Raven Theatre Opens BOY GETS GIRL, 1/20

Raven Theatre's 30th season continues with Rebecca Gilman's dark drama, Boy Gets Girl. Two opening nights are scheduled for Sunday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m. and Monday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark. Tickets and information are available at www.raventheatre.com or 773-338-2177.

Theresa Bedell is on top and in control; that is, until a seemingly harmless date turns into a terrifying display of obsession and desperation. When all pieces of her life are touched and efforts to stop her stalker are unsuccessful, Theresa is left with only one option. Boy Gets Girl puts you in the shoes of the chased and on The Edge of your seat.

Director Cody Estle states, "Boy Gets Girl demonstrates how someone, armed with just a few personal details, can completely destroy another person's life -- tearing her down until there's virtually nothing left. The extreme violation of Theresa's personal space along with our unshakeable feeling of disgust at what happens to her will make you cautious of the information that you make available to the public."

Rebecca Gilman is a Chicago playwright whose works include Spinning Into Butter, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, and My Sin and Nothing More. Her play The Glory of Living was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize. Boy Gets Girl was included in Time Magazine's List of the Best Plays and Musicals of the Decade.

Raven Ensemble member Cody Estle is thrilled to be directing his second project at Raven. Previous directing credits include Dating Walter Dante (Raven Theatre), The Tooth of Crime (City Wind Theatre Co.), The Teacher and The Phantom Corvette (The Neapolitans Theatre Co.). Assistant directing credits include The Odd Couple (Northlight Theatre, dir. BJ Jones), Amazing Grace (Goodspeed Musicals, dir. Gabriel Barre), Angels in America (Court Theatre, dir. Charles Newell), Season's Greetings (Northlight Theatre, dir. BJ Jones), The Detective's Wife (Writers' Theatre, dir. Gary Griffin), In Loco Parentis (Next Theatre, dir. Joanie Schultz), Wreckage (Caffeine Theatre, dir. Joanie Schultz) and The Cherry Orchard (Strawdog Theatre, dir. Kimberly Senior). Upcoming work includes Uncle Bob at Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. and Brighton Beach Memoirs at Raven Theatre. Cody is a proud graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

The cast of Boy Gets Girl includes: Kristin Collins (Theresa Bedell) who was last seen at Raven in Dating Walter Dante and is an ensemble member at The Artistic Home; John Stokvis (Tony) who has performed with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Next Theatre and Steppenwolf; Will Casey (Howard Siegel) who was last seen at Raven in The Elvis and has performed with Next Theatre, Light Opera Works and Famous Door Theatre; Jon Stutzman (Mercer) who has performed with Backstage Theatre Company, Lifeline Theatre and The Artistic Home; Symphony Sanders (Harriet) who was seen at Raven in Aesops Fables and Hedda Gabler and has performed with Goodman, Pegasus Players and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Kristen Williams (Detective Beck) who is a Raven Theatre ensemble member and was recently seen in Bang the Drum Slowly, Bus Stop and Night of the Iguana and Leonard Kraft (Les Kennkat) who was seen at Raven in Twelve Angry Men and The Price and has also performed with Shattered Globe, Timeline, and Mary Arrchie.

The Boy Gets Girl staff includes: Vinny Mraz (Assistant Director), Amanda Rozmiarek (Set Designer/Technical Director), Frances Maggio (Costume Designer), Claire Chrzan (Lighting Designer), Marie C. Quinn (Sound Designer), Mary O'Dowd, (Properties), Deborah Blumenthal (Dramaturg). Kate Masiak serves as Stage Manager.

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