CHARGES (THE SUPPLICANTS)
by Elfriede Jelinek
Theatre Y, Chicago • 2026
Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek’s Charges (The Supplicants) is a cry for the displaced. Theatre Y transforms the act of seeking a home into a surrealist tightrope walk teetering between gallows humor and tragedy. Originally written to address the global refugee crisis, co-directors Melissa Lorraine and Héctor Álvarez mine Jelinek’s text for truths about a world of closed borders and violent deportations.
Production team
Direction: Melissa Lorraine and Héctor Alvarez
Set: Steven Stoll
Lights: Quinn Chisenhall
Costumes: Melissa Lorraine
Sound: Kimberly A. Sutton
Stage manager: Kaitlyn Hettinger and Keondre Williams





