Edward Torres will make his Goodman directorial debut with this second play of a new three-year producing partnership with Teatro Vista, Chicago's first and largest not-for-profit professional Latino theatre company dedicated to new work by Latino writers.
The production will bow April 7-May 6, 2012. The "multi-ethnic, multi-generational cast of Tirado's new work includes one Latino, two African Americans, one Eastern European, one Korean, one Holocaust survivor, one American Indian and one Caucasian."
In Fish Men, according to Goodman's April 20 announcement, "a group of chess hustlers engage each other in spirited matches on a hot summer day in Washington Square Park, hoping to draw unsuspecting players into a high-stakes hustle. Their patience is soon rewarded by the appearance of Rey Reyes, a young student who naively agrees to their challenge. But as the game progresses, the chess tables are turned — raising the stakes and revealing the traumatic circumstances that have made them seek refuge in a game that has become their obsession. Resounding with biting humor and unexpected pathos, Fish Men focuses on a group of unforgettable characters, drawn together by their need to overcome individual tragedies."
Opening night will be April 16, 2012. Still to be announced are two Goodman Theatre productions in the 2011-2012 season. Subscriptions to all eight plays (Albert and Owen Theaters) are now on sale. Call (312) 443-3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Subscribe.
Playwright Tirado, who has since become a chess master rated by the United States Chess Federation, said in a statement, "When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted to combine two great loves of my life: writing plays and playing chess! But it wasn't until 2000, as I was walking by the chess tables in Washington Square Park, that suddenly the play Fish Men revealed itself to me. Outwardly, the play deals with the cruel art of the chess hustle — but underneath is man's inhumanity towards his fellow man." Currently running through April 24 in Goodman's Owen Theatre is the first production of the Goodman-Teatro Vista partnership, the world premiere of Tanya Saracho's El Nogalar, directed by Cecilie D. Keenan.
