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Theater 2015-16: Shattered Globe celebrates twofold 25th – its own and ‘Marvin’s Room’

Submitted by on Oct 4, 2015 – 9:44 am

Lee (Rebecca Jordan, left) and Ruth (Deanna Dunagan, left) look in on leukemia patient Bessie (Linda Reiter) in 'Marvin's Room.' (Michael Brosilow)18th in a series of season previews: Memorializing Chicago playwright Scott McPherson as “a friend,” the company opens with his funny and poignant play “Marvin’s Room.”

By Lawrence B. Johnson and Nancy Malitz

Shattered Globe Theatre opens its 25th anniversary season with a memorial tribute to Chicago playwright Scott McPherson, who died at age 33 in 1992, just two years after the premiere of “Marvin’s Room” at the Goodman Theatre. Sandy Shinner, Shattered Globe’s producing artistic director, calls this revival “a celebration of Scott’s life.”

The coincidence of 25th anniversaries for both the company and the play makes the choice of “Marvin’s Room,” about deeply embedded family issues that play out when a woman diagnosed with leukemia seeks a bone marrow transplant, “a perfect opener for us,” says Shinner, who is directing the play. “Scott was a friend.” McPherson died of complications from AIDS.

Playwright Rajiv Joseph wrote 'Animals Out of Paper.' (Mark Kitaoka photo)Second in the company’s 2015-16 line-up of three plays is “Animals Out of Paper” by Rajiv Joseph, author of “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.”

What Shinner describes as “an uncommon love story” centers on three very passionate characters, one of whom is a famed but emotionally withdrawn origami artist.

Shattered Globe’s season will close with “In the Heat of the Night” — Matt Pelfrey’s new adaptation of the 1965 novel by John Ball about an African American homicide detective from Los Angeles who must contend with racial prejudice of small-town Alabama police as he tries to help them solve a murder.

The saga is best known from a 1967 screen adaptation starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger and television series that ran from 1988-95 starring Carroll O’Connor with Howard Rollins in the Poitier role of Virgil Tibbs.

“Unfortunately, this story still speaks to the nightly news,” says Shinner. “It’s a perspective from the ‘60s, but it also casts light on how we have, or haven’t, progressed as a society.

The 2015-16 season in brief:

  • Playwright Scott McPherson, author of 'Marvin's Room,' died of AIDS complications in 1992.“Marvin’s Room” by Scott McPherson (Oct. 4-Nov. 14 at Theatre Wit, 1229 W. Belmont): “Marvin’s Room” is about finding family and the timeless concerns of living, dying and caring for others. Bessie devotes her life to caring for her elderly father and aunt, and so her own diagnosis of leukemia sends their world into a tailspin. In need of a bone marrow transplant, Bessie reaches out to her estranged sister Lee and Lee’s two sons. If they are to be of any help, then old wounds must be opened. “This play is about putting family first and the importance of care-giving and love,” says Shinner. “It’s very, very funny. Scott had a particular kind of humor with a dark side to it. At the first read-through, people who didn’t know the play were laughing their heads off, then crying.”
  • Origami bear“Animals Out of Paper” by Rajiv Joseph (Jan. 17-Feb. 27, 2016 at Theatre Wit): Andy, a calculus teacher and avid fan, pressures a reclusive Ilana, a world famous origami artist, into becoming an unwitting mentor to a troubled teenage prodigy. But Ilana has her own issues: She counts among her most recent setbacks the loss of her husband (divorce), her dog (run away) and her apartment (she’s broke). These three characters, all flawed in their own way, begin to reshape and mold each other’s lives in much the same fashion they fold and crease their origami art. But as Ilana ruefully observes: “Folds leave scars.” Says Shinner: “It’s about the creative process and the inspiration for creativity.”
  • Iconic image

    Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger in a scene from the 1967 film version of ‘In the Heat of the Night.’

    “In the Heat of the Night,” newly adapted by Matt Pelfrey from the novel by John Ball (April 24-June 4 at Theatre Wit): This is classic, highly charged story – famous in its 1967 film version starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger — of an African American police officer asked to investigate a murder in a racially hostile southern town. It’s a torrid night in 1965 Argo, Ala., when a white man is found dead. The local police, desperately searching for a motive and a suspect, arrest a black man passing through town.  The police soon discover that their suspect is an expert homicide detective from Los Angeles, and they must confront their personal prejudices as they are forced to work side by side to solve the crime. “Along with everything else, it’s also a gripping murder mystery,” says Shinner, “and to watch that sort of film noir spool out live, in front of you, will be a real treat for the audience.”

Getting There:

Shattered Globe's home at Theater WitShattered Globe’s three productions for 2015-16 will be presented at the company’s resident home, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., in the Lakeview neighborhood. It’s an easy 10-minute walk from the Belmont stop on the Red Line.

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