JEFFERSON PARK — The Gift Theatre's 2016 season will include a Shakespearean classic, an American epic and a world premiere, officials said.
The season begins in March with a performance of William Shakespeare’s "Richard III" in Steppenwolf’s Garage Theatre starring Gift Theater founder and artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton as the villainous monarch.
The Jefferson Park theater at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. will celebrate its 15th season in 2016.
“Great theater asks great questions," Thornton said. "Our milestone anniversary season asks: What does it mean to be human?”
The ensemble's production of "Richard III" directed by Jessica Thebus will "strive to re-define what disability, ability and Shakespeare’s villain can look like,” said Thornton, who suffered a stroke in 2003 that left him confined to a wheelchair.
In addition, the April 23 performance of "Richard III" will be livestreamed via Twitter to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard's death.
In June, the ensemble will perform "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck, adapted by Frank Galati.
The Depression Era story tells a vital story and issues "a call for decency in an age of dehumanizing wealth inequality," Thornton said.
The final production of the season, which starts in October, is Melissa Ross's play of "A Life Extra Ordinary," officials said John Gawlik will direct the play about an expectant mother who vanishes from her small Ohio town on Christmas Eve.
"Deeply concerned with justice, it echoes themes found in Steinbeck and Shakespeare and pleads for us to be the best version of ourselves possible, because society is counting on us," Thornton said. "And that’s a powerful reminder in an anniversary season: that we are all in this together.”
For more information, go to thegifttheatre.org or call 773-283-7071.
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