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PRIMUS THEATRE OF, BY, AND FOR ADULTS AGE 55 AND OVER was founded by Winifred O'Reilly in cooperation with the Chicago Department
on Aging. Productions have been co-sponsored by the Chicago Cultural Center, where all of the performances have taken place.
Win O'Reilly: The transition from library to cultural center in 1991-1992 included designing an area for senior cultural
activities. Adrienne Glickman introduced me to Larry Wallingford; he introduced me to Pat O'Malley and her staff member, Sadie
Sullivan. Pat was to be the director of the area now known as Renaissance Court and the Studio Theater. With drama and music
on my mind, our first show, Vital Times: Voices of Chicagoland was put together and performed among boxes of books and art
and no stage. Thus began a sometimes joyful, sometimes painful ten years of teaching, producing, writing, researching, directing
and promoting theater for people 55 and older. This Old Folks idea is only a memory. Talent and hard work, mostly memorizing,
would out. Creativity reigns.
1992, The Plays The Thing, Renaissance Court. It entertains us and lets us entertain others. We are theater goers and
players/actors under the same banner.
In March, 2002, PRIMUS celebrated its tenth anniversary with reprised performances of
Works by Shakespeare, Glaspell, Simon, Kander and Ebb. The review was called:
1992-2002 PRIME TIME PRIMUS THEATER FESTIVAL.
Through the years, the cast of characters has changed. The Company included Helen Boyle, Gwendolyn Carter, Andria Christy,
Don Curda, Carol Holmes.
Set design, props, costumes, lighting, and stage management has been generously donated and created by cast members, members
of Win's family, friends of the theater and Stefan Brun.
Local artists designed show posters, including Colm O'Reilly and Pat O'Malley's assistants.
Mailings for the productions, edits and script handling has been overseen by Win O'Reilly.
Play Researcher Cecilie O'Reilly, Theater Department, Columbia College.
Ron Jung has been the accompanist for many of the music productions.
Later productions boasted many of the cast members doing their own vocals, including stylized performances by Win herself.
The largest group performances were: 70, Girls, 70 (Kander and Ebb musical 2x.)
In Memoriam tribute to Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 June 29, 2003) Written, produced and directed by Win O'Reilly.
PRIMUS THEATRE
CHRONOLOGY OF PLAYS, READINGS, PERFORMANCES:
Vital Times: Voices of Chicagoland, May 3, 1992 (Andria Christy, Jean Fagan).
INTRODUCTION TO PRIME TIME PRIMUS: some say Primus, some say Primus.
You may pronounce it the way it rhymus. Jeannie Gershon and partner.
9-25-1992 Jest Renaissance
10-1-1992 A Midsummer Night's Dream, excerpt: The Mechanicals.
2x in 10 year review as well.
Traveling Through the Dark; Poetry Selections
12-3/4-1992 Memory, Mystery Milieu + 2 short plays by Susan Glaspell (American Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and novelist
(1876 & 1948)
· Suppressed Desires (1915) co-written with George Cram Cook.
· Trifles (1916) adapted into the short story A Jury of Her Peers (1917).
2x - The Whales of August by David Berry (1978).
Humans: Through the Glass Briefly:
2x - Keen Kuttings and Rumplestiltskin - The Real Story by Dan Tucker
(original premier performance) by Norbert Hruby (American playwright, Past President of Aquinas College, b. 1918, passed
away May 18, 2010.) *Teacher of James and Winifred O'Reilly at Loyola Night School, Chicago, 1947.
The Kriz Boys (original premier performance) by Norbert Hruby, 1994
Front Page; excerpt - Cop Killer escapes Chicago 1928. Chicago Cultural Center Celebration.
AUGUST 21, 1993 As part of Rhino Fest. [*Inspired by surrealist painter Salvador Dali's use of the term "rhinocerontic"--it
means real big--this sprawl of avant-garde theater and performance in Chicago was founded by Beau O'Reilly. Chicago Reader,
August 19, 1993.]
Keen Cuttings and Rumpelstiltskin: The Real Story
Primus, a city-sponsored theater company composed of people 55 and older, performs a double bill. The first is a revue;
the second is Dan Tucker's reworking of the well-known folk tale.(Chicago Reader, 1993).
1993 Chiming in the Season
1993 The Last Yankee by Arthur Miller (1915 & 2005)
1994 2 x - Stars Revisited - A Tribute to Lillian Gish (October 14, 1893 - February 27, 1993)
and Helen Hayes (October 10, 1900 March 17, 1993) Arsenic and Old Lace
Helen Hayes: If you rest, you rust.
+1995 Simon Says 2 by Susan Glaspell
Trifles & Suppressed Desire - One Act plays 2x
1996 Nurture Dramatiques, a compilation of dramatic pieces
2x- 70, Girls, 70 musical by Kander and Ebb, 1971, Dorothy Bernard, Selma Goldstein, Tom Fagan, choreographer, Pat Rusk,
accompanist, [Barbara Joabson stage manager.]
A Celebration of Gifts 1996
Primus came about because I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Upon retiring, Win was introduced to
the Chicago Department of Aging (now called the Department of Human Services) Director of Cultural activities and managed
to procure the first floor Renaissance Court for performances. Productions were originally staged three times a year in the
Studio Theater.
In the article in Primetime section of the Lerner newspaper, October 17, 1996: "Theater group proves older actors
need not act old" by Erik Martin.
October, 1996 The Whole Truth by Philip Mackie (British playwright 1918-1985) (originally premiered in Britain). Performed
by Knight Houghton, Don Curda, Helen Boyle, Tom Almaguer, Selma Goldstein, Joanne Higgins.
Theater is focused on the word and action. It doesn't necessarily have to be all dressed up and flashy. The emphasis on
my direction is always on how can we best interpret the playwright for our audience: an all ages audience that also includes
the hard of hearing, those in wheelchairs, and the elderly.
Selma Goldstein says: "The question I'm most often asked is, How did you memorize all those lines? I think our theater
helps make older people not feel so old. It certainly makes me feel young."
Win enjoys working with my contemporaries and giving them an opportunity to pursue a creative art that they've either
done in the past or have always wanted to do. I believe in quality theater and in true artistic expression.
1999 Agatha Christie Hour
1997, Poker, Pursuit and Kopecks, excerpts from The Odd Couple by Neil Simon (b. 1927, American playwright) - a Game of
Trivial Pursuit.
June,1997, Melody and Mirth Music from Sunset Boulevard, As If I Never Said Goodbye. Featured Win O'Reilly, Bruce Rattenbury,
Helene Alter-Dyche.
Red, White and Blue, featuring Dorothy Bernard as Will Rogers
performed at the Cultural Center and the Chicago Park District
The Cemetery Club by Ivan Menchell (b.1961) featuring Helen Boyle.
"I realized that most people coming there didn't want to learn, they wanted to act. The learning part comes when
they are in a show working with a real director." Win O'Reilly, 8-31-1994, Chicago Tribune.
November, 2000 The Octette Bridge Club. P.J. Barry with Gwen Carter.
Drama-comedy: Eight sisters meet to play bridge, gossip and generally entertain themselves. 1934/1944. The Director's
Notes poem: "Ah, here come the actresses, Humm, there they go. This one wants to hide upstage, That one will steal the
show."
Tea With 3, Studio Theater. Featuring excerpts from Village Wooing - a comedietta for two voices by George Bernard Shaw,
Clare De Lune, Songs of Love by Romulus Linney.
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (English playwright and composer - 16 December 1899 - 26 March 1973) Suite in Three Keys: A Song
at Twilight; Shadows of the Evening; Come into the Garden, Maud (1966)[original song lyrics by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
1857] a trilogy.
2x - The Whales of August, David Berry, 2001.
13 Things About Ed Carpolotti from Three Viewings by Jeffrey Hatcher
Virginia, a recent widow performed by Win O'Reilly.
August, 2001 2x - Suppressed Desires; one act play by Susan Glaspell (1 July 1876 - 27 July 1948).
Henriette and Stephen Brewster played by Joanne Higgins and Don Curda, Mabel played by Helen Boyle.
Cecilie O'Reilly Line Producer.
Pat O'Malley, Carol Phillips and Renaissance volunteers.
Director's Note: "Humor can suddenly, and sometimes incongruously, invade the Serious. Humor helps us maintain Balance
in our chaotic world."
10th Anniversary: March, 2002 PRIMUS celebrated its tenth anniversary with reprised performances of works by Shakespeare,
Glaspell, Simon, Kander and Ebb.
The review was called: 1992-2002 PRIME TIME PRIMUS THEATER FESTIVAL.
Knowing (K)nots PRIMUS Theatre Laughing with the Theater of the Absurd. June, 2003
Excerpts from The Bald Soprano Eugene Ionesco
Explains It All For You, 1983. Christopher Durang
Candid Cuts by Beau O'Reilly *
Introducing four actors new to the company: Jackie Carpenter, Marjorie Davis, Lila Letchinger, and Michael Postilion.
Kate: In Memoriam tribute to Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003)
Written, produced and directed by Win O'Reilly.
Gifts of the Season Expressed in Words And Music. December, 2004
Artwork by Kathryn O'Reilly and technical work by Bridget O'Reilly.
"I had a company but I always featured someone new also." Win O'Reilly.
June, 2005. Art and Life! In Memoriam: A tribute to the American playwright Arthur Miller (October 17, 1915 - February
10, 2005).
This was Win's favorite show that she put together. New cast member Mary Gausselin.
December, 2005 Over The River and Through the Wood by Joe Dipietro featuring Dwight Eastman and Bob Smith.
Truman Capote. A Christmas Memory featuring Lila Letchinger.
2008 PRIMUS performed as part of the independent Chicago theater festival Rhino Fest*.
2 x - Dec. 9-12 2009 70, Girls, 70. musical by Kander and Ebb, REPRISE featured Carol Holmes.
2010 It's a Comedy. Right? written by Beau O'Reilly, [Teacher of Master courses in play writing at The School of the Art
Institute, Chicago, Illinois.]
Information compiled by Bernadette Haderlein from interviews with Win O'Reilly and from the archival scrapbooks including
pictures, programs, reviews, etc. September, 2010, April, 2011.
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