"Smart ... zesty and witty. There are some very fine actors kicking the dust off this stage"
-- Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune
"A fine cast of players...The play has life and makes us think."
-- Alan Bresloff,
Village View
"Deftly written and acted"
-- Hedy Weiss,
Chicago Sun Times
"Packed with witty putdowns, and Wechsler's cast has a fine time with
all of it"
-- Nina Metz,
New City
"Intelligent, witty with biting satire and sharp one-liners and retorts. Penniston’s script is rich."
-- Tom Williams,
ChicagoCritic.com
About Spin
When Brent loses his high paying job as an art director for a big name advertising firm and goes through a divorce, he falls back on his Plan B, resolving to remake himself. With a host of good intentions and self-help books about Buddhism he takes in a street kid and renounces worldly possessions. But when tempted with prestige and cash by an old advertising buddy, he sells his life over to a beer company. Literally. When his best intentions bring him to a couch, a bomb, a celebrity hostage and the contempt of his co-workers and girlfriend, some serious self-examination is in order. The first comedy in a decade by Jeff-award winning playwright Penny Penniston, whose last comedy, now then again, ran for over 17 weeks at the Ivanhoe theatre, Spin is a farce that questions our own identity in the middle of a consumerist culture, and challenges us to consider what happens when consumerism ends and we need to rediscover ourselves.
The Cast
Lance Baker (Jack) is making his third appearance at Theater Wit, having been seen in the one-man shows Santaland Diaries and Thom Pain (based on nothing), for which he received a Jeff Award for Solo Performance. Most recent credits include Lookingglass' Around the World in 80 Days for Kansas City Rep, Northlight's Mauritius [Jeff nomination], Fanny Brice: The Real Funny Girl at Maltz Jupiter, FL; Amadeus at Chicago Shakespeare; the world premiere of Craig Wright's Lady for Northlight; A Steady Rain for Chicago Dramatists; A Park in Our House, I Sailed with Magellan, and Young Lady from Rwanda at Victory Gardens; Ionesco's Hunger and Thirst and The Grey Zone at A Red Orchid; Dollhouse and Lobby Hero at Goodman [both Jeff nominated].
Joe Foust is happy to return to Theater Wit, where he performed Santaland Diaries until Chicago was sick of him. Chicago acting credits include What the Butler Saw, Endgame (Court Theater), The Beard of Avon (Goodman Theatre), Mother Courage and Her Children ( Steppenwolf), Kabuki Medea (Wisdom Bridge), The Seagull, Major Barbara (Remy Bumppo), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Next), and fourteen productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where favorites include The Winter's Tale, Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV parts 1 and 2. Joe is a founding member of Defiant Theatre, where credits include directing and co-writing Action Movie:the Play and Ubu Raw.
Coburn Goss (Brent) recently appeared in Fake at Steppenwolf, The Crowd You’re In With at Goodman, and Dying City with Next Theatre. Other credits include: Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Royal Family, Absolution (Steppenwolf), When the Messenger Is Hot (Steppenwolf, also Off-Broadway at 59E59 Street), Vigils (Goodman), Seagull (Writers’ Theatre), and The Last True Believer (Seattle Rep), and A Whistle in the Dark, Journey‘s End (Seanachai Theatre). Film: The Lucky Ones, Shelter, Joshua, What Women Want. Television: E/R, The Beast, Prison Break. Spin marks his first appearance at Theater Wit.
Michael Kessler (Aaron) returns to Spin after having participated in a workshop on the play in 2005. Other Chicago credits include understudying The Return to Haifa at Next Theatre and play development workshops with Chicago Dramatists, Stage Left, and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble.
Austin Talley (Ruby Jones) graduated from Depaul Theater School in 2007. He has had the pleasure of being in Milk by Nambi E. Kelley, Ten Square by Shepsu Aahku, and She Calls up the Sun by Addae Moon. This is his first Theater Wit production.
Alice Wedoff (Danielle) is quite happy to be working with Jeremy again after having appeared in his little known (but well loved) production of The Flu Season with Black Sheep. Elsewhere around town she has worked with Pegasus Players on Shape of a Girl (Jeff Nomination, Solo Performance), with TUTA (Romeo and Juliet, It' Only the End of the World, Tracks, and Still Life in Color), The Hypocrites (Three Penny Opera), Redmoon (Boneyard Prayer), Chicago Dramatists (Feast), and a smattering of other theaters around her beloved Chicago. This is her first Theater Wit production.
Joe Foust is happy to return to Theater Wit, where he performed Santaland Diaries until Chicago was sick of him. Chicago acting credits include What the Butler Saw, Endgame (Court Theater), The Beard of Avon (Goodman Theatre), Mother Courage and Her Children ( Steppenwolf), Kabuki Medea (Wisdom Bridge), The Seagull, Major Barbara (Remy Bumppo), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Next), and fourteen productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where favorites include The Winter's Tale, Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV parts 1 and 2. Joe is a founding member of Defiant Theatre, where credits include directing and co-writing Action Movie:the Play and Ubu Raw.
Coburn Goss (Brent) recently appeared in Fake at Steppenwolf, The Crowd You’re In With at Goodman, and Dying City with Next Theatre. Other credits include: Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Royal Family, Absolution (Steppenwolf), When the Messenger Is Hot (Steppenwolf, also Off-Broadway at 59E59 Street), Vigils (Goodman), Seagull (Writers’ Theatre), and The Last True Believer (Seattle Rep), and A Whistle in the Dark, Journey‘s End (Seanachai Theatre). Film: The Lucky Ones, Shelter, Joshua, What Women Want. Television: E/R, The Beast, Prison Break. Spin marks his first appearance at Theater Wit.
Michael Kessler (Aaron) returns to Spin after having participated in a workshop on the play in 2005. Other Chicago credits include understudying The Return to Haifa at Next Theatre and play development workshops with Chicago Dramatists, Stage Left, and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble.
Austin Talley (Ruby Jones) graduated from Depaul Theater School in 2007. He has had the pleasure of being in Milk by Nambi E. Kelley, Ten Square by Shepsu Aahku, and She Calls up the Sun by Addae Moon. This is his first Theater Wit production.
Alice Wedoff (Danielle) is quite happy to be working with Jeremy again after having appeared in his little known (but well loved) production of The Flu Season with Black Sheep. Elsewhere around town she has worked with Pegasus Players on Shape of a Girl (Jeff Nomination, Solo Performance), with TUTA (Romeo and Juliet, It' Only the End of the World, Tracks, and Still Life in Color), The Hypocrites (Three Penny Opera), Redmoon (Boneyard Prayer), Chicago Dramatists (Feast), and a smattering of other theaters around her beloved Chicago. This is her first Theater Wit production.