Chicago's pay-what-you-want storefront theatre company.

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CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

CREATIVE TEAM
PLAYWRIGHT Sonny Mills

DIRECTOR Kirstin Franklin

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Erin Galvin

VIOLENCE & INTIMACY DESIGNER Michael Bevis

SOUND DESIGN Samuel Fitzwater-Butchart

COSTUME DESIGN Dagny Mullins

PROPS DESIGN Judith Laughlin

CREATIVE PRODUCER Nathaniel Negrón

CAST

MADS Stephen Dunn

AGNETE Selena Lopez

MORTON, ET AL Dolph Paulsen

MICHAEL Kit Ratliff

HELGE Lisa Stran

LISBET, ET AL Maddie Wakley

BENTE Mackenzie Williams

ABOUT

A TRUE TALE OF RESISTANCE DURING WWII

Agnete Ottosen was tough, unsentimental, and remarkable. When World War II broke out, Ottosen immediately joined the Danish Resistance and writing for an underground newspaper. She was captured and tortured by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the notorious Ravensbrück concentration camp. This is her true tale of heartbreak, joy, survival, and perseverance while facing enormous obstacles during the war and in the years after.

Sonny Mills has woven humor and levity into their great-aunt's true tale of resistance, giving audiences historical insight and critical reflection on some of the most urgent issues of our time - nationalism, justice, and freedom. A story few have heard of but everyone should know.

With an unprecedented inaugural run in Canada, Three Crows is elated to present the US premiere of The Danish Play.

REVIEWS

“One of the strongest and most wrenching pieces of theatre...”

-Robert Crew, The Toronto Star

“Easily one of the best plays of the year.”

-Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine

DATES

Previews - May 16, 17, 18, 19

Performances - May 23-June 16, 2024

RUN TIME

Two hours with one intermission.

CONTENT ADVISORY

Nazis, fascism, mental health, violence, incarceration, genocide, death.

cast

CAST

Selena Lopez

AGNETE

A Chicagoland native, Selena (she/her) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from The New School for Drama in New York. With Three Crows, Selena was Lady M in Macbeth, Maureen in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky, Rosa in Espresso, Andromache in The Trojan Women, Liz Morden in Our Country's Good, and Catherine Donahue in These Shining Lives. She was recently seen as Rosa Gonzales in Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams with Violet Sky. This summer she'll spend the season with American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI. As a voice over artist, Selena has worked on over 800 projects.

selena-lopez.com

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Stephen Dunn

MADS

Stephen has appeared onstage with Three Crows as Duncan in Macbeth and Harry Brewer in Our Country's Good. Stephen was a member of Infamous Commonwealth Theatre for 9 years and performed in several productions for them including Cloud 9 for which he received a Jeff nomination for best supporting actor.

Kit Ratliff (they/them)

MICHAEL/GUARD

Kit (they/them) received their Bachelor's in Acting from West Texas A&M (Go Buffs). They have been seen on stage with Three Crows in Macbeth as Fléance, Our Country's Good as Dabby Bryant, and These Shining Lives as Charlotte. They have also performed for Cornservatory, Live Movie Reads: Uptown Underground, and the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival. Kit is excited to work with a company who believes in the accessibility of art and dedicates their resources to producing works that are relevant, inspiring, and real.

Lisa Stran

HELGA

Bio goes here.

Mackenzie Williams (she/her)

BENTE

“to hate
is an easy lazy thing
but to love takes strength
everyone has
but not all are
willing to practice “

-rupi kaur

Dolph Paulsen

MORTEN, ET AL

Dolph Paulsen is an artist-educator originally from Boston, MA, recently transplanted to Chicago. He has performed onstage with companies in Massachusetts (Hovey Players, Wax Wings Theater, Hampshire Shakespeare Co), in Florida (Asolo Theater), and in Los Angeles (Independent Shakespeare Co). In addition to stage work, Dolph has directed and acted in Film and TV (Actor: One Tree Hill, The Message, Fear Not, When I Was King, Stories for Dinner—Director: Stories for Dinner, On The Count Of...). Dolph is also a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and Reading Specialist, and has authored and illustrated an instructional metalinguistic science-fiction novel for young adults, WHIRDZ. Dolph holds an MFA in Acting from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and an MS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. He is super spændt på at få sin Chicago debut with Three Crows!

Madeline Wakley

LISBET, ET AL

Madeline Wakley is thrilled to be making her debut with Three Crows Theatre. She has worked as an actor, voiceover artist, and assistant director with companies such as Forge Theater, Bard & Bourbon, The Constructivists, First Stage Children's Theater, Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival, Auricle, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, All In Productions, and Renaissance Theaterworks. She received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and a diploma in classical performance from LAMDA.

CREATIVE TEAM

Kirstin Franklin

DIRECTOR

Kirstin Franklin has been a professional theater collaborating artist for over 20 years with credits from all over the country including The Guthrie, Northlight, Urbanite Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, NY Fringe, Asolo Rep and many more. As the former Co-Artistic Director of Akvavit Theatre, Chicago's premier contemporary Nordic theater company, Kirstin specializes in Nordic themed theater and has found 'The Danish Play' a familiar playground to explore. Kirstin has an MFA in acting from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory and a BA in Theater from St.Olaf College. Kirstin feels blessed to be working on her first production since marrying the love of her life, Dolph Paulsen, and dedicates this work to her two wonderful children Gunnar and Margot.

Erin Galvin

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Bio goes here

Samuel Fitzwater-Butchart

ORIGINAL MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN

Hailing from Milwaukee, Sam (he/him) has been in theater for almost ten years and has worked for theater companies such as Skylight Music Theatre, Theatre Gigante, and Next-Act Theatre among others. With Three Crows, he's designed The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Macbeth, The Trojan Women, Our Country's Good, These Shining Lives, and Terra Nova. Other design credits include Circus Man & Curtain Call (Electric Crayon Studios), and My Fair Lady (RUSD) He is a graduate of UW-Parkside where he was the audio engineer for the university's premiere A Cappella group: Parkside RANGE.

Dagny Mullins

COSTUME DESIGN

An Alabama native turned Chicagoan, Dagny (she/her) has been working as a freelance costume designer for theatre and film in the city since 2015. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago with a focus in film and television, she returned to her theatrical roots with Three Crow's production of Macbethand followed that up with The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

www.dagnymullins.com

Michael Bevis

Intimacy & Violence Design

Michael (he/him) holds a BFA in theatre performance from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He's worked with companies throughout Illinois and Wisconsin, including Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and Shakespeare in the Park. With Three Crows, he was previously the firearms consultant for Our Country's Good, the violence designer for Macbeth and The Beauty Queen of Leenane. He holds SAFD certification in multiple fight styles.

TBA

SCENIC DESIGN

Bio goes here

TBA

LIGHTING DESIGN

Bio goes here

Judith Laughlin

PROPS DESIGN

Judith (she/her) has worked with such distinguished Chicago theaters as Provision Theatre, The Agency Theatre Collective, Teatro Vista, Metropolis Theatre, The Artistic Home, BrightSide Theatre, and Fury Theatre. She appeared in our productions of The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Mag), Silent Sky (Williamina Fleming), The Trojan Women (Hecuba), and Our Country's Good (Shitty Meg.) Favorite roles include Joan in At the Center, Gertie in Fuddy Meers, Berta in Hedda Gabler, Beth in Ordinary People, Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. Judith is also the director of the popular Kids on Stage! summer theatre camp program in Glen Ellyn.

Chicago's pay-what-you-want storefront theatre company.

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CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

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CAST

CREATIVE TEAM