HARRY & THE THIEF

by Sigrid Gilmer

Directed by Krissy Vanderwarker

for Pavement Group

In a very different America, plans are underway to conquer the future by changing the past – and Mimi has only one chance to get it right. In this on-stage action movie meets time travel comedy, a thief is blackmailed into going back in time to deliver a cache of arms to Harriet Tubman and change the course of history. Steeped in fast-paced irreverence, Harry & the Thief takes an absurd look at America’s collective history and throws a pie in its face.

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Lucy Sandy and Marjie Southerland

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Keith Naegle, Bryan Bosque, Manny Buckley, McKenzie Chinn, Tyshaun Lang, Morgan McNaught, Lucy Sandy, Marjie Southerland

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Keith Naegle, Bryan Bosque, Manny Buckley, McKenzie Chinn, Tyshaun Lang, Morgan McNaught, Lucy Sandy, Marjie Southerland

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Bryan Bosque

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Bryan Bosque, Manny Buckley, McKenzie Chinn, Tyshaun Lang, Morgan McNaught, Lucy Sandy, Marjie Southerland

Harry & The Thief

Choreography by Jenn BeVard

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Keith Naegle, Alexander Lane

Harry & The Thief

Production Manager......Mary Krupka* Scenic Designer.............Megan Truscott Lighting Designer: Claire Chrzan, Props Designer: Aimee Plant, Costume Designer: Constance Blackmon Lee, Sound Designer: Jeff Kelley

Harry & The Thief

Pictured: Bryan Bosque

PRESS QUOTES

Best Show of 2013

Director Krissy Vanderwarker and Pavement Group's full-tilt cast embraced the play's every astute angle.

- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago

Director Krissy Vanderwarker has drilled her cast to a stamina enabling them to navigate self-referential gags and slapstick chases with nimble agility for the 90 minutes it takes for this feature-length live-action cartoon to conclude with a—what else?—trailer for the sequel.

- Windy City Media Group

Everything about Krissy Vanderwarker's production of Sigrid Gilmer's twisted sci-fi comedy is wonderful and extreme: the premise (mad scientist uses a time machine to arm Harriet Tubman and her followers and fuel a Confederacy-wide slave rebellion), the characters (all parodies of stereotypes lifted from Uncle Tom's Cabin)—even the complicated, highly fragmented story line seems designed to disorient the audience at every turn. The result is a rarity in contemporary theater: a truly hilarious play that honestly tackles race and gender in America. And Vanderwarker's casting is pitch-perfect. Marjie Southerland is especially fine as "Harry" Tubman, and the rest of the energetic ensemble fly through this difficult text with breathtaking grace and skill.

- Jack Helbig, Chicago Reader