Pictured: (top, l to r) Saniyah As-Salaam, Gregory J. Fields and Tamarus Harvell (bottom, l to r) Laura Resinger, Tracie Taylor and Johnard Washington.

Strawdog Theatre Company has announced the cast and design team for its Midwest premiere of C.A. Johnson’s dystopian drama THIRST, directed by Andrea J. Dymond.

The cast includes Saniyah As-Salaam, Gregory J. Fields, Tamarus Harvell, Laura Resinger, Tracie Taylor and Johnard Washington.

The production team to date includes Evan Frank (scenic design), Jos N. Banks (costume design), Adrienne Miikelle (lighting design), Heath Hays (sound designer), Sam Hubbard (intimacy and violence design, Jason Fleece (dialect coach), Angela Forshee and Will Pettway (assistant directors), Karissa Murrell Myers (casting director), Paul Cook (production manager), Evan Sposato (technical director) and Jean E. Compton (stage manager).

After a devastating water shortage and war, Samira and Greta have made a life for themselves and their son Kalil in a clearing in the woods. When Kalil returns home one day without their water rations, Samira and Greta find themselves in conflict with the local political leader.

Comments Artistic Director Leda Hoffmann, “I am so excited have director Andrea J. Dymond and playwright C.A. Johnson at Strawdog for the second ever production of “Thirst.” During my interview processes to become Artistic Director at Strawdog, the ensemble brought this play to me and I loved it the first time I read it. Both intimate and epic, this play asks big questions about who we are as a society and what the future brings, by looking at the very specific lives of two women making a home in the woods and their families, past and present.”

THIRST will play January 9 – February 15 at 1802 W Berenice Ave. in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Single tickets are currently available at www.strawdog.org.