Photo: Joe Mazza, Brave Lux, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACT
Stephanie Polt
Communications Director
stephanie.polt@publicaccesstheatre.org

ORACLE SELLS OUT INITIAL RUN OF good friday IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK.  EXTENSION PLANS FURTHER ORACLE MISSION.

Oracle Productions reaffirms pledge of “Free Art For All” with plans for extension and additional performances after overwhelming demand.

Grassroots success inspired by Oracle’s growing reputation and excitement for a world premiere by Kristiana Rae Colón.

CHICAGO (June 21, 2016) – Oracle Productions announced today that their world-premiere run of good friday, the radical, intersectional drama written by Kristiana Rae Colón and directed by Tara Branham, has reserved its entire initial run’s ticket allotment in less than one week. The 70 seat houses and 22 performances were overtaken by community demand.

Oracle’s tickets are always free of charge in Public Access Theatre, but selling out in advance of opening night is unprecedented for the company. The ticket-grabbing frenzy was spearheaded by commercial producer Keaton Wooden, who joined the production this spring. “Kristiana wrote an immensely powerful piece of theater,” says Wooden. ”It deserves every bit of the excitement it’s getting, and we worked to create a special rollout plan that would get the public on board.” The project is a co-production between Oracle with their Artistic Producer Tony Santiago and Colón, Branham, Wooden, Nicole Murray (Stage 18), and Kacie Smith.

Oracle intends to announce plans to extend both performances and seats for the world-premiere play to be released in July. “We’re thrilled with the public’s response, but our mission has never involved scarcity,” said Executive Producer Ben Fuchsen. “We believe that art is necessary to live a full life, and everyone should have access to it. With such an amazing line-up, we knew selling out could be a real possibility, and worked to have measures in place.”

To increase availability of tickets, Oracle is looking to add performances and scenic designer Shaun Renfro is adding more seating into the design of the space. Of primary importance is supporting the community partners Oracle has established with this project. They will be onsite to host talkbacks, and their constituents will also have access to the shows. Oracle is also working to schedule accessibility nights for audience members who prefer to use services like captioning, ASL interpretation, and audio description. Oracle will look to its sponsors to support this extended run, and added nights will be announced soon.

“Extending a free show provides challenges and we’re committed to giving meaningful art, such as Kristiana’s play, to the community without barrier or restriction, which is why our sponsors are so valuable,” said Oracle Executive Director, Brad Jayhan Little. Oracle’s sponsors, The Forty 4 – contribute monthly or yearly.

good friday was workshopped by Kristiana Rae Colón and Tara Branham multiple times, and will have its world-premiere on the Oracle stage. The all female cast features Oracle Company Member DeChantel Kosmatka, who is joined by Bella Bahhs, Melissa Duprey, Karen Rodriguez, Aurora Adachi-Winter, Isa Arciniegas, Heather Chrisler, and understudies Quenna Lené, Deanalís Resto, and Adia Alli.

SYNOPSIS
In academia’s hallowed halls, five women debate millennial feminism when gunshots shatter the safety of their discourse. As tweets stream across the campus feed, the body count grows. And then the shooter enters the classroom. At the intersection of gun violence and slacktivism, in a #yesallwomen world, what is the real cost of revolution?