The Gift Theatre

giftLIT. September 2018
2018-09-11 | IL
The giftLIT. salons happen several times a year at Community Tavern. A salon has historically been defined as “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of participants through conversation.” What does that mean to the Gift? It means we round up a diverse group of writers and performers—some experienced, some rookies, some comedians, some poets. We give them all the same prompt and ask them to tell their stories while we drink good wine and eat good food. In between stories, we enjoy live music. At the Gift, we strongly believe that these story-sharing experiences create meaningful connections among individuals and within our community.
Writers include: Ada Cheng, Ensemble Member Jennifer Glasse, Nestor Gomez, Katherine Keberlein, and Jennifer Rumberger.

Hamlet
2018-06-07 - 2018-07-29
After the death of his dad, a young black man named Hamlet returns home to grieve and seek revenge. Fighting against the injustice of his father’s murder and the powers that want him out of the picture, Hamlet quickly loses power and sanity. Directed by guest artist Monty Cole, The Gift’s retelling of Shakespeare’s great tragedy will crack open the mind of one of western drama’s most fascinating and entertaining characters. Running Time: 3 Hours.

giftLIT. May 2018
2018-05-01
The giftLIT. salons happen several times a year at Community Tavern. A salon has historically been defined as “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of participants through conversation.” What does that mean to the Gift? It means we round up a diverse group of writers and performers—some experienced, some rookies, some comedians, some poets. We give them all the same prompt and ask them to tell their stories while we drink good wine and eat good food. In between stories, we enjoy live music. At The Gift, we strongly believe that these story-sharing experiences create meaningful connections among individuals and within our community.
Writers: Ensemble Member Maggie Andersen, Katherine Bourne, Sherman Edwards, and Shaina Warfield

Hang Man
2018-03-08 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Chicago)
The community of a backwoods Southern town grapples with the murder of a Black man who is found hanging in a tree. As events unfold, the hanging mystifies the people of the community, forcing them to confront their complicity in this man’s horrific demise. Osei-Kuffour’s darkly comical, heartbreaking play, which recently made the prestigious 2017 Kilroy’s List, uses absurdity to explore racism, sexuality, and the parts of American history we would all like to forget.

giftLIT. February 2018
2018-02-27
The giftLIT. salons happen several times a year at Community Tavern. A salon has historically been defined as “a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of participants through conversation.” What does that mean to the Gift? It means we round up a diverse group of writers and performers—some experienced, some rookies, some comedians, some poets. We give them all the same prompt and ask them to tell their stories while we drink good wine and eat good food. In between stories, we enjoy live music. At The Gift, we strongly believe that these story-sharing experiences create meaningful connections among individuals and within our community.

TEN 2018
2018-01-05
Enjoy world premiere ten-minute pieces by The Gift and guests. This festival allows us to work with many talented artists who help us uphold our mission of telling great original stories – and tickets are just $10!

The Gift Gala 2017
2017-12-01
Since 2001 and over seventy productions, The Gift Theatre has pioneered the frontiers of the American theatre via the most intimate professional theatre in the country, leading to national acclaim and a cultural revolution on Chicago’s northwest side.
Please join us for a celebratory evening at The Copernicus Center, named after the astronomer whose theory about revolutions changed everything.
Guests will enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, irresistible auction items and delectable desserts.
The evening will also feature live jazz and classical music, the presentation of the Total Gift Award, and a short performance charting our evolving place in the cosmos from Copernicus to NASA, SpaceX and beyond.

A SWELL IN THE GROUND
2017-10-19
In intimate rooms throughout New York, four friends from college fight through 17 years of love affairs, shattered dreams and compromised lives. Flipping back and forth through time like a photobook, this play—whose title is from a line of Emily Dickinson poetry— is equally breathtaking and heartbreakingly spare as Olivia, Nate, Abagail, and Charles try to reconcile the lives they imagined with the lives they live.
Come Closer on Sunday, December 3 for a talkback with the cast, drinks, and a couple of themed appetizers! Tickets to this special event are $55 and sell out quickly. Reserve your spot today!

OPEN SEASON
2017-09-17
The Gift Theatre is proud to announce Adithi Chandrashekar’s OPEN SEASON as the first play chosen to pilot 4802—the new play research and development wing of The Gift named after its storefront address located on North Milwaukee Avenue in Jefferson Park.
OPEN SEASON
What do an Illinois State Sheriff and a white-tailed deer have in common? Love, anger, hunger, fear, joy, community, isolation and everything in between. OPEN SEASON tracks the universality of being alive and explores the nature of power and loneliness.

giftLIT. September 2017
2017-09-12
You are cordially invited to join local writers, actors and musicians on Tuesday, September 12 at Community Tavern for an evening of stories, wine and entertainment in the grand tradition of a Parisian salon. $10. Tickets available online and at the door. Music begins at 8 PM and the stories start at 8:30 PM. We highly recommend buying tickets in advance in order to ensure a seat-communitytavern.org.

Season Release Bash 2017
2017-07-16
THE GIFT THEATRE SEASON RELEASE BASH!
Drink! Dance! Release the season!
Sunday, July 16th from 4pm-8 p.m. at Old Irving Brewery Co.
www.oldirvingbrewing.com
Our annual summer fundraiser features live music and all you can drink Old Irving craft beer. Come hang with The Gift ensemble and be the first in the world to hear about our new season.
Bash Single tickets are $25. VIP Table near the music and beer for eight is $400. Bash single ticket plus 2018 Season Subscription is $120.

PILGRIMS
2017-06-08
On a spacecraft on its way to colonize a newly discovered planet, a soldier and a teenage girl live together in one of the ship’s cabins with only an outdated robot and each other for company. When they are quarantined in their close quarters due to a potential outbreak, they’re forced to explore their own traumatic pasts in a dying society. What does it mean to create a new society? What does it mean to be a Pilgrim today?

giftLIT. May 2017
2017-05-02
May 2 Stories by:
Jose Blanco and Raul Vasquez
Jane Hseu
Jasminum McMullen
Diana Sykes
Live Music by the Winnemac 3!
Appetizers and cocktails by your friends at Community Tavern

UNSEEN
2017-02-16
Conflict photographer Mia wakes up in the Istanbul apartment of her on-again, off-again girlfriend after being found unconscious at the scene of a massacre she was photographing. Mia can’t even remember being there, but she wired photos of the site hours before being found. The two women resume their volatile push-pull when Mia’s well-meaning Californian mother arrives from the United States, trying to help unravel the mystery of what happened to her daughter.
Come Closer on Sunday, April 2nd for a talkback with the cast, drinks, and a couple of themed appetizers! Tickets to this special event are $55 and sell out quickly. Reserve your spot today!

TEN 2017
2017-01-05
Enjoy world premiere ten minute pieces by The Gift and guests.
This festival allows us to work with many talented artists who help us uphold our mission of telling great stories.
This festival is just $10 and free for 2017 subscribers. Thank you for keeping the arts alive.

giftLIT. November 2016
2016-11-15
Curated by ensemble member Maggie Andersen, giftLIT is the literary extension and iteration of The Gift Theatre. The salon will feature celebrated writers from Chicago reading original work based on the themes in “A Life Extra Ordinary.” $10 for entrance to this rustic-chic room, exquisite storytelling, $5 glasses of rosé and specialty appetizers.

The Gift Gala 2016
2016-11-10
The Gift Theatre Ensemble will gather with their devoted community of supporters to celebrate The Gift Theatre’s 15th year of telling remarkable stories on stage with honesty and simplicity. The Gift and has been recognized by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and the Illinois State Legislature as the cultural anchor of the Jefferson Park neighborhood. The Gift’s Ensemble of actors, playwrights and directors has garnered a loyal following that extends from its northwest side neighborhood throughout the city, country and abroad.
The Gift believes a play never closes until everyone who saw it stops thinking about it and that art is, at its best, a sacred conversation between actor and audience, revealing the joy and pain of being human. In other words, a gift. Our hope is that guests will leave talking about our anniversary celebration with affection for years to come.

A LIFE EXTRA ORDINARY
2016-10-03
Annabel Anderson McCafferty is an expectant mother who vanishes from her small Ohio town on Christmas Eve. Both mystery and memory play, “A Life Extra Ordinary’ untangles and re-assembles the moments that make a life.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH
2016-06-16
When an American family is forced off of their land during the Great Depression, they begin an epic journey west to California.
Come Closer on Sunday, August 7th for a talk-back with the cast, drinks, and a couple of themed appetizers! Tickets to this special event are $50 and sell out quickly. Reserve your spot today!

RICHARD III
2016-03-07
In collaboration with lead production sponsor The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, The Gift’s RICHARD III re-defines what (dis)ability and Shakespeare’s great villain look like by utilizing both a disabled actor in the title role as well as assistive devices past and present as articulations of Richard’s protean identity, character, and self-perception.
In partnership with The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

TEN 2016
2016-01-01
Enjoy world premiere ten minute pieces by The Gift and guests.
As members of the National New Play Network, we feel it is our duty to present new works and world premieres on our stage. This festival allows us to work with talented artists who help us overcome obstacles to uphold our mission of telling great stories.
This free festival is for the fans of theatre, performance, and creativity. Thank you for keeping the arts alive.

A Legendary Reception: David Rabe
2015-11-09
Cocktails & Conversation with David Rabe: Tony Award-winning playwright of The Gift Theatre’s hit GOOD FOR OTTO
Michael Patrick Thornton: Co-Founding Artistic Director of The Gift and director of GOOD FOR OTTO and Hedy Weiss: Theatre and Dance critic of the Chicago Sun-Times
“Good for Otto” is an altogether breathtaking piece of theater.” Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
Monday, November 9, 2015
6:30 – 9:00pm
Hosted by the National Veterans Art Museum
4041 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago
Join us for a rare and intimate conversation with American theater legend David Rabe about his work, and an exploration behind the scenes of The Gift’s acclaimed world premiere of GOOD FOR OTTO. Tour NVAM exhibits in observance of Veteran’s Day 2015.
Individual Tickets $100
Please note, capacity is extremely limited.

GOOD FOR OTTO
2015-10-05
Haunted by his own childhood, a psychologist tries to minister to the distressed souls who find their way to the doors of the health center he runs in rural Connecticut.
“What every playwright wants to know is that the people doing their play will love it and care for it. I watched The Gift do a cold read of Good For Otto and was thrilled by what they did and revealed; the level of their acting is exceptional. Given their previous productions of my work as well as their strong reputation of supporting new plays, I’m excited by this opportunity to work with The Gift on the world premiere of Good For Otto. It needs a true ensemble with heart and smart, humor and hurt, and that is precisely what The Gift is.”—David Rabe

Body + Blood
2015-06-15
Dan finally finds his calling in life – and it sends all of his loved ones spiraling into a spiritual crisis in this smart, searching, and hilarious new play. The Gift Co-Founder and playwright of Northwest Highway strikes again with another great local story about overcoming obstacles and following your heart.
Featuring: Ensemble Members Cyd Blakewell, Gabriel Franken, and Lynda Newton.
With Guest Artists: Stephen Spencer and Nicholas Harazin.

The Royal Society of Antarctica
2015-03-02
Dee returns to her birthplace at the blindingly bright McMurdo Station in Antarctica to work as a janitor and seek answers to her mother’s disappearance in this wonderfully weird and touching new play perfectly suited to The Gift’s intimate space.
“I went to the bottom of the world to find this play—working as a janitor for three months at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. It’s perfect that it will premiere in my hometown at The Gift.” – Mat Smart

A Holiday Special
2014-12-04
This sketch comedy show takes the audience on a humorous exploration of the history and traditions of Christmas.
If you missed the first five Natural Gas holiday shows, you can make up for it this year.
If you saw the first five Natural Gas holiday shows, you’re gonna continue to be wowed.

The Gift Gala 2014
2014-11-20
The Gala, chaired by Laura Gale of The Gift Theatre Board of Directors, and President of Crossmedia451, Inc., will honor Chef Art Smith with an extraordinary culinary and theatrical experience.
Join The Gift Theatre in celebrating its 13th year as Chicago’s smallest professional theater company. The GIFT Gala is being held at the Chicago Cultural Center (77 East Randolph) on Thursday, November 20, 2014 from 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Smith, the former personal chef to Oprah Winfrey and current co-owner of the upscale Southern comfort food restaurant Table fifty-two, founded the non-profit charity Common Threads, which focuses on teaching children about diverse cultures through food and art, for which he was awarded the 2007 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian Award. Chef Art Smith is also a proud subscriber to The Gift Theatre Company.
The “business attire” event will begin with cocktails and culinary tastings from well-known Chicago Chefs inspired by Art Smith’s signature dishes and southern cooking. The evening will continue with a program of theater and music from The Gift Ensemble honoring Smith.

Bethany
2014-09-29
Caught in the middle of the Great Recession, cash-strapped Crystal navigates the worlds of motivational speaking, survivalism, and a Saturn dealership to make a home in this shocking drama which reteams the playwright and director of last season’s Mine.

Othello
2014-07-14
Shakespeare’s timeless and timely tragedy comes to The Gift in a landmark production where very little is simply black and white.

2015 Season Release Bash!
2014-06-29
THE GIFT THEATRE SEASON RELEASE BASH!
Drink. Dance. Release the season.
Sunday, June 29, 4-10 p.m. @ Fischman Liquors and Tavern Back Lot, 4780 N Milwaukee Ave
Features food trucks and live music from The Lawrence Peters Outfit!
VIP Table with UNLIMITED BEER for 8 is $300.
Single tickets are $25.
Tickets available at (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org
Sponsored by Left Hand Brewing Co. and Fischman Liquors
