First Floor Theater Presents PLANO

First Floor Theater is pleased to continue its eighth season with the Chicago premiere of Will Arbery’s dark comedy PLANO, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Audrey Francis. Presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series, PLANO will play February 16 – March 28, 2020 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.steppenwolf.org or by calling (312) 335-1650.

PLANO will feature Chris Acevedo, Elizabeth Birnkrant, Andrew Cutler, Amanda Fink, Andrew Lund, Ashley Neal and Janice O’Neil.

Tonight, and later, and earlier, three sisters (no, not those ones) are stricken with a series of strange plagues: Isabel's got pains. Anne's got slugs. And Genevieve doesn't want to talk about hers. She just wants you to eat the damn hummus (she made it!) Fresh from its wildly successful Off-Broadway debut and remount that TimeOut NY called “experimental theater perfection”, PLANO is “as funny as it is powerfully disturbing” (VULTURE). Steppenwolf ensemble Member Audrey Francis returns to direct at First Floor Theater, where she previously co-directed FFT’s first production in 2012.

The production team includes Kristen Martino (scenic design), Raquel Adorno (costume design), Jason Lynch (lighting design), Eric Backus (sound design), Micah Figueroa (movement design), Catherine Miller (casting director), Caitlin McCarthy (co-director of production), Cole Von Glahn (co-director of production), Bobby Huggins(technical director) and Lucy Whipp (stage manager).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Dates: Previews: Sunday, February 16 at 3:30 pm, Tuesday, February 18 at 8 pm and Wednesday, February 19 at 8 pm

Press Performance: Thursday, February 20 at 8 pm

Regular Run: Friday, February 21 – Saturday, March 28, 2020

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3:30 pm. Please note: there will be added performances on Monday, March 2 at 8 pm, Monday, March 16 at 8 pm, Monday, March 23 at 8 pm and Saturday, March 28 at 3:30 pm.

Tickets: Previews: $10. Regular Run: $25 - $35. Students $20. Industry $15. Tickets are currently available at www.steppenwolf.org or by calling (312) 335-1650.

About the Artists

Will Arbery (Playwright) is a playwright from Texas + Wyoming + seven sisters. Plays include: Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons, Fall 2019), Plano (Clubbed Thumb), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (New Neighborhood), and Wheelchair (3 Hole Press). He's a member of New Dramatists, EST/Youngblood, and P73's Interstate 73. He's a resident of Colt Coeur, and an alum of the Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, as well as the Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group. He's currently under commission from Playwrights Horizons and ShadowCatcher Entertainment. His plays have received developmental support at New York Theater Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights Horizons, The Vineyard, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Cape Cod Theater Project, The New Group, EST/Youngblood, The Bushwick Starr, Alliance/Kendeda, and Tofte Lake Center. Dance work: Pioneer Works, MCA Chicago, Watermill Center. MFA: Northwestern. BA: Kenyon College. willarbery.com

Audrey Francis (Director) is thrilled to be working with First Floor Theater again. Audrey is an ensemble member at Steppenwolf Theatre and the co-founder of Black Box Acting. She has worked throughout Chicago as an actor, director and teaching artist for over a decade. Most recently, Audrey directed The Invisible Hand at Steep Theatre, which received five Jeff nominations. Audrey will be seen onstage at Steppenwolf this season (upstairs) in Dance Nation and (next door) in Catch as Catch Can. She has worked on Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Empire, and can be seen in the independent films Signature Move, Medal of Victory, and Knives and Skin, which recently premiered at Tribeca.

About First Floor Theater

Founded in 2012, First Floor Theater stages stories of individuals facing moments of radical change. Through a process of collaborative dramaturgy, FFT expands these stories to ask urgent social questions. For more information on First Floor Theater, visit firstfloortheater.com.

About Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series:

LookOut is Steppenwolf’s performance series that presents the work of artists and companies across genre and form, emerging artists and performance legends, quintessential Chicago companies and young aspiring ensembles, familiar Steppenwolf faces and new friends. steppenwolf.org/lookout