TEN, VIGILS, MINE and BROADSWORD Higlight Gift Theatre's 11th Season

The Gift Theatre has announced its 11th season, beginning January 2013. The season opens with a celebration of short world premieres and then presents three radically different productions dealing with the most universal of human crises: death, birth, and the mystery of what lies beyond.

The season opens with TEN, the kick-off celebration of ten-minute plays and performances by The Gift. Curated by Gift co-founder Michael Patrick Thornton, the celebration will also feature performances by giftED, giftLIT, giftFILM, and the Natural Gas improv troupe. TEN runs from January 10 through January 20. Tickets to TEN are free, however subscribers have the first opportunity to reserve tickets.

Following TEN, The Gift will explore the challenges of loss and letting go with Noah Haidle?s Vigils. In a gently whimsical take on a heartbreaking scenario, a young widow keeps her deceased husband's soul in a box by her bed, but then has to make a tough choice when the possibility for new love comes into her life. Directed by Erica Weiss, Vigils will run from March 1st through April 28th.

The Gift dramatically shifts tones with the dark thriller Mine by Laura Marks. This Chicago premiere tells the story of Mari, a new mother who is convinced the baby in her arms is not actually hers. Certainty and reality blur as Mari gropes to know the truth. Marti Lyons will direct Mine, which runs from June 13th through August 11th.

The final production of the 2013 season is Marco Ramirez's Broadsword. As the former members of a heavy metal band gather for their lead guitarist's funeral, their reunion soon becomes a supernatural rescue mission. Directed by Keira Fromm, The Gift production will be the Chicago premiere from Ramirez, a veteran writer of the TV series "Sons of Anarchy". Broadsword will run from September 19th to November 17th.

For more 2013 news and surprises, visit thegifttheatre.org, @TheGiftTheatre on Twitter and The Gift Theatre Company on Facebook.

The Gift Theatre is located in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago at 4802 N. Milwaukee Avenue. Show times for each production are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. For tickets, call (773) 283-7071 or buy online at www.thegifttheatre.org.

The Gift Theatre is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Conveniently located at 4802 N. Milwaukee in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, The Gift Theatre is easily accessible by the Kennedy Expressway, the Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenue buses, and the CTA Blue Line.

THE GIFT THEATRE is dedicated to telling great stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. Previous productions include Dirty, Oh, the Humanity, Absolute Hell; Northwest Highway; Night and Her Stars; Lonesome West; Suicide, Inc.; One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest; Almost, Maine; Santa?s Great American Depression Holiday Show! (2009 & 2010); Summer People; The Ruby Sunrise; Talk Radio; Stop/Kiss; Natural Gas; Streamers; Wit ;The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; White People; Three Sisters; The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Blithe Spirit;365 Days/365 Plays; The Halloween Show; Long Day?s Journey Into Night; The Glass Menagerie (Remount: Theatre on the Lake); The Good Thief; The Clearing; Hurlyburly; The Glass Menagerie; The Pavilion; A Young Man In Pieces; Language of Angels; 6; County Fair; The Countess; Alcatraz (Abbie Hoffman Festival); Orestes 2.0; Boys? Life; Absolute Hell; Oh the Humanity (and other exclamations); and Dirty. The theatre also sponsors the giftED Ensemble, a rigorous two-year afterschool course for creative and motivated high school students on Chicago;' Northwest side.

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