the playground theater.

OUT OF CHARACTER, Fridays at 8pm, beginning July 22.

Chicago, Il. - July 5 - The Playground Theater and GRAFITTI Productions are excited to premiere “Out of Character” on Friday, July 22 at 8pm, running through September 30. Tickets are $10 and available online or at the box office located inside the theater at 3209 N. Halsted St. in Chicago.

Improv is king as far as comedy in Chicago is concerned, and comedy as a whole knows no origin quite like Chicago. With the most recent round of Saturday Night Live auditions and smash success of the Alone showcase in the TBS Just For Laughs Festival, many of Chicago’s improvisers are starting to explore solo sketch comedy - a style of comedy that can showcase who they are as both a writer and performer.

For the past two years the Playground Theater has been thrilled to host Give Me 5 and Happy Hour, two productions that focus precisely on solo sketch comedy. Give Me 5, inspired by the short and urgent format of SNL auditions, provides performers five minutes to do anything comedic of their choosing: sketch, standup, storytelling, music, and more. Happy Hour – with original cast members that include SNL writer Michael Patrick O’Brien and the Defiant Thomas Brothers’ Paul Thomas - centers on solo sketch comedy through workshop and performance.

The Playground’s newest production, Out of Character, focuses on these well-written and performed solo character sketches to turn each piece into a fully-realized improvised show. The cast prepares for performance by writing an individual character piece as though he or she was the star of their own hit television series. The Out of Character cast as a whole then explores a different personality each week as the star performer is accompanied by the improvisation of supporting cast members. 

“It is incredibly rewarding to see the quality of solo sketch in Chicago,” says Matt Barbera, Playground President and producer of the weekly Grafitti Sketch Comedy Showcase. “Now we want to give these characters a full life beyond the original idea.”  

Out of Character is performed by Mel Evans, Sarah Fineout, Sayjal Joshi, Lisa Linke, Wendy Mateo, Anthony Oberbeck, Conner O’Malley, Patrick Raynor, Patrick Rowland, Micah Sterenberg, and Rob White. The show is directed and produced by Matt Barbera.

Reservations for Out of Character or any Playground show can be made at (773) 871-3793 or www.the-playground.com. All shows are BYOB for audience members age 21 and up. 

The Playground Theater is the nation’s only not-for-profit co-op theater dedicated to the performance and instruction of improvised comedy. The Playground’s 180 affiliated actors work on a 100% volunteer basis to perform and operate the theater.

For more information please contact:

Kara Jakubec
Director of Marketing
email | kara@the-playground.com

The Playground Theater
3209 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60657

phone | (773) 871-3793
web| the-playground.com
twitter | @the_playground
tumblr | theplaygroundtheater
facebook | theplaygroundtheater


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