ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
World Premiere of
MIA
"Where Have All the Young Girls Gone?"
Written and directed by Mary Bonnett
Featuring Jamise Wright with Tristin Hall
In 2020, 268,884 women were reported missing, according to the National Crime Information Center, with nearly 100,000 of those being Black women and girls.
Mary Bonnett’s world premiere play, MIA "WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS GONE?" is taken from interviews and research on girls and women who have vanished into the world of the missing in America. The play goes beyond the statistics to portray the crisis in personal and human terms, mirroring the plight of the missing and their loved ones trying to solve the mystery of their disappearance.
Bonnett will direct this production of her script, and Jamise Wright, who earned raves for her performance of a bereaved mother in Her Story Theater’s 2018 MONGER, will perform the lead. The cast also includes Tristin Hall. The production team includes Blake Cordell (Lights and Sound Design), CCDM (Music Design), Melinda Wilson (Choreography), Sean Smyth (Stage Manager), and Genevieve Swanson (Assistant Stage Manager). MIA "WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS GONE?" will be performed at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.
I'll be out for the press opening, March 12, so check back shortly for my full review. Following previews from March 9-11, 2023, this production will play through April 9, 2023.
Through a driving sound design, MIA "WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS GONE?" tries to put the puzzle pieces together and answer the questions surrounding this crisis. How can so many young girls go missing with so little response? Where are the 6000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the thousands of missing and murdered girls from the south, west and north sides of Chicago? Who took them? Why don’t we have systems in place to protect women from this form of Femicide and abuse? Why isn’t more being done to find and protect them?
The crisis is especially acute among the African American community. In 2020, 268,884 women were reported missing, according to the National Crime Information Center, with nearly 100,000 of those being Black women and girls. While Black women account for just over 13% of our U.S. female population, they made up more than one-third of all missing women reported in 2020.
Her Story Theater was founded in 2011 and has focused primarily on raising awareness of the epidemic of sexual exploitation of minors and homelessness. The four produced plays in Her Story’s “Chicago Sex Trafficking Cycle” include SHADOW TOWN (2013), THE JOHNS (2014), MONEY MAKE'M SMILE (2016, 2017) and MONGER (2018). As a group, the plays depict domestic sex trafficking from the perspectives of the various participants – the traffickers, youth who are trafficked, and the men who buy them. INVISIBLE (2019) is concerned with issues of bigotry, nativism and violence against minorities. Her Story Theater continues its work to raise awareness of the prevalence of domestic sex trafficking and the trauma-based victim through its touring presentations and programs.
Tickets to MIA "WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS GONE?" will be on sale soon and will be available at www.greenhousetheater.com or by phone at 773-404-7336. Fir information for group tickets or questions, email: HerStoryTheatre@gmail.com More information on MIA and Her Story Theatre is available at www.herstorytheater.org.
Her Story Theater is seeking professionals in the field for our post-show discussions of MIA. For more information or to volunteer, email: Mary Bonnett at HerStoryTheatre@gmail.com
March 9 – April 9, 2023
Previews Thursday, March 9 through Saturday, March 11, 2023
Press Opening Sunday, March 12 at 2:00 pm
Thursdays – Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 2:00 pm
Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
For information on group rates, visit www.herstorytheater.org or call 312-835-1410.
Tickets: www.greenhousetheater.org, 773-404-7336
PRICES: $20.00, Students $10.00
Info: www.herstorytheater.org
Mary Bonnett’s world premiere play, MIA "WHERE HAVE ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS GONE?" is taken from interviews and research on girls and women who have vanished into the world of the missing in America. The play goes beyond the statistics to portray the crisis in personal and human terms, mirroring the plight of the missing and their loved ones trying to solve the mystery of their disappearance.
BIOS
MARY BONNETT (Producing Artistic Director, Playwright, Director) is the cofounder and Artistic Director of Her Story Theater. As a professional playwright, Mary’s plays include her highly acclaimed series from her Chicago Sex Trafficking Cycle: SHADOW TOWN, THE JOHNS, MONEY MAKE'M SMILE and MONGER. They are based on interviews Mary conducted with hundreds of professionals, survivors, sellers and buyers involved with sex trafficking in the Chicagoland area. These interviews are ongoing and continue to contribute to her work in the SIDE SHOW series, a national program for field professionals, educators and youth on domestic sex trafficking and the impact on the trauma based survivor.
Her main stage productions and touring shows have been quoted as “life changing.” Mary’s sex trafficking plays have reached across the country. THE JOHNS was performed in Houston, Texas for Super Bowl 2017. Her SIDE SHOWS have been presented at conferences across central Pennsylvania, Southern and Northern IL., Wisconsin, Wyoming and California.
Mary has won awards for excellence and outstanding contributions in professional theater, including writing, directing and theater education which includes the prestigious Dr. Margaret Burroughs Award. She most recently received a Civic Engagement Award for Outstanding Community Cause Leadership. Her Story Theater is the recipient of the Illinois State Senate Hero Award in Sex Trafficking Prevention and Backstage Magazine’s “Top Ten Best Theaters That Change Lives.”
With a grant from the Chicago Teachers Union and the participation of educators, Mary led the development of a 7th-12th grade curriculum on domestic sex trafficking for youth. This curriculum with accompanying study guide complimented her play MONEY MAKE’M SMILE presented to over 5000 inner city students free of charge.
Her Story received a Commonwealth Edison Educational Grant, where Mary will develop script and curriculum, teaming with professional in the field to create in-school workshops on Child Exploitation for 3rd through 6th graders.
She speaks regularly to organizations, high schools and universities on sex trafficking and the impact the current culture has on our youth. Mary has appeared on television and radio shows, championing the need for change in laws to protect children and women. Under Mary's leadership, Her Story Theater has raised thousands of donated dollars for their partner organizations.
Mary’s other works include GLOSS OVER, based on the lives of homeless women from Deborah’s Place as well as highly proclaimed women’s history plays such as RADICAL IDEAS! WOMEN AND THE VOTE based on the struggle of women in Illinois to ratify and win the vote, THE 9TH FLOOR: Blocked Justice of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. INVISIBLE, an exploration and its impact in history of the 1920s Women’s KKK.
Mary is a member of SAG-AFTRA, American Dramatist Guild NYC, The Author’s Guild, SCBWI. She holds a BFA in Theater Arts, a BFA in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, England.
She has worked as advisory and support for Traffick Free, The Dreamcatcher Foundation and has held workshops with Girls Forward and the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force Conferences. As a side note, during the Covid pandemic she wrote a children’s novel entitled The Adventures of Cleaver and Whizjam On The Isle of Oogle.
Jamise Wright (Lead). Chicago native, Jamise “Slim” Wright has been an Artistic Associate of Her Story Theater since 2018 where she created the original role of Ruth Edwards in the world premiere of Mary Bonnett’s MONGER along with co-lead Ira Amyx. Her performances received rave reviews from both critics and audiences noting her “riveting”, “heart breaking elegance” and “brilliant” performance. In 2019, she oversaw the management of Her Story Theater’s acclaimed INVISIBLE at Stage 773 performing multiple duties making for a smooth run. During the Covid pandemic, Jamise revised the role of Ruth Edwards into a half-hour online monologue presentation riveting audiences with the power of her performance while raising awareness on domestic sex trafficking.
She has appeared in film, theater, and television. She was seen in the CHICAG FIRE episode, “The One Hundred”, “Windy City” an Indie film directed by Gunjan Badjatya., Dearly You Come to Me, Illumination, and the theater production of JUST RANTING THE BLUES, where she played the role of Death. Jamise has showcased her improvisational skills with Second City and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Jamise is currently represented by The Stewart Talent Agency.
Tristin Hall (they/them, Essence) is excited to working with Her Story Theater for the first time! Credits include: FALLING (Interrobang Theater), SPRING FLING (Stage Left), 12 FIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS (Otherworld) CARRIE AND FRANCINE (Haven Theater), DOG ACT (Columbia College), and A SEPARATE PEACE (Point Theatre Project).Recent choreography credits include: THE GARBOLOGISTS (Northlight), PARIS (Steep), ON THE GREENBELT, THE EFFECT (Strawdog), COMEDY OF ERRORS (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), STICK FLY (Writers Theater), KRUGOZOR, HUMAN RESOURCES (Theater Evolve), SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (Bard in the Burbs), FOOTHOLDS (Imposters Theatre), SOME LIKE IT RED, MUNSTERSPIEL (The Plagiarists), THIN MINTS a workshop production (Greenhouse Theater), AFFECTION AS A SPACE VACUUM (Rhinofest 2020), MAD GIRLS (Rhinofest 2020). Assisting credits include: Sam Hubbard-YEN, (Raven Theater), TOO HEAVY FOR YOUR POCKET (Timeline), Rachel Flesher -SICKLE (Red Theater), and John Mcfarland- MARISOL (Northeastern).
HER STORY THEATER
Her Story Theater is a theater for social change. Through theater and the written word, our mission is to shine bright lights in dark places on women and children in need of social justice and community support. Since 2011, we have partnered with countless organizations to raise awareness on current issues that impact women and children. Her Story Theater is supported by Driehaus Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, Susan and Ted Oppenheimer Foundation, Com Ed Powering The Arts, Northern Trust, Sunlight Project, Vanguard Charitable and private donations.
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