IN A BLIND to Play Chain Theatre Summer One-Act Festival 2026
Eric Conger's one-act is directed by Youlim Nam, who also writes and directs GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! at the festival.
'In a Blind', a new one-act by New York playwright Eric Conger, will be presented at the Chain Theatre Summer One-Act Festival under the direction of Youlim Nam. The staging is one of two works Nam brings to the 2026 festival-she also writes and directs 'Get Out of My Head!!!'-underscoring her range as a multidisciplinary artist working as both playwright and director within a single season.
The play arrives with strong New York roots. Eric Conger, whose plays have been produced at the York Theatre Company in New York, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Center Theater in South Carolina, and numerous stock and regional theaters, first presented 'In a Blind' as a reading at Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) as part of Happy Hour, EST's series of short plays by Member Artists, in December 2025. A graduate of Wesleyan University and a member of EST's Playwrights Unit, Conger now sees the piece reach the Chain Theatre stage under Nam's direction.
For Nam, the production continues a prolific stretch of New York work. A New York City based multidisciplinary artist hailing from from Seoul, Korea, works across theater, film, and performance as a playwright, director, actor, and producer, with work presented at Chain Theatre, HB Playwright Theatre, Theatre Row and more. In 2026 she was named a Resident Artist at HB Studio-where she is developing her bilingual full-length play 'New Year's Day (Sae Hae)'-and an Artist-in-Residence at the Six Viewpoints Institute Summer Residency at Salisbury University.
SYNOPSIS: Indiana, 1967. On the eve of the younger brother's departure for college, two brothers lie together in a hunting blind, waiting for deer. As the hours pass, their talk turns to the meaning of a rapidly changing world-and what it holds for each of their futures. What begins as a quiet wait between siblings becomes a reckoning with personal and political difference, leaving us to wonder whether family bonds can survive it.
"Set in 1967 Indiana, this play's themes feel both urgently contemporary and deeply personal to me - even as a Korean, non-Midwesterner living in New York City," says director Youlim Nam. "I believe my perspective as an outsider to this world will bring something unexpected, something that will resonate with NYC audiences. In a rapidly changing world, this is a story that deserves to be told."
The production stars NYC-based actors Justin Dusenbury and Tom Ryan.
ABOUT THE CAST
Justin Dusenbury (Ryan) is an NYC-based actor. Theater credits: Macbeth (Shakespeare on The Sound), Banksy (Schimmel Center), Blackout (Columbia University). Film credits: The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd (Tim Blake Nelson), Awakening of Edwin Lorde (Brian J. Carter), Keturah (Ellie Gravitte). Training: BFA in Acting (Film/TV), Pace University; Michael Howard Studios. @justin.dusenbury
Tom Ryan (Sean). Native to Seattle, Tom has been active in theatre since 2016. Studying at Michael Howard Studios from 2019, he continued working in film and theatre, most recently as Nils Krogstad in an off-Broadway production of A Dolls House, and in film projects such as the MGM+ series Let the Devil In.
ABOUT the Chain Theatre One-Act Festival
The Chain Theatre One-Act Festival is a bi-annual celebration-held each Summer and Winter-of bold, original short plays by emerging and established artists. Recently featured in TDF's '15 Summer Theatre Festivals to See in NYC,' the festival transforms Chain Theatre's stages into a vibrant showcase of new work.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Part of: Chain Theatre Summer One-Act Festival 2026, Program / Block #12
Dates & Times: 7/16 @ 8:30 PM | 7/22 @ 6:30 PM | 7/25 @ 5 PM
Venue: Chain Theatre, 312 W 36th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018
Tickets: chaintheatre.org/2026-summer-oneact-festival/block-12
Discount Code: BLIND26
