Displaying items by tag: Katja Krohn

Walkabout Theater Company returns to producing in Chicago with the production that launched the company in 1999, Poor Poor Lear, written by Nina Sallinen and Katja Krohn, original direction by Katja Krohn with 2026 direction by Founding Artistic Director Kristan Schmidt, March 12 - 15 at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Poor Poor Lear stars Nina Sallinen and a new mystery guest every night. In addition to the production of Poor Poor Lear, Walkabout Theater Company is pleased to announce Kristan Schmidt's return to the role of Walkabout's artistic director. After Schmidt's founding of the company in 1999, Walkabout has gone on to create and produce all new work for more than 25 years. The company enjoyed multiple periods of work led by different creative teams, including the branching off of the company's most recent ensemble to form a new entity called the Wender Collective. This March, Kristan Schmidt and Nina Sallinen mark their return at Walkabout with an updated version of Walkabout's 1999 initial opening production, Poor Poor Lear. The total performance running time is two hours including intermission. Performances are Thursday, March 12 - Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 15 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission with $15 tickets for students and seniors. Tickets are now on sale at WalkaboutTheater.org or ChopinTheatre.com.

In this original dark comedy, 36-year-old actress Nina Sallinen, portrays a 90 year-old Grande Dame (also named Nina Sallinen) of the Scandinavian Theater.  The old actress has brazenly chosen Shakespeare's King Lear as the material for her final artistic farewell performance.  She has a special interest in the theme as she believes her own two daughters to be just as greedy and neglectful as King Lear's. The performance, which she stages in her own apartment, unintentionally highlights the artist's own life story, as she gradually becomes cognizant of the deeper parallels between her life and that of King Lear's.  Instead of shaking up her own daughters with her performance, the old diva shakes up herself.  Her priorities and past choices come into question.

Poor Poor Lear is the production that launched Walkabout Theater in Chicago in 1999 at The Breadline Theater. Since then the production has been performed in Los Angeles, San Diego, & Santa Barbara (California), Brooklyn (New York), Stockholm (Sweden), Verona (Italy), Gdansk (Poland), Bitola (Macedonia), Novi Sad (Serbia) and Helsinki (Finland).

"Nina Sallinen and I hope to continue revisiting this play every 10 years," said Founding Artistic Director Kristan Schmidt. "Shakespeare's King Lear is such rich source material that its main themes keep reverberating differently each decade that we revisit Poor Poor Lear. We are looking forward to sharing this latest version with Walkabout's return to Chicago this spring."

ABOUT NINA SALLINEN, PLAYWRIGHT/PERFORMER

Nina Sallinen is an actress and writer from Finland  She has worked in various theaters across Europe, Chicago and Los Angeles.  Currently a  Los Angeles resident, she performs with The Odyssey, Geffen Playhouse, The Road Theater Company and Pacific Resident Theater.

ABOUT KRISTAN SCHMIDT, DIRECTOR (2026)

Kristan Schmidt has been creating, directing and producing new works of theater for the past 30 years. In 1999, Schmidt started Walkabout Theater in Chicago where she put her creative energy by wearing many hats. She enjoys experimenting with how theater can be created and presented.

ABOUT WALKABOUT THEATER

Walkabout Theater, founded in 1999, in Chicago by Kristan Schmidt, Nina Sallinen and were joined by MS NOW host, podcaster and New York Times best seller Chris Hayes in 2001. The company is dedicated to the production and creation of original work and arresting theatrical events. As a theater company, it challenges the theatrical form, the architecture in which theater is created and the capacity to tell a story. Through this exploration, Walkabout seeks to engage the audience in new ways that are unusual, innovative and that deepen the connection between the artist and the community.

Since its premiere in 1999, Walkabout's mission has been tied to design and presenting new works that are specially written for non-traditional spaces. In the past, they have produced work at The Edgewater Beach Hotel, The Hideout Music Club, The Cultural Center Exhibit Space, Garfield Park Conservatory, and a variety of parks, restrooms, gardens and locations throughout Chicago.

In addition Walkabout, has partnered with many Chicago organizations and institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Neighbor Space Community Gardens, Collaboraction, Studio Gang Architects, Lookingglass Theatre, Lucky Plush Dance Theatre, Muntu Dance Theater and others.                                                

Walkabout Theater Company returns to producing in Chicago with the production that launched the company in 1999, Poor Poor Lear, written by Nina Sallinen and Katja Krohn, original direction by Katja Krohn with 2026 direction by Founding Artistic Director Kristan Schmidt, March 12 - 15 at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Poor Poor Lear stars Nina Sallinen and a new mystery guest every night. In addition to the production of Poor Poor Lear, Walkabout Theater Company is pleased to announce Kristan Schmidt's return to the role of Walkabout's artistic director. After Schmidt's founding of the company in 1999, Walkabout has gone on to create and produce all new work for more than 25 years. The company enjoyed multiple periods of work led by different creative teams, including the branching off of the company's most recent ensemble to form a new entity called the Wender Collective. This March, Kristan Schmidt and Nina Sallinen mark their return at Walkabout with an updated version of Walkabout's 1999 initial opening production, Poor Poor Lear. The total performance running time is two hours including intermission. Performances are Thursday, March 12 - Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 15 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission with $15 tickets for students and seniors. Tickets are now on sale at WalkaboutTheater.org or ChopinTheatre.com.