The Impostors Will Bring FOOTHOLDS VOL. 7 to The Den Theatre
The seventh season finale features short plays inspired by a weathered bridge with symbolic tolls.
The Impostors Theatre Co. will conclude their seventh season with Footholds Vol. 7, an anthology play written by the community and directed by Rachel Borgo with Courtney Marie, along with ITC ensemble members Stephanie Lewis, Tim McCarthy, and McManus, as well as Rashaad A. Bond and Kayla Higbee. Footholds Vol. 7 runs June 5 – 13, 2026 at ITC's resident home, The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622.
The anthology series will return for its seventh installment. Footholds is a collaborative journey between The Impostors Theatre Co. and local artists. Each year, the company challenges writers to submit a short play for them to produce. By introducing a single, ambiguous constraint—a thread that runs through each accepted piece—we ask our writers and collaborators to start with the same limitation and branch off wherever their imaginations take them.
Our past volumes have showcased versatile properties (a pile of red construction paper, a jar half-filled with earth, a skeleton key) as well as locations rife with possibility (a trolley car stationed between two stops, an attic full of forgotten favorites, a lamp-lit alleyway). Each collection has celebrated the spectrum of dramatic storytelling, from satire to horror to romance to movement pieces. The cross-collaboration of multiple playwrights, directors, designers, and performers alike elevate this “grand experiment” to a true testament of creative community building.
This year's foothold: A narrow, weathered bridge (not safe for driving) where visitors must pay tolls—symbolic or literal—for passage. Engraving its aged wood are initials and messages, evidence of visitors past.
THE PLAYS
HALBERDIERS by Alex Fortune, directed by Tim McCarthy
BURN THAT BRIDGE WHEN WE GET TO IT by Greta Mae Geiser, directed by Rashaad A. Bond
BEWARE! TROLLS! (AND THEIR REMARKABLE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE) by Annika Andersson, directed by Kayla Higbee
I WAS ADAPTED FROM A SHAKESPEARE PLAY AND ALL I GOT WAS MY SOUL STOLEN BY A LOUSY MAGIC BRIDGE by Matt Schutz, directed by Stephanie Lewis
IF TRUE, FALSE by MD Frank, directed by Rachel Borgo
THIS BRIDGE kills PEOPLE by Cody Lee Walker, directed by McManus
The cast of Footholds Vol. 7 features Maria Clara Ospina, Kene Ifezue, Squeek Rangel, Mara Currens, Sam Martin, and Jared Goudsmit.
In a first-time collaboration with Microdose Theatre Project, headed by Kevin Blair, four additional plays will be workshopped and showcased on the Footholds set, staged as public readings on Monday, June 8 at 7:30 PM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Rachel Borgo (Production Director, she/her) is the executive director of The Impostors Theatre Co. (ITC) and a multi-hyphenate theatremaker. Most recently, Rachel served as the director of Monstrous by Stephanie Lewis and the company's anthology series Footholds for the last four years. She also performed as Puck in Dominick Alesia's award-winning Helena & Hermia in the Enamored Odyssey (ITC). When she is not directing or performing, Rachel has served as a stage manager, dramaturg, and scenic painter on various ITC productions. Outside of the theatre, Rachel works as a ghostwriter, editor, and book coach, supporting authors of varied backgrounds across a multitude of genres.
Courtney Marie (Associate Production Director, she/her) is an artist, dreamer, and unironic gamer from right here in the greatest city on earth. She also serves as the operations director for The Impostors Theatre Co. (ITC). Most recently, she performed as Dr. Eliza Babbage in ITC's Static-Head after having the privilege to direct for Footholds Vol. 3, 4, 5, and 6. Courtney is proud to serve on the board of ITC and to be an ensemble member of both ITC and the Chicago Reader's Best Storefront Theatre Company of 2025, Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre! When not on or behind the stage, Courtney works as a corporate contracts manager in the city.
Kevin Blair (Artistic Producer of Microdose Theatre Project, he/him) is an actor/writer/theatremaker based in Chicago, raised in Northfield, and trained in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (BFA 2018). On stage, Kevin's work has been highly praised in pieces such as The Swan and 70 Scenes of Halloween presented by Theatre L'Acadie, which he is a Company Manager of, helping with casting and developing new plays through the In Bloom New Works Series since 2021. Kevin's playwriting has been produced previously by The Impostors Theatre Co., as well as developed with Theatre L'Acadie and Pocket Theatrics. You can find his plays on New Play Exchange and his co-created comedy web series I Hate You Too on YouTube. More info on what Kevin is creating at www.kevinblair.net.
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