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by Donald Marguilles
ITC KICKS OFF NEW YEAR
WITH DRAMA BY
PULITZER WINNING AUTHOR
The
Illinois Theatre Center of Park Forest will start 2008 with the
critically acclaimed play COLLECTED STORIES by Pulitzer Prize winning
playwright Donald Marguilies. The play opens Friday, January 11 for a
three-week run.
This provocative
drama traces the relationship of a famous author and the adulatory fan
who becomes her protégé, disciple, friend, colleague, and ultimately,
threatening rival. The Hollywood Reporter praised this exciting play as
“…an affecting character study… with sharply written and incisive
dialogue.”
Donald Marguilies was
born in Brooklyn in 1954. He studied visual arts at the Pratt Institute
before transferring to State University of New York to pursue a degree
in playwriting. During the early 80s, he collaborated with Joseph Papp,
and his first Off-Broadway play, FOUND A PEANUT, was produced at the
Public Theatre. In 1992, Margulies' career really began to take off when
SIGHT UNSEEN won an Obie Award for Best New American Play. His other
plays include THE LOMAN FAMILY PICNIC, LUNA PARK, WHAT’S WRONG
WITH THIS PICTURE?, THE MODEL APARTMENT, BROKEN STEPS, COLLECTED
STORIES, THE GOD OF VENGEANCE, and DINNER WITH FRIENDS, which won the
2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was later filmed by HBO. He lives in
New Haven, Connecticut, where he teaches playwriting at the Yale School
of Drama.
Judy Rossignuolo-Rice portrays
Ruth, the veteran writer. Judy has been performing and directing at ITC
for over 20 years. Her recent onstage appearances include THE PRICE,
THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE, PICNIC, and WAITING FOR THE PARADE.
For the past three years, she has also been directing plays and
performing in Stuttgart, Germany as part of a U.S. Army program to
provide entertainment for military personnel stationed in Europe.
Laura Lodewyck, who portrays
Lisa, the young protégé, made her Illinois Theatre Center debut a year
ago in CANDIDA. She earned her MFA in Drama from the Chicago College of
Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Her numerous stage credits
include roles at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theatre, New Jersey
Shakespeare Festival, and Hothouse Theatre in St. Louis.
The production is directed by
Bernard Rice. Mr. Rice has been working with ITC as an actor, director,
composer and musician since 1978. His recent credits inlcude THAT
CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON, KUNI-LEML, ART, PICNIC, and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.
COLLECTED STORIES runs from
Friday, Jan. 11 through Sunday, Jan. 27. Performances are Wednesday
thru Saturday evenings at 8 PM, and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. Tickets
are priced at $21 on Fri. & Sat., $19 at all other times. There is a $1
discount for students & seniors. The Illinois Theatre Center is located
in downtown Park Forest at 371 Artists Walk (off Indianwood Blvd, next
to Village Hall). For tickets, call (708) 481-3510.
January
11th to January 27th, 2008 |