Goodman Theatre April 4 - April 19, 2014

devised and performed
by Albany Park Theater Project
"BREATHTAKING! The juxtaposition of brutality and beauty, and the human capacity to turn the former into the latter...makes an already powerful show all the more striking." Gwen Purdom Time Out Chicago
God’s Work

They call Rachel the lucky one. Alongside her 18 brothers and sisters, Rachel survives nine years of deprivation and brutality at the hands of her fundamentalist and vengeful father. Then an extraordinary act of courage leads Rachel to discover a secret that lives in her heart – a secret she has kept safe since before she can remember – a secret that leads her to a breathtaking and unforgettable redemption. Albany Park Theater Project brings its reputation for emotional honesty and imaginative theatricality to this exploration of what it means to be human and how we learn to love.

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The Venue
Goodman Theatre
170 N Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60601 312.443.3800
Reviews for God’s Work
  • "BREATHTAKING! The juxtaposition of brutality and beauty, and the human capacity to turn the former into the latter...makes an already powerful show all the more striking."
    Gwen Purdom Time Out Chicago
  • Aesthetic excellence, high production values, and sophisticated storytelling…APTP's work stands up aesthetically to that of any small professional theater in Chicago, a city of many excellent small professional theaters.
    Dani Snyder-Young HowlRound
  • "This beautiful, moving tribute to the resilience of the human spirit and love’s redemptive power is A MUST-SEE."
    Colin Douglas Chicago Theatre Review
  • "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! The fearless performers grab your heart and imagination."
    Hedy Weiss Chicago Sun-Times
  • "God's Work illuminates the hope in darkness…APTP's innovative approach is engaging. Their revelation of truth and evil is unforgettable…"
    Katy Walsh The Fourth Walsh
  • "Want to see what theater at its best can do to change your life? Come see an APTP show. Then go back to the place where you live and make something that is that good."
    Bill Boerman-Cornell Catapult Magazine
  • "Remembering how we learned to love is not something we think about often. However, in God’s Work, Rachel remembers the moment clearly when she was 10 years old and holds on to the story for it to be told."
    Layne Hillesland Loyola Phoenix
  • "God’s Work is a powerful, unapologetic work of theater that deserves to be seen by everyone."
    Ricardo Cordova El Beisman
  • "Albany Park Theater Project has again done what so many places fail to do: they have spoken difficult truth with beauty and humility."
    The Reverend Timothy Brown Luther Memorial Church of Chicago
  • “I've never seen my students so absorbed in a performance. God’s Work was a rich, exhilarating learning experience for our middle school students."
    Barbara Dillon Albany Park Multicultural Academy
God’s Work Gallery
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God’s Work News
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  • Chicago Reporter: “You Haven’t Seen Community Theater Like This Before”

    Watson Zhou

    David Feiner met his future wife Laura Wiley at Yale School of Drama. They were drawn together by a shared desire to create meaningful art through community theater.

    “We wanted to transcend the boundaries you often find in theater and the arts in general; boundaries between life and art, audiences and artists, boundaries that too often keep us apart like race, ethnicity, religion, class and age,” says Feiner.

  • APTP’s God’s Work on Chicago Public Radio

    Watson Zhou

    Sixteen year-old Kyra Mae Robinson makes an astonishing transformation to play the mother of 18 children in God’s Work. Kyra and APTP’s artistic director, David Feiner, recently appeared on Chicago Public Radio’s “Afternoon Shift” to talk with host Niala Boodhoo about God’s Work, running at Goodman Theatre from April 4 – 19, 2014. Listen to the story, and enjoy this photos of Kyra off stage and on.

     

  • ‘God’s Work,’ Reinvented (Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune)

    Watson Zhou

    Three teenage boys leap, roll off each other’s backs and clap hands in the air as they kill unseen bees, tallying up their respective body counts with shouts of glee.

    “Caleb! Three bees.”

    “Jeremiah! Two bees.”

    “Luke. Four bees!”

    Their joy is infectious, but with a dark undertone. These actors are rehearsing “God’s Work” — a devised piece originally created and performed by the youth-oriented, multiethnic Albany Park Theater Project in 2006, and now running in a re-imagined version at the Goodman’s Owen Theatre.