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A world premiere adaptation of THE VIRGINIAN: A HORSEMAN OF THE PLAINS by Owen Wister, the novel that originated the archetype of the American cowboy. Never named, rough-hewn but soft-spoken, living on the frontier between nature and civilization, the Virginian pursues his own singular code of honor. On a ranch near Bear Creek, Wyoming, the cowpuncher from Virginia struggles to uphold this code in conflict with his deadly enemy, a former ranch hand turned rustler, as well as in his courting of the fiercely independent schoolmarm, whose own personal code is as strong as his. City Lit’s adaptation will feature three-quarter-life-size puppets as the horses in the story.
Season 41
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The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
by Owen Wister
adapted by L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman
directed by Terry McCabe
January 7 - February 20, 2022
(Previews Jan. 7 - 15)
A world premiere adaptation of THE VIRGINIAN: A HORSEMAN OF THE PLAINS by Owen Wister, the novel that originated the archetype of the American cowboy. Never named, rough-hewn but soft-spoken, living on the frontier between nature and civilization, the Virginian pursues his own singular code of honor. On a ranch near Bear Creek, Wyoming, the cowpuncher from Virginia struggles to uphold this code in conflict with his deadly enemy, a former ranch hand turned rustler, as well as in his courting of the fiercely independent schoolmarm, whose own personal code is as strong as his. City Lit’s adaptation will feature three-quarter-life-size puppets as the horses in the story.
Emma's Child
by Kristine Thatcher
directed by Terry McCabe
April 15 - May 29, 2022
(Previews Apr. 15 - 23)
One of the great Chicago plays. By City Lit's resident playwright, author of Voice of Good Hope and The Safe House, it won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and a half-dozen other playwriting awards when Terry directed the Chicago premiere at Victory Gardens twenty-five years ago. A Rogers Park couple plans to adopt the child of Emma, a pregnant teenager. What follows threatens their marriage and reshapes what they think of parenthood.
The Playboy of the Western World
by John Millington Synge
directed by Brian Pastor
July 1 - August 14, 2022
(Previews July 1 - 9)
Christy Mahon comes into Flaherty's tavern on the west coast of Ireland and claims to have killed his father with a shovel. The locals are charmed by his boldness and daring, and he becomes a local hero--until the old man shows up. The play's world premiere triggered three nights of riots in Dublin, and fistfights in the aisles when it transferred to New York. City Lit's audience is much better behaved.
Aztec Human Sacrifice
music & lyrics by Kingsley Day
book by Kingsley Day and Philip LaZebnik
August 26 - October 9, 2022
(Previews Aug. 26 - Sept. 3)
It's the night before the beginning of the Aztec empire's new millennium, and the Chosen One--so named because he is to be sacrificed in order to make the sun rise next morning--has run off with the Emperor's daughter. If he is not found, the sun will not rise and the world will end. By the writers of the legendary Chicago musical comedy Summer Stock Murder.
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