Chicago, IL — On November 13th, Prologue Theater will begin its third season, “Haunted: Shadows of the 1950s” with a staged reading of the award-winning play The Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell. Flowing seamlessly between two decades, the play explores the dynamics of queer sexuality in both eras, contrasting the cultural evolution over 50 years with the unbreakable bond of inheritance between our present and past.

The play begins in 1958, where Sylvia, the former actress, now book illustrator, introduces her husband Phillip to Oliver, the author of her current project. In 2008, Oliver, a freelance writer, struggles with a sex addiction, his recent break-up with Phillip, and the increasing distance in his friendship with Sylvia. Rife with frank, good-humored discussion and cast of fascinating, complex characters, it’s easy to understand the praise that The Pride received upon its premiere.

The Pride was Campbell’s first play and earned him a Critic’s Circle award for Most Promising Playwright in 2008 along with an Olivier award for Outstanding Production and the John Whitling award for Best New Play. After its original production at the Royal Court Theater in London, it moved to New York where it was nominated for several more awards.

Prologue’s third season will go on to include a production of Take Her to See the Maco Lights, an exciting and haunting new play by Bekah Brunstetter and Prologue’s annual Landmark Festival, a night of one acts focused on bringing a variety of perspectives, new and old, to the theme of ghosts, shadows, and our inescapable connection to what has come before.

Artist bios and archive production photographs available by request to info@prologuetheatreco.org.

About Prologue Theatre Co.: The past is prologue. We produce historical works from underrepresented voices. Our relevant and diverse stories empower our community to consider where we go from here.

Prologue was incorporated in Chicago, IL in 2008. Our 2009-2010 season explored the influences of the 1920s on the modern world, and included the Chicago premiere of Sex by Mae West and the world premiere of The Cat’s Meow: a vaudeville. 2010-2011 took us through the late 19th and early 20th century as we explored the world of the visual arts through the eyes of women in the plays Tatjana in Color by Julia Jordan, Dream of a Common Language by Heather McDonald, and Ribbon Around a Bomb by Jess Gyori-Eisenberg.

For more information please visit prologuetheatreco.org or follow us on Twitter, @PrologueThtrCo.

Fact sheet

The Pride

Playwright: Alexi Kaye Campbell

Director: Matthew Ozawa

Venue: The Den, 1333 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Performance: November 13th, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Tickets: $7

Cast

Alexandra Bennett as Sylvia

Fred Geyer as Oliver

Michael Mercier as Phillip

Nicholas Wagner as Peter/Doctor/The Man

Landmark Festival — Spirits of the 1950s

March 2012

Take Her to See the Maco Lights

Midwest Premiere

Playwright: Bekah Brunstetter

Director: Margo Gray

May/June 2012