Congrats to my brother Joe Griffin for taking home the Non-Union Jeff Award for Best Sound Design for STRANGE CARGO – The Doom of the Demeter at City Lit Theatre!
Plus, you can now hear Strange Cargo’s award-winning sound design on Joe’s new album – BLOOD VESSEL: Music from and inspired by Strange Cargo – the Doom of the Demeter! Go get it HERE ON BANDCAMP!
Ahoy, you lot!
I am overjoyed to announce that the World Premiere of STRANGE CARGO – The Doom of the Demeter at City Lit Theatre has received FIVE Jeff Award Nominations! For those of you not hip to the Chicago theatre scene, the Jeffs are Chicago’s biggest theatre awards, akin to the Tonys in New York – so it’s a big deal!
Here’re our nominations:
Best Ensemble
Best Scenic Design – Ruby Lowe
Best Projection Design – DJ Douglass
Best Artistic Specialization – Puppet Design – Jeremiah Barr
Best Sound Design – Joe Griffin (my brother Joe! – Also nominated for Best Sound Design for his work on Lifeline Theater’s War of the Worlds!)
The full list of nominees can be found HERE. The Jeff Awards Ceremony will be held Monday, March 23rd, 2026 – stay tuned to find out if we won!
Ahoy, you scurvy lot!
We’re full speed ahead toward Opening Night of the World Premiere of Strange Cargo: The Doom of the Demeter at City Lit Theatre, this Saturday, 10/18/2025! In spreading the word, I got a chance to chat with Dean Richards at Chicago’s WGN Radio on Sunday 10/12! You can hear the interview RIGHT HERE (starting at 1:01 and running to 1:09). Dig it! And get your tix fast – presales are hopping!
BE THERE OR BE ABSENT!
Ahoy, you lot!
It is with great joy and excitement that I direct you to the official cast announcement of the World Premiere of STRANGE CARGO: The Doom of the Demeter, playing this fall at City Lit Theatre!
BE THERE OR BE ABSENT!
Hey you lot! I can now officially announce that my new play, STRANGE CARGO: The Doom of the Demeter will World Premiere this fall as part of City Lit Theater’s 45th Season in Chicago, Illinois!
Based on Chapter Seven of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this gothic horror high seas adventure tells the shocking events aboard the cargo ship transporting Count Dracula’s belongings from Transylvania to England. Suspicion, paranoia, and madness infect the crew as the harried sailors disappear one by one. Full of creeping mystery, vibrant language, rich characters, sinister vanishings, violent sea storms, swashbuckling action, monstrous puppetry, and, of course, a boatload of terrors, this is the Dracula tale you’ve never seen.
Here’s the link to the lit to the City Lit page: https://www.citylit.org/ A co-production with Black Button Eyes Productions, the play will be directed by the amazing Ed Rutherford and Sound Designed by my criminally talented brother Joe Griffin! Watch this space for ticket info!
BE THERE OR BE ABSENT!
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