The Artistic Home Ensemble has announced the cast and production team for its final production of the 2018-19 season – the Chicago premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s ADA AND THE ENGINE, directed by Monica Payne.

“I’m thrilled to be tackling this new Lauren Gunderson play, which beautifully connects the dots between an imaginative young woman in Victorian England, her infamous poet father, and the advent of technology like the iPhone.  The play is stylistically rich but ultimately focuses on the mysteries of the human heart.  I look forward to approaching the text with stunning visuals, gorgeous music, and the great acting that is the signature of The Artistic Home.”

Leading the cast as Ada will be ensemble member Brookelyn Hébert, Ada’s friend and soul mate Charles Babbage will be played by founding ensemble member John Mossman. Ada’s husband, Lord Lovelace, will be Rich Holton. Carolyn Kruse will play Lady Annabella Byron, and ensemble members Laura Coleman and John LaFlamboy have been cast as Lady Summerville and Lord Byron.

The production team will include Eleanor Kahn (set design), Zachery Wagner (costume design), Cat Wilson (lighting design) and Sara Ann Dickey (stage manager).

As the British Industrial Revolution dawns, young Ada Byron Lovelace (daughter of the flamboyant and notorious Lord Byron) sees the boundless creative potential in the “analytic engines” of her friend and soul-mate, Charles Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada envisions a whole new world where art and information converge – a world she might not live to see.

ADA AND THE ENGINE runs June 19 – August 4. For more information visit theartistichome.org.