The Girl in the Yellow Dress

By Craig Higginson
Directed by Joanie Schultz

January 19 - February 26, 2012

When Pierre, a French-Congolese pupil, signs up for English lessons with Celia, a beautiful young white teacher, they both get more than they bargained for. Set in contemporary Paris, this gripping new play explores the ways in which class, race, and language continue to divide us.

Overview
Artists
Press/Reviews

The Girl in the Yellow Dress runs 1 hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.

Jeff Recommended!

In partnership with:

Opening Night Sponsor:

Featuring:

		Carrie Coon (Celia) Carrie is delighted to make her Next Theatre debut. Other Chicago credits include THE REAL THING (Writers' Theatre), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (Steppenwolf Theatre), MAGNOLIA (The Goodman), and BRONTE (Remy Bumppo). Regional credits include REASONS TO BE PRETTY and BLACKBIRD at Renaissance Theaterworks, various roles with Madison Repertory Theatre, and four seasons with American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI. She is also a proud supporter of the Forward Theatre Company in Madison. Carrie will appear in THE MARCH at Steppenwolf Theatre this Spring, and reprise the role of Honey on Broadway in 2012. Television and film credits include THE PLAYBOY CLUB and ONE IN A MILLION. A native of Copley, OH, Carrie received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin--Madison.

		Austin Talley (Pierre) Austin is a native of Spartanburg South Carolina. A graduate from the The Theatre School at Depaul University he has made Chicago his second home. His most recent credits include understudying the role of Kevin and Albert in Steppenwolf’s production of Clybourne Park. Brothers of the Dust (Congo Square Theatre), As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Auctioning the Ainsleys (Dog &Pony Theatre), Closure (Viaduct Theatre), Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Steppenwolf Theatre), and She Calls Up the Sun ( Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre). He can also be seen or heard in various televsion and radio commercials for McDonald's, Think Incorporated, Cox Communications, Nebraska Lottery, Jose Cuervo, and Convergys. Austin also works for a Latino-based organization that creates programming designed to mentor and serve the underprivileged youth of the Pilsen/Little Village area. He is also a screenwriter, script consultant, and director. He will also be finishing his Masters in Psychology in the Spring of 2013.

		Joanie Schultz (Director) Previous shows at Next include assistant director on The American Dream Songbook and director of last season's The Metal Children. After receiving her B.A. in theater directing from Columbia College, where Schultz studied with David Cromer, Sheldon Patinkin and Henry Godinez, among other artists, Schultz arrived on the Chicago theater scene as artistic director and co-founder of Flush Puppy Productions. She received her M.F.A. from Northwestern University in 2007, where she was mentored by Anna D. Shapiro, and also studied with great directors such as Frank Galati, Mary Zimmerman, Amy Morton and Jessica Thebus. Since 2007, Schultz has been busy in both theater and opera as a freelance director, assistant director and directing teacher. She has worked in Chicago, nationally and abroad. In the fall of 2007 she was awarded a directing fellowship with the Drama League in New York that allowed her to direct her off-Broadway debut. She was awarded The Goodman Theatre’s Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship for 2009-10, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s Denham Fellowship for 2009-10, and was a 2008 member of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab. She is currently on faculty at Columbia College Chicago, and is an artistic associate with Steep Theatre.
		Craig Higginson (Playwright) Craig is a South African novelist, editor, playwright, director, dramaturg, and university lecturer. He is the Literary Manager and dramaturg at the Market Theatre (Johannesburg). His first original play, Dream of the Dog, opened at the Grahamstown Festival (South Africa) and the Market Theatre in 2007. In 2010, it opened at the Finborough in London and transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End. He has adapted and co-adapted several other works into plays for the Market Theatre, most recently The Jungle Book in 2011. As a writer and director, he has been nominated for and won several awards, among them: the Sony Gold Award, an Edinburgh Fringe First and a Naledi Award for Best New South African play. He teaches playwriting at Wits University, where he is also pursuing his PhD.