Hurricane Diane made landfall at Chicago’s Theater Wit on June 17 to strong reviews and audience acclaim, and has been picking up strength ever since, wreaking havoc and hilarity on the stage of one of Chicago’s favorite storefront theaters.
Already, Wit’s Chicago debut of Hurricane Diane has grown into a Category 5 live stage production, with sustained winds guaranteed to cause major damage – to funny bones.
Due to popular demand, Hurricane Diane, originally scheduled to close July 31, has been extended an additional two weeks and will now run through August 14.
Kelli Simpkins plays Diane in Hurricane Diane
Don’t miss these extra chances to catch Hurricane Diane, Madeleine George’s hilarious whirlwind of a play about a butch lesbian gardener who just might be the Greek god Dionysus, returned to stick a hot poker in society’s blind eye to climate change.
As directed by Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler, Hurricane Diane’s arrival in Chicago collided with a sudden mass of unusually hot air from Chicago’s critics. The resulting acclaim further whipped up the winds of success for Wit’s Chicago premiere:
- “Hilarious! There’s an undercurrent of horror running through the perfectly wrought comedic performances of Wechsler’s ensemble…HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.” - Chicago Reader
- "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Simpkins as Diane is beyond delightful." - New City
- “Kelli Simpkins can make ordinary backyards into realms that look like something out of Little Shop of Horrors.” - Chicago Tribune
Theater Wit is located at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Show times through August 14 are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets, $25-$48, are on sale at TheaterWit.org or by calling the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150. Run time is 90 minutes, no intermission.
Theater Wit is located at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., in the Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Parking is available in a lot across the street from Theater Wit, behind Kubo, for $8 (pay at the Theater Wit box office.) Neighborhood street parking is also available. Theater Wit is accessible via the CTA 77 Belmont bus, and just three blocks west of the CTA Belmont Red/Brown/Purple line stop.
Hurricane Diane: The eye of the storm
Hurricane Diane features (right, from right) Lori Myers as Pam, Carolyn Kruze as Carol, Kelli Simpkins as Diane, Jazmin Corona as Renee and Anesia Hicks as Beth
The doomsday clock is already at 11 f**king 45. The flood waters are swelling on Jersey Shore. The Greek goddess Dionysus—in the guise of Diane, a lesbian permaculture landscape gardener—is staging a comeback to save the world from the ravages of climate change. And where better to ignite a Bacchanalian frenzy than with four housewives living on a quiet cul-de-sac in Monmouth County, New Jersey? Still, making maenads out of her lady neighbors proves more challenging than Diane could anticipate, as the forces of HGTV square off against the coming apocalypse.
Hurricane Diane marks acclaimed playwright Madeleine George’s third collaboration with Theater Wit, where Chicago audiences and critics first enjoyed her plays Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England and The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence. Now George is writing for the hit Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building” starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez.
Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler directs George’s roof-raising evening about passion, lawns, pawpaw forests, Italian delis, curb appeal, hurricanes, and what happens when we are asked to go outside.
Kelli Simpkins leads the cast as charming butch permaculture gardener Diane, returned to the modern world to avert the coming apocalypse. Jazmín Corona (Renee) Aneisa Hicks (Beth), Carolyn Kruse (Carol) and Lori Myers (Pam) play Diane’s New Jersey neighbors.
(from left) Hurricane Diane playwright Madeleine George and director Jeremy Wechsler. Kelli Simpkins plays Diane with Jazmín Corona (Renee) Aneisa Hicks (Beth), Carolyn Kruse (Carol) and Lori Myers (Pam)
Kelli Simpkins (left) plays Diane and Lori Myers is Pam in Hurricane Diane. Photo by Charles Osgood
(left) Aneisa Hicks (left) as Beth and Kelli Simpkins as Diane; (right) Kelli Simpkins (left) as Diane and Jazmín Corona as Renee. Photos by Charles Osgood.
Carolyn Kruse (left) plays Carol and Kelli Simpkins as Diane
The production team includes Joseph Schermoly (set designer), Mara Blumenfeld and Maddy Low (co-costume designers), Joyce Ciesil (sound designer), Piper Kirchhofer (lighting designer), AnnaMae Durham (properties designer), Courtney Abbott (intimacy director), Andre Pluess (original music) and Ashley Alexander (stage manager).
Footnote: The term “permaculture," a contraction of “permanent” and “agriculture," is an increasingly popular gardening trend at the heart of Diane’s earth-bound business—designing agricultural landscapes, especially home landscapes, in a way that improves and supports the local ecosystem, to make them life-giving for generations.
About Theater Wit
Theater Wit, Chicago’s “smart art” theater, is a major hub of Chicago’s neighborhood theater scene, where audiences enjoy a smorgasbord of excellent productions in its three, 99-seat spaces, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago.
In addition to Theater Wit’s production of Hurricane Diane, other summer productions at Theater Wit include American Blues Theatre’s Fences (July 1-August 6); Steep Theatre Company’s Light Falls (July 2-August 14); and Grippo Theatre Company’s Chagall in School (August 26-October 9).
Theater Wit is located at 1229 N. Belmont Ave., in the Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview community. To purchase tickets to Hurricane Diane, visiting productions, or to inquire about a Theater Wit Membership or Flex Pass options, visit TheaterWit.org, send email to info@theaterwit.org, or call the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150.
Note: Everyone (including audience members) at Theater Wit is required to be vaccinated to enter the building. Each audience member must show proof of vaccination and state ID at the door for admittance. Electronic photos and copies are acceptable. Patrons with medical or religious exemptions may be admitted but must contact the box office a minimum of 48 hours before the performance for additional review and guidance. While Cook County is at Medium risk level or above, all audience members must be masked for the duration of their visit. Masks are required for medical and religious exemptions as well. Visit TheaterWit.org for more details.
Biographies
Madeleine George’s plays include Hurricane Diane (Obie Award), The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Pulitzer Prize finalist; Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award), Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Susan Smith Blackburn finalist), Precious Little, and The Zero Hour (Jane Chambers Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist). Honors include a Whiting Award, the Princess Grace Award, and a Lilly Award. George’s translation of Chekhov's Three Sisters is set to premiere at Two River Theater in 2022, and her audio adaptation of Alison Bechdel's comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For is forthcoming from Audible Originals. George is a founding member of the Obie-Award-winning playwrights' collective 13P, the Mellon Playwright in Residence at Two River Theater, and a writer on the Hulu mystery-comedy Only Murders in the Building. Since 2006, she has worked with the Bard Prison Initiative at Bard College, where she currently serves as Director of Admissions.
Jeremy Wechsler is a veteran director with over 50 productions. His work has been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new play. Most recently, he directed Wit’s fall hit 2021 remount of Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns: a post electric play. He also directed that play’s 2015 Chicago premiere. Other directing credits at Theater Wit include Anne Washburn’s 10 Out of 12, Joshua Harmon’s Admissions and Bad Jews, Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses, Eric John Meyer’s The Antelope Party and Mat Smart’s Naperville. Additional memorable productions include Wit’s election night reading of The Trump Card by Mike Daisey, The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, Madeleine George’s The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, and that show’s summer remount at Art Square Theatre in Las Vegas. He also staged Wit’s acclaimed productions of Completeness and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses, Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock, This by Melissa James Gibson, Spin by Penny Penniston, Feydeau-Si-Deau by Georges Feydeau, Men of Steel by Qui Nguyen, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) by Will Eno, Two for the Show by James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger and The Santaland Diaries.
Kelli Simpkins (she/they) NEW YORK THEATER: Off-Broadway: MCC: Charm; Ensemble Studio Theater (EST): Spill; Union Square Theater: The Laramie Project. REGIONAL THEATER: Court Theatre: The Lady from the Sea; About Face Theater: The Gulf, Bull in a China Shop, The Secretaries, The Kid Thing (Jeff Nomination), Pony; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Everybody; American Theater Company: We’re Gonna Be OK, Men on Boats, T., Celebrity Row; Victory Gardens: Cocked; Goodman Theatre: Teddy Ferrara; Steppenwolf Theatre: Good Boys and True, Fair Use, One Arm; Timeline Theatre: Spill, In Darfur; Denver Center: The Laramie Project; Berkeley Rep: People’s Temple, The Laramie Project; Guthrie Theatre: People’s Temple; La Jolla Playhouse: I Think I Like Girls, The Laramie Project. FILM: Rounding, 100 Days to Live, Slice, Chasing Amy, A League of Their Own; TELEVISION: 61st Street, Work in Progress, Chicago PD, Proven Innocent, Chicago Fire, Patriot, Betrayal, The Laramie Project (Emmy Nomination: Ensemble Writing), Law & Order: CI. AWARDS: 2013 3ARTS Award. OTHER: Company Member: Tectonic Theater Project— original creator/performer of The Laramie Project. Simpkins is a contributing writer to the book “MOMENT WORK—Tectonic Theater Project’s Process of Devising Theater”; Good Death: Director/co-writer of original documentary play at WMU. TEACHING: Teaching artist and educator, certified in Tectonic’s Moment Work Technique. WEB: Kam Kardashian.
Jazmín Corona (Renee) performed in Zulema (Goodman/Sones de Mexico); Roe (Goodman Theatre); Shrew’d and Macbeth (First Folio Theatre); I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and The Compass (u/s, Steppenwolf Theatre); 1776 (Porchlight Music Theatre); Women of 4G (Babes With Blades Theatre Company); Mariposa Nocturna (16th St. Theatre and Physical Festival Chicago); Two Mile Hollow (First Floor Theater); Gender Breakdown (Collaboraction); Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Goose (Raven Theatre). TV credits include Chicago Fire.
Aneisa Hicks (Beth) performed in The Mountaintop at TheatreSquared, Graveyard Shift at Goodman Theatre, Pride and Prejudice at Long Wharf Theatre and Her Portmanteau at American Conservatory Theater. TV credits include A League of their Own (Amazon Prime), The CHI (Showtime) and Chicago Med (NBC).
Carolyn Kruse (Carol) was most recently seen in Molly Sweeney with Irish Theatre of Chicago (ITC), where she is a proud Ensemble member. Kruse has worked with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Next Theatre, The Artistic Home, The Hypocrites, Strawdog Theatre, Profiles, Remy Bumppo, Theo Ubique, Wildclaw, New Leaf Theatre, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Redtwist, Brown County Playhouse, Tibbits Opera House and the Strange Tree Group (Non-Equity Jeff Award - Best Ensemble for King Phycus, where she originated the role of Macbetty/Nurse.) Other credits include Chicago P.D. (NBC), The Onion Election Special (The Onion/Fusion), a principal role in the award-winning short film Fertile Myrtle and supporting roles in the short films Sweet Child and The Dame with No Name (MoFest 48 hour Film Festival 2011 Winner). Kruse is also a director and a commercial voice-over artist.
Lori Myers (Pam) is the founder of Not in Our House Chicago Theatre Community, and co-author of The Chicago Theatre Standards. She was awarded the Lily Award (NY), the Hallie Flanagan Humanitarian Award, Rivendell’s Wren Award, and the Illinois Association Professional Theatre Award for her work in NIOH/CTS. Myers has acted in every Chicago storefront theater that you can ever imagine, and at Victory Gardens, Steppenwolf, Next, Northlight, Hypocrites, Vitalist, and others. She received a Jeff Award for her work as Maggie in Griffin Theatre’s Men Should Weep directed by Robin Witt. Favorite roles include Julia Gibbs in David Cromer’s Our Town in Chicago, NY and LA, Mother Courage in Vitalist’s Mother Courage and Her Children directed by Liz Carlin Metz, Paula in MAYDAY Company’s Mrs. Klein in London directed by Nesta White, and God in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told directed by Jeremy Weschler 20 (gasp).