Play directed by theatre professor earns Chicago accolades

A Chicago production of Cordelia Lynn’s play “Lela & Co.,” directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Robin Witt, has received three Joseph Jefferson (Jeff) Awards honoring non-Equity Chicago theatre.

The production received six Jeff Award nominations and won in the categories of Best Director (Play), Best Actor (Play) and Best Production (Play).

“Steep Theatre Company’s shattering production of ‘Lela & Co.,’ a haunting play about sex-trafficking and abuse, emerged triumphant at Chicago’s non-Equity Jeff Awards Monday night at the Athenaeum Theatre,” wrote the Chicago Tribune.

“Lela & Co.” was presented between July and September 2017 at the Steep Theatre; it received glowing reviews from the Chicago press. In December, the Chicago Tribune named “Lela & Co.” as the second-best Chicago theatre production of 2017.

Witt, who works regularly in Chicago theatre, has directed numerous productions at the Steep Theatre, as well as the Griffin Theatre Company, the Goodman, A Red Orchid Theatre and Steppenwolf. In 2015 and 2016, she won Best Director (Play) Jeff Awards. The professor will be in Chicago during the 2018-19 academic year, on a reassignment of duties, where she will direct four plays, including “A Doll’s House, Part 2” for Steppenwolf Theatre and “A Number” for Writers Theatre.