In Loco Parentis

By Sarah Gubbins
Directed by Joanie Schultz
March 10-20, 2011
Performances: March 15 at 7:30 p.m., March 19 at 8:00 p.m. and March 20 at 2:00 p.m. Description: College friends in a small town deal with the sudden loss of a friend from an accidental drug overdose. Things get tough when certain friends start questioning whether it was an accident after all.


  • Artists
Sarah Gubbins

Sarah Gubbins (Playwright)

Sarah is a Chicago playwright. Her play Fair Use was developed and produced at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company as part of their First Look Repertory of New Plays during the summer of 2008 and was produced in by Actor’s Express Theatre in Atlanta.  Her plays have been read or developed at the Public Theater, The Goodman Theatre, About Face Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Next Theatre Company, Actor’s Express and Collaboraction.  Her play The Kid Thing was read as part of Steppenwolf Theater’s First Look Repertory of New Work this fall.  In Loco Parentis was developed by Rivendell Theatre Ensemble as part of their Fresh Produce festival and by About Face Theater as part of their XYZ Festival.   Sarah is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists and an Artistic Associate at About Face Theatre.  She is the 2010-2011 Carl J. Djerassi Playwriting Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
     
   

Joanie Schultz (Director)

Joanie recently directed A Brief History of Helen of Troy and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (Jeff Award for Best Ensemble) for Steep Theatre Company; The Ring Cycle for the Building Stage; Shining City for Redtwist Theatre Company; Wreckage and Many Loves for Caffeine Theatre; and Faster for the side project.  Ms. Schultz also has recently directed Savitri and The Telephone for Chicago Opera Theater and National Opera Week; and Acis and Galatea, the Chicago Cultural Center summer opera, which was the first fully-staged opera at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. She also recently directed new play workshops at The Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.  Ms. Schultz holds an MFA from Northwestern University; was a Drama League Fellow; The Goodman Theatre's Michael Maggio Directing Fellow; a participant in the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab; and currently teaches directing at Columbia College Chicago. www.joanieschultz.com
     
   

THE CAST:

 

Kelley Abell (Gwen)

Is honored to be making her Next Theatre debut with In Loco Parentis. She is a junior theatre major at Northwestern University. Chicago: Peter Pan: A Play (Curly, Jane), Lookingglass Theatre; Girls vs Boys, The House Theatre. Northwestern: The Who's Tommy (Mrs. Walker), Not Wanted on the Voyage, The American Musical Theatre Project, (Mottyl).
     
 
  

Michael Bartz (Jason)

Is thrilled to be making his debut at Next Theatre with In Loco Parentis.  Michael is originally from Burr Ridge, IL and recently graduated from Columbia College with a BA in acting and writing for television.  Michael previously appeared in Barflies at the Beach, part of Joe Jane's 365 Sketches with The Strawdog Theatre Co.  Michael also appeared in Little Women (Laurie), with The Bog Theatre.  
     

 		  

Samantha Beach (Sadie)

Is excited to be making her Next theatre debut. She is an undergraduate junior at Northwestern University where she is studying Theatre with a minor in Creative Writing. Sam is originally from Barrington, IL but just returned from a semester abroad in Ghana.  Northwestern credits include Top Girls (Marlene), The American Pilot (Soldier, Evie u/s), The Handmaid’s Tale (Ensemble u/s), Katzelmacher (Gunda), and No Laughing in the War Room (Batista). Up next at NU, Samantha can be seen as Boo Levy in The Last Night of Ballyhoo.
     

 		  

Annie Munch (Kate)

Is thrilled to making her Next Theatre debut. She was most recently seen in Strawdog Theatre Company’s State of the Union this past fall. A Northwestern University junior, favorite performance credits include A Lie of the Mind, A Bright Room Called Day, Peter Pan, and Twelve Angry Men. As an educator, she has worked as a teaching artist with Purple Crayon Players and Urban Gateways.
     

 		  

Andrew Nowak (Todd)

In Loco Parentis is Andrew's first production at Next Theatre.  Columbia College Chicago credits include Equus, The Normal Heart, Of Mice and Men, and Impossible Marriage.  He will graduate in May from Columbia with a BA in Theatre.
     
   

Brant Russell (Marco)

Was last seen onstage at Next with Steve Pickering and Alex Gersten-Vassilaros in the benefit reading of The Argument.  In 2004, he assistant directed Next’s production of Omnium Gatherum, directed by Jason Loewith.  Brant recently completed his coursework in the Northwestern MFA Directing programming; at Northwestern, he directed plays by Martin Crimp, Caryl Churchill, and David Greig.  He has worked in various capacities with Strawdog, Victory Gardens, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Writers’ Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre 7, and Steppenwolf, where he leads post-show discussions.  www.brantrussell.com
     
   

Mia Weinberger (Ellen)

Is thrilled to be making her Next Theatre debut. Mia is a junior theatre major at Northwestern, where her recent credits include Ragtime, Not Wanted on the Voyage, and Little Shop of Horrors.