TEN 2024
2024-05-20 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Filament Theater, 4041 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL, 60641
The Gift Theatre is pleased to welcome back TEN 2024, the company’s annual festival of ten world premiere ten-minute pieces by The Gift and guest artists, curated by Co-Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse.
TEN will play May 9 – 20, 2024 at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.
The TEN 2024 line-up includes:

CASS by Karissa Murrell Meyers
Directed by ensemble member Erica Weiss
Featuring ensemble member Alex Main with Stephanie Shum

THE UNBROKEN LINE by Matt Yee
Directed by ensemble member Gabe Franken
Featuring ensemble members Gregory Fenner and Kenny Mihlfried with Preeti Thaker and Claire Kaplan

PREGNANT PAUSE by Jerluane “Jae” Jenkins
Directed by Myesha-Tiara
Featuring: A’Keisha Lee, Genesis Beecham, Rita Wicks, and Renee Lockett

REMNANTS by co-founder and ensemble member Michael Patrick Thornton
Directed by ensemble member Paul D’Addario
Featuring ensemble member Jay Worthington with Jack Bronis and Chris Acevedo

IMPROV
Directed by ensemble member Hannah Toriumi
Featuring Dr. Coke Team

STANDUP (5/13 and 5/20)
Featuring Montrez Hawkins

GiftLit
Curator by ensemble member Maggie Andersen

SHAKING HANDS REALLY MEANS I LOVE YOU by Alexandria Bressette
Directed by co-artistic director and ensemble member Jennifer Glasse
Featuring Alexandria Bressette and Ellie Desmond

THIRST by Terry Guest
Directed by Mignon Stewart
Featuring Jalyn Greene and Scottie Caldwell

THE IMAGINARY FRIEND by Silent Marvin
Directed by Jordan Reinwald
Featuring ensemble member Martel Manning with Harrison Hapin

BOLOGNA by ensemble member Gregory Fenner
Directed by ensemble member Martel Manning
Featuring ensemble member John Gawlik with Caroline Kidwell, Mickey Dolan, Caroline Heffernan, and Rita Wicks

The TEN 2025 production team includes Josh Fitch (Stage Management), Alexandria Bressette (Assistant Stage Manager), Dan Friedman (Lighting), and Tyler Hughes (Sound)

BeneFête Gala
2024-06-09 17:00 - 21:00 | Moonflower, 4359 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL, 60641
Please join us at Moonflower on Sunday, June 9th 2024 at 5pm for our annual gala fundraiser. Hors d’oeuvres will be provided, along with an open bar, music, and live performances.
Tickets are $150, to guarantee a seat, and availability is limited. Discounted $75 Mix and Mingle tickets are also available: great for conversation and that speakeasy feel!

About the Grab-a-Gift Wishlist
This year, our gala will work a little bit like a registry! We have created a wishlist of things that we will need this season. We will have each item printed on a card at the gala. Please choose from our list, pick up the card with the description of the item, and bring it to the check-out table, where we will take payment information.
This way, you know exactly what you’re contributing toward, and so do we! It’s important to us that we can attach your contribution to a specific item, so we know exactly who to thank, and you know exactly how you supported us!
All items will be tax deductible!

Moonflower is located at 4359 N Milwaukee Ave, near Montrose Ave. Street parking is available on Milwaukee for those who are driving.
Please call the Box Office (773.283.7071) or email allisonsheehan@thegifttheatre.org for more information.

The Fires- In The Works
2024-06-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Filament Theater, 4041 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL, 60641
The Fires by Jennifer Rumberger
Presented as part of The Gift Theatre’s In The Works series, curated by Co-Artistic Director Brittany Burch.
Jennifer Rumberger (The Locusts) is returning to The Gift for a one-time reading of her latest play, THE FIRES.
Two men sit outside a 7/11 in downtown Los Angeles, watching a wildfire come closer and closer, the latest in a series of natural catastrophes that have caused massive casualties all over the United States. Other than a traveling newsman bringing stories of the fates of other Americans, they are the last people alive. As the fire gets closer, they are forced to contend with the end of not only their relationship, but their lives as well.

Cast:
John Gawlik (Meatball), Paul D’Addario (Arthur), Michael Turrentine (Reginald)

The Fires will be performed at Filament Theatre
4041 N Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60641

Obliteration at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre
2024-07-25 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-07-26 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-07-27 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-01 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-02 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-03 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-08-04 20:00 - 22:00 | Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 1700 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL, 60614
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Obliteration is a fusion of stand-up and theater that tells the story of two comedians, trying to make sense of a world that’s falling apart, even as their own lives are hanging on by a thread.
Obliteration is written and directed by Gift ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker (Let The Right One In (Showtime), Away (Netflix), Colossal, and Suicide, Incorporated) and performed by Gift founder Michael Patrick Thornton and ensemble member Cyd Blakewell.

Runtime: 2 hours
ABOUT CYD BLAKEWELL
Cyd Blakewell is living her best life working on this incredible project with these two beautiful and intensely talented people, Andrew and Michael. Recently, Cyd was seen in The Brightest Thing in the World at About Face Theatre and Birthday Candles at Northlight Theatre. She is a proud ensemble member of The Gift Theatre in Chicago. Her Gift Credits include: The Locusts, Pillowman, Doubt, A Life Extra Ordinary, Good For Otto, Body + Blood, Broadsword, Mine and multiple episodes of TEN. Other Chicago credits: The Snare (Jackalope); Balm In Gilead and Port (Griffin); Buddy Cop 2, breaks & bikes and Milk Milk Lemonade (Pavement Group); Sweet Confinement and Ivanov (SiNNERMAN Ensemble); Orange Flower Water (Interrobang); Lies & Liars and Mimesophobia (Theatre Seven); Rewind (The Side Project). She recently wrapped a short film called Fairground and can also be seen in Jeri’s Grille. Cyd got her BFA from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and is a graduate from the School at Steppenwolf. Cyd is represented by Promote Talent Agency. She is married to Keith Neagle and mother to Wesley, who give her an endless amount of love and support.

ABOUT MICHAEL PATRICK THORNTON
Michael Patrick Thornton is the co-founder of The Gift Theatre and served as its artistic director for twenty years. He has appeared on stages throughout the world, most recently on Broadway with Jessica Chastain in the acclaimed and Tony-nominated production of A Doll’s House, directed by Jamie Lloyd and adapted by Amy Herzog, for which Michael’s performance as “Dr. Rank” won the 2023 Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award for the best performance by an actor in a classical play in the New York metropolitan area. Michael made his Broadway debut in Sam Gold’s production of Macbeth with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, and was seen prior to that in The Gift’s production of Doubt at Steppenwolf with Obliteration’s Cyd Blakewell. Other select productions: Will Eno’s Title and Deed (Lookingglass Theatre—Time Out Best Actor Award) as well as Eno’s Middletown (Steppenwolf) the premiere of Andrew Hinderaker’s Colossal (Olney Theatre, Kennedy Center) Othello (The Gift, “Iago”) Our Town (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and the world premieres of Hinderaker’s Dirty and Suicide, Incorporated for which Thornton was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award. His groundbreaking performance in the titular role of Richard III (The Gift at Steppenwolf) which marked the first performance in theatre history to use an exoskeleton has been the subject of numerous podcasts, published essays, and academic papers. Michael won the 2006 Jeff Award for Solo Performance for The Good Thief (The Gift). On camera, Thornton has acted opposite Oscar Winners Jessica Chastain, Hilary Swank, J.K. Simmons, and Oscar nominee Demián Bichir. For two seasons, he played the love interest of six-time Tony Award winning legend Audra McDonald on Private Practice.
In addition, Thornton’s acclaimed improv show—You & Me—premiered at Steppenwolf and has since played for over a decade throughout Chicago as well as in Louisville and Dublin, Ireland, featuring nearly a hundred special guests. The Chicago Reader has called the show and Thornton’s improvisation “masterful.” Selected Film/TV: The Savant, NCIS, The Good Doctor, Let The Right One In, Chicago Party Aunt, 61st Street, A Million Little Things, Away, All Rise, Madam Secretary, The Red Line, Counterpart, Elementary and The View From Tall. Select Awards: Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award; Irish Books and Music Festival (iBAM!) Award Recipient; Best Actor: 2017 Midwest International Film Festival (The View From Tall); Tree of Life Award: Shirley Ryan Ability Lab; 3Arts Artist Award; Northlight Theatre’s Jack Springer Award for Outstanding Performance; The Tim Meier and Helen Coburn Meier Foundation Achievement Award; The Second City Foundation’s Jim Zulevic Chicago Arts Award; The Joseph Jefferson Award for Solo Performance, and induction into The University of Iowa and St. Patrick High School Halls of Fame. Obliteration marks the seventh collaboration between Thornton and Andrew Hinderaker.

ABOUT ANDREW HINDERAKER
Andrew Hinderaker is currently the Executive Producer and Showrunner of BLACK RABBIT, an upcoming Netflix series starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law. He previously created and showran the Showtime series, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, starring Oscar Nominee Demián Bichir, as well as the Netflix series, Away, starring Oscar Winner Hilary Swank. Additional TV writing credits include Penny Dreadful and The Path, but Hinderaker’s heart and soul belong to the theater, where he specializes in writing plays that are (nearly) impossible to produce. Recent projects include The Magic Play (Goodman Theatre; Actors’ Theatre of Louisville; Portland Center Stage) a five-year collaboration with a sleight-of-hand card artist; and Colossal, an epic theatrical event featuring full-contact football hits, a modern dance company, and a drum line. Colossal received a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere from 2014-2016, with its inaugural production at the Olney Theatre Center (DC) receiving numerous Helen Hayes Awards, including Best New Play. Hinderaker’s additional plays include Suicide, Incorporated; Dirty; Kingsville; and I Am Going to Change the World, all of which premiered in his hometown of Chicago before enjoying productions in NY and throughout the world. Hinderaker holds an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a proud ensemble member of the Gift Theatre Company in Chicago. Obliteration marks his seventh collaboration with Michael Patrick Thornton, and his first with Cyd Blakewell. They are two of his favorite artists in the world.

GiftLit: Back to School
2024-08-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Private: Chief O’Neill’s, 3471 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL, 60618
GiftLit is back!

Curated by ensemble member Maggie Andersen, our first live lit event of the year will take place on Monday, August 12 in the magical garden at Chief O’Neill’s, and the theme is Back to School. We’ll hear hilarious and heartbreaking stories from 3 students and 3 educators about what back-to-school jitters and true learning mean to them.
Meet our student storytellers!
Sofia Allesandrini was homeschooled until the age of 18 and turned out exceptionally well! She loves punk rock and will be studying in Limerick, Ireland next semester.
Gillian Adkins grew up closeby in the Logan Square neighborhood and is currently working as an intern for the Gift. She is the proud owner of two dachshunds and one Jack Russel terrier.
Andrea Betinis dabbles in both chemistry and creative writing and is an aspiring physicians assistant; she is currently a librarian at the Maywood Library.
All of them met at Dominican University in the English Department. We can’t wait to be reminded of what life feels like at the tender age of 22.
Please RSVP at https://thegifttheatre.org/event/giftlit-back-to-school/ (https://thegifttheatre.org/event/giftlit-back-to-school/) so we can plan accordingly. And come hungry—Chief O’Neill’s has an excellent menu. R
unning time is about 90 minutes. We can’t wait to see you!
We will have veteran and first-time performers, and we hope to see you there as well.
Tickets are a $10 suggested donation.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG by Suzan-Lori Parks
2024-09-13 19:30 - 22:00, 2024-09-14 19:30 - 22:00, 2024-09-15 15:00 - 17:30, 2024-09-19 19:30 - 22:00, 2024-09-20 19:30 - 22:00, 2024-09-21 19:30 - 22:00, 2024-09-22 15:00 - 17:30, 2024-09-26 19:30 - 22:00 and 10 more dates | Filament Theater, 4041 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL, 60641
This darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity tells the story of two brothers, Lincoln (Manning) and Booth (Fenner), names given to them as a joke by their father. Haunted by the past and their obsession with the street con game, three-card monte, the brothers come to learn the true nature of their history.
The Gift Theatre’s Topdog/Underdog opens at Filament Theatre.
Topdog/Underdog
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Shanésia Davis
September 13- October 20, 2024 | Filament Theatre
Please note that while all evening performances are 7:30pm, the exception will be OPENING NIGHT, Sunday, September 22nd, which opens at 6:00pm.
All Sunday matinee performances will have a 3:00pm start.
ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES

Friday October 11, 2024: Open-Captioned, Assistive Listening Devices Available by Request
Saturday, October 12, 2024: Open Captioned and Audio Described, Assistive Listening Devices Available by Request
Thursday performances are masked!

CAST
Martel Manning (Lincoln), Gregory Fenner (Booth)
Carlos Washington (U/S Lincoln), Jermaine Jenkins (U/S Booth)
STAGE MANAGER
Sarah Luse
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Jennifer Aparicio
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
David Preis
CASTING
Cyd Blakewell

In the Works: Equal & Terrifying by Kimberly Dixon-Mays
2024-10-07 19:00 - 21:00 | Filament Theater, 4041 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL, 60641
Join us for The Gift Theatre’s next In The Works Staged Reading!

Equal & Terrifying
by Kimberly Dixon-Mays
Directed by AmBer Montgomery

Performed by Shanésia Davis and Netta Walker
Monday, October 7 at 7:00 pm
Filament Theatre, 4041 N Milwaukee Ave.

Andrea, a reclusive middle-aged visual artist, has her work and life interrupted when Sophie, a late friend’s twenty-something daughter, comes looking for answers about her mother’s past. Andrea has no patience, and Sophie has no filter. Worse, the two get stuck in Andrea’s studio and a supernatural vicious cycle. They fight this unseen force to define what connection they owe each other, and what escape looks like. This play is inspired by the “history repeating” nature not only of America’s 21st C. racial upheaval, but also the timeless tensions between generations.

In The Works is presented at no cost to audiences. Please RSVP to boxoffice@thegifttheatre.org to guarantee a seat, or show up the evening of!
