Remy Bumppo’s annual season kickoff event, the Season Salon, is a chance to meet and greet the artists behind Remy Bumppo as well as learn more about the upcoming season. Enjoy a lively, sometimes irreverent panel discussion and Q & A on the season theme of Secret Lives, Public Lies, then continue the conversation over coffee and desserts in the lobby.

This year’s salon is moderated by Chicago Public Radio’s Director of Content Steve Edwards. Panelists include veteran war correspondent Storer H. Rowley; fundraiser Bunky Cushing, dubbed Chicago’s “Social Tugboat” by Vogue Magazine; actor Jeffrey Carlson, who originated the role of Billy in Edward Albee’s The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? and Remy Bumppo Artistic Director James Bohnen.

Now in its seventh year, Remy Bumppo’s Season Salon serves as a preview of the upcoming season and introduces the season theme. The 2010/11 season features three plays exploring the theme Secret Lives, Public Lies and includes Tom Stoppard’s romantic drama about competing British war correspondents, Night and Day, Sept. 22 - Oct. 31, 2010; Oscar Wilde’s comic masterpiece about social manners, identity and the customs of courtship, The Importance of Being Earnest, Nov. 24, 2010 through Jan. 9, 2011; and Edward Albee’s family tragi-comedy, which won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, March 30 – May 8, 2011.

Artistic Director Bohnen explains the season theme Secret Lives, Public Lies: “These plays ask the questions ‘What are you willing to risk?’ ‘How far will you go to find true love?’ and ‘Where is your limit of forgiveness?’ They delve into the tension between the deep truths we hide and the deceptions that help us get by. This year’s panelists have uncanny connections to the play they have been assigned to introduce, which promises to make for an exceptionally memorable and entertaining evening.”

Panelist Bios

Steve Edwards (moderator) is Content Development Director for Chicago Public Media and the original host of the award-winning radio news magazine Eight-Forty-Eight on WBEZ. Edwards’ reports and interviews have been honored by Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), The Chicago Headline Club, The Illinois Associated Press, United Press International (UPI), The Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI), and the Chicago Bar Association. He is the recipient of a Grand Prize Award from the National Headliner Club and a 2007/08 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for mid-career journalists at the University of Michigan.

Recorded Monday, August 30, 2010 at The Greenhouse Theater