

“★★★★Chris Jones, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
PERHAPS THE FIRST OF THE GREAT AMERICAN PLAYS OF THIS DECADE. IT BLEW ME AWAY!”
“A POWERFULLY AFFECTING DRAMA ABOUT LOVE AND LOYALTY, AND LOSS AND BETRAYAL, TOO.”Charles Isherwood, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“THRILLINGLY STAGED.”Jesse Green, THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A THOUGHTFUL, UNDENIABLY RIVETING AMERICAN DRAMA.”Zachary Stewart, THEATERMANIA
Evenings on the prairie are relatively quiet for Peg, a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin who still cooks for two. Which doesn’t go to waste whenever Ryan, a dear friend with a troubled past, pays her a visit. However, after noticing her husband’s toolbox is missing, she places a call to the local authorities—unwittingly setting off a series of events that will forever reverberate through the small community. Direct from a hit run at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre comes this complex, humanistic yarn written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman and directed by Tony Award® winner Robert Falls. Get tickets now to what the Chicago Sun-Times calls “an engrossing work filled with sympathy for its characters and for the country.”
Cast & Creative Team

Written by
Rebecca Gilman
REBECCA GILMAN (Playwright) is an artistic associate at Goodman Theatre. Her plays include Luna Gale; A True History of the Johnstown Flood; Dollhouse; Boy Gets Girl; Spinning Into Butter; Blue Surge (all of which were originally produced by the Goodman); Soups, Stews, and Casseroles: 1976 and The Crowd You’re in With (also at the Goodman); The Glory of Living; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Gilman is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, The Harper Lee Award, The Scott McPherson Award, The Prince Prize for Commissioning New Work, The Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, The George Devine Award, The Theatre Masters Visionary Award, The Great Plains Playwright Award, a Global Connections Grant by Theatre Communications Group, an American Scandinavian Foundation Creative Writing Grant and an Illinois Arts Council playwriting fellowship. Boy Gets Girl received an Olivier nomination for Best New Play. Gilman was named a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for The Glory of Living. She is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America and a board member of the ACLU of Illinois. A graduate of the MFA in playwriting program from the University of Iowa, Gilman is now a professor of playwriting and screenwriting at Northwestern University as part of its MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage program. In 2016, she was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame.

Mary Beth Fisher
Peg
Mary Beth Fisher, a frequent collaborator at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, most recently appeared in the world premiere of Swing State. NYC: Roundabout, MTC, Playwrights Horizons, Westside Arts. TV/film: Saint Frances, “Sense8,” “Chicago Justice,” “Chicago Code,” “Without a Trace,” “Numb3rs,” “Prison Break,” “NYPD Blue,” “Profiler.” Drama League honoree, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations. Grossman & Jack Talent

Kirsten Fitzgerald
Sheriff Kris
Kirsten Fitzgerald is an ensemble member at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago where she was honored with Jeff Awards for The Sea Horse (lead actor) and The Moors (director). Additional theatre credits include performances at Goodman, Steppenwolf, Rivendell, Victory Gardens and more. TV: “Shining Girls,” “Somebody Somewhere,” “The Exorcist,” “Sirens,” “Chicago Med/Fire,” “Underemployed,” “ER.” Film: Widows, Working Man. Representation: Grossman & Jack Talent.

Anne E. Thompson
Dani
Anne E. Thompson makes her Off-Broadway debut in Swing State, a role she originated at Goodman Theatre. Additional Goodman credits: Rebecca Gilman’s Twilight Bowl, Uncle Vanya, A Christmas Carol. Regional credits: American Players Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Chicago credits: Writers Theatre. Film and television credits: “Chicago Med” (NBC), “The Bear” (FX) and Beth Hyland’s Clambake.

Bubba Weiler
Ryan
Bubba Weiler originated the role of Ryan in Swing State at the Goodman Theatre. NY stage appearances include the first American principal cast playing Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, Dead Poets Society (CSC) and The Burnt Part Boys (Vineyard). Films include Puzzle, The Ranger and Antarctica. Selected TV: “Kaleidoscope,” “Dopesick,” “Run the World” and “Pose.”

Jessica Ervin
u/s Dani
Jessica Ervin makes her Off-Broadway debut. Goodman: Swing State. Rivendell: Dry Land (Jeff nomination), Motherhouse, Tear You Apart and Firebirds. A Red Orchid: Killing Game. Select film/TV: “Chicago Fire” (NBC), Princess Cyd, Provo and Teacher. School at Steppenwolf and Ball State graduate. Representation: Actor’s Talent Group. SAG-AFTRA. www.jessicaervin.com

Laura T. Fisher
u/s Peg
Jessica Ervin makes her Off-Broadway debut. Goodman: Swing State. Rivendell: Dry Land (Jeff nomination), Motherhouse, Tear You Apart and Firebirds. A Red Orchid: Killing Game. Select film/TV: “Chicago Fire” (NBC), Princess Cyd, Provo and Teacher. School at Steppenwolf and Ball State graduate. Representation: Actor’s Talent Group. SAG-AFTRA. www.jessicaervin.com

Jack Lancaster
u/s Ryan
Jack Lancaster makes his Off-Broadway debut. Chicago credits include the world premiere of Lift Every Voice (Collaboraction Co.) and multiple productions at the Theatre School at DePaul University, where he received his BFA in acting. Regional credits include Titus Andronicus and Richard III (Independent Shakespeare Co.). Television credits include “The Bear” (FX); “Shining Girls” (AppleTV+); “Power Book IV: Force” (Starz); and “Chicago Med” (NBC). Film credits include Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Roku) and Bella & Bernie. He is represented by DDO Artists Agency.

Erika Rolfsrud
U/S Sheriff Kris
Broadway: The Coast of Utopia, Rabbit Hole, more. Off-Broadway: Electra In A One-Piece, The Glory of Living, more. Regional: Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (Kevin Kline Award, Best Actress, Little Dog Laughed), Hartford Theaterworks (CT Critics Circle Award, Best Actress, Good People), Old Globe Theatre, more. TV: “Manifest,” “Younger,” “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order SVU,” more. Film: Unsane.
Scenic Design
Todd Rosenthal
Select Broadway: August: Osage County (Tony), The Motherfucker with the Hat (Tony, Outer Critics Circle Nom), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Of Mice and Men, This is Our Youth, Straight White Men, Linda Vista. International: August: Osage County (London, Australia); Beauty Queen, Madama Butterfly (Ireland); Nice Fish, Downstate (London). Regional: Steppenwolf, Goodman, Guthrie, Mark Taper, ART, Oregon Shakespeare and others. Awards: Distinguished Achievement (USITT), Olivier, Helen Hayes, Ovation, Joseph Jefferson, Michael Merritt. Professor, Northwestern. Graduate, Yale Drama.
Costume Design
Evelyn Danner
EVELYN M. DANNER (Costume Designer) has been working creatively in the Chicagoland area for more than twenty years. Costume credits include Goodman Theatre’s Swing State (Premiere), Gem of the Ocean and This Happened Once at the Romance Depot Off the I-87 In Westchester. Peninsula Players of Door County, Wisconsin: Trying and The Rainmaker. Black Ensemble Theater’s The Real Housewives of Motown, MPAACT’s Red Summer, and Marriott Theatre’s You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.
Lighting Design
Eric Southern
ERIC SOUTHERN (Lighting Designer) is an Obie Award-winning designer working in theater, opera, music, and dance. His designs have been seen in London, Paris, Avignon, Seoul, Athens, Australia, Hannover, Zurich, Lincoln Center, The Goodman, BAM, MTC, The New Group, Opera Theater of St Louis, Rattlestick Theater, La MaMa, The Kennedy Center, Atlantic Theater Company, CTG, Carnegie Hall, and The Guthrie, among others. He received both his BFA and MFA at NYU and teaches at Northwestern University.
Original Music & Sound Design
Richard Woodbury
Broadway credits include Linda Vista, Desire Under the Elms, August: Osage County, Talk Radio, and others. Additional credits include original music and sound design for numerous productions at Chicago’s Goodman and Steppenwolf Theatres, as well as for The Geffen Playhouse, The Guthrie Theatre, the Stratford Festival, and London’s Lyric and National Theatres. Richard has received Joseph Jefferson, Helen Hayes, Ovation, and IRNE Awards for Outstanding Sound Design.
Production Stage Manager
Patrick Fries
Credits include work with Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Hypocrites, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Next Theatre, Northwestern University, National High School Institute, Porchlight Music Theatre, Teatro Vista and The Second City. Pat is the production manager for Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar College and an ensemble member with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago.
Casting
Lauren Port, CSA
Currently: casting director at Goodman Theatre. Broadway highlights: Meteor Shower; A Doll’s House, Part 2; Disgraced; Fish in the Dark; Death of a Salesman; Seminar; Stick Fly; and Fences. TV: “New Amsterdam” and “American Odyssey” (NBC). Five-time Artios Award winner and a Media Access Awards recipient.
Casting
Rachael Jimenez, CSA
Originally from the Los Angeles area, she recently completed her ninth season in the Goodman casting department. She has cast productions at Theater Wit, Windy City Playhouse, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, and Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival.
Fight & Intimacy Consultant
Nick Sandys
NICK SANDYS (Fight & Intimacy Consultant) has staged violence for over 30 productions at Goodman including world premieres of Stage Kiss, Ruined, Moonlight & Magnolias, Gem of the Ocean and Seven Guitars. Recent credits include Macbeth (also Canadian Opera), Pagliacci, Don Giovanni, West Side Story (Lyric Opera of Chicago, resident fight director), Zorro The Musical (Music Theater Works) and Saint-George’s Sword and Bow (ClassicalKidsLive!). Nick is a certified teacher/fight director with The S.A.F.D. and teaches at DePaul’s Theatre School. www.nicksandys.com
Properties
Alice Maguire
ALICE MAGUIRE (Properties) is the properties department supervisor at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago where she has worked for 35 years. Her past positions include properties supervisor at the Santa Fe Opera and The Juilliard School.
Press Representation
Boneau / Bryan-Brown
Advertising
SpotCo
Company Manager
James Viggiano
Broadway: Derren Brown: Secret, Bronx Bombers, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. National tours: Hamilton. LA: Hamilton (Pantages Theatre), multiple productions at Center Theatre Group (Mark Taper Forum & Kirk Douglas Theatre). Las Vegas: Freestyle Love Supreme at The Venetian. Much love to family & friends!
Production Supervision
Hudson Theatrical Associates
Sean Gorski
Over 100 Broadway productions and tours. Recent: Purlie Victorious; Once Upon a One More Time; New York, New York; Peter Pan Goes Wrong; Sweeney Todd; A Doll’s House; Pictures From Home; Hadestown; Hamilton; Aladdin. HTA is a member of Neil A. Mazzella’s Hudson family which includes Hudson Scenic Studios, Sean Gorski, Sam Ellis, Brianna Stankiewicz, Brianne Tabak, Bridget Van Dyke and Irene Wang.
General Management
Baseline Theatrical
Jonathan Whitton
Founded by Andy Jones in 2014 and joined by Nick Lugo, Baseline’s Broadway credits include Hamilton, Sweeney Todd, Fat Ham, Freestyle Love Supreme, Pass Over, Derren Brown: Secret, The Cher Show, The Great Comet and The Last Ship. Off-Broadway: Audible Theater at Minetta Lane, The Enigmatist. National tours: Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme. Recently established Beyond the Stage Door, a no-cost educational intensive created to prepare underrepresented undergraduates for theatre management careers. baselinetheatrical.com
Original Production
Goodman Theatre
Chicago’s theatre since 1925, Goodman Theatre (Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer) is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the downtown theatre district, distinguished by artistic excellence, civic engagement and partnerships. The Goodman has produced nearly 200 world or American premieres, large-scale musicals and reimagined classics, and earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and over 160 Jeff Awards.
Audible Artistic Producer
Kate Navin

Directed by
Robert Falls
ROBERT FALLS (Director)’s theater and opera work over four decades has included groundbreaking new plays, re-imagined classics, large-scale musical works and more. Falls’ major recent projects include a new production of Don Giovanni (Lyric Opera of Chicago/Dallas Opera); David Cale’s We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time (Goodman Theatre and the Public Theater NYC); The Winter’s Tale; An Enemy of the People; a new adaptation for the stage of Roberto Bolaño’s epic novel 2666; and The Iceman Cometh, starring Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy (Brooklyn Academy of Music). Two of Falls’ most highly acclaimed Broadway productions—Death of a Salesman and Long Day’s Journey into Night—first staged at the Goodman, were honored with seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. Other noteworthy Broadway productions include Desire under the Elms; The Night of the Iguana; Conor McPherson’s Shining City (Tony Award nomination); Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio (Tony Award nomination); The Rose Tattoo at Circle in the Square (Tony Award nomination); Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man from Atlanta; and Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. Off-Broadway productions include Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian; Rebecca Gilman’s Blue Surge; Nicky Silver’s The Food Chain; and Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia at Lincoln Center Theater (Obie Award). For the Goodman, Falls’ extensive credits include King Lear; Uncle Vanya; Measure for Measure; Galileo; The Tempest; Hughie; A Touch of the Poet; The Misanthrope; Landscape of the Body; Three Sisters; his own adaptation of The Seagull; and the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey for which he wrote a new book. He also directed the American premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s House and Garden, and the world premiere of Arthur Miller’s final play Finishing the Picture. He is the recipient of multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards, as well as such prestigious honors as the O’Neill Medallion (Eugene O’Neill Society) and the Savva Morozov Diamond Award from the Moscow Art Theatre. In 2015, Falls was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.