Dream team cast to star in “Fefu and Her Friends” virtual staged reading to benefit Season of Concern, co-produced by Mary Beth Fisher, Saturday, December 5 at 7 pm CT
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Charin Alvarez, Sandra Delgado, Ora Jones, Delia Kropp, Sadieh Rifai, Lisa Tejero, Janet Ulrich Brooks and Penelope Walker to star in, Stacy Stoltz to direct, Mary Beth Fisher to co-produce, virtual production of María Irene Fornés’ feminist masterwork, Saturday, December 5 at 7 p.m. CT
Season of Concern is thrilled to announce it will co-produce a virtual production of Fefu and Her Friends, Cuban-American playwright María Irene Fornés’ feminist masterwork, in partnership with much-admired Chicago theater artist Mary Beth Fisher.
Director Stacy Stoltz has assembled an amazing, dream team of eight of Chicago’s top leading ladies to co-star in this special benefit production: Charin Alvarez, Sandra Delgado, Ora Jones, Delia Kropp, Sadieh Rifai, Lisa Tejero, Janet Ulrich Brooks and Penelope Walker. Anne Garcîa-Romero, Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Notre Dame and co-founder of The Fornés Institute, is dramaturg. Devin Brain is technical director and video editor.
Click Here for Creative Team Biographies
Fefu and Her Friends will be presented as a virtual, enhanced stage reading. The 80-minute production will premiere online on Saturday, December 5 at 7 p.m. CT, and will be immediately followed by a live talk back with members of the cast and production team.
Click here to open the Fefu Study Guide by Anne-Garcia Romero
We are thrilled to announce our host for FEFU: Lourdes Duarte!
Lourdes Duarte is co-anchor of WGN Evening News at 4pm. Prior to her role on the evening news, Lourdes was co-anchor of the WGN Morning News and a reporter for WGN News at Nine.
Click here to see the Chicago Reader's Article about Fefu!
Tickets for Fefu and Her Friends — $10/$5 for students and seniors – go on sale Monday, October 26. To purchase, visit Theatre Wit, or call (773) 598-9380.
If you choose to make an additional donation when you purchase your tickets, you may receive an acknowledgment from Theater Wit; when in fact, your donation will go directly to Season of Concern.
All ticket buyers will receive a private Vimeo link a few hours before show time with simple instructions how to stream the performance. The show will debut promptly at 7 p.m., although ticket holders have the option to watch the production on demand within 24 hours.
Proceeds will benefit Season of Concern, which provides financial assistance to Chicagoland theater practitioners impacted by illness, injury or circumstances that prevent them from working.
Fefu and Her Friends, told in three parts, is set on one amazing day in the spring of 1935 in a New England country home, where Fefu and her seven female friends have gathered to rehearse a presentation for their charity benefiting arts education. The women interact over their planning – studying, drinking, repairing plumbing, analyzing dreams and relationships, while Fefu carries on an unusual game involving her unseen husband outside and a rifle. Shifting between realism and surrealism, this award-winning play asks its audience to consider what is most “real” – is it what is in front of you or what is inside of you?
“I think Fornés was always mining what is underneath the surface,” said co-producer Mary Beth Fisher. “Gender roles, friendship, love, sexuality, conformity, community, the haves and the have-nots – to me, all these things speak clearly to the present moment in our country. If you feel powerless, what does it take to feel powerful? If you feel like you don’t have a voice, how do you find it? And how do you use it?”
Director Stacy Stoltz adds, “This play settles some of my very unsettled feelings about being a woman in our country right now – what would it be like if I didn’t have to censor myself or smile and stay calm when I’m feeling the opposite. It kind of scratches an infuriating itch. It’s a rare thing for a group of women to be given so much time and space to try to connect and grapple with their intimate feelings.”
“We can’t wait for audiences to enjoy this inventive new staging of Fefu and Her Friends,” said Season of Concern Managing Director Michael Ryczek. “A virtual revival of Fornés’ most famous feminist masterpiece seems more than relevant at this particular moment in history. Moreover, ticket sales will be turned right back into direct financial aid for members of Chicago’s theater community who cannot work due to illness, injury or circumstance. As Chicago’s stages remain shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these funds are particularly critical for Chicago artists in need.”
Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust is the generous sponsor of this event, along with Jay Kelly PR, Joe Benincasa and The Actors Fund.
We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions: ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS, AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.
Special thanks to Theater Wit and its artistic director, Jeremy Wechsler.
To purchase tickets, click here.
