By Donja R. Love, Directed by FFT Company Member Mikael Burke, October 19, 2019 - November 23, 2019
On a plantation during the Civil War, a mystical tree stretches toward heaven. It protects James, a young slave, while he reads newspapers about the imminent possibility of freedom, as war rages on. When a brooding stranger arrives, James and his makeshift family take him in. Soon, an unexpected bond leads to a striking romance, and everyone is in uncharted territory. The award-winning SUGAR IN OUR WOUNDS is part of playwright Donja R. Love's trilogy of black love at pivotal moments in history, helmed by Mikael Burke, director of last season's acclaimed production of HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES.
The Chicago Premiere of PLANO
By Will Arbery, Directed by Audrey Francis
February 15, 2020 - March 27, 2020
Presented as a part of Steppenwolf's LookOut Series at the 1700 Theatre
Tonight, and later, and earlier, three sisters ( no, not those ones ) are stricken with a series of strange plagues: Isabel's got pains. Anne's got slugs. And Genevieve doesn't want to talk about hers. She just wants you to eat the damn hummus ( she made it! ). Fresh from its wildly successful Off-Broadway debut and remount, PLANO is "as funny as it is powerfully disturbing" ( VULTURE ) and "experimental theater perfection" ( TimeOut NY ). Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Audrey Francis returns to direct at First Floor Theater, where she previously co-directed FFT's first production in 2012.
The World Premiere of THE JUNIORS
By Noah Diaz, Directed by FFT Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel
April 18, 2020 - May 30, 2020
A class of high school juniors are tasked with a simple Home Ec assignment: parent a sack of flour for a week or fail. When the flour babies begin dying one by one, the students stop at nothing to ensure that they, and the pretend children they bore, are the last ones standing. A play with war, carnage, and genocide, THE JUNIORS is a pitch-black comedy about the ambitious and cut-throat world of high school Home Economics and the lengths we'll go to in order to protect what we think is ours.
SUGAR IN OUR WOUNDS and THE JUNIORS will take place at The Den Theatre, where FirstFloor is a resident company. PLANO will take place at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre as a part of the LookOut Series.
GALA VIII comes up Sept. 28. Tickets at dime.io/events/gala-viii/event_dates/8216/orders/new/ .
—From a press release
