Ghostlight
Ensemble announces its Season 8 lineup, marking the company’s return to a full
production season with two mainstage shows, as well as a Nightlight play for
young audiences, staged readings and ongoing collaborations with Chicago area
museums.
The
company also announces a change in leadership with Ensemble Member and Chicago
actor Justin Broom promoted to co-artistic director, along with Ensemble Member
Holly Robison. Broom has been with Ghostlight since 2019 and Robison, who was
acting as an interim co-artistic director, is a founding member of the company
and previously served as artistic director from 2016 to 2019.
“It
is a very full-circle moment for me, in a way, to join a company right before
we had to move inside (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) to then come out the other
end as a leader to help bring Ghostlight back to in-person stages and locations,”
Broom said.
“Ghostlight’s
mission has always been to ask questions that challenge the status quo through
timeless stories via immersive environments and unconventional staging, which
very much aligns with my values to making theater,” he continued. “As
Co-Artistic Director, I'm excited to offer my perspective and experiences as a
Queer theater artist to fulfill our mission in new ways, expand our ensemble
and bring Ghostlight back into the Chicago scene.”
Broom
first appeared with Ghostlight in 2019 in a reading of The Thirteenth Chair
and has been active in the company and the Chicago theatre scene ever since. He
holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Radio,
Television and Digital Media from Southern Illinois University.
“I
care so much about this company, having been with it from the beginning, and am
so happy to continue in this leadership role as Ghostlight emerges from our
scaled-back programming during COVID with one of our busiest and exciting
seasons yet,” Robison said. “I’m also particularly looking forward to leading
with Justin, who has come to be one of the most active and insightful voices
within the company.”
Robison
is a Chicago-based director, actor and improvisor who has directed An Ideal
Husband and Picasso at the Lapin Agile for Ghostlight Ensemble, as
well as conceiving the For Your (Re)Consideration series. She has studied
directing with various organizations, including the summer program, A Practical
Approach to Directing at Yale School of Drama and is a member of Lincoln Center
Directors Lab. She is also a cast member and producer with Improvised Jane
Austen.
Full
bios for both artistic directors are available on our website at GhostlightEnsemble.com/the-ensemble.
The
new management team led the selection process for the upcoming season, which celebrates
a symphony of creativity that resonates across cultures and time, reminding us
that art is a universal language that binds us all.
“We
have some amazing projects and collaborations this season, and I can’t wait for
audiences to experience them,” Robison said.
Ghostlight
will begin its Eighth Season with Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones, a
drama about censorship, book banning and Civil Rights set within the framework
of 1950s racial tensions. Robison will direct.
Inspired
by true events, Alabama Story is a drama about a segregationist senator
and the state librarian who clash over the content of a children’s book about
bunny rabbits against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery,
Alabama. Political foes, childhood friends and one feisty children’s author
inhabit a Deep South of the imagination that brims with humor, heartbreak and
hope.
Alabama
Story
will take place Sept. 27-29 and Oct. 4-6, 2024, at After-Words Bookstore (23 E.
Illinois St., Chicago) and Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 18-20, 2024, at Haymarket Books
at Haymarket House (800 W Buena Ave, Chicago).
In
December, the company expands on its partnership with the Richard H. Driehaus
Museum to present Holiday Spirits: A Collection of Victorian Yuletide GhostStories, a multi-story and multi-storied immersive, site-specific adaptation of
classic Victorian ghost stories at the museum.
In
February, the Nightlight series returns with a full-length produ
ction for young
audiences, Invaders of Mathmatica, written by Ensemble Member Nick
Conrad. The original play is a celebration of the arts that argues true riches
come from collaboration, not isolation.
And
Ghostlight will close out the season in spring 2025 with the world premiere of Drink the Past Dry written by Ensemble Member Maria Burnham. The site-specific
piece is set and will take place at a nondescript neighborhood bar in the
middle of Chicago that looks like every other bar in every other neighborhood.
But this bar has a secret. It can take you anywhere in time. All you have to do
is take a drink.
In
addition, the For Your (Re)Consideration staged reading series will return in 2025,
with its ongoing mission to explore the works of historically overlooked female
writers. And Ghostlight will continue its popular Live Movie Reading Series
throughout the year. Plus, the company has several other surprises brewing.
To
celebrate its return to full productions (and a full season) after the COVID-19
pandemic, Ghostlight is hosting a Season Kick-Off event at My Buddy’s (4416 N
Clark St, Chicago) on Saturday, August 10. Join us for an insider look at all
our shows, exciting news of new partnerships and performance opportunities and
a chance to chat with the new artistic team and Ensemble members, as well as
karaoke, raffle/auction items, free drinks and more.
Look
for details about the Season Kick-Off event, the entire 2024-2025 season and Ghostlight
Ensemble at GhostlightEnsemble.com.
Ghostlight
Ensemble is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit theatre whose mission it is to ask questions that
challenge the status quo through timeless stories, immersive environments and
unconventional staging. As an
ensemble-based theatre, Ghostlight is made up of individual artists who are dedicated
to collaborative creation and committed to working together consistently over
years to develop a distinctive body of work. We welcome you to learn more about
us at GhostlightEnsemble.com.
