lauraeason.com

LAURA EASON

playwright

upcoming 2008 (for selected press, scroll down)

productions:

Around the World in 80 Days at Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago to be directed by Laura Eason - April/May '08 -- For performance calander and tickets go to www.lookingglasstheatre.org

LAURA EASON
SELECTED PRESS

THE GHOST'S BARGAIN: A Spirited Tale for Christmas
By Laura Eason adapated from the story The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain by Charles Dickens
Produced at Two River Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, 2007
“Laura Eason, a playwright with a passion for literary adaptation, has mined a relatively unknown Dickens story to create a new holiday theater contender. This adaptation has all the elements of heartwarming, morally charged family entertainment.”         -- The New York Times
“Stands poised to create a holiday tradition all its own… -- Asbury Park Press
“This Dickens story may not be as popular as ‘A Christmas Carol,’ but it emerges as a more profound work.”   -- The Star-Ledger
“A welcome addition to the holiday theater scene.”   -- The Two River Times
“An intelligent, lovingly staged adaptation.” -- Talkin’ Broadway

When the Messenger Is Hot
by Laura Eason adapted from the stories of Elizabeth Crane
Produced as part of Steppenwolf’s First Look Repertory and at 59E59 in New York, 2007

When the Messenger Is Hot" is very, very hot… "Messenger" is pure magic -- a perfect blend of Eason's richly inspired, cleverly envisioned adaptation, Jessica Thebus' pitch-perfect direction, and the very particular gifts of a sublime cast of five…this 85-minute piece careens brilliantly between comedy and heartbreak… the impact of this play is as intense as it is wholly enchanting. It is a fairy tale for our time.

-- Chicago Sun-Times

Laura Eason's slick, shrewd and savvy theatrical adaptation, currently premiering at the Steppenwolf's First Look Repertory of New Work and slated to open off-Broadway in October, is fresh, smart and, yes, populist material that

will draw you in quite tightly. Clearly, Steppenwolf took enough of an advance "first look" to schedule this show for New York, even before its Chicago premiere. You can see why.

-- Chicago Tribune

AREA OF RESCUE
by Laura Eason
Produced by Andhow! Theater at the Connelly Theatre in the East Village, NYC, June 2007

"Spectacular... there's lots going on in this play… Eason's characters live in longing for a world they fear
will never return. Their yard has been stripped to be turned into an "area of rescue" in case of attack.
These ideas have great resonance to our own time… -- nytheatre.com

Eason's allegory is not only spot-on but cogently original.
A regime that knows the answer to the afterlife question but does not know how to stop terrorism is bad news.
The brilliance of Area of Rescue lies in Eason's juxtaposition of those two facts
to create horrific paradox and irony. -- Off-off online

HUCK FINN

By Laura Eason adapted from the novel by Mark Twain
Produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago – 2007

Laura Eason's condensed but satisfying adaptation of America's finest coming-of-age saga… -- Chicago Reader

A respectful, energetic adaptation of Mark Twain's Huck Finn…. the production strikes a nice balance by respecting Twain's work and introducing new and creative elements of storytelling. – Centerstage Chicago

THE COAST OF CHICAGO
By Laura Eason adapted from the book of short stories by Stuart Dybek
Co-produced by Walkabout Theater and Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago – 2006

       Listed as one of the best shows of 2006 in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Windy City Times!

What a lovely, haunting surprise. The Coast of Chicago -- Laura Eason's winningly woven stage adaptation --
turns out to be a poetic, emotionally vivid, beautifully acted "portrait of the artist as a young man.
                                                                                HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.    -- Chicago Sun-Times

Laura Eason's adaptation captures Dybek's tone with quiet assurance…this 90-minute piece triumphs.
                                                                                            CRITICS' CHOICE         -- Chicago Reader

I am thrilled to report that Eason's translation to the stage is brilliant … a tight, riveting show…
                                                                                            Four stars (out of four)    -- Daily Herald

A beautiful piece wonderfully performed. CRITIC’S PICK -- WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio

A TALE OF TWO CITIES
by Laura Eason adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens
Produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago -- 2004

Laura Eason's concise but POWERFUL adaptation of "Tale" … cuts through the narrative complexities
of this tale of the French Revolution and foregrounds its deeper truths.    -- Chicago Tribune

Never let it be said that [director] Jessica Thebus and Laura Eason are afraid of a challenge.
                                                                                                    RECOMMENDED -- Chicago Sun-Times

…one in a growing line of OUTSTANDING Arts Exchange projects in the last couple of years. -- Chicago Tribune

THEY ALL FALL DOWN: THE RICHARD NICKEL STORY
Adapted by Laura Eason and Jessica Thebus
Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago -- 2001

A brilliant meditation … a FABULOUSLY IMAGINATIVE tragicomic theatrical rendering.   -- Chicago Sun-Times

From their earliest days Lookingglass has been interested in holding up a mirror to Chicago…
                                     never before have they succeeded as well as they have here.    -- Daily Herald

28: pictures of life in a high-tech world
Written and Directed by Laura Eason
Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company in association with The Goodman Theatre, Chicago --1997

…ILLUMINATING…the kind of theater that has made Lookingglass a troupe to be reckoned with.
                                        28 raises issues almost no other off-loop theatre has dared to broach. -- Chicago Reader

Underneath this high-tech veneer lies a spirit of primal innocence, whimsical and romantic in its attitude…
                                        ...a sweet, fuzzy, poignant and scruffy little potpourri… RECOMMENDED -- Chicago Tribune

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Written and Directed by Laura Eason
Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago -- 1993
Produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company and Touchstone Theatre, PA -- 1997

…beautifully imagined and realized… the brief hour of “Beholder” packs in a lot more than a dozen productions elsewhere…
              a haunting hour of striking imagery, tantalizing role-playing and indelible artistry worth savoring
                                                                                                        long after the final black out. -- Chicago Tribune

Laura Eason’s mini-masterwork…a MUST-SEE revival. -- Chicago Sun-Times

…rich, resonant, endlessly inventive… just the kind of play we’ve come to expect from Lookingglass;
                                                                         DARING, INTELLIGENT and BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED. -- New City