Adult Night Out
ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:
Michael Patrick Thornton, Cyd Blakewell in new
Andrew Hinderaker play at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre
The Gift Theatre Presents
OBLITERATION
Written by Andrew Hinderaker
Starring Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell
A Limited Engagement July 25-August 3, 2024
at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater
The Gift Theatre is pleased to present a limited engagement of Obliteration, written and directed by ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker, playing July 25- August 3, 2024 at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 1700 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL. Single tickets are now on sale at https://www.steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/lookout/ or by calling 312-335-1650.
The production features Gift Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Michael Patrick Thornton and Gift Ensemble Member and Casting Director Cyd Blakewell.
Obliteration is a fusion of stand-up comedy and theater that tells the story of two comedians, Lee and Neal, trying to make sense of a world that's falling apart, even as their own lives are hanging on by a thread.
When asked about this production, Co-Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse stated, “We are so proud to present this limited engagement of Obliteration written and directed by Gift ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker, created for and performed by ensemble members Cyd Blakewell and Michael Patrick Thornton. We first glimpsed this one-of-a-kind piece as a 10-minute short last year during our TEN festival. Now, one year later, we are thrilled to share the fully realized theatrical experience with our Chicago community.”
On creating this piece, Andrew Hinderaker states, “I’ve loved stand-up comedy my whole adult life. But I’d never attempted to write it—I’m a playwright, not a comedian. Then, a couple years ago, I stumbled upon this quote from the brilliant Phoebe Waller-Bridge: ‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you get a lot for free from an audience if you can make them laugh.’ Immediately an idea for a play unspooled in my mind: a fusion of stand-up and theater that would tell the story of two comedians, trying to make sense of a world that’s falling apart, even while their own lives are hanging on by a thread. I wrote the piece for two of my fellow ensemble members of Chicago’s Gift Theatre: Michael Patrick Thornton: an actor/improviser/comedian with whom I’ve collaborated for over a decade; and Cyd Blakewell, an actor and artist I’ve been desperate to work with for years. Our process was simple: I’d write some pages, hoping they would make Cyd and Mike laugh and/or cry. Then they’d read the pages and make me laugh and cry (more a testament to their talent than mine). Over a year, we built the ‘play’ like this, gradually folding an audience into our process. And once we got people in the room, that’s when we realized, holy shit, there’s something here.”
Cast: (in alphabetical order): Cyd Blakewell, Michael Patrick Thornton
Location: Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre, 1700 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL
Dates: Thursday, July 25, 2024 - Saturday, August 3, 2024
Curtain Times: All shows begin at 8:00 pm.
Tickets: $30. https://www.steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/lookout/ or by calling 312-335-1650.
About the Artists
Andrew Hinderaker (Playwright, Director) is currently an Executive Producer and Showrunner of Black Rabbit, an upcoming Netflix series starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law. He previously created and showran the Showtime series, Let The Right One In, starring Oscar nominee Demián Bichir, as well as the Netflix series, Away, starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Additional TV writing credits include Penny Dreadful and The Path, but Hinderaker’s heart and soul belong to the theater, where he specializes in writing plays that are (nearly) impossible to produce. Recent projects include The Magic Play (Goodman Theatre; Actors’ Theatre of Louisville; Portland Center Stage) a five-year collaboration with a sleight-of-hand card artist; and Colossal, an epic theatrical event featuring full-contact football hits, a modern dance company, and a drum line. Colossal received a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere from 2014- 2016, with its inaugural production at the Olney Theatre Center (DC) receiving numerous Helen Hayes Awards, including Best New Play. Hinderaker’s additional plays include Suicide, Incorporated; Dirty; Kingsville; and I Am Going to Change the World, all of which premiered in his hometown of Chicago before enjoying productions in NY and throughout the world. Hinderaker holds an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a proud ensemble member of the Gift Theatre Company in Chicago. Obliteration marks his seventh collaboration with Michael Patrick Thornton, and his first with Cyd Blakewell. They are two of his favorite artists in the world.
Cyd Blakewell (LEE) is living her best life working on this incredible project with these two beautiful and intensely talented people, Andrew and Michael. Recently, Cyd was seen in The Brightest Thing in the World at About Face Theatre and Birthday Candles at Northlight Theatre. She is a proud ensemble member of The Gif Theatre in Chicago. Her Gift Credits include: The Locusts, Pillowman, Doubt, A Life Extra Ordinary, Good For Otto, Body + Blood, Broadsword, Mine and multiple episodes of TEN. Other Chicago credits: The Snare (Jackalope); Balm In Gilead and Port (Griffin); Buddy Cop 2, breaks & bikes and Milk Milk Lemonade (Pavement Group); Sweet Confinement and Ivanov (SiNNERMAN Ensemble); Orange Flower Water (Interrobang); Lies & Liars and Mimesophobia (Theatre Seven); Rewind (The Side Project). She recently wrapped a short film called Fairground and can also be seen in Jeri’s Grille. Cyd got her BFA from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and is a graduate from the School at Steppenwolf. Cyd is represented by Promote Talent Agency. She is married to Keith Neagle and mother to Wesley, who give her an endless amount of love and support.
Michael Patrick Thornton (NEAL) is the co-founder of The Gift Theatre and served as its artistic director for twenty years. He has appeared on stages throughout the world, most recently on Broadway with Jessica Chastain in the acclaimed and Tony-nominated production of A Doll’s House, directed by Jamie Lloyd and adapted by Amy Herzog, for which Michael’s performance as “Dr. Rank” won the 2023 Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award for the best performance by an actor in a classical play in the New York metropolitan area. Michael made his Broadway debut in Sam Gold’s production of Macbeth with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, and was seen prior to that in The Gift’s production of Doubt at Steppenwolf with Obliteration’s Cyd Blakewell. Other select productions: Will Eno’s Title and Deed (Lookingglass Theatre—Time Out Best Actor Award) as well as Eno’s Middletown (Steppenwolf) the premiere of Andrew Hinderaker’s Colossal (Olney Theatre, Kennedy Center) Othello (The Gift, “Iago”) Our Town (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and the world premieres of Hinderaker’s Dirty and Suicide, Incorporated for which Thornton was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award. His groundbreaking performance in the titular role of Richard III (The Gift at Steppenwolf) which marked the first performance in theatre history to use an exoskeleton has been the subject of numerous podcasts, published essays, and academic papers. Michael won the 2006 Jeff Award for Solo Performance for The Good Thief (The Gift). On camera, Thornton has acted opposite Oscar winners Jessica Chastain, Hilary Swank, J.K. Simmons, and Oscar nominee Demián Bichir. For two seasons, he played the love interest of six-time Tony Award winning legend Audra McDonald on Private Practice.
In addition, Thornton’s acclaimed improv show—You & Me—premiered at Steppenwolf and has since played for over a decade throughout Chicago as well as in Louisville and Dublin, Ireland, featuring nearly a hundred special guests. The Chicago Reader has called the show and Thornton’s improvisation “masterful.” Selected Film/TV: The Savant, NCIS, The Good Doctor, Let The Right One In, Chicago Party Aunt, 61st Street, A Million Little Things, Away, All Rise, Madam Secretary, The Red Line, Counterpart, Elementary, and The View From Tall. Select Awards: Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award; Irish Books and Music Festival (iBAM!) Award Recipient; Best Actor: 2017 Midwest International Film Festival (The View From Tall); Tree of Life Award: Shirley Ryan Ability Lab; 3Arts Artist Award; Northlight Theatre’s Jack Springer Award for Outstanding Performance; The Tim Meier and Helen Coburn Meier Foundation Achievement Award; The Second City Foundation’s Jim Zulevic Chicago Arts Award; The Joseph Jefferson Award for Solo Performance, and induction into The University of Iowa and St. Patrick High School Halls of Fame.
Obliteration marks the seventh collaboration between Thornton and Andrew Hinderaker.
About The Gift Theatre
Since 2001, with over 70 productions, The Gift Theatre has been dedicated to telling great stories onstage with honesty and simplicity by being the most intimate professional Equity theatre in the country, leading to national acclaim for both the theatre and ensemble and creating a cultural revolution on Chicago’s northwest side.
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