OPENING: The Hypocrites All Our Tragic Brings 12 Hours of Characters to a 140 Character World

Something incredible is happening on the Chicago theatre scene. Epic, marathon, long form shows like the 12 hour mythic behemoth, All Our Tragic, by The Hypocrites and House Theatre's 9 hour Hammer Trinity are taking the city by storm. In a generation weaned on 140 character tweets, sound bites and status updates, it's beyond exciting to see that "short attention span theatre" can be dropped at the doorstep for a full on, day long, theatre immersion. And audiences and critics alike are loving it!

All Our Tragic production photos via The Hypocrites

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

"...a watershed moment for off-Loop theater. By whatever alchemy, it serves the greatest collection of stories ever written - adds to them, modernizes them, makes them feel fresh, forces you to see them both strange and familiar."

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

★★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)

"surprisingly funny and totally singular experience."

Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago

"mind-boggling flight of the imagination, with many sequences of immense passion, intense physicality and wit."

Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

All Our Tragic opens June 20th, and ticket are selling fast. Don't miss it this time around! 

We want to share the day with you.

Buy your tickets now!

All Our Tragic production photos via The Hypocrites

 Day Long Epic Productions Prevail:

Although it recently closed, we will NEVER forget The House Theatre's epic saga, The Hammer Trinity, and we are already crossing our fingers and toes for a remount. It was THAT good. We were front and center for The Hammer Trinity with the tween & teen in tow, and it was one of the coolest things we've done in the city as a family... EVER. And we get around to a lot of cool events and see a LOT of theatre. Even though we'd reviewed parts 1 and 2 in past years, seeing all 3 shows in a row was mind altering, and we can't recommend experiencing theatre in this way highly enough!


The Hammer Trinity production photos via The House Theatre

Long form shows of this magnitude change a person. It's nothing short of cathartic to put away all the cell phones, and electronics and be in the moment, experiencing epic story telling for hours. It was an endurance, a multi character marathon, and even the audience members felt like we'd accomplished something special and impressive by the final curtain call. We KNOW the actors did.

Last year we were out of town on a travel feature when All Our Tragic first arrived on the Chicago scene, and by the time we were back and had an open night they were sold out. We're elated to have a second chance to catch the full on, 12 hour in a row immersion this time around. The All Our Tragic remount opens June 20th, and once again tickets are selling FAST. Don't miss this. Save your spot ASAP. Check out the full details below and we'll see you out there.

All Our Tragic production photos via The Hypocrites

All Our Tragic is an epic adaptation of the thirty-two surviving Greek tragedies first mounted in 2014 and returning in the Summer of 2015. This twelve-hour theatrical event features the entire canon of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, creating a modern Festival of Dionysus. These Ancient Greek festivals were designed to encourage civic conversation about contemporary topics by incorporating art, politics and food.

Typically, audiences experience a play for two hours and then, within days, even high-quality productions dissipate from memory. In answer to this, we find ourselves turning toward making art that requests a prolonged commitment from the audience in exchange for an unforgettable experience.

All Our Tragic features nine hours of performed material and three hours for snack and meal time, which is included in the price of admission. These breaks are as important as the performances themselves; they provide a time to discuss the freshly-witnessed plays with others, to eat some food, and to get to know some strangers.

All Our Tragic production photos via The Hypocrites

All Our Tragic is adapted and directed by the inimitable Sean Graney, and the 2015 remount features most of the original cast members. Save the dates and book your tickets ASAP. Previews start June 20, and they're only slated to run through August 9, 2015 at The Hypocrites home base, The Den Theatre Mainstage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently on sale at www.the-hypocrites.com. The press opening is Sunday, June 28 at 11 am.

Audiences will have only 16 opportunities to enjoy ALL OUR TRAGIC, presented in a single 12-hour experience with "marathon" performances on Saturdays and Sundays only. A daylong stream of meals and snacks is included in ticket prices, with multiple intermissions and meal breaks. A cash bar is also available.

The 17-member ensemble cast of ALL OUR TRAGIC 2015 includes: Erin Barlow, Ryan Bourque, Walter Briggs, Geoff Button, Kate Carson-Groner, Emily Casey, Tien Doman, Lindsey Gavel, Danny Goodman, Maximilian Lapine, Luce Metrius, Erin Myers, Dana Omar, Christine Stulik, Zeke Sulkes, John Taflan and Lauren Vogel.

From the most popular titles to the most rarely produced, experience the 32 surviving Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides in one breathtaking and unforgettable theatrical event. Blended with humor and set against a contemporary backdrop, ALL OUR TRAGIC builds on the success of The Hypocrites'' 2011 award-winning production of Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses. The 2014 world premiere of ALL OUR TRAGIC was showered with critical praise, hailed by Chicago critics as "... a water-shed moment for off-Loop theater," "a mind-boggling flight of the imagination," and "...an epic event in every sense."

ALL OUR TRAGIC is designed to create a contemporary Festival of Dionysus, the ancient gatherings for which these tragedies were originally crafted - to bring together a daily community to bond, eat food, drink wine and discuss complicated topics of society that we have been wrestling with since the creation of civilization.

Sean Graney states, "I cannot wait to experience All Our Tragic with audiences again, it remains the most personal and important work of my life. I have been working on the script since the premiere and am very pleased with the changes. Without altering the aspect we all loved, I have improved sections that left me wanting, clarified underdeveloped characters and fine-tuned the humor. I am also very eager to augment the audiences experience for the remount by providing finer vegetarian meals and comprehensive reference material. Over all, we are all working very hard to improve upon everything that can be improved, I hope it pays off. Please join us."

The production team for ALL OUR TRAGIC includes: Tom Burch (scenic design), Alison Siple (costume design), Jared Moore (lighting design), Kevin O''Donnell (sound design), Danielle Case (props design), Ryan Bourque(violence design), Mieka van der Ploeg (wig and makeup design), Jon Beal (blood and gore design), Miranda Anderson and Justine Palmisano (co-stage managers).

Click here for more info and to buy your tickets now!

All Our Tragic production photos via The Hypocrites