PERRI GAFFNEY’S “THE RESURRECTION OF ALICE” OPENS ETA’S 43rd SEASON SEPTEMBER 13 (Chicago)

Previews Thursday, September 12

Perri Gaffney

CHICAGO (August 12, 2013) --Helen Hayes Award nominated actress, playwright and novelist Perri Gaffney will bring her acclaimed one-woman show “The Resurrection of Alice” to Chicago, opening eta Creative Arts Foundation’s 43^rd  season Friday, September 13, 2013.  Called a “Riveting” “Dazzling” “Tour de Force” performance by Perri Gaffney, The Resurrection of Alice is inspired by the countless forgotten lives of young, black girls who found themselves in arranged marriages to men that were usually community pillars, financially comfortable and old enough to be their grandfathers.   It is inspired by a true story.

Performances of “The Resurrection of Alice” take place at 8 pm Fri & Sat; 3 pm Sundays through October 20, at eta Square, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.  

There will be a preview performance on Thursday, September 12.  General admission is $30, with student, senior and group discounts.  Subscriptions to the 2013-14 season are also available for only $75 for five shows.  For tickets and information, call 773-752-3955 or visit www.etacreativearts.org.

Fifteen-year-old Alice looks forward to graduating from high school (a family first) and attending college on the scholarship she has earned.  But her plans are ruined when she learns that she must honor her parent’s secret marriage arrangements for her to the lonely, old family benefactor who had been eyeing her since she was seven-years-old.  Alice’s next twenty years of overcoming trials are a tribute to the power of nurturing and healing that can cause a broken spirit to be reborn.

“This type of arrangement, prevalent throughout many countries and cultures, was once a fairly common practice among African Americans through the mid 1900’s,” says playwright and actress Perri Gaffney.  “This piece was inspired by a friend’s mother.  When she told me about her mother the idea stayed with me.”

Perri Gaffney made her debut performance in the Washington, DC area at Arena Stage in the world premiere of Polk County by Zora Neal Hurston and Dorothy Wearing.  She originated the role of Dicey Long and received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.  She last performed The Resurrection of Alice, adapted from her novel of the same name, at the historic Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, New York.  Off Broadway credits include The Waiting Room by Samm-Art Williams and a revival of Lillian Hellman’s Another Part of the Forest.  Other stage credits include The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry (Perseverance Theatre), Macbeth, Music Man and Death and the King’s Horsemen at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and The Resurrection of Alice at North Carolina Black Repertory, Main Stage West, H.A.D.L.E.Y. Players (AUDELCO nomination for Best Solo Performance), Southern Illinois University, Pittsburg Big Read, National Black Theatre Festival and the Oregon Stage Works.

On television she played Nurse Bentley on As the World Turns and has appeared on Law & Order. She has several independent and documentary film credits including the independent feature So Close.  Other writing credits include How to Manage Artists in Pop Music.

Of Gaffney’s performance in “The Resurrection of Alice,” The DC Theatre Scene declared, “Seamlessly taking on dozens of characters… (Perri’s) rapid depictions were enough to convince me I was watching a stage full of actors!”                 

about eta Creative Arts Foundation

eta Creative Arts Foundation, Inc. was incorporated in April, 1971 as a non-profit tax exempt organization to provide professional training and work in the performing and technical arts for youth and adults.  eta has become widely recognized as Chicago’s leading performing and cultural arts complex in the African American community and one of only a few African American owned and managed facilities of its kind in the city.  eta has a commitment to the production of new works and the development of the individual artist.