The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
written by Jim Cartwright
directed by Erin Shea Brady
The play (also a 1998 film starring Michael Caine) takes place in a small factory town in Northern England, circa 1989. "Little Voice", or LV, is cripplingly shy. She spends her time in her bedroom, listening to her late father's records - Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Marilyn Monroe, et al. When LV's mother, Mari, starts dating a talent scout, he discovers that LV can impersonate the singers she loves. When he puts LV up on stage at a local cabaret club, the two women are forced to compromise what sustains them. Cartwright's play is wildly funny, dark and biting.
Reviews
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The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a crucial project for The No Stakes Theater Project, founded by Erin Shea Brady. Brady’s inaugural full production demonstrates that she is already an excellent director, and has a keen sense of script selection.”
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Directed by Erin Shea Brady, I found this production to be as strong as the one I viewed at Steppenwolf some 20 years ago.”
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Director and group founder, Erin Shea Brady stages the drama with skill and sound pacing. As a first-time outing for a brand new company, No Stakes Theater Project makes an auspicious debut with this difficult play.”
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Steppenwolf Theatre Company produced this play 21 years ago utilizing an enormous set with a moving house that swallowed the play alive. It still requires a two-story house ( Grant Sabin, set designer ) but this intimate staging—skillfully and intelligently directed by Erin Shea Brady—offers a clearer look at quirky British playwright Jim Cartwright's work.”
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[LITTLE VOICE] is the Chicago summer theater fantasy: some company you never heard of stages a show you might never have noticed...and it kicks ass."