Despite rumors, Pegasus still flying

Despite rumors, Pegasus still flying
The Pegasus Players' 17th annual Young Playwrights Festival, circa 2002-03 season photo courtesy of the Pegasus Players
Despite rumors, Pegasus still flying
The Pegasus Players' 17th annual Young Playwrights Festival, circa 2002-03 season photo courtesy of the Pegasus Players

Despite rumors, Pegasus still flying

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Venerable Pegasus Players has left its home of 25 years, the O’Rourke Theater of Truman College, but the troupe is not abandoning the Uptown neighborhood. Sometime late next year (2011) Pegasus will move to the theater of the Jane Addams Hull House Association center on Beacon Street, when the Black Ensemble—the current resident—moves to its new arts complex now under construction. The recent announcement laid to rest fears that Pegasus Players had closed its doors after 32 years, although the troupe’s longtime phone number has been disconnected and its website hasn’t been updated in over a year.

The announcement said Pegasus is taking a year-long hiatus from producing a season in order to restructure under the artistic leadership of veteran director Ilesa Duncan and board leadership by playwright David Barr. In an email to this writer, Duncan explained that one of Pegasus Players’ signature programs, the Young Playwrights Festival, is continuing in Chicago-area high schools and will culminate, as ever, with the production of three or four of the winning one-act plays (out of 769 submitted, says Duncan). However, the public presentation of the winning scripts will be substantially scaled back. Instead of full productions and a one-month public run, the prize plays will receive staged readings on January 3 at the Lookingglass Theatre.