Shattered Globe Theatre’s Chicago Debut of Absurdist Comedy Flood at Theater Wit January 25-March 9, 2024

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FLOOD!

Shattered Globe shores up for Chicago debut of Flood,  Mashuq Mushtaq Deen’s absurdist comedy,  January 25-March 9, 2024  

Shattered Globe’s Theatre’s cast for Flood features (top, from left) SGT Ensemble Member Linda Reiter (Edith) with H.B. Ward (Darren), (bottom) Sarah Patin (Edith Junior) and Carl Collins (Darren Junior). Photo credit: Jeffrey Kurysz Batten down the hatches for Flood, Shattered Globe Theatre’s new comedy for the end of the world, in a Chicago premiere, January 25-March 9, 2024, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Chicago. I'll be out for the press opening January 28th, so check back soon for my full review. Flood marks the Chicago debut of playwright Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, in a production directed by Kenneth Prestininzi. Shattered Globe’s production is theatre of the absurd, charting the relationship between two parents and their adult children for a comedic dive into the murky waters of love, companionship, gender and generational divides.  Imagine a nice, if dated, 19th floor hi-rise apartment. All Edith wants is to sit and have tea with her husband, Darren. “It’s not too much to ask, is it?” Maybe when he’s done building his masterpiece. Meanwhile, the kids don’t call enough, and when they do, they seem full of accusations. And outside their apartment? The waters are rising. And rising. And rising.  The cast for Flood features Shattered Globe Ensemble Member Linda Reiteras Edith, H.B. Ward as Darren, with Carl Collins and Sarah Patin as their adult children, Darren Junior and Edith Junior, both unlike their parents in so many ways.

Shattered Globe’s creative team is Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (playwright), Kenneth Prestininzi (director), Lauren Nichols (set designer), Yvonne Miranda(costume designer), Jared Gooding (lighting designer), Danny Rockett (sound designer), Smooch Medina (projection designer), Jamie Auer (props designer), Tina Jach (production stage manager) and Becca Smith (production manager). Understudies (at press time) are Robert Koon and Rich Adrian Lazatin.  "Flood is a provocative, pertinent new play with an absurdist and comedic outlook on generational divides amidst catastrophe. Shattered Globe is excited to produce the second production of Flood and to welcome playwright Mashuq Mushtaq Deen to Chicago as he continues to refine this funny and moving play,” said Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner.  “The strong artistic bond that director Ken Prestininzi and Deen forged during the world premiere creates a shorthand for the work on this new production," Shinner added. "There is nothing like being in the room on the development of a new play, and our extremely talented design staff and actors are ready to go.I have no doubt that SGT is a second step to Flood being produced on many more stages around the country.”  Shattered Globe is in residence at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago’s Lakeview community. Flood runs there January 25-March 9, 2024. The first preview, Thursday, January 25 at 8 p.m., is Pay-What-You-Can-Night. Previews continue Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. Previews are $10-$25.  Performances continue through March 9: Thursday through Saturday at  8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. There is an added 3 p.m. matinee on closing day, Saturday, March 9. Tickets to regular performances are $15-$52.  Purchase tickets online at sgtheatre.org, by calling the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150, or in person at Theater Wit. For group discounts, email groupsales@shatteredglobe.org or call (773) 770-0333. Shattered Globe also offers a waived ticket program to ensure maximum accessibility. Access: Theater Wit is wheelchair accessible, and all patrons with mobility needs are invited to purchase access tickets with the code ACCESS20 at Theater Wit’s checkout page. Please also email boxoffice@theaterwit.org to make sure SGT can reserve the right seat for your access needs. Assisted Listening Devices are available for all performances. Audio Description and a Touch Tour will be offered on Friday, February 9. The Touch Tour begins at 6:45 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Open Captions will be provided at the Sunday, March 3 matinee. Use code ACCESS20 for $20 tickets to take advantage of these accessibility offerings. Note (at press time): Masks are optional but encouraged for most performances and will be mandatory at three designated performances: Sunday, February 4 at 3 p.m., Thursday, February 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 25 at 3 p.m. Shattered Globe’s Flood rides in on the strong wake of the company’s smash hit season opener earlier this fall, Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge. SGT closes its 33rd season April 19-June 1, 2024, with Jump, a Midwest premiere by Charly Evon Simpson, directed by associate artistic director AmBer Montgomery. Visit sgtheatre.org for more information, including content warnings, news of special events, accessible ticket options and SGT's full mask policy. Find and follow the company on social media @shatteredglobe on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Artist biographies 

Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (playwright, Flood, he/him) is a CORE writer at the Playwrights Center, and winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Draw the Circle, which was produced at PlayMakers Rep, Mosaic Theatre, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre (published by Dramatists Play Service). His other full-length plays include Flood, which had its world premiere starring Chicago’s Laura Fisher and Matt DeCaro at Kansas City Rep in 2022; The Vessel, commissioned by the NYU graduate acting program; The Betterment Society, which is published in “The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays”; The Shaking Earth, which has won two second place international awards (International Woodward Prize, and the India's International Sulthan Padamsee Prize), and has been nominated for both a Weissberger Award and a Venturous Fund award; and The Telegram, a live-staged radio play commissioned and produced by Keen Company. Deen is a member of the NYTW Usual Suspects and the Dramatists Guild. He is an alum of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, the Public Theater Writers Group, and New Dramatists. He earned his MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School/New School for Drama.  

Kenneth Prestininzi (director, he/him) has collaborated as a director/dramaturg with Mia Chung, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Martyna Mayok, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen and many others. He directed the world premiere of Deen’s Flood at Kansas City Rep, and is staging the play’s second production at Shattered Globe in January 2024. His award-winning plays, musicals and directing work have been seen in Boston, Brighton, Edinburgh, Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Morocco, New York City, Philadelphia, Prague, Providence, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. He teaches at the National Theater Institute and Connecticut College and was the Associate Chair of Playwriting at the Yale School of Drama for five years. Chicago productions include his original plays AmeriKafka, Beholder (Joseph Jefferson Award) and Chaste and Cookie Play (Trap Door Theatre). He is the founder of Salvage Arts Productions, is an alum of New Dramatists and studied with María Irene Fornés.  

Linda Reiter (Edith, she/her) was last seen on the Shattered Globe stage as Alfie/Ensemble in London Road. She has been a proud ensemble member for 32 years and has appeared in over 40 SGT productions. Reiter has garnered seven Jeff Awards and an additional nine nominations. Other Chicago credits include Rose (The Greenhouse Theater, Jeff Award for Solo Performance); Shakespeare in Love (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Testament of Mary, Immoral Imperatives and Flyovers (Victory Gardens Theater); Lettice & Lovage (Court Theatre); Arcadia (Remy Bumppo Theatre); and Marriage Play (Goodman Theatre). Her TV credits include Fargo, Chicago Med, Chicago PD and The Beast. Her voice can be heard on over 30 episodes of The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas.

H.B. Ward’s (Darren, any/all) SGT credits include For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday and The Realistic Joneses. Other recent Chicago credits include Evening at the Talk House, The Room, Come the Hell On and The Butcher of Baraboo (A Red Orchid Theater); Rock n Roll (The Artistic Home, Jeff Award Nomination - Best Actor); Chimerica (TimeLine Theater); Song about Himself and There Is a Happiness that Morning Is (Theater Oobleck); Hot Georgia Sundays (Haven Theatre); Hank Williams: Lost Highway (American Blues Theater); Exit Strategy and The Living Newspaper Festival (Jackalope Theatre); and The Electric Baby (Rivendell Theatre). Ward has also acted in many films, including Saint Francis(Oscilloscope Laboratories), and on television, including Chicago Fire (NBC).

Carl Collins (Darren Junior, he/him) is thrilled to join Shattered Globe in his first show since graduating from The Theatre School at DePaul University where he received his BFA in June.

Sarah Patin (Edith Junior, they/them) is excited to make their Shattered Globe stage debut, after being a part of their Protégé Program in 2018. Chicago credits include The SpongeBob Musical (Kokandy Productions); Camelot(Music Theatre Works); Once Upon a Mattress (Theo); Sub-Culture(Interrobang Theatre); Our Town (Redtwist Theatre); and Faust (The Runaways Lab Theatre). Regional credits include The Taming of the Shrew,Godspell and A Free Man of Color (Swine Palace). Patin holds a BA in Theatre Performance from Louisiana State University.

About Shattered Globe Theatre

Shattered Globe Theatre was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 80 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 44 Jeff Awards and 118 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike.  Shattered Globe Theatre, guided by Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner, seeks to discover new connections between story, artist and audience by exploring drama from bold, challenging perspectives, and continuously redefining what it means to be an ensemble theatre.  Shattered Globe’s values are rooted in a commitment to racial equity, respect for all artists and support for the ensemble, while creating new opportunities to amplify traditionally marginalized voices and collaborate in all aspects of our work. Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience. Shattered Globe Theatre’s Ensemble has 31 members: Judy Anderson, Rosie Chevalier, Louis Contey, David Dastmalchian, Demetra Dee, Joe Forbrich, Christina Gorman, Daria Harper, Tina M. Jach, Rebecca Jordan, Steve Kleinedler, Vivian Knouse, AmBer Montgomery, Tina Muñoz Pandya, Eileen Niccolai, Jazzma Pryor,