POSH
By Laura Wade, directed by Jonathan Berry
The Oxbridge dining club is filled with Britain’s brightest, best and most moneyed young men. When their elitist position is threatened, they will stop at nothing to take it back. Posh puts you on the front lines of the war between the classes, the adolescent struggle for identity, and the battle for the status quo.
Recipient of the 2016 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble
Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes, with one ten-minute intermission
Performance Schedule:
January 21 - March 26, 2016
Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm
Sunday matinees at 3pm
Preview performances on January 16, 17 and 20
Production Sponsors: Kassie Davis & Bruce Beatus
CAST:
Alex Gillmor*
Kendra Thulin*
Will Kinnear
Dash Barber
Tommy Malouf
Matthew Garry
Michael Kurowski
Sean Wiberg
Christopher Borek
Eric Staves
Japhet Balaban
David Seeber
Michael Holding
Bryce Gangel
Colin Sphar (through 2/22/16)
Ryan Hallahan (through 3/13/16)
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director – Jonathan Berry*
Set Design – Ashley Ann Woods
Lighting Design – Pete Dully*
Sound Design – Matthew Chapman**
Costume Design– Stephanie Cluggish
Prop Design – Jenny Pinson
Stage Manager – Katie Messmore
Fight Choreographer – Christina Gorman
Dramaturg – Jeremy Kazan
Dialect Coach – Eva Breneman
Production Manager – Ellen Willett
Technical Director – Alan Weusthoff
Assistant Director – Adrian Azevedo
Assistant Stage Manager – Rebecca Cagney
*Denotes Steep Company Member
**Denotes Steep Artistic Associate
In the Press
Jeff Recommended
3.5 Stars
"...a dynamic, often shocking little storefront show guaranteed to make you fume anew at the ongoing inequality of the most mature democracies."
"A bevy of talent, all with carefully honed English accents and demeanors, throw themselves into the depiction of these privileged gentleman, deftly catching the collective sense of entitlement and, equally as important, their total lack of maturity."
-Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Read the full review
"Berry’s staging is positively impeccable, a dark dance of working class versus upper, the transitions smooth and almost magical. Thanks to casting director Caroline Neff, Posh is bursting with youthful, intelligent performers, who perfectly embody the future captains of industry..."
-Lauren Whalen , Chicago Theater Beat
Read the full review
“...killer collection of young actors in Jonathan Berry's taut production, ... there's little doubt you'll want to see more from this cast.”
Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago
Read the full review
"It is a high-tension ensemble piece, laced with an edgy humor that turns progressively darker."
-Lawrence B. Johnson, Chicago on the Aisle
Read the full review
"Berry impressively orchestrates this talented ensemble through ritualistic toasts and boozy debauchery."
-Katy Walsh, The Fourth Walsh
Read the full review
"...what a pleasure to watch this feat of ensemble theater as Jonathan Berry’s direction reveals the fragility of the bonds between the members of an exclusive Oxbridge dining club."
-Suzanne Scanlon, Chicago Reader
Read the full review
One of ten "especially promising selections" to see in the first half of 2016.
-Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Read the full article
One of the best dramas to see this January.
-Catey Sullivan, Chicago Magazine
Read the full article
About Posh
In January, director and Steep Ensemble Member Jonathan Berry returns to Steep to helm the U.S. Premiere of Laura Wade’s Posh. Steep delivered one of the company’s bigger hits in 2008 with the U.S. Premiere of Wade’s Breathing Corpses, which was named by TimeOut Chicago one of the best shows of the year. Mr. Berry, a Jeff Award winner and many time nominee, has directed some of Steep’s most memorable productions including Festen, Moment, The Knowledge, and 2015’s extended-hit The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle. Posh debuted to much acclaim at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2010 and was later remounted in 2012 in the West End.
Posh will continue Steep’s tradition of bringing large ensemble casts together in its intimate space.
