This Holiday Season, Come Again

Somehow, it’s almost Thanksgiving already. Of course, that means the start of the holiday season in earnest. Here’s a pro tip for those of you hosting for the first time: Cranberry sauce is best when it retains the shape of the can. But it also means we’re about to open our next show!

We can’t wait to share all the hard work and joy our artists have been pouring into this project with you. We’re performing at the Raven Theatre, located at 6157 N. Clark Street at the corner of Clark and Granville. The theatre offers free parking on a first-come, first-served basis in its dedicated lot, accessible via the northbound lane on Clark Street. There’s also free, non-metered parking on Granville just east of the Raven and ample metered spots on Clark. If you’re taking public transit, the #22 Clark Street bus and CTA Red Line serve the theatre via the Granville stop. If you’d like to make a night of it, our friends at the Raven have also put together this handy guide to local dining options.

Previews start this Thursday, November 20, and the show runs every Thursday through Sundays, Thanksgiving excepted, until December 21. Click the button below to get tickets. Also, a special bonus for Page Left subscribers, use promo code PAGELEFT50 at checkout to get 50% off your order!

We’re also excited to announce one more perk for our subscribers. We’re giving away four sets of two tickets to see the show for free. Just click the link below to email us with your name and contact info to be entered into the contest.

The show is a funny and poignant comedy about faith, fear, and the climate emergency. The director, Kyle Aschbrenner, has written this month’s essay with some reflections on the process.

Finally, on a more serious note, we take the safety of our collaborators and audience members extremely seriously. If you don’t read any other parts of the newsletter, please make sure you scroll down to see our official ICE policy.

Earlier this year, I received the inaugural Impresario Award at the non-Equity Jeff Awards, honoring excellence in stage management. During my career as a theatre artist in Chicago, I’ve spent the majority of my time stage managing shows, with the occasional assistant director or dramaturg role sprinkled in here or there. But wait — I went to school to be a director. What went wrong?

Or maybe I should ask, what went right?

Since moving to Chicago six years ago, I’ve stage-managed 13 shows. That’s 13 rehearsal processes with 13 casts and 13 design teams, leading to 13 unique situations. Each one taught me something different, both good and bad, about theatre and art more generally. I paid careful attention to each director I worked with and their approaches to directing — and you better believe I took good notes!

After a couple of years, I began to think that I was too out of practice to direct. I worried I was only good at supporting other directors and that I may never be a real director myself. Through directing Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend’s play Come Again for Stage Left, though, I’ve come to learn that I’m actually an amalgamation of all of these artists that I’ve come to admire so much. I had walked away from each project with the pieces of their artistry that made me admire them in the first place. I’ve found ways to embed those elements into my own work. 

One technique I picked up from a past rehearsal process proved to be particularly useful during this process. The idea is to play a tricky beat in the most over-the-top, incorrect way you can imagine in hopes of revealing the right approach. The first time I tried it was on a line that was giving the actor who plays Marina, Katelynn Shennett, a lot of pause. Neither of us knew how to approach it. We knew what the line meant, but in the show, it didn’t feel natural. So, she delivered the line as silly and stupid as you can imagine, and we all had a good laugh about it. Through this, we actually found some elements that we liked and that worked. Thanks to this exercise, what was once a trouble spot has now become one of our favorite moments in the show!

I walked into Come Again rehearsals with a few goals in mind: to lead the room with heart, to honor the words of the great play that Lisa wrote for us, and to try the things I’d learned working closely with other directors to see what would stick.

I knew I would use one approach that I always find effective, though: picture inspiration boards. These boards aren’t meant to serve as storyboards for the aesthetic and kinesthetic world of the play. Rather, they’re representative of the themes of the play and its characters. Here’s what I started Come Again rehearsals with, reflecting the play as a whole and each of its four characters:

As I’ve told the cast of this show many times, “Words are hard.” You can often communicate more effectively with a look, a gesture, or a picture, and sometimes even a good meme! I use these boards to spark discussion with my casts and designers. I want to show them how I see the world of the play and discover which images resonate with them and why. This technique always teaches me a lot about the individual perspectives each collaborator brings to the piece. 

During this production, this exercise led to a great insight during our discussion about the character of Jesus. The actor who portrays Jesus, Cailyn Murray, mentioned that they view Him as the most human member of the Holy Trinity. In the image I chose to represent this concept, there’s a person depicted in their midst. They have their body turned toward Jesus, smiling at Him with their arms outstretched. Cailyn then pointed out that, according to Christian theology, Jesus is likely the only form of the trinity that human eyes have seen. That’s why He is the most approachable and beloved. We agreed that this makes Jesus the most affable facet of the Holy Trinity. So, whenever confronted with a choice, we picked whichever one felt more rooted in Jesus’ human qualities rather than the mystical ones. 

On the flipside, these boards illuminate the ideas I’m bringing to the process that might not be clear enough to my collaborators. When this happens, I know that I either need to find a better way to convey the idea or accept that it may not be the right choice for this particular production. As a director, I’m always excited when other artists see something in a play that I didn’t originally. That way, we can build upon each other's discoveries and create something that’s ours out of the play that’s been trapped in my head.

As to the play itself, Come Again is equal parts silly, topical, and heartfelt. We follow the journey of Marina Johnson, a Miami hospice nurse, who is tasked by a man claiming to be Jesus Christ himself to be God’s “climate change prophet.” Alongside this not-so-typical Jesus, Marina embarks on a journey of faith. She questions the cause she’s been charged with, humanity as a whole, and herself. 

Climate change is the most serious issue in human history. It has been a problem for decades, and it’s getting noticeably worse. Even since Lisa first started writing this play five years ago, the situation has deteriorated. Summers are getting hotter, winters are getting shorter, weather is getting more unpredictable, and sea levels are rising everywhere. Come Again asks what it will take for humanity to recognize the severity of climate change and take steps to counteract it. Maybe literally the second coming of Jesus Christ will do it … right? 

Directing Come Again has been an absolute blast. For one thing, I never thought I would be talking about Jesus this much at this point in my life! This play found its way to me at the right time, and I’m hoping it will do the same for our audiences, too. 

My favorite line in the play is one that Jesus says: 

“Life is full of surprises. That was always my favorite thing about it — the surprises. The surprises and the rainbows.”

This play, and this process, have surprised me. I think it will surprise the audience that comes to see it, too. Speaking on behalf of my cast and my team, we’re so excited for Chicago to see our play.

Kyle Aschbrenner, Director of Come Again

Stage Left Theatre is committed to providing the artists and audience members with whom we share our spaces an environment free from abuse and harassment. We are categorically opposed to the Trump administration’s capricious and abusive use of state power. The Constitution guarantees all people present in the United States certain rights, regardless of immigration status, whether or not the current authoritarian regime likes that fact. 

To that end, we want to assert the following:

• No federal agents may enter our spaces without a signed warrant. A valid warrant must be signed by a judge and say “U.S. District Court” or “State Court” at the top. No other documentation will be accepted for entry.
• No company member or associated artist will do any more than what is legally required by an administrative warrant. 
• Agents do not have permission to enter the space with an administrative warrant. 
• We will not answer questions about whether or not anyone is on the premises on a given day. 
• We will not take an agent to any member of the audience, cast, or production staff, even if they are present.
• We will record any and all actions taken by federal agents for the entirety of the time they are on the premises.

We would also like to direct you to the ONE Northside organization for further resources, including training on rapid response techniques in the event that you see ICE activity and would like to learn how to safely intervene.

We can’t wait to see you at the Raven for Come Again. Once you see it, be sure to check out our ensemble member Audrey Bixby in The Anthology at Theatre Momentum! It’s running every Friday and Saturday through December 13th (except for Thanksgiving weekend). Tickets are $5, and you can go here to get yours!

Speaking of Chicago theatre, our ensemble member Kyle Thomas has been busily scuttling about the Windy City’s stages. Check out his reviews of new shows by Tin Drum and Wild Door Theatre and pick up tickets on the Tin Drum and Wild Door websites.

Did you know that Stage Left Theatre is the second-oldest ensemble-based theatre in Chicago? And did you also know that we’re currently seeking new board members? If you’re interested in helping to build the venerable company’s next chapter, head over here to learn more and fill out an application!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to drop by the company webpage or our Instagram for more information about what we’ve got going on.

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