Displaying items by tag: chicago theatre

Black Ensemble Theater continues its 50^th Anniversary Season with the world premiere of You Can't Fake the Funk: A Journey Through Funk Music, written and directed by Artistic Director Director Daryl D. Brooks. You Can't Fake the Funk runs September 5-October 25, 2026, at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago.

Information and tickets are available at www.blackensemble.org, (773) 769-4451 and at the Black Ensemble Theater Box Office, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago. Please note the new curtains times: Fridays at 7:00pm, Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $69 (fees included). Valet parking is available for $15 (cash only).

Hop aboard the Mothership and take a groovy ride back to the era when Afros were high, bell-bottoms were tight, and the music was truly out of sight! You Can't Fake the Funk: A Journey Through Funk Music is a high-energy, feel-good celebration of the sound that defined a generation. From Sly and the Family Stone to Parliament-Funkadelic to Earth, Wind & Fire, this electrifying production will have audiences dancing in the aisles and testifying to the unstoppable power of the Funk.

The cast is led by Dwight Neal (Dr. Funk) with an ensemble cast including: Vincent Jordan, Britt Edwards, Jaitee Thomas, Miciah Lathan, Jordan Taylor, Darrow Richmond, Darren Patin, Johnathon Lee and Brandon Lavell. The understudies are Blake Reasoner and Kentrell Dawson.

The creative team includes: Founder/CEO Jackie Taylor (producer), Artistic Director Daryl D. Brooks (director, writer), Robert Reddrick (music director), Qiana McNary (associate director), Robin DaSilva (vocal arranger), Christopher Chase Carter (choreographer), Denise Karchewski (lighting and set designer), Robert Kunh (costume designer), Sean Alverez (sound designer), and DJ Douglass (projection designer), Harrison Orneals (technical director), Kristi Martens (Equity stage manager), and Cat Andrade (Equity assistant stage manager).

The live band is: Music Director Robert Reddrick (drums), Adam Sherod (keys), Oscar Brown (guitar), Charles "Chip" DuBose (guitar), Walter Harrington (bass), Mark Allen Felton (sax), Corey Wilkes (trumpet), Bill McFarland (trombone), and Myron Cherry (drum understudy).

The 5-Play Card

Black Ensemble Theatre's 5-Play Card is a digital ticket package unlike any other. At a cost of $280 (including fees), it offers a savings of $65 over regular ticket prices. One of the greatest perks of the 5-Play Card is its flexibility – use the five tickets any way you want! You can: bring five people to one show, treat yourself to five different shows, or use the 5-Play Card in any ticket number combination until all five tickets are spent.

The 5-Play Card is good for 18 months and becomes active immediately after purchasing. If you buy multiple 5-Play Card packages, please note that a maximum of five tickets can be redeemed on a single show date.

The 50^th Anniversary Season continues with:

Jackie Taylor's The Other Cinderella

Written and directed by Founder & CEO Jackie Taylor

Music by Jackie Taylor and Michael Ward
December 12, 2026-January 24, 2027

Opening: Sunday, December 20, 2025

Jackie Taylor's The Other Cinderella is a beloved Black Ensemble Theater classic that has delighted audiences for 50 years.  This joyful African American version of the timeless fairy tale is filled with laughter, soul, and heart. In this story, Cinderella is from the projects, the Stepmamma works at the post office, the Fairygodmama hails from Jamaica, and the Brothers from the Hood keep the kingdom jumpin'!

Overflowing with show-stopping songs, vibrant dancing, and unforgettable characters, The Other Cinderella is a treasured family tradition, and the perfect way to close our 50th Anniversary Season, reminding us to embrace our greatness and follow our spirit!

Black Ensemble will continue with the Plays With A Purpose series for school groups, Black Playwrights Initiative, Soul of a Powerful Woman on June 7, 2026, the free summer outside concert series Fridays on the Green in August, and the annual Gala on October 15, 2026,

About Black Ensemble's Free to Be Village

Construction is underway on the new Studio Theater, the second phase of the visionary Free to BE Village. This intimate space will nurture new work, emerging voices, innovative storytelling, and the next generation of talent. It represents a bold step forward as we continue expanding the artistic possibilities of Black Ensemble Theater.

The Studio Theater, housed on the second floor of the Black Ensemble Cultural Center at 4450 N. Clark St., will be transformed into a 3,150 sq. ft., 150-seat performance space, plus a dance studio/rehearsal room and a dressing room. The Studio Theater was the final project designed by the outstanding late architect John Morris. The Studio Theater will have flexiblility to accommodate at least eight stage and seating configurations and will feature state-of-the-art lighting and sound design.

The inaugural season for the Studio theater will be announced in September or October. It will offer much needed space for new and experimental works, including the works of the Black Playwrights Initiative. The Studio theater will also include musical as well as non-musical stage productions. 

The architect is Morris Architects Planners; John Morris passed away in 2025. The construction administration phase by Seek Design. The contractor is Ujamaa Construction.

Funding for the project is generously provided by City of Chicago Community Development funds; Federal community project funds – Representative Jan Schakowsky and Representative Mike Quigley; Illinois Arts Council; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; and the State of Illinois DCEO.

Black Ensemble Theater   

Founded in 1976 by acclaimed producer, playwright, and actress Jackie Taylor, Black Ensemble Theater is the only African American theater on the culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse North Side in Uptown. Through its Educational Outreach Programs, Black Ensemble has served more than 10,000 young people. Its Four Play Season of Excellence has captivated audiences locally, nationally, and internationally with outstanding original musicals that entertain, uplift, and bridge cultural divides, reminding us that we are all one. Black Ensemble Theater has produced more than 100 productions and employed more than 5,000 artists.

The mission of the Black Ensemble Theater Company is to eradicate racism and its devastating effects upon society through the theater arts and community engagement.  For more information on the Black Ensemble Theater Company, visit www.BlackEnsembleTheater.org or call 773-769-4451.  

Jackalope Theatre Company, presenting the 17th Annual Newspaper Festival, August 20 - 24, is proud to announce the world premiere of Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts by Calamity West, written by Calamity West and directed by Jonathan Berry, November 11 - December 19, 2026, at Jackalope Theatre in the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N Broadway St. The total running time, including one intermission, is two hours and 30 minutes. Preview performances are Wednesday, Nov. 11, Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. The performance schedule is Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with no Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28 performances. Tickets are $20 - $45 with student and Edgewater resident discounts available. Subscription and single tickets are now available at JackalopeTheatre.org or call/text the box office at 773.340.2543.

Calamity West is conjuring a fantasia: It’s 1986 New York and Tony is a playwright who isn’t writing. As he and his closest collaborators search for meaning in an increasingly fractured America, figures from history begin appearing with agendas of their own. Engines and Instruments of Flight is a play about the magic of making theatre in a world that refuses to stand still.

The cast of Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts by Calamity West includes Raphael Diaz (he/him, Henry); Julian Hester (he/him, William); Niko Kourtis (he/him, Tony); Andrew Burden Swanson (he/him, Calvin); Johnard Washington (he/him, Gene) and Mary Williamson (she/her, Eleanor).  

The creative team for Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts by Calamity West includes Calamity West (she/her, playwright); Jonathan Berry (he/him, director); Salman Lee (he/him, assistant director); Tianxuan Chen (she/her, scenic and lighting designer); Delena Bradley (she/her, costume designer); Steve Labedz (they/them, sound designer); Courtney Abbott (they/she, intimacy coordinator); Madie Doppelt (she/her, script advisor); E Tylkowski (they/them, production manager); Tseela Sokolin-Maimon (she/her, stage manager); Mayah Jaimes (they/them, assistant stage manager) and AJ Links, CSA (she/her, casting director).

ABOUT CALAMITY WEST, PLAYWRIGHT

Calamity West is the 2026 recipient of the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award, one of the nation’s most significant prizes for new American plays, for her play FEAST!. Originally developed in New York at Primary Stages through the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, FEAST! received further development at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. West’s work has been produced, commissioned and developed by some of the country’s leading theatrical institutions including The Public, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Theatre Company, the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and Jackalope Theatre Company. From 2022 to 2026, West was an invited member of Primary Stages’ Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, where she wrote three new plays: FEAST!, Sgt. Hank Cole’s Drama Club of Algona and PARALLAX. Her body of work also includes In the Canyon, Give It All Back, Rolling and Greetings from Moscow: A Love Story. West’s Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts is receiving its world premiere at Jackalope Theatre Company to be followed by the world premiere of FEAST! at Goodman Theatre, February 27 - March 28, 2027.

ABOUT JONATHAN BERRY, DIRECTOR

Jonathan Berry is a Chicago-based director, producer, educator and is the recently appointed artistic director at Raven Theatre. For Jackalope, he directed the world premiere of The Casuals.  He was an artistic producer at Steppenwolf, where directing credits include: Lindiwe, The Children, You Got Older, Constellations, Curious Incident… and The Crucible. Other work includes: Steep Theatre (Company Member): Paris, Birdland, Red Rex, The Knowledge, Festen, Moment and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Griffin (Company Member): The Harvest, Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy, Spring Awakening, Punk Rock, Port, Company and Picnic. Other credits include Roundabout Theater: Suicide, Incorporated; Gift Theatre: the remount of Obliterarion, the world premieres of Dirty and Suicide, Incorporated and at Goodman Theatre: The Solid Sand Below and The World of Extreme Happiness for New Stages. Assistant director for Broadway productions of Of Mice and Men and This is Our Youth.  He taught classes at UIC, Columbia College, Northwestern and was instrumental in leading the ensemble training program, The School, at Steppenwolf.  For three years, he served as artistic director of the Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor, Maine. 

Coming Up from Jackalope:

17th Annual Living Newspaper Festival 

August 20 - 24

Press Opening: Thursday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Performance Schedule: Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. and Monday at 7:30 p.m.

The Broadway Armory, 5917 N Broadway

JackalopeTheatre.org/2025-2026

Tickets: $20 - $35

The Living Newspaper Festival is inspired by the 1930s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project that created stories based on recent events. This year’s Festival includes world premieres inspired from recent news headlines.

Performances, show times, dates are subject to change.

ABOUT JACKALOPE THEATRE

Jackalope Theatre Company expands the definition of American Identity by engaging with communities to produce works that celebrate diverse perspectives. Jackalope is a premier home for new and exciting Off-Loop Theatre based in Chicago's Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. They are committed to cultivating new voices that contribute to an expanding American culture and mythology. Each season, Jackalope produces full-length plays, new play development programming and provides free classes in partnership with the Chicago Park District.

Jackalope Theatre Company, presenting the 17th Annual Newspaper Festival, August 20 - 24, is proud to announce the world premiere of Engines and Instruments of Flight: A Fantasia in Three Acts by Calamity West, written by Calamity West and directed by Jonathan Berry, November 11 - December 19, 2026, at Jackalope Theatre in the Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N Broadway St. The total running time, including one intermission, is two hours and 30 minutes. Preview performances are Wednesday, Nov. 11, Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. with the press opening Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with no Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28 performances. Tickets are $20 - $45 with student and Edgewater resident discounts available. Subscription and single tickets are now available at JackalopeTheatre.org or call/text the box office at 773.340.2543.

Broadway In Chicago is excited to announce tickets for t he original Tony® & Olivier Award-winning musical sensation, JERSEY BOYS, are now on sale. The highly anticipated engagement will play Broadway In Chicago’s CIBC Theatre for a limited two-week engagement, November 10 - 22. This engagement of JERSEY BOYS is part of a multi-city North American Tour beginning September 2026 in celebration of its 20^th Anniversary year.

JERSEY BOYS is the behind-the-music true story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.  They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their very first note. They had a sound nobody had ever heard… and the radio just couldn’t get enough of. But while their harmonies were perfect on stage, off stage it was a very different story – a story that has made them an international sensation all over again. The show features all their hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” “Walk Like A Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Beggin’” and “Working My Way Back To You.”

JERSEY BOYS is written by Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Grammy Award-winner Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe.

The recipient of Broadway’s Tony, London’s Olivier and Australia’s Helpmann Awards for Best New Musical, JERSEY BOYS is the winner of 65 major awards and has been seen by over 30 million people worldwide.

The Broadway production originally opened on November 6, 2005, and, by the time it closed on January 15, 2017, it was the 12^th longest running show in Broadway history.  It returned to New York with a new production from November 2017 to May 2022. JERSEY BOYS has also had multiple record-breaking US National Tours from 2006 through 2022 as well as productions in Las Vegas, Chicago and Toronto.

JERSEY BOYS ran in London’s West End from March 18, 2008 to March 26, 2017 and, at the time, was the 6^th longest musical running in the West End. The musical returned to the West End as the first show to play the reinstated Trafalgar Theatre from April 14, 2021 to January 4, 2024. JERSEY BOYS previously played three record-breaking UK and Ireland tours from 2014 to 2016, 2017 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022.

A JERSEY BOYS 20^th Anniversary UK and Ireland tour also opened on June 15, 2026, at the New Wimbledon Theatre, currently booking dates through 2027.

The JERSEY BOYS 20^th Anniversary North American tour will be staged by the entire original Broadway creative team, led by the Tony Award-winning team of director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo, with scenic design by Klara Zieglerova, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Steve Canyon Kennedy, projections design by Michael Clark and production supervision by Danny Austin. The orchestrations are by Steve Orich and the music supervision and vocal arrangements by Ron Melrose.

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of JERSEY BOYS, produced by Bob Gaudio, was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The cast recording is available on Rhino Records. JERSEY BOYS: The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (Broadway Books) is the official handbook to the smash Broadway hit.  Season’s Greetings: A JERSEY BOYS Christmas, a holiday CD featuring international cast members of JERSEY BOYS, produced by Bob Gaudio, is available on Rhino Records.

For more information, please visit www.JerseyBoysInfo.com
Instagram: @JerseyBoysBroadway
Facebook: @JerseyBoysBroadway
TikTok: @JerseyBoysBroadway
YouTube: @JerseyBoys
Threads: @JerseyBoysBroadway

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, November 10 – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 11 – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 12 – 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 13 – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 14 – 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 15 – 1:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, November 17 – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 18 – 1:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 19 – 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 20 – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 21 – 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 22 – 1:00 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION (As of August 14, based on availability and subject to change)
Individual tickets for JERSEY BOYS are on sale now and range from $40.00 - $140.00 with a select number of premium tickets available. Ticket price listed is when purchased in person at the box office. Additional fees apply for online purchases. Tickets are available now for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 26 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, The Auditorium, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.
 

For more information and tickets, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
Follow @BroadwayInChicago on
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#broadwayinchicago

Tin Drum Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for Chicago premiere for A Dark Wood, October 15 - November 1, written by Eric Coble and directed by Steve Needham, at Studio 44 in the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. The preview performance for A Dark Wood is Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. with the opening night performance Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. The Understudy Performance is Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. There will be a post-show talk-back with playwright Eric Coble after a select performance date, to be announced. Tickets are $29 with $15 student tickets. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 1  at TinDrumTheatre.com or by calling the Greenhouse Theater Company box office at 773.404.7336. 

“The Fix” was supposed to correct everything that had gone wrong with the country. Now, three members of a shattered family, Earthworm, Hummingbird and Armadillo, occupy different corners of a society in free-fall, each surviving in their own way. Earthworm squats in no-man’s land beside his only friend, desperate to cross the river border and begin a new life. Hummingbird hides in a boarded-up apartment, secretly reading books with a fugitive teacher who will do anything to keep both her — and the resistance — alive. Armadillo stands alone in her police armor searching for justice, or perhaps forgiveness. Which of them will make it to Paradise and what will it cost? Does such a place even exist?

A Dark Wood ensemble cast includes Renzo Vicente (he/him, Earthworm), Delaney 

Vallese (she/her, Hummingbird), Marlee Feacher (she/her, Armadillo), Carlos Andrés Mai (he/they, Montrose), Shannon Leigh Webber (she/her, Miss Vivian) and Raúl Alonso (he/him, Dipper).

The creative team includes Eric Coble (he/him, playwright); Steve Needham (he/him, producer/director),  Jason Palmer (he/him, production manager),  Sil Rivera (they/them, stage manager); Will Hughes (he/him, technical director and scenic designer); Kasey Wolfgang (she/her, costume designer); Emma Berry (she/her, lighting designer and master electrician); Zach Stinnett (he/him, sound designer) and Erin Alys (she/her, director of intimacy and movement). 

ABOUT ERIC COBLE, playwright

Eric Coble is an award-winning American playwright whose work spans sharply drawn dramas, audacious comedies and incisive social satire. Born in Edinburgh and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations of the American Southwest, Coble brings a distinctive blend of wit, empathy and theatrical boldness to the stage.

His plays have been produced across the United States and internationally, including on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at major regional theatres. His Broadway debut, The Velocity of Autumn, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella, earned Parsons a Tony Award nomination. Other widely produced works include The Giver (stage adaptation), Bright Ideas, My Barking Dog, Fairfield, The Dead Guy, Natural Selection and Southern Rapture, among many others.

Coble’s scripts have received an ATCA Steinberg New Play Award citation, the Governor’s Award for the Arts (Ohio) and multiple Edgerton New Play Awards. His work has been developed or produced by The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Class Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Known for his sharp comic voice and ability to illuminate the tensions and absurdities of contemporary American life, Coble remains a vital presence in the new-play landscape. He is a member of the Playwrights’ Center and a graduate of Ohio University’s MFA program.

ABOUT STEVE NEEDHAM, director

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Steve Needham is a founding member of Convergence-Continuum, which is still producing provocative black box theatre for more than 25 years.

In Chicago, Needham has previously worked in various capacities at The Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, About Face Theatre and Pride Films & Plays. He holds a B.A. in theater from Kent State University, a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from Cleveland State University.

At Tin Drum Theatre, he wrote the company’s inaugural play, Winter Garden about Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, and directed The Unseen by Craig Wright. 

Outside of his artistic pursuits, Needham is an attorney with a litigation firm located in the River North neighborhood.

ABOUT TIN DRUM THEATRE COMPANY

Tin Drum Theatre Company exists to disrupt complacency and reassert theatre’s civic purpose. Creating theatre that asks something of its audience, moving beyond comfort to provoke conversation and critical engagement. Tin Drum believes community begins where audiences and ideas collide, and where dramatic disturbances are created.

Curious Theatre Branch, with co-producers Chicago Danztheater Ensemble, Chicago Dramatists and Labyrinth Club, are pleased to announce the 37th annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, September 20 - October 26 at four venues across Chicago. The month-long festival of shows will kick off with a special “afternoon tea” edition of the Full Moon Vaudeville, this concert launches the festival on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave., headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth and other special guests. 

Throughout its nearly four decades, Rhinofest has endeavored to welcome as many participants as possible, both as artists and as audience members. To that end, artists pay no fee to apply or to produce their works at Rhinofest and all tickets are offered at pay-what-you-can pricing, with a $25 suggested price. Tickets and details for all upcoming shows will be available Sunday, Sept. 6 at Rhinofest.com.

Since its inception in 1989, as a single weekend of shows in the Wicker Park neighborhood, this unique and mutable fringe festival has expanded and contracted to fit the time and has become the longest running Fringe Festival in Chicago. Festival events will take place at four venues this year: Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. in Humboldt Park; Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen in River West, Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd. in the Irving Park neighborhood and Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave. 

The 37th Rhinofest will feature mostly original work from Chicago artists and companies, including new work from The Fat Theater Project, the 10th anniversary of Ira Murfin’s An Interview, a new work by Jessica Wright Buha, new work from Drinking and Writing Theater, and, of course, an evening of short works by The Curious Theatre Branch, Rhinofest’s host. New to the Festival in 2026 are partnerships with Chicago Danztheater, a beautiful space in Andersonville, featuring movement-based work and a creativity workshop called Maps, Guides & Legends: a generative writing and interdisciplinary art-making workshop on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

This year's festival will feature plays, music and performances from more than 35 companies and solo artists. Among the highlights are: 

The Full Moon Vaudeville

Facility Theater, 1138 N. California Ave.

Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m.

The annual bacchanalia headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth 

includes a variety of acts to inaugurate the festival featuring cool things as yet unknown and a rare afternoon teatime show.

Make Out the Words 

by The Curious Theatre Branch

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. 

Make Out the Words: two new short plays inspired by the unproduced writing of the late Matt Rieger, by Curious ensemble members Charlotte Lastra and Chris Bower. The show also features a performance of Rieger's own text by Beau O'Reilly. 

A strange encounter on a train leaves an aimless woman desperate for answers, and a flood with no explanation leaves a couple with a basement full of ruined Moby Dicks.

Drinking and Writing Theater: Miersten Wolf

Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd.

Thursdays: Sept. 24, Oct. 1, Oct. 8, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.

In this 70-minute musical, three stories are interwoven with 10 original songs. The stories include the truthful biographical information of the writer, the history of Chicago's problem/solution with its waste and, lastly, a fictional story of a crib keeper on Lake Michigan who dreams of a mysterious woman named Miersten Wolf.

Works in Progress

By Jeff Glassman, Mark Enslin and Susan Parenti

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m.

Works in progress include Radish is My Teacher by Jeff Glassman, a collection of scripts for puppets by Susan Parenti and a libretto by Mark Enslin about a stranded international volunteer incarcerated firefighter. Both Susan Parenti & Jeff Glassman have had new works produced here in Chicago and around the country over the last decade.

The Metamorphosis aka The Adult Show/I'm a Bug!!! aka the Kids Show

By Jessica Wright Buha

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Sundays: Oct. 4, Oct. 11, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 at 11 a.m.

This staged reading presents TWO works-in-progress that will happen at the same time (in two separate rooms). 

The Metamorphosis aka The Adult Show, is a five-actor immersive show based on Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis.” 

I'm a Bug!!!! aka the Kids Show, is a two-actor/teaching artist show for kids based on Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis.” This second piece will also serve as child care for audience members going to see The Metamorphosis.

Shaking the Beckett: 

The Magic of Lady M. and A Needless & Wasteful Requirement

By Fat Theater Company

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. 

These two one acts are both subjective and satirical interpretations of the works of two theatrical masters: William Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett. The Magic of Lady M. by Laura Scruggs reimagines the tragedy of “Macbeth” as a feminist political satire in a style akin to John Waters or “Ru Paul's Drag Race.” A Needless & Wasteful Requirement by Robert MacCrae follows two actresses awaiting the performance rights to produce Waiting for Godot, which becomes an existential absurd comedy in the vein of Beckett himself. 

An Interview

By Ira Murfin

Sunday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. at Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd.

Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

An Interview is an ongoing series of encounters between rotating pairs of participants, who meet across a table in front of an audience to first revisit an interview conducted during the previous installment and now to conduct a new, unrehearsed conversation. Every performance is specific, unique and unrepeatable, while each encounter is connected to all the others by the format and sequence that carries through the project’s 10-year history. 

Special Event: Maps, Guides & Legends

Led by Sherry Antonini and Jenny Magnus

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Maps, Guides & Legends is a generative writing and interdisciplinary art-making workshop. A writing and creativity day based on the idea that doing is learning, and experiments and games are an explosive way to try new things. Antonini and Magnus have been teaching together for 30 years, from the incredible Interdisciplinary Arts Department at Columbia College Chicago back in the day to writing classes at The School of the Art Institute and everything in between. This duo knows how to have fun and get ideas rolling. Anyone can get ready to begin, begin again or find a way through the middle of a project. Open to writers and interdisciplinary artists at all levels, this workshop will point to new project routes, productive detours and discoveries of what can be found along unpaved roads. 

About the Rhinoceros Theater Festival

The event that became the Rhinoceros Theater Festival began in 1988 as an offshoot of the Bucktown Arts Fest and in its first year featured just two days of performances, including work by Curious Theatre Branch co-founders Jenny Magnus and Beau O'Reilly. Curious went on to produce the Rhino across many neighborhoods and venues over the years, with events variously taking place in Wicker Park/Bucktown, Rogers Park, Andersonville and Avondale; at spaces including the Lunar Cabaret and Full Moon Café, the Neo-Futurarium, the Society for New Things, The Garage, The Firehouse, Remains Theatre and Prop Thtr. In the mid-2000s, Rhinofest settled at Prop Thtr in Avondale as its long-term base and Prop and Curious co-produced the festival among a shifting group of curators for many years. Following the closure of Prop's Elston Ave. space in 2020 and a year off during the height of the pandemic, Rhinofest now returns to its expanded form, producing shows by more than 50 artists at multiple venues.

Open Space Arts has announced it will stage the Chicago Premiere of THE SWALLOW - the internationally acclaimed drama by Spanish playwright Guillem Clua, author of the comedy SMILEY, which Open Space Arts produced from June 3 to July 19 this year. In this two-character 90-minute play, a voice lesson becomes a profound experience for the music teacher and her adult student. As they work together on a song, what initially seems like a simple musical exchange becomes something more personal, more complicated, and more revealing.
 
THE SWALLOW (originally titled LA GOLONDRINA) premiered in London in 2018. It was produced in Madrid the following year, with Carmen Maura, the star of seven films directed by the legendary Pedro Almodovar, as the music teacher. THE SWALLOW has also been staged in Athens, Rome, Washington, DC, and New York City. The Open Space Arts production will open on Friday, September 11, at 7:30 pm, and play Fridays through Sundays through September 27. All performances are in Open Space Arts' hyper-intimate 25-seat theatre at 1411 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago.

Open Space Arts' production of THE SWALLOW will be directed by Laine Rogers, whose credits include work with a wide swath of Chicago theatre companies, including MadKap Productions, Piven Theatre, Raven Theatre, Concert Opera of Greater Chicago, Pride Arts, Actors Training Center, Muskegon Civic Theatre, and DePaul University. Her cast will include Chicago veteran actress Michelle McKenzie-Voight as the teacher, Emily, and Jim Nally, a recent transplant to Chicago from Cleveland, as Ray. The production team is Dorothy Sargent (Stage Manager), Rick Paul (Set Designer), Dominique Favre (Costume Designer), Sean Smyth (Lighting and Sound Designer), and Mark Forbis (Original Music). 

SMILEY author Guillem Clua is one of Spain's most widely produced contemporary playwrights. His work has been staged internationally and translated into multiple languages. His plays, including SMILEY and THE SWALLOW, are known for their emotional intelligence, wit, and insight into the complexities of human connection. While SMILEY has become a global audience favorite, it has had only limited exposure in the United States, with select Spanish-language productions in New York and Miami. Open Space Arts' production introduces this internationally celebrated work to Chicago audiences, offering a fresh opportunity to experience one of the most engaging contemporary queer love stories to emerge from the European stage. 

Tickets for THE SWALLOW are $30.00 ($25.00 for students and seniors) and are on sale now at www.openspacearts.org. 

THE SWALLOW
By Guillem Clua
English Translation by Tim Gutteridge
Directed by Laine Rogers
September 11–27, 2026
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 3:00 PM
Open Space Arts, 1411 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago
Tickets $30.00 general admission, $25.00 students and seniors. On sale now at https://www.openspacearts.org

THE SWALLOW is set during a private singing lesson between a choral director and a new student. As they work together on a song, what initially seems like a simple musical exchange becomes something more personal, more complicated, and more revealing.
 
With humor, tension, and emotional precision, the play explores grief, memory, family, faith, identity, and the stories people tell in order to survive. Music becomes both a refuge and a doorway, allowing two strangers to move toward truths that have been difficult to face. THE SWALLOW is a powerful theatrical encounter about loss, compassion, and the possibility of connection when people are willing to listen.

Collaboraction Theatre Company announced today two major productions for its 2026-27 season: the world premiere of Chicago writer Willie Round’s Mud Life this fall, and the return of Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till in February.

“For our 31st season, at our House of Belonging, Collaboraction opens our chamber of change to Chicagoans to cultivate new knowledge, empathy, dialogue, and action with two plays by writing partners and Collaboraction Company Members, G. Riley Mills and Willie Round. One play is in the present. The other in the past. Both impact our future,” said Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley. “Mud Life, set in a worn down recording studio on Chicago’s West side and based on Willie's actual life, is a raw, revealing look at the hopes and dreams of escaping poverty and scarcity through music. The other is based on the heartbreak of Mamie Till-Mobley's life, an excavation of the once-erased courtroom proceeding where a mother and others risked their lives to confront and dismantle white hatred, changing us all, forever.”

Both productions will have multiweek runs at Collaboraction’s new House of Belonging, now anchoring the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Ave. in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community. Tickets to both productions are already on sale at collaboraction.org.

First is the debut of Mud Life, a raw, intimate drama by and based on Chicago writer, rapper, producer and Collaboraction Company Member Willie Round’s experiences growing up on Chicago’s west side making music.

The plot spins around Anthony and Devontae, two aspiring hip-hop artists from Chicago’s North Lawndale community who are struggling to climb beyond their circumstances while creating music under the control of a manipulative strip-club owner. When an enigmatic outsider offers them a rare shot at escape, their loyalty fractures, and their bond is tested in ways that alter the course of their lives. 

Mud Life first entered Collaboraction’s orbit in 2019 as the seven-minute short play Broke Down Drone in Collaboraction’s Peacebook Festival. That experience spawned an award-winning short film of the same name. More recently, Round returned to the script, which received workshops and readings earlier this summer at both Bramble Theatre and Definition Theatre. 

Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley will direct Collaboraction’s world premiere of Mud Life. Martine Kei-Green Rogers, Dean, The Theatre School at DePaul University, is dramaturg.

Previews are Wednesday through Saturday, October 21-24 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through November 15: Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm; Sunday at 3 p.m. Industry Night is Monday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. No show Saturday, October 31. Tickets are $15-$50. 

Collaboraction’s season continues with the return of its critically acclaimed smash hit Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, February 3-March 14, 2027. Back by popular demand, Trial in the Delta is an unforgettable theatrical event that invites audiences to confront the truth, honor a legacy, and experience one of the greatest injustices of all time as if it were happening today.

On September 20, 1955, the trial of the men who murdered 12-year-old Emmett Till began in Sumner, Mississippi, and the world would never be the same. In this immersive, 90-minute live docudrama, Collaboraction transforms the long-buried trial transcript into a gripping theatrical experience that places audiences face-to-face with the people whose testimony spurred the civil rights movement. Actors seated among the audience rise to take the stand as witnesses for the prosecution and defense—including Mamie Till-Bradley—bringing raw, unfiltered history to life. The Chicago Reader called last year’s staging, the first production in Collaboraction’s new home in Humboldt Park, “a sharp reminder of how close the events of 70 years ago are to our own time.” The Chicago Tribune gave it 3-½ stars, noting it “makes plain the injustice of that moment.”

Collaboraction’s fourth remount of the award-winning Trial in the Delta, co-adapted by Willie Round and G. Riley Mills, co-directed by Anthony Moseley and Dana Anderson, will feature a powerhouse cast of returning artists, including NK Gutiérrez as Mamie Till-Bradley, along with new faces. 

Previews are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, February 3-5 at 7:30 p.m. Opening Night is Saturday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. Performances continue through March 15: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Each show will be followed by a short Crucial Conversation. Tickets are $20-$60. Twelve premium seats inside the jury box are sold at every show. Groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (312) 226-9633 for more information.

Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till is presented in partnership with The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, as part of the Till Life Matters Initiative. Thanks to this relationship, Trial in the Delta was showcased at The Till Institute’s Emmett Till’s 85th Birthday Commemorative Dinner on July 31, the first public gala at the new Obama Presidential Center.

Also on stage this season at Collaboraction

Collaboration’s new You Belong Here series is keeping the company’s home in Humboldt Park activated year round. 

You Belong Here provides a new platform for independent artists and groups at any stage in their career, with an emphasis on those who live in proximity to the Kimball Arts Center in Humboldt Park. Curated by company member Sandra Delgado, the series is meant to take the barriers out of self-producing by providing free space and equipment, stage management, marketing and PR support and a generous door split model. 

To illustrate, You Belong Here shows this August at Collaboraction include:

Bilingual Improv School’s ¡El Showcase!, Wednesday, August 12 at 7 p.m.

A night of hard-core dance music with Silver October’s HEARTFELT HARDCORE, Friday, August 14 at 8 p.m.

Darshita Jain and Ghutarghoo Productions’ literary reading series Roomani, Tuesday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m.

The People’s Pot & Pantry, serving free, healthy meals to Chicago’s performing arts community, Monday, August 24 at 4 p.m.

The hilarious comedy variety show Max and Binkey: The Funktion, Wednesday, August 26 at 7 p.m.

Bilingual Improv School’s Cómo Se Dice?, Friday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m.

That’s not all. Collaboraction Executive Director Darlene Jackson, aka DJ Lady D, continues to present her new monthly gathering series, The Frequency. Collaboraction’s youth ensemble The Luminaries continues to take over the stage once a month with its open mic night, Radiate.

And Collaboraction looks forward to being a new host site for the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance’s Destinos Festival this fall.

For tickets and more information about any of these shows, visit collaboraction.org. To submit a You Belong Here performance proposal, visit collaboraction.org/you-belong-here.

Note: Free and nearby street parking is available near the Kimball Arts Center. For CTA riders, the 82 Kimball-Homan bus stops right in front of the building. The theater is also a short walk from the Kimball stop on the 72 North and 73 Armitage bus lines. For bikers and pedestrians, the Kimball trailhead on The 606 leads directly to the Kimball Arts Center. 

About Collaboraction

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, Collaboraction is an award-winning Chicago theater company that uses immersive, socially conscious performance to spark change and build equity. Across all platforms, Collaboraction uses its KEDA methodology - Knowledge, Empathy, Dialogue, and Action - to spark changes in behavior and attitudes that manifest social change.

Collaboraction’s past work includes NBC Chicago’s three-time Emmy Award-winning The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Trial in the Delta, the resulting live stage play film, Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, live productions of Crime Scene, Moonset Sunrise, A Blue Island In the Red Sea, its annual Peacebook and Sketchbook festivals, and its youth ensembles, The Light and The Luminaries.

Collaboraction receives generous operating support and program funding from the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family Foundation, Gary Grube, the Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts at the Chicago Community Trust, Naperville Rotary Club, Field Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Collaboraction is led by Darlene Jackson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director; Anthony Moseley, Chief Programming Officer and Artistic Director; and a dedicated board, company members and staff.  For more information, visit collaboraction.org or follow Collaboraction on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok.

A Red Orchid Theatre is pleased open its 34^th Season, exploring the theme of "world on fire," with the Chicago premiere of Will Arbery's politically-charged drama Heroes of the Fourth Turning, directed by Ensemble member dado*, playing October 29 – December 6, 2026 at 1531 N. Wells St. in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. Casting to be announced shortly. Single go on sale Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. Season subscriptions are currently available. 

About the Production:

It's nearing midnight in Wyoming, where four recent graduates have gathered to celebrate their beloved mentor and professor Gina, newly inducted as president of their tiny Catholic liberal arts college. The reunion spirals into spiritual chaos, clashing generational politics and a vicious fight to be understood. Offering grace and disarming clarity, this haunting play speaks to the torn heart of a country at war with itself.

*Denotes A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble Member

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Playwright: Will Arbery
Director: Ensemble member dado*
Cast: to be announced shortly

Location: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 29 at 7 pm, Friday, October 30 at 7 pm, Saturday, October 31 at 7 pm, Sunday, November 1 at 3 pm, Thursday, November 5 at 7 pm and Friday, November 6 at 7 pm

Opening: Sunday, November 8 at 6 pm

Regular run: Thursday, November 12 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 pm; Saturdays 3 pm & 7 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving); there will be an added Industry Night performance on Monday, November 23 at 7 pm.

Tickets: Previews: $33 – $44*. Regular run: $55*. Access, student, senior, and group discounts available. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. Season subscriptions are currently available. *Ticket prices include a processing fee.

About the Artists:

Will Arbery (Playwright, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, he/him) is a playwright and screenwriter from Texas. His play Heroes of the Fourth Turning premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2019 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of an OBIE, Lucille Lortel and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, among other honors. It was named one of the "new canon" plays by American Theatre. Other plays include: You Hateful Things (upcoming London premiere), Spite House (upcoming New York premiere), Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (The New Group), Plano (Clubbed Thumb) and Wheelchair (3 Hole Press). He was the recipient of a Whiting Award in 2020. Will wrote on the fourth season of Succession, for which he won the WGA Award for Episodic Drama. He is the creator of two upcoming shows with FX: Seven Sisters (starring Elizabeth Olsen) and The Marriage Plot (starring Sadie Sink). Texas Monthly flagged him as one of the most influential cultural figures of the past 50 years out of Texas, and The New Yorker has called him the playwright of the moment.

dado (Director, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, she/her) last directed the world premiere of JoJo Jones' Veal at A Red Orchid, and before that Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin by Dianne Nora. In 2025 dado directed Lobster by Kallan Dana for the Wirtz Center at Northwestern and Dance Nation by Clare Barron for UIC, where she currently serves on the faculty. Other projects dado has directed are Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. by Alice Birch with The Feast Collective, Right Now by Catherine Anne Toupin (Facility Theatre), Anny Ouyang Moench's In Quietness at A Red Orchid and The Lover by Harold Pinter (with Yasen Peyankov at Facility Theatre). She has also directed The Ruse of Medusa by Erik Satie (Facility Theatre) and Killing Game by Eugene Ionesco (A Red Orchid). Next spring she will direct The Cherry Orchard for UIC's mainstage. 

Production sponsor: Terrance and Carol Coleman and Dawn and Jim Kink.

About A Red Orchid Theatre:

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 33 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Esteban Andres Cruz, Dado, Mike Durst, Sherman Edwards, Myron Elliott, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, John Judd, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.

Sponsor Information:

A Red Orchid Theatre remains grateful for the support of our board, donors and loyal audience who continue to champion our ambitious and powerful storytelling. These sponsors help to create a platform for our talented Ensemble to reach new audiences, and ensure that we remain a source for honest, compassionate, and aesthetically rigorous theatre-making.

A Red Orchid Theatre's 34^th Season is sponsored by The Bayless Family Foundation and Heidi Hoblit Graham. Heroes of the Fourth Turning is sponsored by Terrance and Carol Coleman and Dawn and Jim Kink.

Interested in sponsoring a production? By partnering with us as a sponsor, you will help to take our work to the next level of artistic excellence, while also receiving deeper access to our artists and the creative process. To learn more, please contact Development Director Stephanie Shum at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (312) 943-8722. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 51st Season with the world premiere of Chicago playwright Stephanie Alison Walker's biting satire Adirondack Chair Circle, directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Downstate, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), playing October 22 — December 6, 2026 in Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. 

Adirondack Chair Circle will feature ensemble member Caroline Neff (Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage), with additional casting to be announced shortly.

About the Production:

A gaggle of suburban moms, armed with pickleball paddles and hard kombucha, are ready to take on the school board in the fight of their lives: attempting to ban the controversial books available to their kids in the school library. But is this trusted inner circle all on the same page? A piercing world premiere from a Chicago playwright, Stephanie Alison Walker's Adirondack Chair Circle exposes the hilarious hypocrisy of the causes we claim and the company we keep. And has a damn good time doing it.

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design), Barbara Samuels (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Nicholas Hussong (Projection Design), Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Bryar Barborka (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: Adirondack Chair Circle
Playwright: Stephanie Alison Walker
Director: Pam MacKinnon
Cast: ensemble member Caroline Neff (Evelyn Grace). Additional casting to be announced.

Location: Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 22 – Saturday, October 31, 2026
Opening: Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 6 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, November 3 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, October 27, Thursday, November 5, Tuesday, November 10, Wednesday, November 18, Wednesday, November 25, Thursday, November 26 and Tuesday, December 1; there will be an added 2 pm matinees on Wednesday, November 25 and Wednesday, December 2.

Tickets: Classic Memberships starting as low as $165 are now on sale for Steppenwolf's 2026/27 season at steppenwolf.org/myseason. Single tickets for Adirondack Chair Circle ($20 – $149*) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they're sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, November 22 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, November 7 at 3 pm, Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, November 28 at 3 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, December 4 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2026/27 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Topdog/Underdog, Adirondack Chair Circle, The Comeuppance and Ellen B., in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education-community/school-teacher-programs/field-trips.

Artist Biographies:

Stephanie Alison Walker (Playwright) is an internationally-produced, award-winning playwright whose work is known for the personalization of the political, humor in darkness and the dramatization of the resilience of women. She is a native Chicagoburbian who has lived all over including London, Buenos Aires, San Juan Island and fifteen years in Los Angeles. She received her Bachelors in English/Creative Writing and Spanish from the University of Colorado and her Master of Professional Writing from the University of California. She began writing plays while working for Fox Theatricals in Chicago. Her play about the housing crisis, American Home, was the inaugural winner of American Blues Theatre's Blue Ink Award. Her play about the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina, The Madres, received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Teatro Vista in Chicago, Skylight Theatre Company in L.A., Moxie Theatre in San Diego and Shrewd Theatre Company in Austin. It was the 2019 Winner of the Francesca Primus Prize, winner of the Ashland New Plays Festival, the Generations Prize and semi-finalist for the CTG/ Humanitas Prize for playwriting. Her follow-up play The Abuelas, premiered at Teatro Vista and was recently adapted into a short film titled The Birthday Gift. The Art of Disappearing was a finalist for the Primus Prize and enjoyed critical praise for the world premiere in Chicago by 16th Street Theater in 2015. Friends with Guns, her play about liberals and gun ownership was an O'Neill Finalist, winner of Best New Play at the 2019 Valley Theatre Awards, and had its Chicago premiere by A Short Leap Theatre Company in 2025. Sophia Hayden Deserves Better tells the story of the architect of the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was recently a part of Gglassfest by Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago. The Ordeal of Water, inspired by the first women to work as Longshoremen at the Port of Los Angeles, was most recently a part of Bay Street Theater's New Works Festival. Adirondack Chair Circle, her play that tackles suburban book-banning moms, was developed at The Inkwell Theater Company and A Red Orchid's Studio at A Red Orchid. Her short plays have been anthologized by Smith & Kraus. Her full-lengths are published by Broadway Publishing, Inc. In addition to writing plays, she is currently adapting Friends with Guns and The Abuelas as features while raising two spirited boys and selling real estate in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Honor Roll Playwrights, NNPN Affiliated Artist, and a proud alumni of the Playwrights Union. stephaniealisonwalker.com

Pam MacKinnon (Director) is a Tony, Drama Desk and multi-Obie Award winning director. She is the artistic director of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She has directed more than eighty productions. Her Tony Award-winning production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originated at Steppenwolf. Her production of Bruce Norris's Downstate (Steppenwolf, National Theatre and Playwrights Horizons) was celebrated with several Jeff Awards and won Pam her second Obie. She served as president of SDC, the national Union of choreographers and directors.

Caroline Neff (Evelyn Grace) is a Steppenwolf ensemble member. At Steppenwolf, she was last seen in Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage, Describe the Night, Seagull, Dance Nation, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, You Got Older, Linda Vista (also Taper Forum and Broadway), The Fundamentals, The Flick, Airline Highway (also Broadway), The Way West, Three Sisters, Annie Bosh is Missing and Where We're Born. Select theatre credits include: Lettie (Jeff Award Best Actor; Victory Gardens Theater); Uncle Vanya (Goodman Theatre); A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Jeff Award for Best Actress), The Knowledge, Harper Regan, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (Steep Theatre); The Downpour (Route 66 Theatre); Port (Griffin Theatre); 4000 Miles (Northlight Theatre); Moonshiner (Jackalope Theatre). Regional credits include: Peerless (Yale Repertory Theatre). Film and television credits include: FBI, Three Women, Let the Right One In, The Red Line, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Open Tables and Older Children, and heard in multiple Audible Projects such as: Song of the Northwoods, Crowded Hours, Denali and Boar's Nest. She is a proud company member of Steep Theatre and holds her BA from Columbia College.

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and Braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, Jessica and Dominic Green Family Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Sacks Family Foundation, Gary Sinise Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Thoma Bravo, and Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.            

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 51 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary. From the early phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and more recently, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theatre and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, Steppenwolf started as a group of friends in their teens and early 20s performing in the basement of a school in Highland Park, Illinois. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, announces the recipient of the 2026 Blue Ink Award is Nia Akilah Robinson for her play Overnight at the Museum. As part of the award, Robinson receives a $3,000 cash prize and a staged reading at American Blues Theater at the annual Blue Ink Festival of new plays on August 15, 2026, at American Blues Theater, 5627 N Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.

The festival will celebrate the 2026 Blue Ink Award recipient Nia Akilah Robinson and featured finalists Benjamin Benne and Claire Crowley. Reservations for individual tickets are available at americanbluestheater.com/ and (773) 654-3103. The suggested donation is $12 per play or $30 to see all three. Reservations are recommended as the festival is expected to sell out. Refreshments and beverages will be served throughout the day.

The schedule of events on Saturday, August 15 follows:
10:00am – Doors open for the 2026 Blue Ink Festival
10:30am – stage reading of Overnight at the Museum by Nia Akilah Robinson, winner of 2026 Blue Ink Award
12:00pm – Reception
12:30pm – staged reading of and thou shalt be healed by Benjamin Benne
  2:30pm – staged reading of The Scouts of America Don't Sell Cookies, B*tch by Claire Crowley

The nationally renowned Blue Ink Award for playwriting was created by American Blues Theater in 2010 to support new work. Theaters in Chicago and throughout the country have taken note of the competition as the winning plays have had a remarkable page-to-stage success rate. In Chicago alone, four scripts that were featured in the Blue Ink Festival are being produced this season including: Uhuru (Featured Finalist, 2023) at American Blues Theater followed by the world premiere at Alley Theater in Houston fall, 2026; Sisters (Finalist, 2023) at Writers Theater in fall 2026 after its world premiere at Northern Stage in Vermont; Dead Girl's Quinceanera (Semi-finalist, 2025) - world premiere at Goodman Theater this fall; and The Conquered (Winner, 2024) - world premiere at American Blues Theater spring 2027. Four scripts that were featured in the competition were produced in Chicago in past three seasons: Things With Friends (Winner, 2023) - world premiere at American Blues Theater, 2025 and 2026 Steinberg/ATCA runner up/ finalist; Alma (Winner, 2019) - world premiere American Blues Theater and Center Theatre Group (Kirk Douglas) and went on to productions in multiple cities, including Seattle, Denver and Boston; a home what howls (or the house what was ravine) (Featured Finalist, 2022) - world premiere at Steppenwolf in 2024, and Welcome to Matteson (Winner, 2018) – world premiere New Jersey Repertory and Congo Square Theatre (2023)

Submissions are now open for the 2027 Blue Ink Awards.

About the Plays

*denotes ensemble member or artistic affiliate of American Blues Theater

OVERNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM  
by Nia Akilah Robinson
directed by Manny Buckley*
Saturday, Aug 15 at 10:30 AM

Featuring Rasaan Khalil (DaMarcus), Terah Jene (Deandra & others), and Martel Manning* (Darius)

"One and done before the full-time security come through with them fancy museum suits, and them ear-piece-sez and- and them lil' first aid certified pins."

Two Black men who work as night guards for museum security are stealing Ghanian artifacts from a gentrified American neighborhood. Can they get them where they need to be before the grand opening of a "Neo-African Museum"? Overnight at the Museum is a hilarious heist story that masterfully toys with our definitions of history, legacy, and art.

Nia Akilah Robinson (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. Productions: Soho Rep U.S. Off Broadway Premiere (2025 New York Times Critics Pick), NextStop Theatre (2026 Helen Hayes Recommended), Co-Pro: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company & Company One Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Theatre503, Theatre Exile, and The Hearth. Her work has been seen and developed with Nashville Repertory Theatre (Ingram New Works Project), Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Group, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Waterwell, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Urbanite, and New Georges. Nia has been a MacDowell Fellow, Travis Bogard Eugene O'Neill Foundation Fellow, and a writer for PEN America and EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play). She has had residencies at NYSAF and The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. Nia's work has been featured at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Fire This Time Festival, and the 48th Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Nia has been awarded 1st Place for the 2023 A is For Playwriting Contest, the Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Writing Scholarship, a Miranda Family Fund Commission, and the NYSCA Grant (CCCADI). She was shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503's International Playwriting Award. And Nia is a member or alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, I-73 at Page 73, The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, The Wish Collective, and TheBlackHERthePen. Education: Yale (DGSD- MFA Playwriting Candidate) & Juilliard (Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program).

and thou shalt be healed
by Benjamin Benne
directed by associate artistic director Elyse Dolan*
Saturday, Aug 15 at 12:30pm

Featuring Editha Rosario-Moore* (Mary) & Nate Santana* (Johnny)

"The article explores how what we believe can be powerful enough to become reality"

Mary and Johnny are siblings – with a complicated cult upbringing. Johnny has left the cult but Mary remains. They reunite on a remote mountain in New Mexico when Mary brings news that will force them both to reckon with their relationship, their beliefs, and their faith.

Benjamin Benne (he/him) was the 2019 winner of the Blue Ink Playwriting Award for his play Alma, which had its World Premiere with American Blues and Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles) in 2022, then went on to productions at ArtsWest (Seattle), Curious (Denver), Central Square (Cambridge), The Spot (Ketchum), Chance (Anaheim), and Passage (Trenton). He has also had plays produced with Mosaic (DC), First Floor (Chicago), Portland Stage (ME), Pillsbury House (Minneapolis), Actors Theatre (Louisville), and forthcoming at Crowded Fire (San Francisco) and Boston Court (Pasadena). His plays have also been developed by the O'Neill, Ojai, Oregon Shakes, The Public, Roundabout, Primary Stages, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, and The Playwrights' Center, among many others. He was named part of "LA Vanguardia: The Latino innovators, instigators, and power players breaking through barriers" by the Los Angeles Times and received an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama. www.benjaminbenne.com\

THE SCOUTS OF AMERICA DON'T SELL COOKIES, B*TCH
by Claire Crowley
directed by Ian Paul Custer*
Saturday, Aug 15 @ 2:30 PM

Featuring Kieran McCabe* (Joe), Kelan Smith (Dylan), Manny Buckley* (Benny), Christopher Acevedo (Jared), & JG Smith* (Effie).

"Nope nope nope cookies aren't just for girls. Cookies are for everyone!"

The Scouts of America Don't Sell Cookies, B*tch interrogates the relationship between capitalism and violence through the lens of American youth. The Scouts of America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, have changed their name to be gender inclusive! Effie, a girl, decides to join the Scouts, eager for new friends and an escape from the norm. She enters the formers boys' club with an intensity and hunger for new skills that surprises her troop leader, Joe, and scares her fellow scouts. As she traverses the unfamiliar landscape, she battles assumptions and underestimations of her personhood. There is also a bald eagle. This is important.

Claire Crowley (she/her) is a New York-based playwright and screenwriter from the ocean and mountains of New England. Sometimes she writes dark comedies, and sometimes she writes drama, but always her plays are centered on themes of violence and money, grief and loss and yearning, hypocrisy and intra, inter, and structural power, (dis)belonging and home and liminality, community and friendship and queerness. Her plays include THE SCOUTS OF AMERICA DON'T SELL COOKIES, B*TCH (Blue Ink Award Featured Finalist, GPTC New Play Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, O'Neill Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, Echoes Writers Program Finalist), THE CALLING or BROKE (O'Neill Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, Fringe Fest PVD) and METASTASIZED (B&E Rooftop Reading Series Finalist, Woodward Residency Finalist). Her plays have been developed with Great Plains Theater Commons, American Blues Theater, Primary Stages, The Tank, Playwrights Realm, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, and The Barrow Group. She is a Hunter College Playwriting MFA '28 Candidate.

About the Blue Ink Award for playwriting

The nationally renowned Blue Ink Award for playwriting was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, we've named 16 Award winners, 197 finalists, and 283 semi-finalists. Over $15,000 in cash and prizes will be distributed to playwrights in 2026.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater's Ensemble. The 2026 winning playwright receives a monetary prize of $3,000. Cash prizes are awarded to finalists and semi-finalists too. All proceeds of the administrative fee are distributed for playwrights' cash prizes.

Submissions for the 2027 Blue Ink Award are now open. All submissions must be received by American Blues Theater by August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm. Playwrights may only submit one (1) manuscript each year for consideration.

About American Blues Theater
Winner of the prestigious National Theatre Company Award from American Theatre Wing (Tony Awards), American Blues Theater is an Ensemble of artists committed to producing new and classic diverse stories that ask the question: "What does it mean to be American?"

The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Ensemble theater in Chicago. As of 2026, the theater and artists received 265 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and 44 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.