Ensemble Theatre Company Founded by Theatre Alumni and Students Announces Fifth Season

The Jackalope Theatre, an ensemble founded by Columbia College Chicago Theatre alumni and students, has announced its fifth season -- including the world premiere of a play by Columbia Theatre student Andrew Burden Swanson. All performances take place at the Viaduct Theatre, where Jackalope is a resident company.

The season begins November 27, 2012 with the midwest premiere of Long Way Go Down, by Zayd Dorhn (a playwriting teacher at Northwestern University). Directed by Associate Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed (BA '08), the show -- described as "a dangerous story of trust between two truckers who are demanding payment from two Mexican immigrants for smuggling them into Arizona" -- runs through December 22, 2012.

Next up is Rich and Famous, by noted playwright John Guare, directed by guest artist Nate Silver. The play runs February 14-March 10, 2013.

The season concludes with the world premiere of The Casuals, by Columbia Theatre student Andrew Burden Swanson, Jackalope's playwright-in-residence. "The Casuals takes place in a mid-1950s community built to house the government employees of the American Nuclear Testing program. It compares the reactionary fears created within us and the fears imposed upon us from above, while exploring the strength of both higher powers and the atom," says Jackalope's website. Directed by Columbia Theatre faculty member Jonathan Berry, the show runs July 5-July 28, 2013.

Columbia Theatre alumni and students who are Jackalope company members, in addition to Swanson and Ahmed, are Artistic Director and co-founder AJ Ware, literary manager Jon Cohen (BA '08), co-founder Gus Menary, Artistic Associate Melanie Berner (BFA '10), Taree Chadwick (BFA '10), and ensemble member Pat Whalen (BA '10).