Pictured (l to r): Aida Delaz, Adelina Feldman-Schultz and Robert N. Isaac.

Other Theatre, in association with Chicago Dramatists’ Grafting Project, has announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere of Martín Zimmerman’s comedic graphic novel for the stage THE MAKING OF A MODERN FOLK HERO.

Directed by Kelly Howe, the production features Aida Delaz, Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Robert N. Isaac, Christopher Meister, Becca Sheehan and Hannah Toriumi.

Pictured: Christopher Meister, Becca Sheehan and Hannah Toriumi

The creative team includes Milo Bue (scenic design), Olivia Crary (costume design), Will Coeur (lighting design), Colin Trevor (sound design), Nick Thornton (puppet design & puppet choreography) and Kasey Trouba (stage manager).

A congressman entices an old friend (and washed-up actor) to portray a superhero in a publicity stunt designed to stop the unjust bulldozing of a public housing complex. They leave the crowd enthralled, but what happens when the character the politician created goes rogue? This graphic novel for the stage employs a seamless blend of live actors and shadow puppets to interrogate the hopes, fears and social forces that push people to yearn for and believe in the possibility of superheroes.

Comments Artistic Director Carin Silkaitis, “Martín’s play touches on some important ideas –, particularly what happens when our politicians are too entrenched in the political ecosystem to be able to enact real change, even if their intentions are in the right place? I am so interested in the fact that the congressman must hire an actor to save this housing complex. He knows the right choice is siding with the disenfranchised, the poverty-stricken, but he is too embedded in the political mess to be able to vocally side with the very people he represents. After conversations with the playwright (and because of Donald Trump’s campaign strategy), I am also struck by the way this play grapples with the idea of a person – one who has deep and intense psychological needs for admiration and adoration – hijacking a political movement.”

THE MAKING OF A MODERN FOLK HERO runs September 29 – October 29, 2017, at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave. in Chicago. For more information visit theothertheatrecompany.com