Marvin’s Room
October 1 – November 14, 2015
By Scott McPherson
Directed by Sandy Shinner
Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for New Play, MARVIN’S ROOM has been rapturously praised by audiences and critics alike since its world premiere at Chicago’s Goodman Theater in 1990. Bessie devotes her life to caring for her elderly father and aunt and so her own diagnosis of leukemia plummets their world into a tailspin. In need of a bone marrow transplant, Bessie reaches out to her estranged sister Lee and her two nephews. If they are to be of any help, then old wounds must be opened. MARVIN’S ROOM is about finding family and the timeless concerns of living, dying and caring for others told with McPherson’s signature humor.
During the play’s Chicago debut, the Chicago Tribune’s Richard Christiansen wrote, “From the everyday environment of a suburban home to the fantasy land of Disney World, McPherson found the exact scene, the perfect dialogue and the precise image to express his American tragicomedy.” The Chicago Sun-Times’ Hedy Weiss said “it is McPherson’s great and original gift to make his characters and their fates seem almost shamefully comical and absolutely honest at every moment” and The New York Times called the play “one of the funniest plays of the year as well as one of the wisest and most moving.” The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones wrote during a later production in 2009, “time has withered neither its power nor its wisdom.”
Cast & Crew
Cast
Deanna Dunagan◆ (Ruth)
Rebecca Jordan◆* (Lee)
Kyle Klein II (Charlie)
Deanna Reed-Foster (Doctor Charlotte/Retirement Home Director)
Linda Reiter◆* (Bessie)
Don Tieri (Doctor Wally)
Nate Santana^ (Hank)
Drew Schad* (Bob)
with Larry Bundschu° (Marvin)
Production Team
Sandy Shinner* (director)
Nick Mozak (set designer)
Sarah Jo White* (costume designer)
Shelley Strasser Holland* (lighting designer)
Christopher Kriz (original music & sound designer)
Vivian Knouse* (props designer)
Kelly Clausen (production manager)
Razor Wintercastle◆ (stage manager)
Tina Jach◆ (stage manager)
Judy Anderson◆* (executive production manager)
Drew Schad* (assistant lighting designer)
Amanda Rozmiarek* (technical director)
◆denotes member of Actors’ Equity
*denotes Shattered Globe Ensemble Member
^denotes Graduate of the Shattered Globe Protege Program
°denotes Shattered Globe Board Member
Shattered Globe Theatre is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The Bayless Family Foundation, The Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, Brenda and James Grusecki, Carol P. Eastin, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Daniel Cyganowski, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, and The Saints.