Pictured: Interrobang Co-Artistic Director James Yost

Interrobang Theatre Project, a company dedicated to rarely produced shows with “relevant themes and raw emotions,” has announced its eighth season, revolving around the question: “What is Truth?”

Interrobang’s ’17-’18 season launches with the Midwest premiere of Dawn King’s British drama FOXFINDER, directed by Margaret Knapp. Next winter is Lee Blessing’s  FOR THE LOYAL, directed by Co-Artistic Director James Yost. FOR THE LOYAL is part of the company’s “Raw” project, which presents stripped-down actor-centric productions. The season concludes in spring 2018 with Craig Wright’s Broadway hit GRACE, directed by Co-Artistic Director Georgette Verdin.

“Our guiding question this season isn’t rhetorical,” comment Co-Artistic Directors James Yost and Georgette Verdin. “Our nation is deeply and devastatingly divided following November’s Presidential election. We’re hopeful that the plays we’ve chosen this season are another way into pertinent conversations we’re having as communities. Many of us feel angry, confused and fearful about the road ahead. We’re inviting our audience to engage with us in dialogue, face to face, about the complex questions our three shows investigate and the resonances of those investigations in our own lives.”

Interrobang Theatre Project’s ’17-’18 season will be staged at the Athenaeum Theatre. Tickets are available at www.interrobangtheatreproject.org.

Interrobang Theatre Project’s 2017/18 Season (from the press release):

September 28 – November 5, 2017
FOXFINDER – Midwest Premiere
By Dawn King
Directed by Literary Manager Margaret Knapp

In the not so distant future, the economy is failing, food is scarce and paranoia is in the air. Samuel and Judith Covey live in rural England, maintaining their government-controlled farm – in constant fear of losing it all. After an anonymous tip, William Bloor, a “Foxfinder,” arrives to investigate a suspected contamination, threatening to uncover secrets of desire and regret that will change all of their lives forever.

Winter 2018 (Exact Dates TBA)
FOR THE LOYAL
By Lee Blessing
Directed by Co-Artistic Director James Yost

For Toby and Mia, college football and family are one and the same; he has a new coaching job for a top team, and they are happily expecting their first born. But when Toby gets Mia enmeshed in an unseemly team secret, she is forced to decide where her loyalties truly lie. Inspired by the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, FOR THE LOYAL takes an unconventional and provocative look at how one woman traverses a no-win situation.

FOR THE LOYAL is presented as part of Interrobang’s The RAW Series. Think of it a bit like theatrical sashimi. Big ideas, bold flavors – everything you’ve come to expect from Interrobang Theatre Project – without the trimmings. We’ve stripped down the classic stage elements to put the story front and center. The RAW Series features passion-projects and bucket-list productions spearheaded by our talented ensemble. In addition to our regularly scheduled plays, The RAW Series aims to bring concise, actor-driven theater to the Chicago stage.

May 3 – June 3, 2018
GRACE
By Craig Wright
Directed by Co-Artistic Director Georgette Verdin

Steve and Sarah have a plan. With nothing more than a little start-up cash and a lot of faith, the couple picks up from their Minnesota home to start a new life in sunny Florida, opening a chain of evangelically-themed motels to spread the good Word while reaping some divine financial benefits. Meanwhile, their new neighbor Sam is in an existential quandary of his own: recently widowed and badly injured, he’s faithless, bitter and hardly in the mood for new friends, sent by God or otherwise. As their lives become entwined, and their destinies made clear, all three will come to question their own beliefs and fears.