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Chicago Premiere
March 19 – April 25, 2010
Zacek McVay Theater
By Ensemble Playwright Lonnie Carter
Directed by Jim Corti
Three boys meet in the worst way: fleeing the horrors of war. And as they team up on a perilous journey to a refugee camp, they exchange heroic survival stories, song and even laughter. Thus begins an extraordinary passage that eventually takes three boys of the Dinka tribe to, of all places, Fargo, North Dakota, where encountering drought, crocodiles and guerrillas are replaced with malls, video games, and Skittles. From the author of recent VGT hits The Romance of Magno Rubio and Wheatley.
“hugely enjoyable”
“fabulous show for older kids and teenagers”
-Chicago Tribune
“immensely imaginative”
“impressive, beautifully evocative journey on every level”
-Chicago Sun-Times
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Hedy Weiss review of The Lost Boys of Sudan on WTTW
- she gives it a rave! |
- About
- Access/Audience Events
- Cast
- Creative Team
- Feature
- Photo Gallery
- Video
- Press/Reviews
| Copernicus Ptolemy Patrick Kookoorooku Miriam Maker/Moira Midnight Ayoun/Yetide Precious Smallbone T-Mac Sam Twelve/Molly Midnight K-Gar Ollie A.I. Josh |
Adeoye* Kenn E. Head* Ann Joseph* Nambi E. Kelley* Samuel G. Roberson, Jr.* LaTricia Kamiko Sealy Leslie Ann Sheppard Namir Smallwood* |
Understudies:
Emanueal Buckley, Jeremy Collins, Austin Moore, Shadana Patterson
*Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers
Bring Your Used Books to VG When You Attend The Show!
VG has partnered with The PACODES Library Project to collect books that will help build a library in Southern Sudan. The project will open doors to education, foster community growth, and reduce the debilitating effects of poverty and violence. Educational books and textbooks will be accepted at the theatre throughout the run of the show.
Please join us for one of our Access performances. Read more about our access services.
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Audio Descriptions for patrons who are blind or have low vision Friday, April 16 at 8 pm | Sunday, April 25 at 3 pm (On-stage touch tour begins 1-1/2 hour before the show) |
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Word for Word Captioning for patrons who are hearing impaired Wednesday, April 14 at 2pm | Friday, April 23 at 8 pm | Saturday, April 24 at 5 pm |
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Sign Language Interpretation for patrons who are hearing impaired Friday, April 23 at 8 pm |
Audience Events
Learn more about The Lost Boys of Sudan at these events. Admission is complimentary with your ticket stub.
Open Rehearsal
Thursday, March 11, 6pm
Enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at rehearsal, followed by a talkback and a reception.
Humanities Night I
Thursday, March 25, 6pm Event, 7:30pm Show
HELPSudan, a humanitarian organization founded by Lost Boys of Sudan, will present a panel discussion and Q&A session featuring founder Jok Kuol Wel and other board members and volunteers, on the subjects of surviving the crisis of war, displacement and immigration, and the process of emerging into leadership and executing a vision to make a positive impact in the sustainable redevelopment of Southern Sudan. Special thanks to HELPSudan: www.helpsudaninternational.org
Humanities Night II
Thursday, April 1, 6pm Event, 7:30pm Show
"22 Years From Home" by filmmaker Malachi Leopold. The film is the story of Keuk Aleu Garang, a Lost Boy, now living in Chicago. At the age of 6 he was separated from his family during the Sudanese Civil War. Follow Kuek as he reunites with his family for the first time in 22 years. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Malachi about the history of the Lost Boys and what the Lost Boys and Girls are doing now to rebuild. Special thanks to Left Brain/Right Brain Productions: www.LBRBProductions.com
Happy Hour
Friday, April 9, 6:30pm Event, 8pm Show
Make friends and meet new ones over pre-show appetizers and a complimentary drink.
Post-Play Discussions
Join members of the cast and VG Artistic Team in a post-play discussion after every Wednesday evening performance.
Kenn E. Head is thrilled to be once again working with Victory Gardens. Most recently he completed a successful run of The Overwhelming at Next Theatre Company. Before that he played the role of Master Norcomb in Steppenwolf’s Harriet Jacobs. At Victory Gardens, he played Nunez in The Defiant Muse as well as Omar in Denmark, the inaugural show at the Biograph Theater. Other Victory Gardens credits include John in Shoes, Benjamin Thomas in Homeland Security, Big Bob in Unspoken Prayers, Palmroy in Waiting to be Invited, and John Ed Patton in Voice of Good Hope, for which he received the BTAA Award for Best Featured Actor. Recently, he has been seen elsewhere as The Doctor in Bruce Norris’ The Unmentionables both at Yale Repertory Theatre and at Steppenwolf; other Steppenwolf credits include Master Harold and the Boys, Tavern Story and A Raisin in the Sun. A veteran of the Chicago theatre scene, his many credits include Hedley in Congo Square’s Seven Guitars for which he earned the BTAA Award for Best Actor. The show also garnered The Jeff Award for Best Ensemble as well as Best Play and Director. Some may remember him from his forays into musical theater with such roles as Chuck Berry in The House that Rocked at Black Ensemble Theater and Johnnie G in Jammin with Pops at Apple Tree Theater. He has played a diverse number of stages including Second City and the Civic Opera House. He is also familiar to audiences in Indianapolis, St. Louis and Cincinnati, where he is especially proud of his run of Jesus Hopped the A Train at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, where he played the role of Lucius Jenkins. He has done a number of episodes of the TV series Early Edition as well as appearing on episodes of ER.
Ann Joseph is pleased to return to Victory Gardens where she last appeared in Living Green by Gloria Bond Clunie and Class Dismissed by Jeffery Sweet. Ann is a cofounding ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre Company where she performed in, The Piano Lesson, From the Mississippi Delta, Playboy of the West Indies, Wedding Band, Stick Fly, the Jeff Award winning Seven Guitars and most recently Elmina’s Kitchen. Ann has also appeared in, I Never Sang for My Father, and The Time of Your Life for Steppenwolf, The Incident and Stonewall Jackson’s House at the Next Theatre and A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre. Regionally Ann has worked for Milwaukee and Madison Repertory Theatre’s and American Players Theatre.
Nambie Kelly’s most recent Victory Gardens production was Concerto Chicago by Lonnie Carter. Chicago credits include: Ten Square at MPAACT, The Glass Menagerie, Harriet Jacobs, and Nikki Giovanni: New Songs for a New Day at Steppenwolf Theatre, The Ballad of Emmett Till, Drowning Crow and Crumbs from the Tale of Joy (Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Principle Actress) at Goodman Theatre. Recent regional credits include: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Fountain Theatre and Antigone at South Coast Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles. Television credits include: The Beast (A&E) L.A. Dragnet (ABC), City of Angels (CBS), Early Edition (CBS), Cupid (ABC), Close to Home (WB Pilot), and Strong Medicine (Lifetime). Nambi is also an accomplished playwright, a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, and an M.F.A. candidate at Goddard College.
Samuel G. Roberson, Jr. is an actor and writer who graduated from the Howard University Theatre Arts Program in Washington, D.C. Roberson most recently worked with Congo Square on Santified. Living Green at Victory Gardens Theater and made his Chicago Theatre debut in The Ballad of Emmett Till at the Goodman Theatre. Additional credits include Penumbra Theatre in Black Nativity: A Homecoming, The Children’s Theatre Company in Bud, Not Buddy, The Lost Boys of Sudan, Antigone, Prom, Pippi Longstocking, Alladin Jr. and Sleeping Beauty. He has also been seen at The Pillsbury House Theatre, Illusion Theater, Imagination Stage, Source Theatre and The Studio Theatre. He has been awarded a 2007 Jerome Many Voices Residency through the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, also a 2008 Cultural Community Partnership Grant through the Minnesota State Arts Board. He is President and Founder of, Make Me A Match Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the lives of patients with blood related cancers. He thanks his family, friends, and beautiful wife.
Latricia Kamiko Sealy is honored to return to Chicago for herVictory Gardens debut. After graduating from Northwestern University in 2006 as a communication major, she traveled to England, Kenya, Tanzania and to Holland further deepening her soul, enriching her mind and opening her heart. She terminated this “bon voyage” in France where she currently lives, studies, experiences, creates and performs. She would like to declare that nothing happens for nothing, and to acknowledge both the unquantifiable support that her Cedric gives her from overseas and the oh-so-necessary peace of mind that her Vanessa bestows upon her daily. Please, a special recognition of her mother, Angie, for never saying, “You can’t.”
Leslie Ann Sheppard is honored to return to Victory Gardens and to join The Lost Boys. Other Chicago theatre credits include The Snow Queen (Gerda), The Hundred Dresses (Maddie) at Chicago Children’s Theatre, Baby (Pam) at Metropolis PAC, A House With No Walls (Oney) with TimeLine Theatre Co., and Harriet Jacobs (Mary) at Steppenwolf Theatre. Regional theatre credits include the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and the Bristol Renaissance Faire. She is trained as a stage combatant through the SAFD and holds a BA in acting from Illinois State University. She is also a founding and active company member of the Suitcase Shakespeare Co. Thanks to God, family, friends and the folks at Gray Talent Group for everything. We share the stories of those who cannot speak.We dance for those not allowed. Let us sing and remember and love.
Namir Smallwood is a Newark, New Jersey native, and he is pleased to be making his Chicago theatre debut at Victory Gardens. He is an alumnus of the University of MN/Guthrie Theater BFA acting program. Namir’s regional credits include work at the Children’s Theater in Minneapolis, Guthrie Theater, Pillsbury House Theatre and Penumbra Theatre. Many thanks to Lonnie Carter for having me included in the Lost Boys process once again. Blessings!
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Jim Corti (Director/Choreographer) returns to Victory Gardens having directed The Snow Queen, musically adapted by Michael Smith, Frank Galati and Blair Thomas. Other VG productions include Doug Post’s God and Country and Your Move by Jeff Berkson and John Karraker. His Oh Coward! continues its extended run atWriters’ Theatre and, also with musical director Doug Peck, he recently helmed Cabaret at The Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. He directed Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity (Jeff Award), Meet Me In St. Louis and The Full Monty at Water Tower Place and choreographed Singin’ in the Rain (Jeff Award). Corti staged Blues in the Night (Jeff Award) at Northlight Theatre and Steven Dietz’s Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure for The Peninsula Players. Corti has appeared in the Broadway casts of Ragtime, A Chorus Line and Candide and toured nationally in Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. He received a Jeff Award for his role in Grand Hotel at The Marriott and has served productions for The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare and Second City. At Drury Lane this summer he directs “The Some Like It Hot Musical,” Sugar.
James Dardenne (Scenic/Projections Designer) served as resident designer for Victory Gardens from 1989 until 1995. Favorite designs for VG include Pecong (Jeff nomination), Michael Margaret Pat and Kate, The Stick Wife, Earth and Sky and Lonnie Carter’s The Sovereign State of Boogedy Boogedy. Other favorite designs in Chicago include Blues in the Night directed by Jim Corti, and Lonely Planet, both at Northlight Theatre, The American Clock at Court Theatre, Vivisections from the Blown Mind at Goodman Theatre and Bad Moon at American Blues Theater. Off-Broadway credits: Hauptmann at Cherry Lane, and Runt of the Litter at 37 Arts. Regional credits include: Almost Heaven at the Denver Center, Michael Margaret Pat and Kate at Marin Theatre Co., The Goldman Project, Centennial Casting, and Bad Dates at Penguin Rep. James owns Dardenne Design, a company that brings scenic solutions to exhibits, interiors and events. Recent projects include a new Rockette Theme Bar for Radio City Music Hall as part of the 75th anniversary celebration and Scenic Design consultant for the exhibitions “French Founding Father” and “Grand and Lee” at the New York Historical.
Elizabeth Flauto (Costume Design) Selected design credits include, in Chicago: Funny Girl at Drury Lane, John and Jen at Apple Tree Theatre, Here Where It’s Safe, and LeapFest 6 at Stage Left Theatre. New York: Burnt Part Boys, upcoming at Playwrights Horizons, Secrets of a Soccer Mom at Jerry Orbach Theatre/Snapple Center, The Shape of Metal, Trousers, and Clocks and Whistles at Origin Theatre Co, Nelson at Partial Comfort @ The Lion, Captain Louie at York Theatre, Little Shubert, and Sides: The Fear is Real at Culture Project, PS122. At TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT: Doubt, Woman Before a Glass. Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, Holland, MI: Room Service, Doubt, Petite Rouge, Lost in Yonkers, The Hypochondriac, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA: A Streetcar Named Desire, Private Lives, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, The World Goes Round, Uncle Vanya,Ring Round the Moon, Burnt Part Boys, Importance of Being Earnest. University of Evansville ’96, UTAustin ’02.Member United Scenic Artists. Love to K.
Rita Pietraszek (Lighting Design) returns to Victory Gardens Theatre having previously designed numerous productions including I Sailed with Magellan, Hanging Fire, The End of the Tour, Bluff, Battle of the Bands, Winter and Hannah Free. Her work has been seen at virtually all of Chicago’s professional theatres including the Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Northlight, Court Theatre, American Blues Theatre and the Royal George. Out of town favorites include True West at Portland Center Stage, To Kill A Mockingbird at Alliance Theatre-Atlanta, Misalliance at The Huntington Theatre Company, Betty’s Summer Vacation at Pittsburgh Public and The Winter’s Tale at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Ms. Pietraszek has served as Festival Lighting Coordinator/Designer for the Annual Latino Theatre Festival at the Goodman Theatre which spotlights local and international companies. Her work has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine and Theatre Crafts International.
Andre Pluess (Sound Design) is based in Chicago. Credits include numerous productions for Court Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre (Artistic Associate), Victory Gardens Theater (Resident Designer), About Face Theatre (Artistic Associate), Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, and many other Chicago and regional theaters. Broadway credits: Metamorphoses, I Am My Own Wife, 33 Variations and The Clean House at the Lincoln Center. Mr. Pluess has received multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards and Citations, an L.A. Ovation Award, Barrymore Award, Drama Critics Circle Award, and Drama Desk/Lortel nominations for composition and sound design. Recent projects include: Legacy of Light at Arena Stage, Ghostwritten at the Goodman Theatre, After the Quake at Steppenwolf, Long Wharf, La Jolla, and Berkeley Rep; Argonautika at Lookingglass, McCarter, Berkeley Rep, and Shakespeare Theatre Company; The Lost Boys of the Sudan at Children’s Theatre Co. in Minnesota; The Clay Cart at OSF; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Cal Shakes. Upcoming projects include: Endgame at Steppenwolf Theatre, Equivocation at Seattle Rep, Merchant of Venice and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof both at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and MacBeth and Much Ado About Nothing both at the California Shakespeare Festival.
Matthew Cummings (Props Designer) is pleased to be working with Victory Gardens. Recent prop-design credits include—Young Playwrights Fest and The Gimmick with The Pegasus Players. Dashiel Hamlet, Old Times, Private Lives, Wind in the Willows, and Macbeth with City Lit, Ivanov with the Sinnerman Ensemble, and Buried Child with Columbia College Chicago. Props Artisan credits include—Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, You Can’t Take It With You, at Columbia College Chicago. Matthew Graduated from Central Lakes College in Brainerd MN with an A.S. in Technical Theater and is currently a senior at Columbia College Chicago.
Sheila Landahl (Dialect Coach) holds an M.A. in Voice Studies from Central in London and an M.F.A. in ClassicalActing from The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy at GW. She served as Assistant to the Head of Voice for Way of the World at The Shakespeare Theatre Company as well as Voice and Dialect Coach for Front Page at Bristol Old Vic in the UK, The Time Machine at Minack Theatre, Cornwall in UK and Little Dorrit at Lumina Studio Theatre. Sheila has played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Paulina in Winter’s Tale, the title role in Medea, and Gertrude in Hamlet among others. She received the Dallas Critics Forum Award for best actress for her role as Moira McOc in the Red Plays, by Erik Ehn. This production was also selected by the Dallas Morning News as one of the Top Ten Theatrical Events of the Decade.
Polly Carl (Script Dramaturg) In September 2009 Polly Carl joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in a newly created position, Director of Artistic Development. Carl produces the Garage Series—nine plays in repertory, oversees new play development and commissions, and participates in season planning. Prior to Steppenwolf, Carl served 11 years at the Playwrights’ Center – seven as Producing Artistic Director. At the Center she programmed the prestigious Ruth Easton Lab and served as the Lab’s lead dramaturg. Carl has sat on numerous boards, panels and committees including the Steinberg Advisory Committee to select their distinguished playwright award – the Mimi, the NEA Theater panel, and the MAP Fund panel. Her Ph.D. in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society is from the University of Minnesota.
Sean Kelly (Assistant Director) graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2008 with degrees in Acting and Vocal Performance. Directing credits include The Fantasticks at Porchlight Theatre, Personal Apocalypse at Tympanic, Aesop and Icarus at Manhattan Rep, Jack and the Giant at Steel Beam, Romeo and Juliet at Artisan, What Makes the Buddha Smile at Polarity, and Gilgamesh a reading at New Leaf. Assistant Directing: The Tempest at Steppenwolf, The Snow Queen at Victory Gardens, Superior Donuts at Steppenwolf, 11:11 at The New Colony, Old Times at Remy Bumppo. Upcoming projects include writing a mass with Sue Demel, of folk trio The Songs of the Never Wrong, creating a new adaptation of The Oresteia, and directing at The New Colony.
Tina M. Jach (Production Stage Manager) is excited to start her eleventh season Stage Managing for Victory Gardens Theater. Some of her credits include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Eurydice, Ignition Festival, Relatively Close, Four Places, I Sailed with Magellan, CynicalWeathers, The Snow Queen, Denmark, Half and Half, Cradle of Man, Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams, Memory House, Symmetry, Berlin ’45, Hanging Fire, The Family Gold, Trying, Affluenza!, Anna in the Tropics, The End of the Tour, Unspoken Prayers, God & Country, The Old Man’s Friend, Glamour House, Immoral Imperatives, Fossils, Hay Fever, Blissfield, Cahoots, and Knock Me a Kiss. Some other Chicago credits include Collected Stories, Belfry, An American Daughter, and Coming of the Hurricane. Tina completed her M.F.A. in stage management at Rutgers University. Other stage management credits include Don Giovanni, Hedda Gabler, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Tina has also worked in Business Theater. Tina is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association
Playwright’s Note
The Lost Boys of Sudan began several years ago with a commission through New Dramatists in
New York, where I am an alumnus, and the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. The CTC,
so-called, had just begun a program for teens, teens being those beings who understand virtually
everything and everything virtual. So there was no talking down—I like to think I never do that—
but only writing the way I write, without concern for, well, anything but the truth of what I was
hearing. And what I was hearing was these “Lost Boys” and their extraordinary story. My time
with the CTC took me and a dozen others to Fargo where we met about two hundred “Lost Boys”
who had been re-located from Camp Kakuma in Kenya. They had come from Sudan where it was
hotter than hot to Fargo where it was, well, you get the shiver and the frostbite. Cultural,
geographical, you name it, dislocation. Their survival stories are not to be topped.
How could we present their stories and do them justice? We could only try.
There have been documentaries and a sort-of novel about The Lost Boys. We were not interested in taking those approaches. We wanted to do a play. We wanted to “tell the truth,” as much as we could, in theatrical form. What we do is theater. We don’t do docu-dramas; we don’t do sort-of novels. We believe the “truth” of the theater is much more, shall I say, truthful.
And so we did a production in Minneapolis and many “Lost Boys” came to see it and came to see it again. They said, to a “Boy,” that we had told their story, forgive me, “truthfully.”
So, why are we doing it here at Victory Gardens? Well,
1. The play needs to be seen by a wider audience but (and this should be number one) 2. the script
was not fully realized in its first go ‘round. It may not be realized yet, but it has changed
enormously, so much so that I almost don’t recognize it. Incidentally, two of the actors from the
CTC show, are in this show and they too remark on the growth of the script. Of this I’m confident—
with this outstanding director, Jim Corti, and this extraordinary cast and crew, the script has
blossomed into something more fully realized than before and now has this wonderful new aura.
To me, it’s the aura of truth. — Lonnie Carter
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Press
For Lost boys, Play Hits Home.
Sudanese men say play helps dramatize what happened, mirrors their experience.Chicago Tribune
Read More
VG Press Release
The Chicago Premiere of The Lost Boys of Sudan
Chicago Sun-Times Feature
Playwright Lonnie Carter finds a new, compelling story in re-tooled ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’
Reviews
“hugely enjoyable”
“fabulous show for older kids and teenagers”
-Chris Jones
Read More....
“immensely imaginative”
“impressive, beautifully evocative journey on every level”
Hedy Weiss-
Read More...
'The Lost Boys of Sudan:' a Lyrical, Insightful Journey at Victory Gardens Theater
 Victory Gardens Biograph Theater2433 North Lincoln Avenue | Chicago, IL 60614 Administration: 773.549.5788 | Tickets: 773.871.3000 2001 Recipient of the Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theater © Victory Gardens 2010 |