Lake Forest’s Citadel Theatre to stage Chicago Area Premiere of ‘The Cottage’ by North Shore Native Sandy Rustin Sept. 11 to Oct. 13

Citadel Theatre's production of the comedy “The Cottage,” playing Sept. 11 to Oct. 13, will be a homecoming of sorts for its playwright, Sandy Rustin. Rustin was raised in Glenview and graduated from Northwestern University. Rustin credits the many opportunities she had in North Shore primary and secondary schools as instrumental in preparing her for successful careers as a playwright and comedian. “The Cottage” was the first of her plays to be produced on Broadway, and it seems only fitting that its first regional production after Broadway will be back on the North Shore, at Citadel.

Rustin knew she wanted to be a playwright and actress at least since she was in sixth grade and took advantage of the many opportunities the North Shore offered for developing her theater talents. By the time she was 12 years old, she had already played the title role in “Annie” in a joint production between Marie Murphy School and Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, and Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” at a summer program in Evanston.

At New Trier High School, she began her writing career by contributing to the school’s annual student-written musical, “Lagniappe-Potpourri.” She later built on that experience at Northwestern University when she contributed to that school’s annual Waa-Mu Show. She also attended improv, acting and writing classes at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston.

Rustin credits her family for steeping her in comedy traditions.

“My father was really funny,” she said. “He’d play comedy albums at home all the time and, listening to them, I was learning from the greats. Comedy always felt very natural to me to write, and while I’ve written a lot of it, it’s not the only genre I write in.”

Sandy moved to New York shortly after graduation from NU and quickly found work as an actress, getting cast in a national tour of “Grease.” She worked steadily as an actress in New York, in stage shows including “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” performed regularly with the Upright Citizens Brigade improv troupe, acted in television series, and did voice-over work.

Her career started to move in a new direction in 2005.

“I became a parent, and began writing more,” she said. “The flexibility of being able to work at home on my own schedule was a much better fit to my new demands of parenting.”

She drew on that experience for her musical “Rated P for Parenthood,” which was optioned by ABC Studios, who developed it into a 30-minute musical comedy pilot. Her stage adaptation of the film “Clue,” based on the ever-popular board game and beloved film, was one of the most produced plays in the United States of the ’22-’23 season and has had over 3,000 productions.

A remark overheard backstage in 2014 at the off-Broadway musical “Found,” in which Rustin was appearing, led to her Broadway debut as a playwright.

“After a performance one night, I was speaking to a theater producer, Victoria Lang, who was lamenting the lack of female-focused plays,” she said. “I told her about my script, 'The Cottage,' which I'd written in the style of Noel Coward, but with a feminist twist. Lang became interested. It happened that Jason Alexander was looking for a play with which to make his Broadway debut as a director and agreed to direct it. Production was delayed due to COVID, but it all came together when we opened on Broadway in 2023.”

“The Cottage” is set in an English country manor house and concerns three couples, each of whom are engaged in infidelities. One couple, Beau and Sylvia, are enjoying the afterglow of an illicit night together while awaiting the arrival of their spouses, when Sylvia decides to tell them about their affair.

“The Cottage” finished its Broadway run in October 2023 and is now available for regional productions, many of which will premiere in the ’25 season.

“Citadel jumped through hoops to get rights right away and to open their season with it,” Rustin said. The fact that Citadel’s production will be the first in Illinois and will be in the North Shore will be a fitting tribute to all the teachers and schools in the area that helped to develop her young talent and allowed her to achieve her dream of becoming a playwright and actress.

Performances of “The Cottage” will be Sept. 11 to Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, most Fridays and all Saturdays; and 3 p.m. Sunday matinees; 1 p.m. Wednesday matinees on Sept. 25 and Oct. 9. No performances Fridays Sept. 13 and 27

Preview ticket prices are $20. Regular run prices are $45. Discounts are available for groups, seniors and students.

Citadel Theatre is in residence in the West Campus of the Lake Forest School District at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. Further information and ticketing is available on the company’s website at citadeltheatre.org.