The Wasteland and Daryo’s All-American Diner

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble presents a night of "humanity and hope" in collaboration with CIRCA Pintig with a split bill performance with a new play and a physical theater adaptation of a classic poem on May 5-20, 2023 with varying schedules at The Auditorium of Ebenezer Lutheran Church (1650 West Foster Avenue Chicago, IL 60640).

Wrapping up the two year retrospective celebrating Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble's 20th anniversary and coming on the heels of the 100th anniversay of the publication of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland , the company is restaging the production that started the company.

Adapted by Ellyzabeth Adler using her unique style of danztheatre that blends together dance, theatre, music and video imagery into a visceral theatre experience. Written in a stream of consciousness, it seeks out what humans are looking for, a constant connection in life. Once we accept our future, there is an inner calming that happens to our soul.

The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Adler gently joins artistic forces, even to the point of making the exposed-brick walls of the space speak with a wizened sense of melancholy. When the shadows of the four ensemble members unobtrusively get superimposed on, say an image of a dead tree facing a treacherous sea…conveys in a tactile, aesthetically gorgeous way, the mystical power of fragmented moments weaving through our minds.”

For its 32nd theater season, CIRCA Pintig, the Filipino American community arts organization, brings to the stage the story of the Daryo family and how a tragic incident transforms their sense of humanity and community.

Daryo's All-American Diner is about its struggling 40-something Asian-American co-owner, May Daryo, whose life is transformed after a violent attack on her family during the height of the pandemic. This Full-Length Drama set in the fictional midwestern city of Lakeside, IL., explores how something positive and hopeful can come out of a traumatic act of violence.

The Wasteland

Cast: Ellyzabeth Adler, Courtney Reid Harris, Joshua Hogan, and Peyton Hooks

Adapted, directed & choreographed by Ellyzabeth Adler

Featuring the illustrations of David Sarallo

Daryo's All-American Diner

Playwright: Conrad A. Panganiban

Director: Louie Pascasio

Music & Sound Design: Demetrio Maguigad

Set Design: Larry Leopoldo

Graphic Design: RJ Silva

Cast: Heather Jencks, Ginger Leopoldo, RJ Silva, Cary Shoda, Amanda Payne, and KC Khan

Production Team:

Lighting Designer: Joshua Paul Weckesser

Production Crew: Gabriel Foreman and Cora Swise

RESERVE A SPOT