Tickets Now On Sale for the 2025 Rhinoceros Theater Festival
The festival will run from September 5 - 28.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Aug. 11, 2025
Tickets are now on sale for the 36th Annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, Chicago’s longest running theatre festival. The 2025 Rhino Fest returns September 5 - 28 at Facility Theatre, and Jarvis Square Theatre. For more than three decades, Rhino Fest has endeavored to welcome as many theater and performance companies and artists from Chicago and across the nation. This year’s festival kicks off with a special Full Moon Vaudeville Concert, Saturday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m, at Facility Theater, headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth and includes show previews and special guests. Information on performances and tickets to the 2025 Rhinoceros Theater Festival, offered as pay-what-you-can pricing, with a $20 suggested price.
Following last year’s 35th Annual Rhinoceros Theatre Festival, the largest in its history, the 2025 Rhino Fest features plays, music and performances from more than 40 companies and solo artists with a focus on new work created in Chicago featuring themes of resistance and rebellion.
This year’s festival includes nearly 30 performances in a variety of media including solo work, plays, multi-media performance, music and post dramatic theater including longtime Rhino favorite BoyGirlBoyGirl, award-winning writer and storyteller Idris Goodwin, award-winning playwright and audio dramatist Jessica Wright-Buha, Chicago storefront founding set designer and theatre maker Rick Paul, filmmaker Wendy Jo Carlton & director/playwright/professor Cecilie Keenan, actor Charles Pike with playwright and digital artist David Hauptschein, poetry and movement artist Maya Odim, theater company Tellin Tales, theater company El Bear and musician Keith Fort with a one-time Country-Western band.
In other Rhino Fest news, Co-Founder Beau O’Reilly recently, with Jackleg Press, released a two-volume set, “98 Puppets in a Revolving Door: Beau O’Reilly Plays, Volume 1” and “We Open Friday:Beau O’Reilly Plays, volume 2,” celebrating O'Reilly’s impressive oeuvre of over 80 plays, meticulously written and produced for Chicago theater. This first collection features 14 of his most distinguished plays, dating from 1991 to 2025, offering a rich tapestry of his creative genius and an unparalleled journey through his artistic evolution.
Chicago Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
RENT (Highland Park Players)
7% of votes
2.
HAIRSPRAY (Uptown Music Theater of Highland Park)
7% of votes
3.
DREAMGIRLS (The Drama Group)
6.4% of votes
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