ARTEMIS BOOKS & THE WELL-MEANING MAN World Premiere is Coming to The Village Theater
The show will run from July 18-August 2 at Rivendell Theatre.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jul. 09, 2025
The Village Theater of Chicago is a director-driven collective that harnesses theater as an instrument for cultivating community. After months of collaboration, fundraising, and community input, they are staging their first production: Artemis Books & The Well Meaning Man, written by Paul Michael Thomson and directed by Clara Zucker.
The play is set in a feminist bookstore in Tucson, AZ, that is upended by the arrival of JJ, the straight, white, cis-male new hire. Artemis Books & The Well-Meaning Man is a topical and comedic examination of morality, identity, and community in a capitalist and patriarchal society. The show will run from July 18-August 2 at Rivendell Theatre.
The Village Theater was established in 2024 by Clara Zucker, Emily Newmark, and Bailey McWilliams-Woods. Conceived by a group of young professionals striving to break into the Chicago theater scene, The Village Theater aims to create a safe space for exploration through intimate storytelling, community partnerships, and post-show dialogues. For its debut performance, director Clara Zucker has chosen a show that reflects The Village Theater's values of amplifying marginalized voices, championing local organizations, and allowing the audience to engage with difficult questions.
The show centers around Regina (Reggie), who runs a femme-centric feminist bookstore in Tucson, AZ. Artemis Books is a safe space for queer people, free expression, and womxn of all kinds. When her boss unexpectedly jumps ship, Reggie is stuck with a new hire: straight, white, cis-male JJ. Workplace romances, existential anxieties, and some questionable spell-casting abound as Reggie tries to reclaim her safe space. Does identity have to influence ideology? Does colonialism ever stop? And what in the actual hell is a "good guy"? Artemis Books & The Well-Meaning Man, stars Daniela Martinez, Tierra Matthews, Phoebe Jacobs, and Kyle Roth.
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