Goodman Theatre Announces STOOP STORIES In Place Of JOAN D'ARC 9/11-10/11

Today Goodman Theatre announced a change in its upcoming 2009/2010 season lineup. Artistic Director Robert Falls has canceled the previously scheduled Joan D'Arc, directed by Aida Karic, and in its place selected Stoop Stories, an explosive solo piece by Dael Orlandersmith. A Chicago premiere, Stoop Stories will run September 11 - October 11 in the Goodman's 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Theatre.

The decision to cancel Joan D'Arc followed its initial limited engagement at Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture. Despite a previous workshop and extended rehearsal period at the Goodman, this highly-complex world-premiere adaptation of Friedrich Schiller's Die Jungfrau Von Orléans (The Maid of Orléans) needed additional time for artistic development prior to the show's scheduled Chicago opening in September. The Goodman has no immediate plans to reschedule this production.

Stoop Stories comes to Chicago direct from its premiere at Washington, D.C.'s Studio Theatre this spring, where critics called it a "triumph" (Washington City Paper) and a "breathtaking" and "spellbinding" performance (DC Theatre Scene). Pulitzer Prize Finalist Dael Orlandersmith transforms with mesmerizing ease into an astounding range of characters, from an elderly Polish Holocaust survivor to a poetic young junkie to a teenage Puerto Rican punk to a washed-up rock 'n' roll star. An electrifying journey through the streets of Harlem, Orlandersmith performs a powerful, sizzling, fierce symphony of the diverse voices that make up her neighborhood. The New Yorker has described Dael's work as "...passionate and full of insight" and The Washington Post noted, "One cup of Orlandersmith is worth a gallon of what most other monologists serve up."

Playwright, poet and actress Dael Orlandersmith is counted among the country's most powerful artistic voices, one of the first to transition from a spoken word artist to a nationally produced playwright. She is best known for her play Yellowman which was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize and she received an OBIE Award for Beauty's Daughter. Her other works include Monster, The Gimmick and My Red Hand, My Black Hand. As an actor, she has performed many of her own works, as well as in productions of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Raisin in the Sun and Song for My Sisters, and can also be seen in HAl Hartley's film Amateur.

Named the country's Best Regional Theatre by Time magazine (2003), Goodman Theatre is a leader in the American theater, internationally recognized for its artists, productions and educational programs since its founding in 1925. Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer's forward-thinking leadership has earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction, garnered hundreds of awards-including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992) and Pulitzer Prizes for Ruined by Lynn Nottage and Glengarry GLen Ross by David Mamet-and moved dozens of plays from Chicago to stages in New York and abroad. Central to its commitment to the reinvestigation of classics and development of new plays and artists is the Goodman's Artistic Collective, including Brian Dennehy, Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Chuck Smith, ReGina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. The largest not-for-profit theater in Chicago, the Goodman moved in 2000 into a brand new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Shawn M. Donnelley and Karen Pigott is president of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Currently playing in Goodman Theatre's 2008/2009 season is the final play of the season-Boleros for the Disenchanted by José Rivera, directed by Henry Godinez (through July 26 in the Albert).

The upcoming 2009/2010 season includes Animal Crackers, book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, directed by Henry Wishcamper (September 18 - October 25); Brian Dennehy in the Broadway-bound double-bill of Hughie by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Robert Falls and Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, directed by Jennifer Tarver (January 16 - February 21, 2010); the world premiere of A True History of the Johnstown Flood by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls (March 13 - April 18, 2010); The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (May 1 - June 6, 2010); The Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarías, directed by Henry Godinez (June 19 - July 25, 2010) which launches the Goodman's 5th Latino Theater Festival (offerings TBA). Offerings in the Owen Theatre include Stoop Stories written and performed by Dael Orlandersmith (September 11 - October 11); High Holidays by Alan Gross, directed by Steven Robman (October 31 - November 29); and The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (February 13 - March 14, 2010).