The comedy/drama the NY Times called "the perfect New York comedy" now comes to Chicago, where the Organic Touchstone Company presents Anne Meara's After-Play, Nov. 18-Jan. 18. The show officially opens Nov. 24.
Meara's playwriting debut, After-Play won an Outer Critics Circle Award for its funny/dark, slightly mystical look at two show-biz couples meet at a trendy Manhattan restaurant after viewing the latest must-see play on Broadway. As they reflect on how they've lived their lives, we realize they're not dining in an ordinary restaurant...
Starring in this mounting are Annabel Armour, Nancy Baird, Wayne Brown, Michael Guido, Richard Henzel, Ramonos Isaac and Linda Kimbrough. Designing the show are Todd Rosenthal (set), Kevin Snow (lighting), Julie Leavitt (costumes) and Larry Hart (sound).
Director Steve Scott has also worked at Chicago's City Lit and CT 20 Ensemble. Known for being half the comedy team "Stiller & Meara," Meara has appeared on Broadawy in Eastern Standard and Anna Christie.
* The Organic Touchstone Company's 1997-98 season is its second as a merged entity of the separate Organic and Touchstone troupes. Tamra Powell, a company spokesperson, told Playbill On-Line the merger, "Is going well. We spent the past year combining forces and finding our artistic path." The company is now in the process of moving its administrative offices to its performing space, the Touchstone Theatre, at 2851 North Halsted.
The season began with The Steward of Christendom, followed by Night Of The Iguana. Upcoming are:
*Taking Sides, by Ronald Harwood, recounts the ethical confrontation between German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, accused of being a Nazi sympathizer, and American officer Major Steve Arnold, in post-war Berlin. Runs Jan. 27 - March 22, 1998. (A reading of Harwood's The Dresser will be held Jan. 13, 1998.)
* Rising playwright Keith Glover's Coming of the Hurricane will be directed by Jonathan Wilson, March 31 - May 17, 1998. Glover tells the story of Crixus, a former slave who returns to the boxing ring to fight John "the Hurricane" Blaine, a white symbol of the South, as a means of providing for his pregnant wife Kazarah. (A reading of Glover's Dancing On Moonlight will be held Feb. 24, 1998.)
* Harold Pinter's Moonlight will shine May 26-June 27, 1998, closing the season with Pinter's first full-length play since 1978's Betrayal. Set in two bedrooms and an indefinite dark space, Moonlight finds a father lying on his death bed, reminiscing about his past. At the same time, his sons examine their conflicting feelings about him. Only their sister Bridget is able to bridge the gaps between youth and age, death and life. A reading of Pinter's The Homecoming will be held May 5, 1998.
For more information on Organic Touchstone shows, call (773) 404-4700. All performances are at the Touchstone Theatre Building, 2851 North Halsted.
-- By Laura MacDonald and David Lefkowitz
