Lifeline Theatre, the Rogers Park institution dedicated to original literary adaptations, today announced a 2016–17 season to include stage versions of a beloved Madeleine L'Engle book, a comedy about playwrights William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and a female version of Sherlock Holmes.
Miss Holmes, an original work by Lifeline ensemble member Christopher M. Walsh inspired by the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, imagines a female Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson, facing all the limitations placed on women in Victorian society as they team up to take down a corrupt police investigator. Paul S. Holmquist will direct (September 9–October 30).
Lifeline will next revive former ensemble member James Sie's 1999 adaptation of L'Engle's classic fantasy adventure A Wrinkle in Time, with direction by Frances Limoncelli (February 17–April 9). The mainstage season concludes with Her Majesty's Will, a new adaptation by Robert Kauzlaric of a self-published novel by Chicago actor-director David Blixt that imagines Shakespeare joining Marlowe as spies for the crown; Chris Hainsworth directs (May 26–July 16).
Lifeline's KidSeries will include a new adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina devised by a group led by Amanda Delheimer Dimond (October 22–November 27); Fable-ous!, a new work by Chris Hainsworth inspired by Aesop and directed by Lavina Jadhwani (January 14–February 19); and Giggle, Giggle, Quack, a musical based on the best-selling children's book, adapted by James E. Grote with songs by George Howe, directed by Shole Milos (March 18–April 23).