CONTACT: Megan A. Smith
Executive Director
(312) 206-8959
megan@sideshowtheatre.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Sideshow Theatre Company Presents the Chicago Premiere
of Marius von Mayenburg’s The Ugly One.
CHICAGO, September 5, 2011 – Sideshow Theatre Company continues its 2011-2012 season with the
Chicago premiere of Marius von Mayenburg’s crackling image-culture satire The Ugly One. Teaming with
award-winning director Seth Bockley, Sideshow brings this twisted tale of identity politics to life beginning
October 8th and running through November 20th.
About the Play
Lette has a loving wife, the respect of his peers, and a promising career in the world of industrial plug
development. There’s only one problem: he’s just found out he’s the ugliest man in the world. He seeks
the help of a most unusual surgeon in a desperate bid for beauty, but when the procedure works a little
too well, Lette starts noticing that faces on the street are looking more and more familiar each day…
This fall, Sideshow partners with lauded director Seth Bockley in an exploration of appearance, identity
and celebrity in the Chicago premiere of international smash-hit The Ugly One, Marius von Mayenburg’s
incisive and hilarious assault on image culture, hailed by the Evening Star as “fiendishly clever,
deeply unnerving and scalpel sharp.” Four actors bring multiple characters to life as they enact this
streamlined tale at a breakneck pace. Surgical procedures, sexual awakenings and corporate
machinations pile one on top of the other until no one is sure who anyone is. Featuring Sideshow
Ensemble Member Nate Whelden, along with Robert L. Oakes, Nina O’Keefe, and Fred Wellisch.
Actor biographies can be found at www.sideshowtheatre.org.
When and Where
Press Opening for The Ugly One is Thursday, October 13, 2011, at 8:00 PM.
Preview performances are October 8th and 12th at 8pm, and Sunday, October 9th at 3:00 PM.
Regular run is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 3:00 PM.
Special industry performance on Monday, November 7th at 8:00 PM.
All performances will be held at Oracle Theater, 3809 N Broadway Ave. There are a limited number of
pay-what-you-can tickets for all preview performances. Regular run tickets are $20 - $25 with $15
student and industry tickets available for select Thursday and Sunday performances. For information, visit
www.sideshowtheatre.org.
To purchase tickets, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org or call the Sideshow box office at (773)
809-4782.
The Production Team
Seth Bockley (Director) won a 2009 Equity Jeff Award for Best New Adaptation for Jon, from a story by
George Saunders. He has created design-driven theater with several notable Chicago companies
including Dog & Pony (The Twins Would Like to Say), Collaboraction (1001, Jon), and Redmoon (Winter
Pageant 2010, Boneyard Prayer, Laika’s Coffin). He is a member of the Goodman Playwrights Unit, and
was commissioned by the Goodman to adapt CommComm, also by George Saunders.
Marius von Mayenburg (Playwright) is a playwright, translator, dramaturg, director and one of the most
widely produced German playwrights. His plays receive regular productions at the Schaubühne/Berlin,
the Royal Court Theater/ London, and other major theaters around the world. In 1992, Mayenburg began
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CONTACT: Megan A. Smith
Executive Director
(312) 206-8959
megan@sideshowtheatre.org
his studies in dramatic writing at the Academy of the Arts in Berlin. His first play Fireface (Feuergesicht),
written in 1997, premiered at the Kammerspiele in Munich and was subsequently produced at the Kleist
Theater in Frankfurt (Oder) and at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg. Since then the play has
been successfully produced worldwide and translated into many languages. For Fireface, Mayenburg
received the Award for Emerging Playwrights “Kleistförderpreis für junge Dramatiker” and the prize of the
Frankfurt Writer’s Foundation “Preis der Frankfurter Autorenstiftung”. Mayenburg’s oeuvre includes more
than ten plays; all of them have been produced in Germany as well as worldwide. He is currently
dramaturg and playwright in residence at the Schaubühne/Berlin.
The production staff of The Ugly One includes Sideshow Ensemble Member Megan A. Smith
(Assistant Director) and Sideshow Artistic Associate Christopher M. LaPorte (Sound Designer/Original
Music), as well as Joe Schermoly (Scenic Designer), Izumi Inaba (Costume Designer), Mac Vaughey
(Lighting Designer), Katie Clarkson (Properties Designer), Gina Di Salvo (Dramaturg), Taree Chadwick
(Production Stage Manager), and Ben Dawson (Production Manager). Production team biographies can
be found at www.sideshowtheatre.org.
About Sideshow
Founded in 2007, Sideshow Theatre Company‘s mission is to mine the collective unconscious of the
world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images
we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal
experience of exploration. Sideshow’s first production, Walt McGough’s Dante Dies!! (and then things
get weird), was hailed by the Daily Herald as “vivid, intimate, and visually arresting.” Other Sideshow
productions include Everything Freezes: another winter’s tale by Jonathan L. Green and Walt
McGough, Janet Burroway’s “high-spirited success” (Time Out Chicago) Medea with Child and Kathleen
Akerley’s Theories of the Sun, which Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune praised as “classy and visually
provocative.”
In the Spring 2011, Sideshow produced the runaway robotic hit Heddatron by Elizabeth Meriwether, as
part of Steppenwolf Theatre’s 2nd Annual GARAGE REP. The production ran to packed houses and rave
reviews, and its innovative and quirky robotics designs won Sideshow its first Non-Equity Joseph
Jefferson Award, for Artistic Specialization.
Sideshow also produces the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a popular interactive
fundraising event that benefits Sideshow Theatre Company and local charities and has been featured in
The Washington Post, Time Out Chicago and Penthouse Magazine. Sideshow’s next match is being held
Saturday, September 24th, 10pm at Club 162 in Wrigleyville. For more information on CLLAW, visit
www.sideshowtheatre.org/cllaw.
Sideshow was a proud recipient of a $25,000 grant from the first Chase Community Giving program via
Facebook in December 2009.
For questions, contact Sideshow’s Executive Director, Megan A. Smith at (312) 206-8959 or email
megan@sideshowtheatre.org. For additional information on Sideshow, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org,
www.facebook.com/SideshowTheatre, or www.twitter.com/SideshowTheatre.
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