Pictured: Playwright Lloyd Suh 

Jackalope Theatre Company, under the artistic direction of Gus Menary, has announced its 17/18 season, the company’s 10th, featuring four productions, including three world premieres.

The season begins with the world premiere of 1980 (OR WHY I’M VOTING FOR JOHN ANDERSON)  by Patricia Cotter, directed by Associate Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed. Following 1980 is the world premiere of FRANKINLAND by Lloyd Suh, directed by Chika Ike, and the world premiere of THE LIGHT FANTASTIC by Ike Holter, directed by Menary. The season concludes with a TBA collaboration with The Yard, the collective of Senn Arts theater students, and Jackalope’s 9th annual LIVING NEWSPAPER Festival.

“Jackalope’s 10th season is bursting with world premieres from the most exciting and gifted playwrights working on the national stage,” says Menary. “Thinking about Jackalope’s mission and the shifting cultural climate in our country today, these new works capture what is uniquely American and remains unchanged. In these plays we can find ourselves mirrored in our collective history, serving as a reminder that our new national landscape is not without familiar landmarks.”

Jackalope’s 17/18 season will take place at their space within the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N Broadway. For more information visit jackalopetheatre.org.

Jackalope Theatre Company’s 17/18 Season (from the press release): 

1980 (OR WHY I’M VOTING FOR JOHN ANDERSON)
World Premiere
By Patricia Cotter
Directed by Kaiser Ahmed
October 17 – December 2, 2017

It’s 1980 and an unknown congressman from Illinois, John Anderson, just might have a chance to be President of the United States. In the candidate’s Boston campaign office, four idealistic young campaign workers struggle to spread the hope that their long-shot candidate might bring to the country and to their lives, while staving off that era’s Unthinkable Presidency. 1980 (Or Why I’m Voting For John Anderson) pits youthful optimism against the status quo, in a world premiere comedy about class, race, and the politics of change.

FRANKLINLAND
World Premiere
By Lloyd Suh
Directed by Chika Ike
January 9 – February 17, 2018

Philadelphia, 1752. Growing up as the only son of Benjamin Franklin – the greatest scientific mind in the world; inventor of the lightning rod, the odometer, the glass harmonica, bifocal glasses, and, in his spare time, The United States of America – is not all it’s cracked up to be. In the world premiere of this moving new play, Franklinland asks what it’s like to make your way in life knowing your father’s greatest invention wasn’t you.

THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
World Premiere
By Ike Holter
Directed by Gus Menary
May 8 – June 16, 2018

We’re deep in the mid ’90s. Clinton is president, cellphones are a novelty, and toasty R&B jams blast from every available speaker. Grace, a down on her luck phony-storefront-psychic of questionable commitment and sobriety, is on the run and thirsty for cash. When a client meeting goes horribly wrong, Grace is dragged through an intense examination of fake spirituality versus terrifying belief. From the writer of Exit Strategy and Prowess comes The Light Fantastic, a world premiere based on the true story of an infamous, unsolved case of spiritual possession.

COLLABORATION WITH THE YARD
Performed by The Yard Ensemble
July 16 – August 18, 2018