"Rose and the Rime," the nationally acclaimed play developed at Hope College, is about to begin a two-month presentation by The House Theatre of Chicago, Ill.
The House Theatre will be presenting the play with its own cast at The Chopin Theatre in Chicago from Thursday, Feb. 19, through Saturday, April 11.
Hope College Theatre originally presented - and premiered - "Rose and the Rime" in April 2007 in the DeWitt Center main theatre.
The play was written and created by guest artist Nathan Allen, who is the artistic director of The House Theatre and was the Hope production's director, in a collaborative effort with the cast and design team. Allen worked with Hope students throughout the 2006-07 school year in creating the play. He began in October 2006, with monthly intensive workshops for actors, directors, technicians and writers which culminated in his residency at the college in March and April of 2007.
In April 2008, "Rose and the Rime" was one of only three full-length college/university-staged plays chosen for presentation during the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (ACTF) National Festival in Washington, D.C., from among the best productions highlighted during the eight ACTF regional festivals held around the U.S. in January and February of that year. "Rose and the Rime" was the only production from the ACTF Great Lakes Region festival in Milwaukee, Wis., to have the honor of being under consideration for the national festival. Many of the original Hope cast and crew were able to reprise their involvement for the Great Lakes and KennedyCenter presentations.
"Rose and the Rime" is set in the fictional town of Radio Falls, Mich., where it is always winter. The community has been laid waste by the terrible Rime Witch, and is a world without flowers, apples, mail or dancing -- but with an abundance of snow, wind and ice cream. The shining beacon in the wintry gloom is a young girl named Rose, who takes it upon herself to make a treacherous journey to the frozen cave of the Witch in the hope of changing her town's fate.
The Feb. 19-April 11 run of "Rose and the Rime" by The House Theatre will include performances on Thursdays through Sundays. Performance times and ticket prices are: Thursdays, 8 p.m., $25; Fridays, 8 p.m., $27; Saturdays, 8:30 p.m., $29; Sundays, 7 p.m., $25. The box office can be called at (773) 251-2195.
The Chopin Theatre is located at 1543 W. Division in Chicago.