Fifty summers ago, the whole world was watching...
The Saint Sebastian Players (SSP) and Subtext Theater Company (STC) are joining forces to look back on the summer of 1968 and imagine a meeting between two of the country’s most powerful politicians. A staged reading of Leigh Johnson’s Boys in the Valley, a fundraiser for the two companies, takes place Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12 at SSP’s theater space at St. Bonaventure, 1625 W. Diversey (enter on Marshfield), Chicago.
In 1968, the Democratic National Convention came to Chicago in the midst of one of the most tumultuous years in American history. The ensuing discord and violence that was the result of the opposition to the war in Vietnam is still a topic of discussion to this day—how Mayor Richard Daley unleashed his police force against (mostly) peaceful protesters in a manner that was later described as a “police riot.” And yet, 50 years later, historians have grown to accept a stubborn, ironic truth: the man whose police force viciously attacked the protesters was himself very much opposed to the war in Vietnam.
In light of the anniversary of this watershed event in Chicago history, SSP and STC are coproducing a staged reading of Boys in the Valley, which depicts a fictional meeting between Mayor Daley and President Lyndon Johnson in January 1968, exploring the relationship between these two powerful political figures and the late mayor’s opposition to the war in Vietnam.
Playwright Leigh Johnson, associate member of SSP and co-artistic director of STC, has had his work produced by both companies: SSP produced Lefties in 2013 and Lotto Fever in the Sucker State in 2014, and the company will produce the world premiere of Little Stones in 2019; STC produced Brother’s Keeper in 2015 and A Prayer for the Sandinistas in 2017. Directing Boys in the Valley is STC Co-Artistic Director Jonathan “Rocky” Hagloch, who directed the premiere of Sandinistas for STC and many productions for SSP, including Lotto Fever. The cast includes SSP company members George J. Manisco as Daley and Todd Parkhurst as Johnson. In addition to Johnson and Hagloch, the production team includes SSP company member and STC Co-Artistic Director John Oster and SSP board members Jim Masini and Jill Chukerman Test.
When:
Saturday, August 11, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 12, 2:00 p.m.
Where:
Saint Sebastian Players Theater at St. Bonaventure
1625 W. Diversey Blvd. (enter on Marshfield), Chicago
Tickets:
$25
For tickets visit Saint Sebastian Players website or the Subtext Theater Company website.
