choreographer, and Executive Director of Congo Square Theatre. A Bahamas-native, Rolle moved to Chicago in 2012 to continue her pursuit of supporting arts-based organizations administratively, teaching, and creating performance-based work professionally. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally. Rolle graduated Summa Cum Laude from Missouri Valley College with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, with minors in Business and Theatre. She has a Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership from Moody Theological Seminary and is currently completing a Master of Business Administration at Concordia University Chicago. Rolle is passionate about seeing the arts thrive and about developing artists. Her personal mission is to build, equip, and develop artists to walk in the fullness of their crafts, to create works that catalyze healing, freedom, and transformation, and to provide resources and structure for artists and organizations that will breed creative freedom, sustainability, and longevity.
Willow James (Sound Designer)
Willow James is a theatre artist and photographer from the Chicagoland area. Specializing in acting, directing and sound design, Willow has worked on multiple shows while at his alma mater, Connecticut College, like TWELFTH NIGHT and NO EXIT. Willow is eager to help shape a feminist podcast reading series and is thrilled to be a part of the Artemisia team! You can find more on him at willow-james.org .
Artemisia Theatre makes women heroes, on stage and off by sharing their empowering stories. Through productions of classic and all-new feminist plays, Artemisia provides women career-altering opportunities by putting them in creative leadership roles and hiring emerging theatre artists. Artemisia enriches Chicago's culture through productions that take creative risks, achieve artistic excellence, and engage the audience directly in unique performances and after-show discussions that inspire compassion and social justice for women. The theatre's namesake, Artemisia Gentileschi, was a Baroque artist whose paintings depicted violence with fierce honesty and elegance. For centuries after her death, her art was attributed to men. Feminist curators in the late 1970's rediscovered Artemisia, who is now considered the greatest female painter prior to the modern period. A common theme in Gentileschi's later work is women in moments of power or triumph, which is why she is the perfect namesake for Artemisia. Artemisia's leadership is one-hundred-percent women, and the theatre is organized as a 501 c 3 nonprofit in Illinois.
