These Shining Lives

.01 About The Production

___These Shining Lives received its World Premiere at Baltimore Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland on April 30, 2008 – Irene Lewis, Artistic Director, Michael Ross, Managing Director.

It was developed at Baltimore Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of their First Look Festival; The History Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, as part of their Raw Stages Festival; The Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois; Primary Stages as part of their Primetime Reading Series; and TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California, as part of their New Works Festival.

It was commissioned by Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois.

Facts from the book “Deadly Glow” by Ross Millner were used with permission of the author. This version of the play has been written especially for the 2013 production at Park Theatre. The play takes place in Illinois, USA during the 1920s and 1930s.

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.02 Cast

Cast

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.03 Creative Team

Creative Team

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.04 Feature: Chicago in the 1920s

___Everyone knows what life was like in the Roaring Twenties. We’ve read Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway. We’ve listened to Scott Joplin and Louis Armstrong. We’ve laughed at the slapstick of Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. We’ve tapped our toes to the Foxtrot, the Camel Walk and, of course, the Charleston. It was just one continuous party, wasn’t it?

Well, it could have been, provided you had plenty of money. But, if you had to go out to work, especially, in the rapidly expanding field of manufacturing, life was very different. You slaved away for long hours. Your pay was a pittance. And, as for job security – or health and safety – well, forget it!
 
Supporting the American Dream

Life was getting better and better – and labour-saving developments, such as the vacuum cleaner and the washing machine, were making life easier for the new, emerging middle class that had surplus money and a compulsion for spending it. This fuelled the demand for consumer goods, including cars, such as the Chrysler Imperial and the Ford Model T. The new technology led to an unprecedented need for new infrastructure. Road construction, of course, was crucial to the motor industry. At the same time, electrification progressed rapidly – with more and more of the U.S. and Canada being added to the electric grid.

Meanwhile, telephone lines were being stretched from one side of the continent to the other. Indoor plumbing and modern sewer systems were installed in many new regions, as urbanisation reached a climax. The nation was fascinated with its great metropolitan centres that contained about 15% of the population. New York and Chicago vied in building the greatest number and height of skyscrapers.

The economy was booming – and, as the stockmarket continued its apparently inexorable climb, more and more people bought stocks and shares. Riches were there to be grabbed in both hands. There was no hint of the Great Depression that was to arrive a decade later.

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.05 Many Thanks

Thank you

Katrina Gilroy, Julian McCready, The National Theatre, English Touring Theatre and...

With special thanks to XL video for their help with projection equipment:

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.06 Coming Soon

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