InFusion Theatre Company, in association with DCA Theater, has announced the world premiere of Randall Colburn’s The Improv Play, directed by InFusion Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Mitch Golob, April 10 – May 20, 2012, at the DCA Storefront Theater, 66 East Randolph Street. Preview performances are Tuesday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. with the opening night performance Thursday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 pm. Preview tickets are $10. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors.
Tickets may be purchased by calling 312.742.TIXS (8497) or at infusiontheatre.com and dcatheater.org.
Mark Twain wrote more than 100 years ago, “The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow.” In Randall Colburn’s The Improv Play, greed, jealousy, anger and opportunity are 21st century additions to Twain’s “sorrow.”
The Improv Play follows three aspiring improvisers as they seek success and validation on Chicago’s comedy stages after a fellow troupe member leaves for New York to work on “Saturday Night Live.” InFusion Theatre incorporates improvisation, stand-up and sketch comedy with Randall’s scripted material to create a raucous and honest exploration of the Improv scene in Chicago.
The Improv Play’s cast includes Nick Mikula, Rob Grabowski, Kevin Crispin, Beau Forbes, Will Gillespie, Kevin Anderson, EJ Caillout, Tom McGrath, Steven Thomas, Sarah Gitenstein, Lea Pascal, Katy Colloton, Elise Mayfield, and Jamie Bragg.
Additional production staff includes InFusion Theatre Company ensemble members Bridgette Harney, assistant director, Jamie Bragg, dramaturg and Tara Malpass, stage manager. Other crew members include Dave Ferguson, scenic designer; Charles Cooper, lighting designer, Claudette Perez, sound designer; Rachel Sypniewski, costume designer, Devyn Mares, props designer and Bill Arnett, improv director.
ABOUT RANDALL COLBURN
Randall Colburn’s plays have been produced or developed at such theaters as the Alliance, the Public, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, InFusion, Brain Surgeon Theater, Stage Left and The Right Brain Project, who dedicated their 2010 season to his work. His play Verse Chorus Verse recently opened to critical acclaim in New York with Barefoot Theatre Company after a successful run in Chicago last spring with Tympanic Theatre Company at the DCA Theater Incubator Series. He is the recipient of a 2010 Individual Artist Grant from the Illinois Arts Council, as well as playwriting fellowships from Dad’s Garage Theatre and the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. His play Lamp & Moth was a finalist for the 2011 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Alliance’s 2009 Kendeda Graduate Playwright Competition and the 2009 New York Summer Play Fest, and his short play Ravishment was part of the Northwest Playwrights Alliance’s 2008 British Arts Tour. Writers’ Theatre and InFusion Theatre have commissioned work from Colburn and his play Hesperia is slated for production at Writers’ Theatre this winter. Colburn is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists. A bad movie scholar, Randall was also featured in the hit documentary, Best Worst Movie. He received his MFA in Playwriting from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
ABOUT INFUSION THEATRE COMPANY
InFusion Theatre Company seeks out new plays and “infuses” them with other elements of entertainment such as music, dance and film. “We strive to create dynamic performances by combining different forms of entertainment that will result in both exciting and thought-provoking work and we focus on giving voice to new works, as well as looking at older works in a new way,” says Artistic Director Mitch Golob. InFusion’s 2010-2011 season included the with the world premiere of Randall Colburn’s Ghostbox and the Midwest premiere of Qui Nguyen’s Soul Samurai.
