A Message from Ensemble Member dado

Dear friend,

Hi! I hope you are having a marvelous, relaxing summer and that you are doing great! If we haven’t met, my name is dado and I’m an Ensemble Member at A Red Orchid Theatre.

We have had a really busy year here at 1531 N. Wells. We brought a world premiere to you by my fellow ensemble member, Sadieh Rifai, THE CAVE. We also just closed Dianne Nora’s SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE JOSEPH STALIN, which I directed! Both productions enjoyed extended performance runs due to popular demand and we’re so grateful for your continued support. This work is so very exciting to me, to bring these thrilling scripts to life is a tremendous honor and I love being a part of this creative process!

While our 2025-2026 Season will be busier than ever, we’re taking a moment to breathe and reflect. I have been an Ensemble Member for more years than I can count (I’m bad at math) and I continue to be surprised and delighted by our work here. It’s a true gift to call A Red Orchid my home where experimentation and empathy are championed, and our artists are uplifted and challenged. On opening night of SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE JOSEPH STALIN, I remarked that I would love to direct the play again. This is rare for directors and indicative of how rich the work is and how much we can mine from it to enrich our artistic lives and our community.

It’s no secret that we are in challenging times. Federal funding for the arts continues to diminish and donations from generous individuals are more important than ever.

As we head into our 33rd Season, I hope you’ll consider a gift to buoy our efforts. 

In addition to our three productions this season, we’ll continue our free A Taste of Red reading series and The Incubator, a free space program that supports emerging artists and fosters experimentation (see below for the next one!) These programs cultivate exciting relationships with new, talented, important Chicago artists and playwrights; the opportunity to interact with them is critical to our presence in this incredible city! No gift is too big or too small and will go towards our continued work and support Chicago’s one-of-a-kind theatre community.

We can’t wait to see you at the theater again this Fall where I’ll be at the helm of our season opener VEAL by Jojo Jones! I can’t wait to share this brand new play with you.

dado
Ensemble Member

P.S. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe to Season 33 and ensure your seat to all three of our productions this year!