Nothing Without a Company (NWaC), an experimental theatre ensemble founded and led by Columbia College Chicago alums Anna Rose Ii-Epstein ’07 and Hannah Ii-Epstein ’15, is extending its well-received world premiere of Sofa King Queer, a pop-punk/indie rock musical about sex, family, and queer resilience. Originally scheduled to close December 2, the show is now running through December 14 at the Berger Park Cultural Center Coach House, located at 6205 N. Sheridan in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Student and industry discounts are available. For tickets, click here. In addition, NWaC offers “Pay What You Can” tickets on HotTix. Patrons can reserve online and donate at the door.
A special industry night performance on Monday December 2, at 7 PM will be sponsored by Impulse Chicago, part of Impulse Group, the world’s largest HIV/Wellness group for gay men dedicated to promoting healthier sexual lifestyles. This performance will have an industry mixer starting at 6 PM and a mobile testing site available for patrons to get a free, anonymous rapid HIV test provided by Southside Help, an affiliate of Impulse.
In addition to extending the production, NWaC has released an original cast album for the show, available free on all streaming platforms, including YouTube. Sofa King Queer received a rave review in the Chicago Reader, whose theatre editor, Columbia College Theatre alum Kerry Reid ’87, wrote: “Kevin Sparrow’s new pop-punk musical, Sofa King Queer, is raw, shaggy, sardonic, passionate, and just right for this moment. Directed by JD Caudill and featuring a young and diverse queer cast, this production by Nothing Without a Company hits a lot of the right emotional notes as it follows a group of queer friends, lovers, and family members through one day’s couplings, quarrels, and revelations. . . . Set in 2008 before the election of Barack Obama, the show . . . is intended as a period piece. But the urgency of queer people claiming their space and naming their pain has never felt more important than right now. . . Both as a period piece about late-aughts homocore culture in Chicago and as a rousing cri de coeur for right now, this big-hearted show deserves an attentive audience.” (To read the full review, click here.)
NWaC cofounder and producing director Anna Rose Ii-Epstein is a graduate of the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Program‘s BA Program in Acting. Her wife, NWaC artistic director Hannah Ii-Epstein, is a graduate of the college’s fiction writing program. The couple founded Nothing Without a Company to tell the stories of historically marginalized voices through theatre in reclaimed environments.
Sofa King Queer‘s properties designer is Columbia College alum Jackson Anderson ’24, who graduated with a double major in Musical Theatre Performance (BFA) and Theatre Design and Technology (BA).
