The House Theatre of Chicago has announced a slate of five plays for its 14th season, including a remount of its magic spectacle Death & Harry Houdini and holiday perennial The Nutcracker.
The season opens in the fall with The Revel (September 3–October 25), a new adaptation of Euripides' The Bacchae by Damon Kiely featuring gospel-style music by Jess McIntosh; Leslie Buxbaum Danzig directs. The family-friendly, non-ballet Nutcracker follows (November 5–December 31).
The House opens the new year with an interactive, superhero-themed piece titled The Last Defender (beginning January 21). It's a collaboration between writer-director Nathan Allen, puzzle designer Sandor Weisz and comics artist Chris Burnham, designed to be experienced by 16 "players" at a time.
A yet-unnamed new work by Vanessa Stalling, working with composer Mikhail Fiksel and lyricist Alex Balestrieri, is planned for the spring; the Houdini remount, led by magician Dennis Watkins in the title role, follows next summer. All but the Stalling piece are confirmed to take place at the Chopin Theatre. The House also announced a spring 2016 production of its recent hit The Hammer Trinity at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where it has toured several of its shows in recent years.