by Stephi Wild | Apr. 1, 2022
Performances run April 26 – June 12, 2022.
Signature Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the world premiere production of The Upstairs Department, a play by Chelsea Marcantel (Airness, Everything is Wonderful), which will play in Signature’s ARK Theatre for live performances from April 26 – June 12, 2022.
Directed by Holly Twyford (Signature’s Escaped Alone, Studio Theatre’s Edgar and Annabel), The Upstairs Department stars Annie Grove (Falcon Theatre’s Dial M for Murder) as Colleen, Joy Jones (Arena Stage‘s Seven Guitars, CBS’s Blue Bloods) as Shiloh, and Zach Livingston (BoHo Theatre’s Cyrano, First Folio Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet) as Luke. Understudies are Anna Shafer, Anissa Parekh, and Taylor Witt.
After a serious illness, a young man wakes up with the power to communicate with the dead (or so he believes). Desperate for guidance and to connect with their late father, he and his skeptic sister set out to test his paranormal talent at the Lily Dale Spiritualist community where their discoveries summon more than the afterlife.
“Chelsea Marcantel is a rich and gifted storyteller, and I am thrilled to bring the world premiere of her latest play to Signature” said Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner. “This is a play about transition and change, and the places we look for comfort when the world spins out of control. Her play takes all the divisiveness and tragedy of the last two years and with humor and incredible empathy she tells a remarkable and unexpected story that I believe will allow audiences to laugh, process and heal together.”
Signature’s latest Heidi Thomas Writers’ Initiative play is an enlightening tale of an unlikely psychic directed by Holly Twyford.
The Upstairs Department Director Holly Twyford said “Chelsea Marcantel has crafted a story that is both beautiful and funny and weaves together the upheaval of loss with the inevitable transformation that follows and, ultimately, hope. It is a story that is utterly timely and utterly human.”
In addition to director Holly Twyford, the creative team for The Upstairs Department includes Scenic Design by Paige Hathaway (Signature’s RENT, Escaped Alone), Costume Design by Ivania Stack (Signature’s Road Show, Midwestern Gothic), Lighting Design by Annie Wiegand (Playwright’s Horizons’ I Was Most Alive with You, Milwaukee Rep’s Eclipsed), and Sound Design by Kenny Neal (Signature’s Daphne’s Dive, Heisenberg). Chelsea Pace is Signature’s Resident Intimacy Consultant. Casting is by Kelly Crandall d’Amboise and Jorge Acevedo. Joey Blakely is the Production Stage Manager, Clancey Yovanovich is the Assistant Director, and Allison Poms is the Production Assistant.
