Profiles Theatre opens its 21st season with The Mercy Seat

September 26, 9:20 AMChicago Theatre ExaminerMark Meyer

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Profiles Theatre opens its 21st Anniversary Season with the Midwest premiere of the drama The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute, directed by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus. The production runs September 25- November 15, 2009, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway.

In a time of national tragedy, the world changes overnight. On September 12, 2001, Ben Harcourt finds himself in the downtown apartment of his lover, Abby Prescott. Over the course of the night, Ben and Abby explore the choices now available to them in an existence different from the one they knew just the day before. LaBute presents the brutal realities of their relationship and explores whether one can be truly opportunistic in a time of universal selflessness.

The Mercy Seat was among the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It premiered at MCC Theater in December 2002 and was both a commercial and critical success, selling out for the length of its run.

This is Profiles Theatre's seventh Midwest Premiere of Mr. LaBute’s work following their acclaimed productions of In a Dark Dark House, This is How it Goes and Fat Pig, among others.

"I feel very lucky indeed to have this delicate drama in the sure hands of Profiles, which has become my theatrical home in Chicago," says playwright Neil LaBute. "If anyone can find the beating heart of this play, it will be Darrell Cox and Joe Jahraus and the actress who is crazy enough to step into the ring with them. I predict a knockout."

The Mercy Seat, the first production of Profiles Theatre's 21st Season, will be followed by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts' modern classic Killer Joe, January 8-February 28, 2010. Ellen Fairey's Graceland, which celebrated its world premiere at Profiles in May, will continue its run through November 15, at 4139 N. Broadway.

Tickets for The Mercy Seat are $30 for Thursdays and $35 for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available by phone, 773-549-1815, or online, www.profilestheatre.org. Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00pm.