The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls

Written by Meg Miroshnik

October 15 – December 5, 2015

Halie Ecker, Simina Contras, Emily Nichelson, Meghan Lewis

Cast: Marzena Bukowska, Simina Contras, Halie Ecker, Meghan Lewis, Emily Nichelson and Ann Sonneville

This production is a remarkable example of hypnotic ensemble acting. Venus Zarris, 4 Stars, Chicago Stage Review

For 16 years on Trap Door’s tiny Bucktown stage, Nicole Wiesner has been compelling, elusive, and ferocious. It turns out her directing is exponentially more so. In only her second stab at Trap Door’s helm, she turns Meg Miroshnik’s thrillingly inscrutable 2012 play into a multivalent, hallucinogenic thrill ride that never makes rational sense yet rarely fails to mesmerize. Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader

A stellar all-female cast…. each actress takes full advantage of her turns stirring the crowd in the intimate space…Gwen Purdom, 4 Stars, Critics Pick, Time Out Chicago

Nicole Wiesner keeps the 90 minute show vivacious at nearly every point. Clint May, Chicago Theater Beat

When Annie is sent to Russia to be immersed into her native language and culture, she finds herself thrust into an enchanting post-Soviet world filled with new friends still fighting the witches, bears, and evil stepmothers that haunted all of our childhoods.

Set in a deceitfully glamorous post-Soviet Russia, Annie and her new friends must fight the villains of common folklore in a world where things might not end up happily ever after.

Meg Miroshnik (Playwright) is a playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Her plays include The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, The Droll {A Stage-Play about the END of Theatre}, The Tall Girls, Old Actress, and an adaptation of the libretto for Shostakovich’s Moscow, Cheryomushki. She is the recipient of a 2012 Whiting Award. Her work has been developed or produced by the La Jolla Playhouse, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Center Theatre Group, South Coast Rep, the McCarter Theatre Center, Alliance Theatre, Yale Rep, the Kennedy Center, Lark New Play Development Center, Chicago Opera Theater, the Moscow Playwright and Director Center, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Circle X, The Wilma Theater, Perishable Theatre, WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory, One Coast Collaboration, and published in Best American Short Plays, 2008-2009 (Applause, 2010). The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls was a finalist for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn prize and winner of the 2011-2012 Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award. Recent productions: The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls at Yale Rep (directed by Rachel Chavkin, 2014), The Tall Girls at Alliance Theatre (directed by Susan V. Booth, 2014), and a staged workshop of The Droll at Brown/Trinity Playwrights’ Rep (directed by Mia Rovegno, 2014). She holds an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama where she studied with Paula Vogel. Meg hails from Minneapolis and currently lives in Los Angeles, where she is a member of the Playwrights Union and The Kilroys.

Nicole Wiesner(Director) has been a member of the Trap Door Theatre since 1999. Directing credits include Howard Barker’s Minna. Favorite Trap Door acting credits include First Ladies, (dir. Zeljko Djukic, Joseph Jefferson Citation: Outstanding Actress); OVERWEIGHT; unimportant: MISSHAPE, (dir. Yasen Peyankov); and the title roles in The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and Nana, (dir. Beata Pilch); and Alice in Bed. (Director Dado). Other credits include Shining City, (dir. Robert Falls); Passion Play, (dir. Mark Wing-Davy, After Dark Award, Outstanding Performance) at the Goodman Theatre; The Book Thief (dir. Hallie Gordon), South of Settling (dir. Adam Goldstein) and Dublin Carol (Dir. Amy Morton) at Steppenwolf Theatre; Shining City, (dir. Robert Falls)at the Huntington Theatre in Boston; Passion Play (dir. Mark Wing-Davy)at Yale Repertory Theatre; Passion Play (dir. Mark Wing-Davy)at the Epic Theatre in NYC; Dying City (dir. Jason Loewith) at Next Theatre, Great Men of Science (dir. Tracy Letts) at Lookingglass Theatre; and Phedre (dir. JoAnn Akalitis) at Court Theater.

Assistant Director Gary Damico/ Set Designer Aaron O’Neill/ Lighting Design Richard Norwood/ Costume Design Rachel Sypniewski/ Sound Design Danny Rockett / Make-Up Design Zsófia Ötvös/ Graphic Design Michal Janicki/ Dramaturge Milan Pribisic/ Stage Manager Gary Damico