Displaying items by tag: Kirsten Fitzgerald

A Red Orchid Theatre, under the artistic direction of Kirsten Fitzgerald, is pleased to announce its 34^th Season, featuring a world premiere adaptation and two Chicago premieres, all exploring the theme of a "world on fire." The season kicks off this fall with the Chicago premiere of Will Arbery's politically-charged drama Heroes of the Fourth Turning, directed by Ensemble member dado. The season continues next winter with the Chicago premiere of Keiko Green's imaginative dark comedy You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, directed by Terry Guest and featuring Ensemble Members dado and Sadieh Rifai. The 34^th Season concludes next spring/summer with a world premiere adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's haunting classic Rosmersholm, adapted by Ensemble Members Steve Haggard and Shade Murray, directed by Shade Murray and featuring Ensemble Members Sherman Edwards, Steve Haggard, Travis A. Knight and Natalie West.

Subscribers are also invited to join A Red Orchid for a revival of last year's sell-out hit Birds of North America, a critically-acclaimed father-daughter drama by Anna Ouyang Moench, directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald and featuring Ensemble Member John Judd with Cassidy Slaughter-Mason.

Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald comments, "There is very little I am certain of these days other than the importance of live theatre. The world is on fire. From the intensely personal to the whole big earth and the ethereal beyond, it is imperative that we challenge ourselves and each other to remain curious in the face of the flames and burning embers. To hold each other up while holding our feet to the fire is the task at hand with every creative endeavor at A Red Orchid Theatre.

When Shade Murray and Steve Haggard shared their curiosity about the challenge of adapting Ibsen anew, the ensemble responded with a resounding 'tell us more!' To be in collaboration with long-admired new-to-us artists such as Will Arbery, Keiko Green and Terry Guest is a huge honor. That each of these artists trusts us with their stories and vision fills me with immense gratitude and pride.

This season you are cordially invited to gather face to face (or shoulder to shoulder), breathe together, experience your own humanity and that of others near and far, interrogate your fears, find joy, stoke your curiosity and rekindle wonder."

Season Subscriptions:

Regular run subscription: $142.50* ($95* preview subscription).

Regular run subscription + Birds of North America: $190* ($142.50* preview subscription).

Season Subscriptions are now on sale at aredorchidtheatre.org  *Pricing includes processing fees

A Red Orchid has also announced Travis A. Knight will be stepping down as the company's Associate Artistic Director, as he heads to Broadway with Paranormal Activity. Knight will remain active as an Ensemble Member, returning for the 34^th Season's final production.

A Red Orchid Theatre's 34^th Season:

October 29 – December 6, 2026

Heroes of the Fourth Turning – Chicago Premiere!

By Will Arbery 
Directed by Ensemble Member dado 

Press Opening: Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 3 pm & 7 pm

It's nearing midnight in Wyoming, where four recent graduates have gathered to celebrate their beloved mentor and professor, Gina, newly inducted as president of their tiny Catholic liberal arts college. The reunion spirals into spiritual chaos, clashing generational politics, and a vicious fight to be understood. Offering grace and disarming clarity, this haunting play speaks to the torn heart of a country at war with itself.

February 4 – March 14, 2027

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! – Chicago Premiere!

By Keiko Green 
Directed by Terry Guest 
Featuring Ensemble Members dado and Sadieh Rifai

Press Opening: Saturday, February 13, 2027 at 3 pm & 7 pm

Since Greg's terminal diagnosis, he's felt a deep connection to the Earth—and to save himself, he'll need to save the planet. Viv desperately wants to savor every last minute with her husband. Meanwhile M, our emcee, searches desperately to find meaning in the chaos of their final year with Dad. A heartfelt family story and joyful theatrical event, as magical as the world itself. 

May 6 – June 13, 2027

Rosmersholm – World Premiere Adaptation!

By Henrik Ibsen 
Adapted by Ensemble Members Steve Haggard & Shade Murray 
Directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray 
Featuring Ensemble Members Sherman Edwards, Steve Haggard, Travis A. Knight and Natalie West 

Press Opening: Saturday, May 15, 2027 at 3 pm & 7 pm

A reimagining of Ibsen's masterpiece in which hard truths, wild rumors and the supernatural slowly become indistinguishable from one another. 

Former pastor John Rosmer is wrestling with the cryptic circumstances of his wife's death, a fractured political climate fueled by toxic rumors churned by a tabloid press, and his own reckoning with God. By his side is the idealistic, young graduate student Rebecca West, who shall prove to be either his salvation or his mortal undoing...

And we haven't even gotten to all the ghosts. 

Season Add-On:

September 10 – October 4, 2026

Birds of North America

By Anna Ouyang Moench
Directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald
Featuring Ensemble Member John Judd with Cassidy Slaughter-Mason

Press Opening: Thursday September 10, 2026 at 7 pm.

John and his daughter Caitlyn are birders. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds, years go by. Relationships begin and end. Children grow up and parents age. The climate and the world change in small and vast ways. Birds of North America takes a close look at the relationship of a father and daughter over the course of a decade as they struggle to understand the parts of one another that defy understanding. 

About the Artists:

Will Arbery (Playwright, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, he/him) is a playwright and screenwriter from Texas. His play Heroes of the Fourth Turning premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2019 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of an OBIE, Lucille Lortel and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, among other honors. It was named one of the "new canon" plays by American Theatre. Other plays include: You Hateful Things (upcoming London premiere), Spite House (upcoming New York premiere), Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (The New Group), Plano (Clubbed Thumb) and Wheelchair (3 Hole Press). He was the recipient of a Whiting Award in 2020. Will wrote on the fourth season of Succession, for which he won the WGA Award for Episodic Drama. He is the creator of two upcoming shows with FX: Seven Sisters (starring Elizabeth Olsen) and The Marriage Plot (starring Sadie Sink). Texas Monthly flagged him as one of the most influential cultural figures of the past 50 years out of Texas, and The New Yorker has called him the playwright of the moment.

dado (Director, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, she/her) last directed the world premiere of JoJo Jones' Veal at A Red Orchid, and before that Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin by Dianne Nora. In 2025 dado directed Lobster by Kallan Dana for the Wirtz Center at Northwestern and Dance Nation by Clare Barron for UIC, where she currently serves on the faculty. Other projects dado has directed are Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. by Alice Birch with The Feast Collective, Right Now by Catherine Anne Toupin (Facility Theatre), Anny Ouyang Moench's In Quietness at A Red Orchid and The Lover by Harold Pinter (with Yasen Peyankov at Facility Theatre). She has also directed The Ruse of Medusa by Erik Satie (Facility Theatre) and Killing Game by Eugene Ionesco (A Red Orchid). Next spring she will direct The Cherry Orchard for UIC's mainstage. 

Keiko Green (Playwright, You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, she/her) is a playwright, TV writer and performer based in Los Angeles. Plays include: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! (South Coast Rep; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Company One), Empty Ride (Old Globe), Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (Old Globe; SF Playhouse; Porkfilled Productions), Hells Canyon (Theater Mu; WET), Gorgeous (Raven Theatre/Rivendell), The Bed Trick (Seattle Shakespeare Co; Artists Repertory Theatre), Sharon (Cygnet Theatre) and Hometown Boy (Actors Express; Seattle Public Theater). Her plays have been developed at the Kennedy Center, the National New Play Network, Playwrights Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Seven Devils and twice by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Awards/Honors: LA Critics Circle (Ted Schmitt Award), Susan Blackburn Prize Finalist, Kilroys' List, San Diego Critics Circle Award (Outstanding New Play), Gregory Award (Outstanding New Play). She holds commissions from Atlantic Theatre Company, Signature Theatre (DC), Seattle Rep/South Coast Rep. Current/Past Affiliations: Old Globe Resident Artist, Geffen Writers Group, Chance Resident Playwright, Theater Mu's Mu Tang Clan, Seattle Rep Resident Writers Group, ACT Core Company Member. TV: AppleTV's "Margo's Got Money Troubles" and Hulu's Interior Chinatown. BFA: NYU Drama–Experimental Theatre Wing, MFA: UCSD Playwriting. IG: @keikothegreen 

Terry Guest (Director, You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, he/him) is a four-time Jeff Award winning playwright, actor, director and teaching artist. Works include: OAK, At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, The Magnolia Ballet, A Ghost in Satin (Williamstown Theater Festival), Marie Antionette and the Magical Negroes, Nightbirds (Goodman New Stages Residency), Andy Warhol Presents the Cocaine Play and Milo Imagines the World. He is a Joyce Award, Jeff Impact Fellowship and National New Play Network Best New American Play award winner, two-time Goodman New Stages resident and Hermitage Fellow. IG: @terryexplainsitall

Steve Haggard (Adapter/Cast, Rosmersholm, he/him) is an actor and writer based in New York City. He's performed at A Red Orchid in 33 to Nothing, 3C, The Aliens, Accidentally Like a Martyr, Sender and The Mutilated. He recently ended a three year run on Broadway as Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. His Chicago acting credits include many shows at Writers Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Timeline, Northlight, Rivendell, Steppenwolf and American Players Theatre. He is a graduate of DePaul University and a proud member of the A Red Orchid ensemble.   

Shade Murray's (Adapter/Director, Rosmersholm) first directing project at A Red Orchid was Kimberly Akimbo followed by Abigail's Party, Butcher of Baraboo, Aliens, Mud Blue Sky, Accidentally Like a Martyr, Pilgrim's Progress, Sender, 3C, Evening at the Talk House, Small Mouth Sounds and Grey House. He is currently a psychotherapist at Thrive Psychology in St Joseph, MI. 

About A Red Orchid Theatre:

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 33 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.  

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Esteban Andres Cruz, Dado, Mike Durst, Sherman Edwards, Myron Elliott, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, John Judd, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.  

Sponsor Information: 

A Red Orchid Theatre remains grateful for the support of our board, donors and loyal audience who continue to champion our ambitious and powerful storytelling. These sponsors help to create a platform for our talented Ensemble to reach new audiences, and ensure that we remain a source for honest, compassionate, and aesthetically rigorous theatre-making. 

A Red Orchid Theatre's 34^th Season is sponsored by The Bayless Family Foundation and Heidi Hoblit Graham. The return engagement of Birds of North America is sponsored by Zell Family Foundation (Lead Production Sponsor) and Northern Trust (Production Sponsor). Heroes of the Fourth Turning is sponsored by Terrance and Carol Coleman and Dawn and Jim Kink.

Interested in sponsoring a production? By partnering with us as a sponsor, you will help to take our work to the next level of artistic excellence, while also receiving deeper access to our artists and the creative process. To learn more, please contact Development Director Stephanie Shum at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (312) 943-8722. 

A Red Orchid Theatre is thrilled to announce a remount of its critically-acclaimed, father-daughter drama Birds of North America, returning for a limited engagement September 10 – October 4, 2026 at 1531 N. Wells St. in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. Written by Anna Ouyang Moench and directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald*, the remount will feature the full original cast and creative team. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 12 pm at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. 

Reprising their original roles in Birds of North America are Ensemble Member John Judd* with Cassidy Slaughter-Mason. Understudies include Sahar Dika and Guy Wicke.

About the Production:

John and his daughter Caitlyn are birders. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds, years go by. Relationships begin and end. Children grow up and parents age. The climate and the world change in small and vast ways. Birds of North America takes a close look at the relationship of a father and daughter over the course of a decade as they struggle to understand the parts of one another that defy understanding. 

Birds of North America received critical acclaim during its sell-out Chicago premiere:

★★★★

"A gorgeous little 90-minute two-hander, a beautifully acted and directed

father-daughter play capable of transporting you away... I was transported"

"[John] Judd, one of the Chicago theater's most remarkable actors [is] a perfect fit for this role...

a really beautiful performance and one of Judd's best. (I've seen many.)"

–Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

★★★½

"A gripping generational dialogue... Slaughter-Mason's performance in this production is moving."

–Mike Davis, Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ Chicago

RECOMMENDED! "A tender portrait that walks the taut line

between pain and sentimentality with the vivid humor of recognition."

–Irene Hsiao, Chicago Reader

The production team includes Morgan Laszlo (Scenic Designer), Ben Argenta Kress (Costume Designer), Seojung Jang (Lighting Designer), Ethan Korvne (Composer & Sound Designer), Spencer Diaz Tootle (Props Designer and Set Dressing), Jojo Brown (Dramaturg), Amy Carpenter (Assistant Director), Kyle Stoffers (Casting Director), Tom Daniel (Technical Director). Alivia Arizaga (Stage Manager) and Faith Locke (Assistant Stage Manager).

Subscribers for A Red Orchid's soon-to-be-announced 2026-2027 Season may add Birds of North America to their package as at a discounted rate. Season subscriptions will be available in July 2026.

*Denotes A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble Member

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: Birds of North America

Playwright: Anna Ouyang Moench
Director: Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald*
Cast: Ensemble Member John Judd* (John) with Cassidy Slaughter-Mason (Caitlyn)

Understudies: Sahar Dika and Guy Wicke

Location: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago

Dates: Opening: Thursday September 10, 2026 at 7 pm

Regular run: Friday, September 11 – Sunday, October 4, 2026 Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 pm; Saturdays 3 pm & 7 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm.

Tickets: $61*. Access, student, senior and group discounts available.  Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 12 pm at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. *Ticket prices include a processing fee.

About the Artists:

Anna Ouyang Moench (Playwright, she/her) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again, Man of God, Birds of North America, Mothers and Sin Eaters. Anna's work has been produced at the La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Geffen Playhouse, East West Players, the Playwrights Realm, NAATCO at the Public Theater, A Red Orchid Theater Company, The Gift Theatre, and many others. She is a former Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center, Van Lier fellow at the Lark and Page One fellow at the Playwrights Realm. Awards include two 2023 WGA Awards for her work on Severance (Apple TV+), the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, the Gerbode Special Award in the Arts, the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, and the NYFA Award in Playwriting/Screenwriting. Anna received her MFA in Playwriting from UCSD and now lives

in Los Angeles with her family.

Kirsten Fitzgerald (Director, she/her) is a proud member of the Ensemble at A Red Orchid Theatre and has served as the Artistic Director since 2008. Recent directing credits include the world premiere of Gorgeous by Keiko Green at Raven Theatre, The Moors at A Red Orchid (Jeff Award for Best Production and Best Director of a Play-Midsize) and Dance Nation at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center. As an actor Kirsten has originated roles in the world premieres of The Cave, Grey House, Traitor, Pilgrim's Progress, Weapon of Mass Impact, and more (A Red Orchid); Swing State, I hate It Here (Goodman); Lettie, Appropriate (Victory Gardens); Mary Page Marlow, The Qualms (Steppenwolf). TV: Dark Matter, Shining Girls, Somebody Somewhere, The Exorcist, Sirens, The Big Leap, Chicago Med/Fire/Justice, Underemployed, ER. Film: Widows, Working Man. Kirsten is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent.

John Judd (John, he/him) last appeared on the A Red Orchid Theatre stage in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, and was previously seen in The Cave, The Malignant Ampersand, and Gagarin Way, as well as the McCarter Theatre's presentation of Simpatico. A Chicago based actor for forty years, John has acted at The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Writer's Theatre, Court Theatre, Drury Lane, Northlight, Shattered Globe, Lookingglass, Victory Gardens and Next, as well as numerous regional, international and Off-Broadway venues.

Cassidy Slaughter-Mason (Caitlyn, she/her) is a Chicago based actor and writer. Recent theater credits include: Brooklyn Laundry (Northlight Theatre), The Luckiest (Raven Theatre, Equity Jeff Award for Best Performer in a Principal Role), How a Boy Falls (Northlight Theatre), Kiss (Haven Theatre), Significant Other (Theatre Wit/About Face) and Rapture Blister Burn (Goodman Theatre, Equity Jeff nomination for Performer in a Supporting Role). Film and TV credits include: All Happy Families, Ultra-City Smiths, Chicago Fire and Easy. Her short film Rabbit Rabbit (co-written with Poppy Golland) will stream this spring on OpenTV. Cassidy is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

About A Red Orchid Theatre:

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 32 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.  

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Esteban Andres Cruz, Dado, Mike Durst, Sherman Edwards, Myron Elliott, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, John Judd, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.  

If you’ve ever worked in an urban coffee shop, chances are you’ve encountered at least one ultra-paranoid kook who believes the government is spying on them. Often they’re filling out long journals or manifestos. Or perhaps that one crazy uncle we all seem to have who believes in way too many conspiracy theories. These loveable, but disturbed weirdos commonly refer to themselves as “targeted individuals.” 

Hanna Kime’s new play The Targeted makes its world premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre. In it, she empathetically explores the lives of these folks and what draws them to their beliefs. Though it is at times humorous, Kime’s play is not exploitative. Rather, she builds an entire ecosystem for not only those affected by this kind of thinking, but the ways in which others profit from it. 

Grace Dolezal-Ng directs a bonafide dream cast of some of Chicago’s best actresses. They turn the main stage at The Chopin into a woodsy, weekend retreat called The Solidarity and Truth Summit. Rhonda (Kirsten Fitzgerald), Didi (Natalie West) at first seem very nice and chummy when welcoming newcomer Sherry (Sadieh Rifai), but as the weekend wears on, fractures begin to form. Rhonda is immediately mistrustful of Mia (Stephanie Shum), another newbie who is very upfront about not being a believer in government tracking conspiracies; she’s only there to support her misguided younger brother Eric (Glenn Obrero). The power structure becomes more complicated once the organizer of the summit, Jeff (Lawrence Grimm), starts giving whacky lectures.

In 95 minutes of quick-moving scenes, each character reveals how this affliction has sabotaged their personal lives. At the beginning, you can almost convince yourself these people are normal, just with some strange ideas. Sadieh Rifai plays Sherry with such naive conviction that you can’t imagine a simple, suburban housewife could ever be tempted by this rabbit hole. Through her character, Kime makes a thinly veiled parallel to the “Q-Anon” to “Trad Wife” pipeline. In contrast, Kirsten Fitzgerald’s Rhonda is hard as nails and her desire to control the weekends’ narrative speaks directly to just how dangerously persuasive conspiratorial ideology can be.

The central storyline presents itself in the relationship between Eric and Mia though. As a non-believer, Mia is outnumbered and it’s not long before she begins questioning her own sanity. Stephanie Shum plays the voice of reason with a quintessential authority. Her character’s demand for truth shows how frustrating independent thinking can feel in group settings.

While there is certainly a rubber-necking quality to the topic at hand, Kime never treats her characters as some sort of Netflix documentary sideshow specimens. Natalie West plays one of the weirder believers but her quirky softness makes her one of the show’s most endearing characters, even if she is hawking metaphoric snake oil for a living.

In the end, Kime lets the audience make up their own mind as to whether these folks actually believe what they’re talking about, or whether they’re just extremely lonely. It’s hard to criticize conspiracy theorists in an era in which almost every aspect of our federal government seems to be conspiring against its people. Kime builds a case for compassion with The Targeted.

Through June 21st at A Red Orchid Theatre. At Chopin Theatre. 1543 W Division St. 773-278-1500.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

“Victims of Duty” starts with Madeleine (Karen Aldridge) sitting aside a clawfoot tub where she knits silently as her husband, Choubert (Guy Van Swearingen), reads the newspaper from his chair. Breaking the silence, she finally asks if there is anything knew in the news. There is not. Same old, same old. Their conversation centers on the humdrum of society. We sense a strong boredom between the two. Madeline enjoys the theatre, but Choubert points out how mysteries are so predictable – crime, detective (Michael Shannon), solved. It is then a knock is heard at their neighbor’s door. The two make little of it. Not much longer, the knock is heard at their own door. Enter the detective. This excites Madeline. She asks him to come in, but at first he says he can’t stay. He’s running late, he shows them his watch. He then comes in. He just has a few questions to ask them. When the two are asked about a missing neighbor, “Mallot with a ‘t’ at the end”, the mundane quickly turns into an introspective journey filled with twists and turns (literally) Choubert and Madeline will never forget.

Written in 1953, French-Romanian playwright Eugene lonesco taps into his own psyche in what is considered his most biographical piece. Choubert’s voyage includes real-life experiences of lonesco such as his tumultuous relationship with his father and a memory where he holds his mother’s hand along the Rue Blomet just after the bombing. “Murder for Two” is as penetrating as it is suspenseful as Choubert is forced to face his deepest fears. Michael Shannon as the detective or “Chief Inspector” is as powerful as they come as he guides Choubert through every step into his subconscious. He plays his character with ferocity and yet with a vulnerability that we can easily relate to as viewers, and to see the passion that Shannon so often exudes on the big screen in such an intimate setting is almost overwhelming. Karen Aldridge also puts forth a powerhouse performance as Madeline and does so by going through a gamut of emotions without skipping a beat. Rounding out the main trio is Guy Van Swearingen as Choubert who not only impresses with finessed acting ability but adds plenty of meat to the role with a strong physical performance, most of which is done while soaking wet. Richard Cotovsky (Mary-Archie Theatre fame) also makes a splash (again, literally) as French poet Nicholas D’eu.

Astutely directed by Shira Piven, takes this one-act play and runs with it showing provocative imagery at just the right moments to add to the show’s intensity. With an artistic team of Danila Korogodsky (Production Designer), Mike Durst (Lighting Designer) and Brando Triantafilou (Sound Designer), all the right touches are in place to make this a truly unique theatre experience. And smartly so, Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald brings back Shannon and Swearingen who reprise the same roles they undertook in 1995 when the play first hit A Red Orchid Theatre. To round out the list of returnees, Piven also directed the play’s first run while Korogodsky was on hand as Production Designer.

“'Victims of Duty’ was the very first show I ever saw at A Red Orchid,” says Fitzgerald. “I am not entirely sure lonesco’s investigation of life made logical sense to me at the time, but it made perfect emotional sense and was viscerally stunning. So much so, that I knew I needed to work with these people in this space. That was 1996. With many of the originals returning, the investigation promises to go even deeper.”

Outside of memorable performances and its unusual setting, what makes this play so engaging is how much is left to the audience’s interpretation. Undoubtably, there are several certain moments that will relate heavily with many. There are several questions posed in the concentrated 90 minutes. Are we the victims of duty? Is it because of our place in the system that our actions should be forgiven to those we affected negatively? For instance, as Choubert speaks with his father – a former soldier - whom he has been so filled with anger for so many years, perhaps realizing that the chain reaction set off by his father’s “duty” must be recognized as the source of certain intrinsic behaviors that could not be helped rather than taking all actions at such a personal level. Maybe he should forgive his father. Maybe we should all have a deeper understanding of those around us and realize how being in such a system, whether the role that had to be taken on, has affected those they love.

Highly recommended.

“Victims of Duty” is being performed at A Red Orchid Theatre through August 5th. For tickets and/or more information visit www.aredorchidtheatre.org.