Northlight makes a change in 2017-18 season plans

SHARE Northlight makes a change in 2017-18 season plans
bj_headshot_2011_horiz.jpg

BJ JOnes, artistic director of Northlight Theatre. (Photo: Courtesy of Northlight)

Northlight Theatre will be replacing one of its 2017-18 productions.

“Cry It Out,” a play by Molly Smith Metzler, will now close the theater’s 43rd season, running May 10 – June 17, 2018. The previously announced “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” directed by Lauren Shouse, has been re-scheduled to open the season, playing Sept. 14 – Oct. 22, 2017, and replacing Bruce Graham’s “Sanctions.”

“Cry It Out” was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville and premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Spring 2017. The Northlight production, directed by Jessica Fisch, will be the first outside of the Festival. As described by Northlight, “The play homes in on Jessie, a woman cooped up on maternity leave and eager for conversation who invites her funny and forthright neighbor, Lina, for coffee. They become fast friends, quickly bonding over their shared ‘new mom’ experience—and arousing the interest of a wealthy neighbor hoping for a similar connection.”

The play is further described as “a comedy that takes an honest look at the absurdities of new motherhood, the dilemma of returning to work versus staying at home, and how class impacts parenthood and friendship.”

The 2017-2018 Northlight season will now run as follows: Matthew Lopez’s “The Legend of Georgia McBride” (Sept. 14 – Oct. 22), directed by Lauren Shouse; Lauren Gunderson’s “The Book of Will” (Nov. 9 – Dec. 17), directed by Jessica Thebus; Dominique Morisseau’s “Skeleton Crew” (Jan. 25 – March 4, 2018), directed by Ron OJ Parson; Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” (March 15 – April 22, 2018), directed by Northlight artistic director BJ Jones, and featuring Kate Fry; and Molly Smith Metzler’s “Cry It Out” (May 10- June 17, 2018), directed by Jessica Fisch.

Subscriptions for the Northlight season ($99 – $250) are available through the box office at 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie; by phone at(847) 673-6300 or online at http://www.northlight.org.

The Latest
A man was driving ‘at a high rate of speed’ in the 8900 block of South Ashland Avenue about 9:52 p.m. Saturday when he hit the side of an apartment building, police said.
A man was shot in an altercation in the 0-100 block of West 87th Street about 7:54 p.m. Sunday. He was in fair condition at Stroger Hospital, police said.
A two-vehicle crash occurred about 2:15 a.m. Sunday in the westbound lanes of Palatine Road near Wheeling Road, according to police. One person suffered serious injuries.
Chicago firefighters responding to reports of an apartment building fire Sunday at 6430 South Stony Island Ave. put the fire down by 8:51 p.m., officials said.