LAURA EASON
playwright
Laura Eason is the author of more than fifteen plays -- both original work and adaptations. From March ’07 – June ’08 she had have eight productions of seven different new works at six different theatres across the country – Huck Finn at Steppenwolf, Chicago, Area of Rescue at New York's Connelly Theatre produced by Andhow! Theater Company, When the Messenger is Hot as part of Steppenwolf’s First Look Repertory followed by an Off-Broadway run at New York's 59E59 theatre, Dynamometer produced by The Thursday Problem and Working Man's Clothes in NYC, Lost in the Supermarket as part of Vital Theatre Company's Vital Signs New Works Festival in NYC, The Ghost’s Bargain at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, and Around the World in 80 Days at Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, which she will also direct.
Laura's plays have been commissioned and produced by Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Two River Theatre, Walkabout Theatre and Sojourn Theatre, among others, and read/developed at New York Theatre Workshop, MCC and New Georges in New York. Her plays When the Messenger is Hot, Area of Rescue and Around the World in 80 Days are published by Broadway Play Publishing where she was named Playwright of the Year in 2007.
She is an Ensemble Member and the former Artistic Director of Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago, an Affiliated Artist with New Georges in NYC and an Associate Artist with Sojourn Theatre in Portland, OR. Originally from Chicago, Laura lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Philip R. Smith as Phileas Fogg and Anish Jethmalani as James in the Lookingglass Theatre production of Around the World in 80 Days.
Kevin Douglas, Anish Jethmalani, Joe Dempsey,
Ravi Batista and Philip R. Smith
in the Lookingglass Theatre production of
Around the World in 80 Days.
Ravi Batista and Philip R. Smith
in the Lookingglass Theatre production of
Around the World in 80 Days.
Around the World in 80 Days photos by Sean Williams.
Written and Directed by Laura Eason
Adapted from the novel by Jules Verne
RESPONSE FROM THE SOLD-OUT RUN AT
LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE, CHICAGO
April/May/June - 2008
Recently published by
Broadway Play Publishing
www.broadwayplaypubl.com
Chicago Tribune
“Light, cheerful and greatly entertaining… laudably committed to its theatricality… Eason's staging is full of the visual imagination we've come to expect from Lookingglass…It's all a great deal of fun.”
Chicago Sun-Times
“Pure, unadulterated magic… utterly beguiling… Lookingglass at its very considerable best… a high-spirited, imagination-filled escapade… Laura Eason's exceptionally graceful adaptation of the Jules Verne classic -- which she also has directed with the lightest and most seamless sense of balletic whimsy -- manages to be both wise and fun-filled... it lays its bets on enchantment and invariably comes up a winner… a show that should sail the world. Highly recommended.”
Broadway World
“Remarkably clever and theatrical… delightful…Laura Eason has done a fine job of satisfying a number of different types of audiences; the company's subscription base, hard-core theatergoers, children and/or tourists, the literary-minded and those who like a good action story—all of them will find something to like here…attending this production is a fun and entertaining way to remember the delights of Verne's novel and to experience the wonder of live theater in its inventiveness and its power to transport. A grown-up, family-friendly show, all in two hours."
The Chicago Reader
“An engaging, family-friendly show. Highly recommended.”
Southtown Star
“Written and directed by Laura Eason with joyful whimsy and fantastic invention, this stage adaptation comes to exhilarating life in a dazzling display of theatrical genius. Without a doubt, it's one of the best shows of the year. You don't want to miss it.”
Theatermania
“Cleverly-staged…varied and evocative… charming.”
Time Out Chicago
“Eason’s affable adaptation plays up elements of Verne’s novel that are sometimes forgotten… Eason moves stylishly from set piece to set piece, from the cuckoo-clock orchestration of Fogg’s London life to teacups sliding across a shipboard table.”
Copley News
“Lookingglass at its more stylish and imaginative… a perfect fit for the kind of creativity and imagination that’s earned the Chicago company its national reputation.”
The217.com
“Witty, clever, fast-paced and endlessly entertaining.”
For tickets and more information go to
Poster art by David K. Landis for
Shake It Loose Graphics