CHICAGO: Lookingglass Theatre Company has announced a four-show lineup for its 2016–17 season. It will include new plays from Aaron Posner and Alexander Zeldin, a world premiere from Doug Hara, and the return of Moby Dick.

“The season will bring old friends and new collaborators to Lookingglass,” said  artistic director Heidi Stillman in a statement.

The season will open with Life Sucks, Aaron Posner’s irreverent adaptation of Uncle Vanya (Sept. 9–Nov. 6). It will be directed by Andrew White and featuring Joey Slotnick as Vanya and Philip R. Smith as Dr. Aster.

The world premiere of Mr. and Mrs. Pennyworth will be next, written and directed by Doug Hara, with shadow animations by Chicago’s Manual Cinema and puppetry by Blair Thomas (Dec. 7, 2016–Feb. 19, 2017). The play follows traveling storytellers Mr. and Mrs. Pennyworth (the latter played by Lindsey Noel Whiting), who captivates audiences with fairy tales, until one day when the stories they’re telling start disappearing from the page.

The American premiere of Beyond Caring, written and directed by Alexander Zeldin, will be next (March 22–May 14, 2017). The show is a look at people living on the margins of society, who work for low wages and in harsh conditions, with no safety net, insurance, or the guarantee of the next day’s work. Recently produced at London’s National Theatre, the show will be reimagined in Chicago to discuss America’s lower class population. Beyond Caring will be presented in association with Dark Harbor Stories.

The season will close with the return of Moby Dick, adapted and directed by David Catlin from the novel by Herman Melville, and presented in association with The Actors Gymnasium (June 7–Sept. 3, 2017). The show, first presented last year, has won four Jeff Awards and comes back after a national tour.

Founded in 1988, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents new and cutting edge work, presented in a visually innovative fashion by its ensemble.