The 16th Century Countess Elizabeth Bathory has been described as “the most vicious female serial killer in all recorded history,” and with her penchant for drinking the blood of virgins – a “beverage” she thought would keep her young – she is outrivaled only by Dracula in her fame as a vampire. Like Dracula, Bathory was born in Transylvania and it’s been said she enjoyed torturing and killing your girls before drinking and even bathing in their blood. No one knows what’s fact and what’s fiction in the legend of this bloody countess, but it’s all horrifying and is certain to scare the wits out of the audiences of BLOODY BATHORY, to be staged by Chicago’s Barrens Theatre Co. from October 1 through November 16. Previews will begin on Tuesday, October 1. Press opening is Friday, October 11 at 7:30 pm at Epworth United Methodist Church, 5253 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago. Tickets are now on sale at https://dime.io/events/bloody-bathory/.
In this world premiere drama by Chicago-based playwright Millie Rose, audience members can choose to follow any of seventeen characters and can move from space to space and jump freely from track to track over the course of the night. Some of the characters will talk to the audience members or even ask them for help. Audience members will act as jury members ruling over the trial of Elizabeth Bathory and at the end of the show, decide if Elizabeth Bathory is innocent, or guilty.
Rose’s script, which has been in development the past four years through workshops and readings, will be realized in an immersive staging by director Molly H. Donahue, who has worked with (re)discover theatre as the director of 50 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE, as a creator and director of “The Guest” in FOR ONE, and as the dramaturg and developer on THE INNOCENTS.
Playwright Millie Rose herself will take the role of Elizabeth Bathory. The cast will also include Amy Carpenter (Zsofia, U/S Zita), August Stamper (Hanna), Cory David Williamson, (Janos Ficzko), Danny Turek (Cardinal Melchior Klesl, U/S Matthias), David Quiñones (Count George Thurzko), Ebony Chuukwu (Zita, U/S Bathory), Erich Peltz (Deseo the Castellan), Kayla Cole (Mira, U/S Katalin), Kelly Schmidt (Anna Darvolya), Kristen Alesia (Hedi, U/S Anna), Levi Schrader (Reverend Ponikenusz), Lo Miles (Katalin Beneczky), Maggie Miller (Kovac/Judge), Stephanie Mattos (Archduke Matthias), Tague Zachary (Benedek Toth), William Delforge (Ferenc Kalmar). Additional understudies will include Hannah Ewing (U/S Mira, U/S Zsofia), Lauren Walters (U/S Hanna, Hedi), Michel Bigelow (U/S Thurzo), and Richard Eisloeffel (U/S Toth/Kalmar/Ficzko).
Top Row L-R: Kristen Alesia, Amy Carpenter, Kayla Cole, Wiliiam Delforge, Stephanie Mattos.
Middle Row L-R: Lo Miles, Maggie Miller, Erich Peltz, Millie Rose, August Stamper.
Third Row: L-R: Kelly Schmidt, Levi Schrader, Danny Turek, Cory David Williamson, Tague Zachary. Bottom row: Ebony Chuukwu, David Quinones.
The BLOODY BATHORY design and production team includes Amanda Vander Byl (Costume Designer), Owen Nichols (Lighting Designer), Matt Reich (Sound Designer), Nina D’Angier (Production Designer), Fight Choreographer (Molly H. Donahue), Kate Lass (Intimacy Designer), Brent Ervin-Eickhoff (Script Captain), Emilie Modaff (Music Director), Kristina McCloskey (Associate Director), Hannah Beehler (Production Stage Manager), Jamie Lyn Woods, Christian Tabotabo (Assistant Stage Managers), Emily "Red" Melgard (Crew Swing), and Les Rorick, Cory David Williamson and Millie Rose (Producers).
BLOODY BATHORY will be both immersive and interactive. The audience will have direct experience with the story and its characters, giving them the power to decide Bathory’s fate. Rose says, “Immersive theatre gives the audience purpose and investment in the story in a way that regular seated theatre cannot. There is an exclusivity about it, a gathering, a camaraderie created. The audience is not just watching the story but now they are a part of it. I believe we attend the theatre because we want to experience something outside of ourselves and our own lives.”
ABOUT THE BARRENS THEATRE
Inspired by Stephen King's epic novel, IT, the barrens were a place where nightmares truly existed. Nightmares reveal the existence of our deepest fears as well as our greatest desires.
We, at The Barrens Theatre, want to examine the intricacies of human behavior, how we cope with fear and hope and desire in scary places.
BIOS
Millie Rose (Playwright) is an actor and playwright. She also creates her own murder mystery parties. Millie has worked in Chicago over the past four years with a number of different theatre companies including Filament Theatre, Arc Theatre, New Colony, Bluebird Arts, Pride Films & Plays and About Face Theatre. She participated in the New Colony's Writer's Room 2.0. She is a neighbor with The Neighborhood Theatre. She received her BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Idaho.
Molly H. Donahue (Director) is a Chicago based director and new works developer. She has worked with (re)discover theatre as the director of 50 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE, a creator and director of “The Guest” in FOR ONE, and as the dramaturg and developer on THE INNOCENTS. She is proud to be a founding member of The Barrens Theatre Co. Recently she has directed the Out of Time 24 Hour Play festival as we well as The Bloody Bathory Project in 2018. She is passionate about immersive artforms and challenging artists and audiences alike to see each other in a new light. She is so excited to be directing Bloody Bathory 2019!
Kristina McCloskey (Associate Director) is a freelance director and producer from Virginia, based in Chicago. Recent directing credits include THE LITTLE FOXES at Citadel Theater, EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN with Dandelion Theatre, and an immersive staged reading of RICHARD III with Midsommer Flight/Unbound Theatre Co. She was Executive Producer of BLOODY BATHORY with Barrens in 2017. Kristina is also an Associate Artist with Dandelion Theatre Company and has had the good fortune to work with 16th Street Theatre, Midsommer Flight, Tarleton/Dawn Productions, and Griffin Theatre. Kristina is passionate about development opportunities for artists in Chicago, including devising and developing new work as well as adapting classic texts. She is equally obsessed with homesteading and every dog she meets (especially corgis). kristinamccloskey.com
LISTING INFORMATION
BLOODY BATHORY
By Millie Rose
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by Molly H. Donahue
October 1 – November 16, 2019
Previews October 1, 3 – 5, and 10
Press Opening Friday, October 11 at 8:00 pm
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm (Tuesday, October 1 at 8 pm)
Epworth United Methodist Church, 5253 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago
Tickets: Previews $17, Regular performances $27. Tickets on sale now at https://dime.io/events/bloody-bathory/
Additional show information at www.thebarrenstheatreco.com
Immersive staging of an original drama thriller about Elizabeth Bathory, the 16th Century Hungarian countess who according to legend, is said to have enjoyed torturing and killing your girls before drinking and even bathing in their blood. No one knows what’s fact and what’s fiction in the legend of this bloody countess, but it’s all horrifying and is certain to scare the wits out of the audiences in an immersive staging that will allow audiences to interact with the characters and determine Bathory’s fate.