Photo Flash: First Look at Shattered Globe's HAPPY NOW?

Shattered Globe Theatre continues its 2012/13 Season with the Chicago premiere of the dark British comedy HAPPY NOW? by Lucinda Coxon, directed by Artistic Director Roger Smart, playing now through March 2, 2013 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. The production features Shattered Globe Ensemble Members Steve Peebles, Linda Reiter, Drew Schad & Ben Werling and SGT Associate Artists Christina Gorman & Cortney McKenna with Karack Osborn. Get a first look at the show in the photos below!

A chance encounter at a hotel conference is the first link in a chain of events that play upon Kitty's mind as she struggles to balance personal freedom with family life, fidelity and a demanding job. Her husband is more interested in misplaced apostrophes than in their marriage, her parents are looking down the barrel of oblivion and although she toys with the idea of joining a gym, Kitty's running out of time for big changes. HAPPY NOW? dares to ask just that - in this this painfully truthful, darkly comic take on contemporary life and how to survive it.

The production team for HAPPY NOW? includes: Amanda Rozmiarek (Scenic Design, Technical Director), Noël Huntzinger (Costume Design), Richard Norwood (Lighting Design), Melissa Schlesinger (Sound Design), Vivian Knouse (Props Design), Kathy Logelin (Dialect/Voice Coach), Jeffrey Stokes (Stage Manager), Judy Anderson (Production Manager), Kelsey Melvin (Assistant Director) and Rosie Chevalier (Producer).

Though relatively unknown in the U.S., playwright Lucinda Coxon has become familiar to London audiences for her range of style and juxtaposition of humor and bald honesty. Her plays Waiting at the Water's Edge, Wishbones, Three Glances and The Ice Palace, have been presented at Soho Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre and The National Theatre in London. In addition, Coxon has written for film, including screenplays for Spaghetti Slow, The Heart of Me, Lilacs and Wild Target, starring Bill Nighy .

Hailing from England, director Roger Smart is one of the original members of SGT, performing in the first production of Frozen Assets, before going on to direct and design Talk Radio and a number of other productions for the company. He has directed extensively in Chicago and Southern California. Credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Saint Joan, The Road to Mecca, The Trial, In a Pig's Valise, Œdipus, Scenes From an Execution, The Life of Galileo, Dylan, The Women; Road, suburbia, Duet For One; A Map of the World, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet and Her Naked Skin. Roger served as the Director of Education & Training at Court Theatre. He has an MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine, and is currently completing PhD research into psychophysical modalities of training actors at the University of London, Goldsmiths College. He is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework and has taught directing, acting and voice in theatre programs in England and the States.

Shattered Globe Theatre was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street 21 years ago. Since then, SGT has produced more than 60 plays, including 9 American and World premieres, and garnered an impressive 42 Jeff Awards and 97 Jeff Award Nominations as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. Shattered Globe presents an eclectic mix of plays, intimate character driven selections, which speak to the universal aspect of what it means to be a part of the human experience.

Tickets for HAPPY NOW? are available at www.shatteredglobe.org, in person at the Stage 773 Box Office or by calling (773) 327-5252.

Photo Credit: Kevin Viol