Set in the turbulent 1960’s, Eroica is a timely play dealing with timeless issues. Life is full of choices, ; love, honor, patriotism. lies. What happens when political and social questions conflict with certainties of the heart? In the end, we see that sometimes there are no right or wrong answers, no winners or losers; only victims.
July 9-August 7, 2016
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday @ 7:30 Saturday at 3 pm
EROICA was named a Finalist in the American Theatre Co-op, Reva Shiner and Coldwater (MI) Playwriting Competitions, Semi-finalist in the Mill Mountain (VA) Playwriting and Reverie Productions (NY)competitions. It received its initial reading at Chicago’s Victory Gardens under the leadership of Dennis Zacek and was workshopped by NSP Productions (Elgin, IL).
EROICA explores the nature of faith, commitment and betrayal. What happens when political and social questions conflict with certainties of the heart? In the end, we see that sometimes there are no right or wrong answers, no winners or losers; only victims.
David Alex’s (Author) award winning plays have been staged in several cities. He has received three grants from the Illinois Arts Council and one from the Pilgrim Foundation, an award for plays that deal with issues of moral significance. He has written thirteen full-length plays and eighteen one-acts. Recent full-length productions include ENDS, an African-American Theatre Festival Award Winner (Univ. of Louisville), at New Jersey Repertory Company and Bowen Park Theatre Co., ADRIFT, Polarity Ensemble, CORPUS DELICTI, MadKap Productions, ONTO INFNITY, Azusa Productions, Bowen Park Theatre Company; THE SECOND-OLDEST PROFESSION (musical book), Tesseract Theatre, and BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON, Chicago Playwrights’ Center. Dramatic Publishing has published two of his plays and one monologue. He is a former Secretary of the Illinois Theatre Association and Chicago Alliance for Playwrights and a member of the Jeff Awards Committee that recognizes excellence in Chicago theatre. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild. [email protected] www.davidalex.net
Maggie Speer (Director)– A director, producer, actor and educator, Maggie is a seasoned veteran of Chicago’s vibrant theatre scene. Her most recent directing credits include The Miss Firecracker Contest (Dominican University), Inglorious Bitches (an adaptation of Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds) and David Alex’s Adrift. Maggie’s directing runs the gamut of other Tarantino adaptations (Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction) to classical works including Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. She has also directed/produced many of the works of Sam Shepard including Chicago and Icarus’s Mother (co-director); Fool For Love; Killer’s Head; La Turista; The Unseen Hand (co-director); A Lie Of The Mind for Azusa Productions (celebrating its 20th year in 2016) where she is Artistic Director. Her work as a former Artistic Director of Bowen Park Theatre Company includes acting, directing and producing numerous well-known plays such as Les Liaisons Dangereuses, On The Verge and Blithe Spirit, in addition she also proudly introduced audiences to new works by Chicago playwrights (David Alex’s Ends and Onto Infinity and Cindy Hanson and Cheryl Norris’ Cooking with Lard). For ten years Maggie taught theatre at Lake Forest College where her most popular course was “Shakespeare to Tarantino: why violence endures and flourishes in theatre, film and literature.” At LFC she also directed The House of Bernarda Alba; Sean O’Casey’s great play The Plough and the Stars, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Comedy of Errors, the world premiere of Claudia Allen’s play, Eulah and Lisa Loomer’s The Waiting Room. Maggie is a former member of Strawdog Theatre Company and a current member of Polarity Theatre Ensemble.
AZUSA PRODUCTION MISSION STATEMENT Now celebrating it’s 20th anniversary, Azusa Productions was founded in 1996 as a free-wheeling ensemble – in our 20 year existence we have continued to strive to create and maintain the theatre as place of recognition, exploration, revelation, and celebration, to be shared by both audiences and artists alike. We present stories about everything from A to Z in the USA and beyond and we are also committed to creating opportunities for emerging and early career theatre artists. Azusa is best known for its popular and critically-acclaimed productions of many of the works of Sam Shepard and adaptations of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.