The Promise of a Rose Garden

By: Dustin Spence

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A world premiere… And the winner of Joining Sword & Pen 2015-16!

About the Show

“Your test. Your time.”

The Promise of a Rose Garden explores what it means to be a soldier and the far-reaching effects of war. It focuses on Captain Rockford, one of the first 3 women to pass the US Marine Infantry Officer Course. She is instructing a new group of women hoping to become infantry officers themselves. She is being visited by angels who speak in riddles. She may be losing her mind…

WHERE City Lit Theater
1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago
2nd Floor, Edgewater Presbyterian Church
WHEN July 30 – September 10, 2016
SHOWTIMES Thursdays, Fridays
and Saturdays at 8:00pm
Sundays at 3:00pm
PREVIEWS July 30, 31, August 4, 5, 2016
OPENING NIGHT Saturday, August 6, 2016 at 8:00pm
CLOSING NIGHT Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 8:00pm
PAST PRODUCTIONS

Reviews

About the Script

Cast & Staff

Events & Discounts

Venue & Dining

AUDIENCE ALERT
This production uses realistic staged violence in the telling of the story, including wartime combat situations. Some scenes feature replicas of military weaponry, fog, sound effects of gunshots and explosions, and a blank-firing pistol.

RUN TIME
2 hours

DIRECTOR
Elyse Dawson*

VIOLENCE DESIGN
Rachel Flesher

* Denotes BWBTC Ensemble Member

***Ticket sales end 3 hours before curtain. Seats may still be available even if it says no longer available.***

BWBTC will be collecting funds in support of One Savvy Veteran, a 501c3 non-profit organization founded by a woman veteran to meet the needs of fellow women warriors. They are a source of support, advocacy, benefit assistance and access to veteran-specific information and resources for women veterans in the Chicagoland area and surrounding suburbs.

PLAYWRIGHT: Dustin Spence

DIRECTOR: Elyse Dawson*

VIOLENCE DESIGN: Rachel Flesher

CAST: Catherine Dvorak (Tina/Angel), Arti Ishak (Sharif), Sam Long (Ferguson), Izis Mollinedo (Ruiz), Patti Moore* (Nichols), Aaron Wertheim (Reggie/Angel), Kathrynne Wolf* (Selmy), Maureen Yasko* (Rockford), Rachel Flesher (Understudy/Swing)

STAFF: Leigh Barrett* (Production Manager), Milo Bue (Scenic Design), Brigidta De Souza (Stage Manager), Jason A. Fleece (Dialect Coach), Barbara Lhota* (Props Design), Kimberly Morris* (Costume Design), Matthew Reich (Sound Design), David Trudeau (Lighting Design), David Woolley (Competition Sponsor)

* = BWBTC ensemble member
+ = BWBTC emeritus member

Press photos taken by: Steven Townshend.

Production photos taken by: Johnny Knight.

“‘Rose Garden’ is visceral, hard-hitting, and it arrives on the Chicago theater scene like water to quench an unfortunate drought of substantive roles of women and actors of color. It’s an astoundingly timely choice, and as Elyse Dawson’s directing debut, it’s the knock out of the park that many directors work their entire careers to achieve. DICE RATING: d20- ‘One of the Best'” — THEATRE BY NUMBERS

“Increased social awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder enables Spence to summarize Rockford’s descent into post-combat irrationality with relative coherency, but what commands our attention and sympathy is Maureen Yasko’s carefully modulated performance in a role that proclaims its outcome at the play’s very beginning, yet still succeeds in generating suspense over her welfare.” —WINDY CITY TIMES
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