Mercy Street Theatre, a company founded and led by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumni, presents the world premiere of Luz Estrada, an updated adaptation of Aristophanes’ classic antiwar comedy Lysistrata. Running June 25-July 16, Luz Estrada is performed at The Frontier, 1106 W. Thorndale, in Chicago’s Edgewater Theatre District. The Frontier is a storefront venue operated by Jackalope Theatre, another company founded and led by Columbia College Theatre alums. For tickets, call 513-379-9780 or click here.

Julia Rohed

Luz Estrada is directed by Mercy Street Theatre‘s artistic director, Columbia College Theatre Department alum Julia Rohed ’13, a graduate of the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department’s Theatre Directing program. Written by Dusty Wilson, the play is set in the middle of the cartel wars of northern Mexico. After learning of her family’s murder by the local cartel leader, Luz Estrada volunteers for her town’s long-vacant position of sheriff. With her new authority, she enlists the citizens of her town to fight a war against the drug lord that destroyed everything they held dear. The production team includes Columbia College alums Jordan Siragusa ’13, Alaina Moore ’13, and Almanya Narula ’16. Siragusa, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Theatre with a Concentration in Technical Theatre , is the show’s scenic designer; Narula, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting with a Minor in Stage Combat, is the show’s fight choreographer; and Moore, a graduate of Columbia College’s art and design program, is the costume designer. Former Theatre Department student John Kelly is the show’s lighting designer.