TUTA Theatre, which began its post-pandemic production in 2024 with the Jeff award-winning ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE, followed by the critically acclaimed THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER, has announced a two-play repertory of recent plays for summer 2025. The summer rep will begin on June 26 with the Chicago Premiere of TOM & ELIZA by Celine Song, whose directorial film debut PAST LIVES (2023) received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. TUTA Co-Artistic Director Aileen Wen McGroddy will direct. The following week, EVERY BRILLIANT THING, a one-character play by British theatre artists Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe that incorporates extensive audience participation will begin performances, under the direction of TUTA Co-Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone. The two plays will be performed in repertory through mid-August at TUTA Theatre, 4670 N. Manor Avenue, Chicago.
TOM & ELIZA, which premiered at Brooklyn New York’s JACK theater in 2016, examines a young couple from their ordinary first date toward the end of civilization. In little more than an hour, with no intermission, the two characters use rapid-fire language to chronicle their entire relationship, mercilessly withholding nothing. A teethy battle of wills that centers on obsessions with bathing and book-burning, the play wakens both ecstasy and disgust with life. TUTA Co-Artistic Director Aileen Wen McGroddy, who was Jeff-nominated for her direction of the Jeff Award-winning ensemble of TUTA’s ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE in summer 2024, is directing this Chicago premiere.
Clifton Frei and Seoyoung Park.
The two-hander will be played by Clifton Frei and Seoyoung Park, who were both members of the Jeff Award-winning ensemble cast of ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE. Keith Parham, Jeff-nominated for his lighting design of ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE, is Lighting Designer. Tatiana Kahvegian, a 2024 Tony Award nominee for the scenic design of THE OUTSIDERS, is Set and Costume Designer. TOM & ELIZA will open to the press on Sunday, June 29 and Monday, June 30 at 7:30 pm both evenings following previews from June 26. It will play an irregular schedule through August 18.
TUTA Company member Huy Nguyen, who is a featured cast member on the new hit Hulu series DELI BOYS and has appeared with the company in THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER, will play The Narrator. Set and lighting design are by Obie Award-winning designer Keith Parham, who was recently nominated for a Jeff Award for his lighting design of TUTA’s ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE. Joe Court is Sound Designer. Nguyen and director Stone are designing costumes and Becky Warner is Stage Manager. EVERY BRILLIANT THING will open to the press on Monday, July 7 and Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 pm, following previews from July 5. It will play an irregular schedule through August 14, 2025.
Seats for all performances of TOM & ELIZA and EVERY BRILLIANT THING can be reserved by purchasing in advance. Prices for all performances (excluding opening nights) are $20, $45 and $60 (plus a $3.00 per ticket fee). Any seating not reserved in advance will be available the day of the performance for in person, pay-what-you-choose tickets at the door 30 minutes before curtain time. Additional information on TUTA Theatre’s ticketing is available at https://www.tutatheatre.org/summer-rep-2025-tickets There is no late seating. If available, pay what-you-choose 30 minutes before curtain.
LISTING INFORMATION
TOM & ELIZA
By Celine Song
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy
Performed by Seoyoung Park and Clifton Frei
June 26 – August 18, 2025
Performance Days: Vary per week. See schedule below.
Press Openings Sunday, June 29 at 7:30 pm and Monday, June 30 at 7:30 pm
TUTA Theatre, 4670 N Manor Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
Ticket Prices: $20 - $60
Tickets and more information at www.tutatheatre.org
Tom's mother and father made love
Tom was born
Tom grew up
Tom entered this restaurant
Tom is on a date
Eliza's mother and father made love
Eliza was born
Eliza grew up
Eliza entered this restaurant
Eliza is on a date
TOM & ELIZA is a dual meditation on the choices we make (and those we don't) in a world that spins relentlessly into the future. Performed in one long breath by two virtuosic actors, TUTA Co-Artistic director Aileen Wen McGroddy directs the Chicago premiere of this idiosyncratic work by Celine Song, writer of Oscar-nominated PAST LIVES and the upcoming rom-com MATERIALISTS.
TOM & ELIZA Performance Schedule:
Previews: Thursday 6/26 – 7:30 pm, Friday 6/27–7:30 pm, Saturday 6/28 – 7:30, pm
Openings: Sunday 6/29 – 7:30 pm and Monday 6/30 – 7:30 pm
Regular Run: Thursday 7/3 – 7:30 pm, Thursday 7/10 - 7:30 pm, Saturday 7/12 – 7:30 pm, Sunday 7/13 – 2:00 pm, Thursday 717 – 7:30 pm, Saturday 7/19 – 7:30 pm, Sunday 7/20 – 2:00 pm, Friday 7/25 – 7:30 pm, Sunday 7/27 – 2:00 pm, Monday 7/28 – 7:30 pm, Thursday 7/31 – 7:30 pm, Saturday 8/2– 7:30 pm, Sunday 8/3 – 2:00 pm, Saturday 8/9– 7:30 pm, Sunday 8/10 – 2:00 pm, Friday 8/15 – 7:30 pm, Saturday 8/16 – 7:30 pm
EVERY BRILLIANT THING
by Duncan Macmillan, with Jonny Donahoe
Directed by Jacqueline Stone
Performed by Huy Nguyen
July 5 – August 14, 2025
Press Openings Monday, July 7 at 7:30 pm and Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 pm
Performance days and times vary per week
TUTA Theatre, 4670 N Manor Ave, Chicago, IL 60625
Ticket $20 - $60
Ticketing and more information at www.tutatheatre.org
EVERY BRILLIANT THING is an exploration of all the wonderful things in this life that are worth living for...vinyl records, ice cream, and that perfect track #7 song. Starring Company Member Huy Nguyen, and directed by Co-Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone, this dance between the past, present, and our future, is told in joyful collaboration with each audience member. The show asks us to explore our own relationship with life and death, the things that make our families unique, and the bravery inside of change.
EVERY BRILLIANT THING Performance Schedule
Previews: Saturday 7/5 – 7:30 pm and Sunday 7/6 – 7:30 pm.
Press Openings: Monday, 7/7 – 7:30 pm and Tuesday 7/7 – 7:30 pm
Regular Run: Friday 7/11 – 7:30 pm, Sunday 7/13 – 7:30 pm, Monday 7/14 – 7:30 pm, Friday 7/18 – 7:30 pm, Sunday 7/20 – 7:30 pm, Monday 7/21 – 7:30 pm, Thursday 7/24 - 7:30 pm, Saturday 7/26 - 7:30 pm, Sunday 7/27 - 7:30 pm, Sunday 8/3 – 7:30 pm, Monday 8/4 – 7:30 pm, Thursday 8/7 - 7:30 pm, Friday 8/8 – 7:30 pm, Sunday 8/10 – 7:30 pm, Monday 8/11 – 7:30 pm, Thursday 8/14 - 7:30 pm.
BIOS
Celine Song (Writer, TOM & ELIZA) is a Canadian director, playwright, and screenwriter based in New York City. Her directorial film debut PAST LIVES (2023) received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Song's other plays include ENDLINGS and THE SEAGULL ON THE SIMS 4 FAMILY, and THE FEAST. According to her biography on The Playwright's Realm, "she has been awarded residences, fellowships, and commissions from MTC/Sloan, Sundance, the Millay Colony for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Edward F. Albee Foundation." Her next film project, MATERIALISTS, starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans, will be released in theatres on June 13, 2025.
Aileen Wen McGroddy (Director, EVERY BRILLIANT THING; TUTA Co-Artistic Director) is a Chinese and Irish American theatre director, educator, and producer of live events. She is a co-artistic director of TUTA Theatre Chicago. She is also the Creative Producer for the Writing is Live Festival at Brown University, a member of the Roundabout Directors Group, a past 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, and the BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage. MFA Directing from Brown-Trinity. Past work includes: ATTEMPTS ON HER LIFE (TUTA, Jeff Award winner for Ensemble – Play), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Trinity Rep); THE CHINESE LADY (Kitchen Theatre and Geva Theatre Center); SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (Northern Stage); AIRNESS (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre); THE LATE WEDDING, THE DUMB WAITER, SUMMER AND SMOKE, and THE TEMPEST (Brown-Trinity); COLD WAR CHOIR PRACTICE, THROWBACK ISLAND, ON THE Y-AXIS, AKIRA KUROSAWA EXPLAINS HIS MOVIES AND YOGURT (Writing is Live); MR. BURNS: A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY (Adelphi); THE GLASS MENAGERIE, OR,, DANI GIRL (Winnipesaukee Playhouse); KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY MUSICAL and THE SNOWY DAY (Emerald City Theatre); MONTAUCIEL TAKES FLIGHT (Lifeline Theatre); ULYSSES (The Plagiarists); A HERO’S JOURNEY, THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK, ROBIN HOOD, and THE PIED PIPER (The Forks & Hope Ensemble); THE WHISKEY RADIO HOUR, WAKE: A FOLK OPERA, KODACHROME TELEPHONE and SIGN OF RAIN (The Whiskey Rebellion). She has directed readings for New York Theatre Workshop, The Bushwick Starr, Clubbed Thumb, NY Classical Theatre, The Yale Drama Prize, Northern Stage, and Babes with Blades.
Duncan McMillan (Co-creator, EVERY BRILLIANT THING) is an English playwright and director. Most of his work focuses on modern socio-political issues. Macmillan won two awards in the inaugural year of the Brentwood Playwriting Competition at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre for his play, MONSTER. MONSTER also received nominations for the TMA and Manchester Evening News Awards for Best New Play. LUNGS, an exploration of Parenthood, premiered at the Studio Theatre in Washington DC. The British production, starring Kate O'Flynn and directed by Richard Wilson, debuted on the West End and won the 2013 Off West End Award for Best New Play. It has since been produced all over the world.
His next play, PEOPLE, PLACES AND centers around one woman's experience with addiction and attempts at recovery. The show was nominated for London’s Olivier Award for Best New Play. It transferred to the Wyndham Theatre in the West End in 2016 and premiered in New York City at St. Ann's Warehouse in 2017.
Macmillan co-adapted and co-directed an adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 with Robert Icke. 1984 opened at the Almeida Theatre before enjoying three West End stagings, multiple UK tours, an international tour, and a Broadway run.
Jonny Donahoe (Co-creator, EVERY BRILLIANT THING) is a Drama Desk award nominated actor; a Lucille Lortel award nominated writer; and a Chortle award nominated comedian. The co-creator and original performer of the acclaimed worldwide smash EVERY BRILLIANT THING, he performed the show over 400 times across four continents. The show and his performance at Barrow Street Theatre in New York was made into a film for HBO. His stage plays include THIRTY CHRISTMASES, which opened at The Old Fire Station in Oxford, and then transferred the following year off-West End to the New Diorama and starred himself and his third friend Rachel Parris. He is currently adapting this play for TV.
Jacqueline Stone (Director EVERY BRILLIANT THING, TUTA Co-Artistic Director) Jacqueline Stone is honored to be Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of TUTA. Her TUTA directing credits include THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER, the world premiere of HEDDA GABLER (as well as adaptor), Chicago and New York premieres (59E59 Theaters) of Adam Rapp's THE EDGE OF OUR BODIES, world premiere of THE ANYWAY CABARET (AN ANIMAL CABARET), and U.S. premiere OF THE SILENT LANGUAGE. Her TUTA performance credits include FULTON STREET SESSIONS, BAAL, THE WEDDING (1996, 2010, 2011), UNCLE VANYA (2008, 2009), A STILL LIFE IN COLOR, THE BIRDS, THE SWEET LITTLE PRINCE, ALICE, and THE HOUR.
In addition to TUTA, Stone currently serves as Producing Artistic Director of Breckenridge Backstage Theatre in Breckenridge, CO. BBT directing credits include the Colorado premiere of Jim DeVita and Josh Schmidt’s musical adaptation of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, MT Cozzola’s A LADY’S GUIDE TO MOUNTAINS (Denver Fringe), and A CHRISTMAS STORY. This spring she will direct EVERY BRILLIANT THING.
From 2016 - 2020, Stone served as Artistic Director of Emerald City Theatre Company, Chicago's largest professional theatre serving young audiences. ECT directing credits include the Chicago premiere of FANTASTIC MR. FOX, the Chicago premiere of KEN LUDWIG'S 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Broadway Playhouse), the Chicago premiere of THE SNOWY DAY & OTHER STORIES, the world premiere of MOTHER GOOSE'S GARDEN, world premiere of PETER RABBIT (also adapter), JUNIE B. JONES, RAMONA QUIMBY, and the world premiere of Mo Willems' DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS.
Select Chicago directing credits include Strawdog Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Chicago Immersive, Broadway in Chicago, Piven Theatre, The Second City, Mudlark Theater, Akvavit Theatre, Step Up Productions, 20% Theatre Company, You & Me Productions, and DCASE.
Jacqueline is co-founder of Sirens, the longest running all-female improv group in the country. She has appeared and created over 200 original shows with them.
Stone taught acting and improvisation at The Second City for ten years and Columbia College Chicago for five years. She spent twelve years as Emerald City Theatre's Education Director, building and fostering new acting programs for young people ages 3.5 - 13 years old. Other select teaching credits include The Faculty of Dramatic Arts (Belgrade, Serbia), Chicago Improv Festival, Miami Improv Festival, Duke University's FUQUA School of Business, UCLA, and University of Chicago.
ABOUT TUTA THEATRE
TUTA Theatre was established in 1995 in Washington, DC by co-founders Zeljko and Natasha Djukic, who brought a unique sense of artistic expression from their European homeland. In 2002, they relocated the company to Chicago. In the ensuing 23 years, TUTA has presented numerous US premieres of foreign plays from France, Russia, Austria, and Serbia. TUTA has produced seven world premieres, eight US premieres, four Midwest premieres and many modern re-imaginings of classics. In 2012, longtime company member Jacqueline Stone stepped into the role of Artistic Director, and TUTA added productions for youth with the US premiere of THE SILENT LANGUAGE. TUTA’s productions have been listed on Chicago critics’ ‘best of the year’ list eight times in the past 10 years and have been produced nationally (in NYC and LA) and internationally (in Serbia with the National Theatre in Belgrade).In 2023, TUTA named a new leadership structure with Co-Artistic Directors Aileen Wen McGroddy, Aziza Macklin, and Jacqueline Stone. Brad Gunter is Managing Director.