Performances
Eric Overmyer’s
On The Verge,
oR The Geography of Yearning
March 14-23, 2025
Performed at Madison Street Theatre
1010 Madison St., Oak Park, IL 60302
Forest Theatre Company (formerly Forest Park Theatre), the only year-round, professional theatre in the western suburbs of Oak Park, Forest Park, and River Forest will present Eric Overmyer’s classic comedy On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning from March 14-23 at Madison Street Theatre, 1010 Madison Street, Oak Park.
On the Verge, or the Geography of Yearning is the imaginative story of three Victorian lady explorers who set out for Terra Incognita and discover the future. One of the most imaginative and verbally brilliant American plays of the 20th century, On the Verge has been produced all over the world since its premiere in the 1980’s.
Tickets are limited. Get yours while they last.
Past Performances
Shakespeare’s Pericles
Free Shakespeare in the park
August 9-11 & 16-18, 2024
The Grove at Altenheim
This summer’s Forest Park Theatre will brought to the stage the story of a young prince exiled from his country, who finds, loses and regains his life in his search for a true home.
Pericles was Forest Park Theatre’s fourth free summer Shakespeare performance, a stormy tale of loss, love and redemption. In August, our diverse company performed at the meadow behind Altenheim.
JANE EYRE
by Charlotte Bronte, adapted by Polly Teale
the Fifth in a series of six plays by women
April 11 & 14, 2024
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion
“The human heart has hidden treasures – in secret kept, in silence sealed”
– Charlotte Bronte
Polly Teale’s bold adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s great novel splits Jane into two selves, the sensible, frozen Victorian girl, and the passionate and sensual woman looked away in order to survive. This version of Jane Eyre, developed by England’s Shared Experience, has played successfully across the world.
RACHEL
by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKé
the FOURTH in a series of six plays by women
February 22 & 25, 2024
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion
Angelina Weld Grimké’s 1916 American classic is the story of a turn-of-the-century African American family seeking to find life, freedom and happiness. Rachel Loving longs to be a mother but after seeing the devastating effects of racism on the children she cares for, and learning the secrets of her family’s past, she questions whether it is best to bring children into the world. Grimké’s powerful play – performed rarely today - was the first African American play to be presented in front on an integrated audience.
SPAY by Madison Fiedler
the Third in a series of six plays by women
January 25 & 28, 2024
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion
Williamson, West Virginia has been aptly nicknamed “Pilliamson” as long as the Attridge sisters have called it home. In the wake of their mother’s overdose, the two sisters have taken very different paths. As Harper raises Noah’s child, vowing to tread new ground, Noah finds herself unable to break old cycles – until a stranger promises a way to do just that. Madison Fiedler’s new drama SPAY interrogates the question of autonomy in small-town Appalachia. Winner, M. Elizabeth Osborn Award, American Theatre Critics Association.
Actually by Anna Ziegler
the Second in a series of six plays by women
Thursday, November 30
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion
Amber and Tom, finding their way as freshmen at Princeton, spend a night together that alters the course of their lives. They agree on the drinking, they agree on the attraction, but consent is foggy, and if unspoken, can it be called consent? With lyricism and wit, Actually investigates gender and race politics, our crippling desire to fit in, and the three sides to every story. Winner of the L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Playwriting for an Original Play.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion
Cast
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Avery Fountain
Avery-Slade Fountain is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and has been working professionally in the Chicago for the past 3 years and across the country for 6. Fountain has performed in four Shakespeare productions and this is his third Forest Park Theatre production.
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Anna Ziegler – Playwright
Anna Ziegler is an award-winning playwright and television writer. In television, Anna is currently writing the pilot GO, TEAM for Paramount+. Prior to that, Anna adapted PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld for Apple TV, and her play ACTUALLY for HBO Max. That same year, she served as a Consulting Producer for the AMC series INVITATION TO A BONFIRE.
Her critically acclaimed plays have been produced at major theaters around the U.S. and in Australia, Japan, Italy, Germany, India, and Sweden. Anna’s widely produced play PHOTOGRAPH 51 starring Nicole Kidman won London’s 2016 WhatsOnStage award for Best New Play. It was selected as a “Best of the Year” play by The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post (twice), and The Telegraph. In 2017, Anna’s play ACTUALLY received the Ovation Award in Los Angeles for Playwriting of an Original Play. Her play THE WANDERERS, which was recently produced at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, won the 2018 San Diego Critic’s Circle Award for Outstanding New Play. Inspired by a true story, her play, BOY, was nominated for the 2016 John Gassner Award by the Outer Critics Circle.
Anna is a graduate of Yale and holds masters degrees in poetry from The University of East Anglia (UK) and dramatic writing from NYU.
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McKeely Malas
McKeely recently graduated from UIC with a BA in theatre performance. She has sang downtown in the theatre district and on Michigan Avenue. Recently, McKeely has focused on filming for Sundance, Coca-Cola, and short films in and outside of Chicago. McKeely is looking forward to expanding her work on the stage and in front of the camera.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, adapted by Rona Munro
the first in a series of six plays by women
Thursday, October 19
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion and Friday, October 20, 7:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. Outdoors at the Grove at Altenheim
Rona Munro’s inventive feminist adaptation of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece places the 18-year old writer at the center of the action as she wrestles with her creation and the stark realities facing revolutionary women, then and now. A brilliant new take on the classic story of what it means to be human in a technological world.
Thursday, October 19
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Forest Park American Legion
Friday, October 20 at The Grove at Altenheim (Donations Accepted)
Cast
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Rona Munro – Playwright
Scottish playwright Rona Munro’s history cycle The James Plays, James I, James II, and James III, were first performed by the National Theatre of Scotland in summer 2014 in a co-production with Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre UK. The plays were staged again in early 2016. She followed this up with James IV - The Queen of the Fight in 2022. Other theatre works include plays for the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh (Fugue, Your Turn To Clean The Stair, Strawberries in Januarytranslation), Manchester Royal Exchange (Mary Barton, Scuttlers), Plymouth Drum Theatre and Paines Plough (Long Time Dead), and the Royal Shakespeare Company (The Indian Boy, The Astronaut's Chair).
Rona Munro currently lives and works in Scotland. Her play The Last Witch was performed at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival, directed by Dominic Hill, and in 2011 by Dumbarton People's Theatre. In 2018, a production of her adaptation of My Name Is Lucy Barton starring Laura Linney opened in London, prior to a Broadway run.
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Hannah Eisendrath
Hannah Eisendrath is happy to be back with the FPT Team! Former credits include Gut (Platform/Avalanche Theatre) Measure for Measure (Forest Park Theatre), Jack Off the Beanstalk (PrideArts) HAIR (Parallel 45 Theatre), and A Doll’s House, Part 2 (IAA Arts Festival). Film and television credits include The Blacklist and various independent film projects. Hannah is represented by Talent X Alexander and has a BA in theatre and political science from Bard College.
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Jesús Barajas
Jesús (he/they) is happy to be back again with Forest Park Theatre! Chicago credits: The Mousetrap (Citadel Theatre), Measure for Measure (Forest Park Theatre). Favorite regional credits: Fun Home, A Year with Frog and Toad, The Producers (Farmers Alley Theatre); Forever Plaid (New River Valley Regional Theatre). Thank you for supporting local professional theatre!
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Eamon McInerney
Eamon McInerney is a non-union actor, born, raised, and trained in Chicago. His past credits include Macduff in Macbeth, Ronin Farrow in The Shady Lady, and Escalus in Measure for Measure. If his performance of Frankenstein's Monster cannot inspire love, it will cause fear!
Measure for Measure
Village of Forest PArk and Forest Park Theatre presenT one of Shakespeare’s most beautiful and unsettling plays
August 4-6 and 11-13 at 5 p.m.
The Grove at Altenheim
Temporarily left in charge by the Duke, the upright and uptight Lord Angelo has decided to crack down on the city’s debauchery, arresting young Claudio for impregnating his fiancée Juliet before their wedding. When virtuous Isabella, Claudio’s sister, hears of his death sentence, she begs Lord Angelo for mercy. But hypocritical Angelo propositions her instead, leaving Isabella with an impossible choice: save her soul or her brother’s life.
Using our powerful storytelling style, Forest Park Theatre brings its attention to one of Shakespeare’s most beautiful and unsettling plays.
In this timely production, lovers and leaders in disguise reveal how those in power take advantage of those without it – asking the question, can the law be both just and merciful?
Where: The Grove at Altenheim
When: August 4 - 6 and 11 - 13 at 5:00 p.m.
Measure for Measure will be presented with open seating and is free to the public.
Cast
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Avery Fountain
Duke
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Sol Fuller
Isabella
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Richard Cantu
Angelo
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Arya Halbleib
Marianna/Froth/1st Gentleman
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Hannah Eisendrath
Lucio
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Jesus Barajas
Pompey/Friar Peter
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Eamon McInerney
Escalus/Friar Thomas/Abhorson
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Allison Carmody
Provost
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Jazz Jabulani
Claudio
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Tyara Whitted
Juliet/Elbow
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Audrey Bixby
Overdone/Francisca/Barnardine
The How & THE WHY
Forest Park Theatre's presentation of Sarah Treem’s critically acclaimed play
The play encompasses their first meeting, their passion for science, specifically how it impacts the world's view of women (yes, the words menstruation, menopause, and pathogen, among others, are frequently used in the play’s dialogue), the competition that erupts between them, their misinterpretation of each other's intentions, and their quests for love. It's "Two Women Talking" but so much is at stake!
This play is about two women scientists: the acclaimed evolutionary biologist who gave up her daughter for adoption when she was 6 days old, and her now adult, equally brilliant, daughter who has tracked her down.
Where: Exit Strategy Brewing Company, 7700 Madison St. Forest Park
When: Sunday, May 21, 2023 from 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tickets: 20 in advance, $25 at the door
Cast
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Jennie Moreau – Zelda
Jennie Moreau has worked extensively as an actor on stage, film and television in New York and Chicago.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from North Carolina School of the Arts. In New York she worked at such theatres as Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage and Minetta Lane. In Chicago, Jennie has performed at Steppenwolf, the Goodman, and Victory Gardens theatres.
Her on camera credits include guest star roles on Law and Order, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire and Chicago Med, various soap operas, several independent films, and many commercials. She has taught actors at Act One Studios, at Victory Gardens Theatre, and at Acting Studio Chicago.
Additionally, Jennie uses theatre training to coach executives and create dynamic leadership, team building, and communications workshops
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Alex Frisch – Rachel
Alex Frisch is thrilled to be working with Forest Park Theatre on this thought-provoking project. A graduate of Northwestern University's Theatre program, she enjoyed time on the stage in productions such as Arcadia (Hannah) and The Language of Angels (Danielle.)
For the last eleven years she has worked in the western suburbs as a Theatre Educator at The Actors Garden and as a Speech Team Coach at OPRFHS. Her most recent production was Don't Be Sad: But Someone Dies at The End with The Actors Garden's New Play Lab.
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Gigi Hudson – Director
After acting and directing professionally for several years, Gigi switched gears and turned towards theatre education. Combining her love of theater and her passion for teaching, she created The Actors Garden; a theatre school in Oak Park that offers year-round theatre programming for children and adults.
The Actors Garden focuses on the individual actor, both new and experienced, to help them build confidence and encourage them to grow in a low stress environment.
Gigi also takes a great deal of pride in directing shows written by her husband Dave, whose plays have been produced and directed all over the world, including one directed by Forest Park Theatre’s very own Rick Corley.
Gigi thanks Rick, for this great opportunity and Thanks Jennie and Alex for their beautiful work.
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Sarah Treem – Playright
Sarah Treem’s A FEMININE ENDING premiered at Playwrights Horizons and went on to productions at South Coast Repertory and Portland Center Stage, among others.
Her play THE HOW AND THE WHY premiered at the McCarter Theater starring Mercedes Ruehl (with Emily Mann directing) and went on to productions at Interact Theatre and Trinity Repertory, among others.
In addition to her theater career, Sarah wrote and produced all three seasons of the acclaimed HBO series "In Treatment," for which she won a WGA award and was nominated for a Humanitas award. She was also a writer/producer for the HBO series "How to Make it in America."
Sarah was a lead writer for David Fincher on "House of Cards" for Netflix and the co-creator and showrunner for "The Affair" on Showtime. She has taught playwriting at Yale University, where she earned her B.A. and M.F.A.
Summer 2022 production
Innogen — A heroine’s journey
Adapted by Producing Artistic Director Richard Corley from Shakespeare's Cymbeline
With the support of the Village and the Mayor’s Office, Forest Park Theatre will present Innogen, A Heroine’s Journey adapted from Shakespeare’s Cymbeline on August 5 - 7 and 12 - 14 in the Grove at Altenheim. Innogen is a romance full of cross-dressing, betrayal, transformation, jealousy, and the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is open seating and once again, free to the public. Please bring your lawn chair and join us at The Grove!
The Grove at Altenheim is conveniently located within walking distance of the Des Plaines CTA hub, the Blue Line EL, and I-290 as well as Forest Park’s downtown area.
This will be the only fully-staged theatre experience offered in Forest Park in 2022, and currently the only free theatre offered in the area. Once again, our cast will be highly diverse, with many of the leading roles played by actors of color.
Remember to bring your lawn chair when you come to see this amazing performance at The Grove!
Cast
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Lauren Littlejohn
Innogen
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Phillip Fox
Cymbeline
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Emma Linder
Cloten
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George Petermeier
Posthumous Leonatus
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Anna Manya
Queen
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Joseph Sullivan
Cornelius/Belarius
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Freya Trefonides
Pisanio/Soothsayer
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Vic Mallari
Guiderius/Philario
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Avery Fountain
Iachimo
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Tyler Sherrod
First Lord/Aviragus/French Lord
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Stephanie Munoz
Helen/Captain/Understudy Innogen
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Teri Lopez
Caius Lucius