Displaying items by tag: Lauren Paige

Oil Lamp Theater, currently presenting the highly recommended political comedy The Outsider through February 22,  is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production of its 2026 season, Poor Behavior, written by Theresa Rebeck and directed by Lauren Katz, April 10 - May 10, at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road. The schedule includes two preview performances Friday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m., with an opening performance Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. There will be additional Wednesday performances April 15 at 11 a.m and 3 p.m.; April 22 at 7:30 p.m. (understudy performance); April 29 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and May 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $30 for previews and $55 for the run at OilLampTheater.org.  

A visit from old friends takes an unexpected turn when a bombshell accusation throws niceties out the window. Hospitality turns to havoc. Sanity shatters into shambles. Manners take a backseat as two couples are pushed to their limits during a weekend in the country. Will they be able to pick up the pieces over wine and muffins or will their poor behavior leave them irrevocably broken? Find out in this sharp-witted play by acclaimed playwright Theresa Rebeck. 

The cast of Poor Behavior includes Sam Fain (he/him, Ian); Lauren Paige  (she/her, Maureen); Ksa Curry (she/her, Ella); Jack Morsovillo (he/him, Peter) with understudies Cooper Bohn (he/him, Ian U/S); Cait Kelly (she/they, Maureen U/S); Jaime Nebeker (she/her, Ella U/S) and Adrian Briones (he/him, Peter U/S).

The production team includes Lauren Katz (she/her, director); Connor Windle (she/her, production manager and stage manager); Trenton Jones (he/him, scenic designer); Elly Burke (she/her; properties designer); Danielle Reinhardt (she/her; costume designer); Paige Klopfenstein (she/her, intimacy director); Daniel Friedman (he/him, lighting designer); Alex Trinh (he/him, sound designer); Andy Cahoon (he/him, technical director); Sienna Laurent Choi (she/her, assistant stage manager) and Rose Leisner (she/her, company manager). 

CONTENT ADVISORY: Poor Behavior contains strong language and mature themes including discussions of mental health and suicide.

ABOUT THERESA REBECK, PLAYWRIGHT

Theresa Rebeck is a prolific and widely produced playwright, whose work can be seen and read throughout the United States and abroad. Last season, her fourth Broadway play premiered on Broadway, making Rebeck the most Broadway-produced female playwright of our time. Other Broadway works include Dead Accounts, Seminar and Mauritius. Other notable New York and regional plays include: Seared (MCC), Downstairs (Primary Stages), The Scene, The Water’s Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels (Second Stage), Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection and Our House (Playwrights Horizons), The Understudy (Roundabout), View of the Dome (NYTW), What We’re Up Against (Women’s Project), Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer Prize finalist). As a director, her work has been seen at The Alley Theatre (Houston), the REP Company (Delaware); Dorset Theatre Festival, the Orchard Project and the Folger Theatre. Major film and television projects include “Trouble,” starring Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman and David Morse (writer and director), “NYPD Blue,” the NBC series “Smash” (creator) and the upcoming female spy thriller “355” (for Jessica Chastain’s production company). As a novelist, Rebeck’s books include Three Girls and Their Brother and I'm Glad About You. Rebeck is the recipient of the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award, a Lilly Award and more.

ABOUT LAUREN KATZ, DIRECTOR

Lauren Katz is thrilled to be back directing at Oil Lamp. Favorite directing credits include: It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, The Marvelous Wonderettes, Mary's Wedding (Oil Lamp), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Women of 4G (Babes With Blades), The Prom (Highland Park Players), Tick, Tick… Boom and A Grand Night for Singing (Dunes Summer Theatre), Grease and Legally Blonde the Musical (Beverly Theatre Guild), Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (Strawdog) and This is a Chair (Haven). Other collaborations include: About Face Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, and Writers Theatre. She is the education + engagement producer at Steppenwolf Theatre.

ABOUT OIL LAMP THEATER

Oil Lamp Theater is a professional nonprofit performing arts organization in Glenview, Illinois, welcoming over 10,000 patrons annually from more than 225 communities—41% from Glenview and others from across the North Shore and Chicago. Since establishing its intimate 60-seat home in downtown Glenview in 2012, Oil Lamp has grown into a cultural beacon, earning recognition as “Best Live Theatre in the North Shore” for four consecutive years.

With more than 70 productions to date, Oil Lamp is known for its dynamic Mainstage season, special events and its resilience during the pandemic, when it innovated with drive-in performances and outdoor productions. Today, the theatre continues to foster connection, broaden horizons and illuminate the human condition through professional theater and year-round programming.

In addition to its productions, Oil Lamp recently expanded with the SPARK CENTER, which offers arts education for all ages with a focus on youth. These process-driven classes inspire a lifelong love of the arts while equipping students with creativity, confidence and critical life skills.

This past September, Oil Lamp launched  Light The Way, a transformative fundraising campaign designed to expand arts education, strengthen essential staff and establish a larger performance venue with the goal of staying in downtown Glenview. Building on its roots as a scrappy storefront, Oil Lamp is evolving into a more robust organization—without losing the intimacy and warmth that define its theater experience. Oil Lamp Theater hopes this announcement inspires excitement throughout the community. Interested community members are invited to learn more by reaching out to the theater, attending the 2025 Gala on October 18 and staying tuned as additional news is shared in the near future. For information or to support the campaign go to OilLampTheater.org/Light-the-Way or reach out to Oil Lamp at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Oil Lamp Theater, currently presenting the highly recommended political comedy The Outsider through February 22,  is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production of its 2026 season, Poor Behavior, written by Theresa Rebeck and directed by Lauren Katz, April 10 - May 10, at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road. The schedule includes two preview performances Friday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m., with an opening/press performance Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. There will be additional Wednesday performances April 15 at 11 a.m and 3 p.m.; April 22 at 7:30 p.m. (understudy performance); April 29 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and May 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $30 for previews and $55 for the run at OilLampTheater.org. 

RICHARD III tells the story of Richard of Gloucester, Shakespeare’s cruelest yet most compelling protagonist.

Richard III was the last king of the House of York. He was the last English king to die in battle, at the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, marking the end of the Middle Ages in England.

RICHARD III depicts this last of the Plantagenets as merciless, almost demoniacal – several characters call him ‘devil’. In his mania to be King, Richard uses intelligence, deception, and serial murder; though most of the murders are actually committed by his retainers and minions.

Shakespeare delves into the historical account to find what we would now call a psychological autopsy, probing beneath the gory facts to explore Richard’s mindset and motivations. What is thus exhumed is a driven man, ravenous for total domination. 

Babes with Blades Theatre Company (BWBTC) uses stage combat to elevate the voices of underrepresented communities, allowing both participants and patrons to experience every person as exciting, vivid, dynamic people. BWBTC Shakespeare casts actors of marginalized genders, providing a new lens to perceive these classic stories. In RICHARD III, BWBTC partners with UIC’s Disability Cultural Center, Department of Theatre, and Bodies of Work in a project called “Making Inclusive Theatre: RICHARD III as Disability Art”, challenging the obstacles that actors face around accessibility. The cast of RICHARD III crosses barriers of gender and ableism to explore othering and disability culture.

Jillian Leff, Aszkara Gilchrist, Lauren Paige, Genesis Sanchez, Kristen Alesia, and Pat Roache in “Richard III” from Babes With Blades Theatre Company

Artistic Director Hayley Rice (s/h) says: “This production represents so many aspects that are priorities for BWBTC: focusing on marginalized stories, telling complicated tales of flawed humans, and our signature of stage combat as a storytelling tool. This team is ready to tell Richard III’s story in the manner it should be told, with the artists who should be telling it, but are so often left out of the conversation completely”.

Any production of RICHARD III will flourish or founder on the actor playing the title role; this production totally nails it with Aszkara Gilchrist (s/h), whose intonation and especially countenance are vivid, persuasive, and expressive, displaying the full range of Richard’s unsavory character. Her smirk and her sneer (both integral to Richard) are particularly satisfying. Her white cane becomes functional as a pikestaff, a club, a truncheon, and (occasionally) a visual aid.

Gilchrist’s Richard would fail without a surrounding cast of equal talent; happily, BWBTC has assembled a truly stellar troupe. Most actors play multiple roles, but kClare McKellaston (s/h) (Costume) and AJ Morely (h/h) (Props) use simple articles to define characters so effectively that each was clear. This is often difficult in Shakespeare’s extensive companies, but I was also assisted by the live streaming captions – just one aspect of the production’s commitment to accessibility. Various performances will include adjustments for sensory needs audiences, ASL interpreters, touch tour and audio description. See the website for dates of these special performances. This commitment to inclusion is very impressive. I attended with an autistic friend who was able to enjoy the standard performance but is definitely interested in going back to attend one of the sensory access shows.

Another standout performer was Pat Roache (th/th) as Queen Margaret; their over-the-top emoting could be called overplay, but it SO worked for me! I adored every one of Queen Margaret’s appearances, and Roache was just as fabulous (if less melodramatic) as Brackenbury. Kristen Alesia (s/th) (Lady Anne/Lord Hastings) and Lauren Paige (s/h) (Queen Elizabeth) are terrific, and the three Queens had a chemistry that catalyzed each appearance.  I also want to make a shoutout to Xela Rosas (s/th), an understudy who shone as Rivers / Bishop of Ely.

In many large casts, particularly with multiple parts, individuals may get lost in the swarm. Not so here! Kim Fukawa (s/h) (Catesby/ King Edward IV) and Genesis Sanchez (s/th) (Richmond) were outstanding; Madison Hill (th/th) great as Ratcliffe and Duke of York, as was Leah Nicole Huskey (s/h) as Grey and the Duchess of York. Kayla Marie Klammer (s/h) (Lovell/ Archbishop of Canterbury), Jillian Leff (s/h) (Duke of Buckingham), Jennifer L Mickelson (s/h) (Duke of Clarence/ Stanley / Mayor) and Symonne Still (s/h) (Dorset/ Prince Edward) complete the truly extraordinary troupe.

Loud kudos to the production team! Richard Costes (h/h), a deaf BIPOC actor, is Director, working with Margaret Fink (s/h), Director of UIC’s Disability Cultural Center and UIC Partners Bianca Frazer (s/h), Carrie Sandahl (s/h), Rachelle Palnick Tsachor (s/h), and Keyana D Robinson (s/h) (also videographer). Gabrielle Owens (s/th) is Stage Manager, assisted by Esau Andaleon (h/h). Dramaturg Claire Alston (s/h) and Carrie Hardin (s/h) as Text Coach are responsible for making Elizabethan language user-friendly. Scenic Designer Sydney Lynne (s/h) built a set whose intriguing horizontal and vertical levels were accentuated by Lighting Designer Becca Venable (s/h).

Post-2020 a COVID Compliance Officer (Tab Mocherman (th/th)) is part of the crew; this production uses Matt Lauterbach (h/h) as Accessibility Coordinator, and Line Bower (th/th) as Technical Director [thanks for the streaming captions!]. Rose Hamill (s/h) pulls it all together as Production Manager. Jesse D Irwin (h/h) (Sound Design) achieved the amazing feat of making every word from every actor audible.

These last members of the production team made very special contributions to RICHARD III. Music Director Gail Gallagher (s/h) added depth of meaning and touches of humor (“Happy Together”!?!). Kat Pleviak (s/h) did Puppet Design -- I was unsure about puppets for the Little Princes (Edward V and Richard, Duke of York), but BWBTC made it work! It required an actor, sometimes two, to animate the little figures, but they quickly disappeared, and the winsome ragdolls took on character and life. And when they were being taken to the Tower and the two tiny manikins embraced, an audible “Awww” wafted across the house.   

Last but not least – How ‘bout them Babes with Blades?! Stage fighting is, after all, the raison d'être for BWBTC, their signature for twenty years. Maureen Yasko (s/h) is Fight and Intimacy Director, with Asst Fight Director Jillian Leff (s/h) and Asst Fight Captain Madison Hill (th/th). Their choreography is a symphony, with various subthemes playing simultaneously to form a cohesive ensemble.

The fights at beginning and end could have been a mishmash of noise, and each does begin with a general melee, but then certain dyads come to the fore and the other fighters go into slowed motion, so one still sees the enormity of the entire battle but is able to concentrate on one particular duel after another. My companion commented on this being particularly helpful with their tendency to hyperfocus.

I plan to see RICHARD III again, maybe at one of the special performances – it’s two and a half hours (including intermission) very well spent!