Theatre & Performing Arts
I am the Wind October 18, 2026
Two lifelong friends sail into open water: one edging closer to the pull of oblivion, the other with a question neither can escape. Nobel laureate Jon Fosse’s I AM THE WIND is a poetic, aching meditation on companionship, loss, and the fragility of life. Staged with physical risk – actors suspended on narrow swinging planks with nothing to catch them – the delicate reality of the body hangs in the balance.
We are proud to present the Chicago premiere of I Am the Wind from September 24-November 1, 2026 at Theatre Y, located at 3611 W Cermak Rd. The production is directed by Evan Hill and stars Melissa Lorraine and Hank Hilbert, in a translation into English by May-Brit Akerholt.
We are pleased to announce the return of artistic director and critically acclaimed actor Melissa Lorraine back to the stage after a six-year acting hiatus. The New York Times’ Ben Brantley referred to her as “an almost elemental presence.”
She is joined by Hank Hilbert, who is also once again gracing Chicago with his magnetic, volcanic stage presence after several years away as a stand-up comedian – a form of performance that demands the kind of individual charisma and appeal that serves this two-hander well.
Fosse’s open-ended dialogue finds resonant metaphors and philosophical depth in verbal simplicity and concreteness, as his musical, rhythmic language is surrounded by the theatrical electricity of silence and the unspeakable. The play could be understood as a memory play, a ghost story, a philosophical dialogue, or a piece of psychotherapeutic introspection. This production challenges audiences to suspend their normal habits of perceiving and thinking and to rediscover the desire to participate in the mystery of living.
Tickets are as always free and open to the public!
