Photo: WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD author Sheila Callaghan

Theater Wit has announced their ’17-’18 season, which will include the return of Mitchell Fain’s THIS WAY OUTTA SANTALAND (and other Xmas miracles), the world premiere of Eric John Meyer’s THE ANTELOPE PARTY — a comedy with a My Little Pony theme. and the Chicago debut of WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD, the Internet meme turned satirical play by Sheila Callaghan.

“Are we still who we thought we were?” “How much do we still value the culture we embraced a year ago?” These are the questions that guided Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler as he assembled the company’s 2017-18 season of contemporary, comedic plays. “This has been a year of tsunami-sized cultural change. So many American ideals — media independence, social services, feminism, LGBTQ rights, anti-racism — seem under assault,” said Wechsler. “But we have to stay true to ourselves, and that means comedies of reason and compassion. Our 2017-18 season offers three such vantages: the personal story of how a city became a sanctuary, a comedy of ponies and normalization, and a whirling examination of media culture and sexual politics. It’s a set of three plays that you won’t soon forget, comic works by contemporary artists timed to the exigencies of this moment.”

To purchase a Membership, inquire about Flex Pass options or to buy single tickets, visit theaterwit.org or call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150.

Theater Wit’s 2017-18 season (from the press release):

THIS WAY OUTTA SANTALAND (and other Xmas miracles)
Written and performed by Mitchell Fain
Directed by Jeremy Wechsler
November 24-December 30, 2017

After completing an amazing workshop last year, Chicago’s favorite holiday performer returns for a mainstage tour-de-force of his unique blend of storytelling, improvisation, and cabaret.

This Way Outta Santaland (and other Xmas miracles), written and performed by Mitchell J. Fain, pulls together a host of holiday stories from the audience along with his own autobiographical war stories about how family, drunks, jewelry, funerals, 250 performances and the holiday spirits collide.

Chicago’s newest holiday tell-all is this sweet, sentimental evening of hard truths that change night to night, with lovely cameos by Chicago cabaret powerhouses like Meghan Murphy and madcap pianist Julie B. Nichols.

THE ANTELOPE PARTY
By Eric John Meyer
Directed by Jeremy Wechsler
January 5-February 24, 2018

It’s sometime in the 2010s. The Rust Belt Ponies Meet Up Group for Adult Fans of My Little Pony has gathered in Ben’s Philadelphia apartment, but two members have not yet arrived. A new recruit seems unusually shy and curiously paranoid about a local neighborhood watch group. What happened to their Pegasister, Maggie? Why is Brony Doug so paranoid? What does it all have to do with the 9/11 Truthers and an emerging group of “concerned citizens?” In the midst of increasing violence and authoritarianism, how can our heroes see the magic in Everypony? And, even worse, what if they do?

And that’s just the first ten minutes of Meyer’s amazing and timely new comedy. With its My Little Pony cult prism, Meyer explores the rise of a new social order and how the currents of history, normalization and fear can sweep up even the most Generous ponies of Celestia.

WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD
By Sheila Callaghan
Directed by Devon De Mayo
March 9-April 29, 2018

Dangerous, fierce and funny,WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD bursts out of the bounds of internet meme-dom and onto the stage in a four person comic tour-de-force about friendship, salad, sex, bodies, yoga, salad, men, envy, women, pharmaceuticals, diets, salad and uppers and salad.

Devon de Mayo makes her Theater Wit directorial debut with WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD. Her recent directing credits include Court Theatre’s HARVEY and Raven Theatre’s world premiere SAYCAMORE.