About this show

In this Midwest premiere, it’s still the best of times and the worst of times. In a society where the gap between the rich and poor widens, and the cries for revolution grow louder, one can relate. This bold reimagining of Charles Dickens’s classic tale of revolution shows us that while a story may be 165 years old, some things never change. Or, can they?

Video Block
Double-click here to add a video by URL or embed code. Learn more

The Artists

AUTHOR: CHARLES DICKENS

ADAPTED BY: BRENDAN PELSUE

DIRECTOR: MIKAEL BURKE

Content advisory

This production includes the following: Mature/Adult themes, Drug Abuse, Death, Strong Language, and Flashing Lights

DIGITAL PROGRAM

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DISCOUNTS

Our waived ticket program makes SGT accessible to all economic backgrounds. Find the right ticket for you.

Accessible Performances

Audio-Described and Touch Tour:
Friday, May 23rd at 7:30 pm 
(6:15 pm touch tour, 7:30 pm curtain)

Open-Captioned Public Performance:
Sunday, May 25th at 3 pm

FEATURED ENSEMBLE MEMBERS

THE CAST

Running Time

This production runs at about 120 minutes with a 10 intermission.

  • Brendan Pelsue is a playwright, librettist, and translator whose work has been produced in New York and regionally. His play Wellesley Girl premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Hagoromo, a dance-opera for which he wrote the libretto, appeared at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Pocantico Center, and was first-round ballot nominee for a Grammy Award. Recent projects include a new translation and adaptation of Molière’s Don Juan at Westport Country Playhouse, and Read to Me at Portland Stage, which won the 2019 Clauder Prize. His new adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities will premiere The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA in 2024. Commissions include South Coast Repertory, American Opera Projects, Westport Country Playhouse, and the Actors Theatre of Louisville. He was a 2017 artist-in-residence at Château de la Napoule, France, where he produced the podcast We Are Not These People. He was a MacDowell Fellow in 2023, and will be a fellow at Green College, University of British Columbia, in 2024.  Originally from Newburyport, MA, he received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama and his BA from Brown University, where he received the Weston Prize in playwriting. He teaches at Rutgers University. 

  • Mikael Burke (Director) is a Chicago-based director, deviser, and educator. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre and Jeff Award-winning director, his recent credits include: Oak by Terry Guest (Urbanite Theatre, World Premiere); Othello by William Shakespeare (Theatreworks Colorado Springs); Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Notes from the Field by Anna Deveare Smith (TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Premiere); The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers (Yale Repertory Theatre, World Premiere); Tambo & Bones by Dave Harris (Refracted Theatre Company, Chicago Premiere, winner of 8 Jeff Awards); Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest (About Face Theatre, Chicago Premiere, winner of 2 Jeff Awards); Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage (Theaterworks Hartford). Mikael is also an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University and Roosevelt University. MFA, The Theatre School at DePaul University |

    mklburke.com

This story ain't just about two cities.

—BroadwayWorld.com, 2024

The Alliance Theatre,

World Premiere Production

Previous
Previous

Lobby Hero