Trap Door Theatre To Present RAG DOLL ON A BOMB SITE In December

Trap Door Theatre will continue its 32nd season with another installment of its Trap Open Series: Rag Doll on a Bomb Site, a solo performance written, performed, and choreographed by Shelley Cooper and directed by Kelsey Miller.

The production will run for three nights only, from December 11 through 13, 2025, at 8 p.m. each evening at Trap Door Theatre, located at 1655 West Cortland Street in Chicago.

On opening night of The Threepenny Opera, composer Kurt Weill demands the show be canceled when he discovers that his wife, Lotte Lenya’s name, is missing from the program. Desperate to perform, Lenya relives her turbulent past through song and dance, revisiting moments of trauma and resilience in an attempt to win back her place onstage. The one-woman work unfolds as a vivid blend of music, movement, and memory — sung, danced, and lived in real time — as she faces the question of whether her performance will be enough to change his mind.

The creative team includes Cooper, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics, as well as performing and choreographing the piece. Direction is by Kelsey Miller, with video projection and graphic design by Roger Pavey Jr. and stage management by Kasia Olechno.

Tickets for Rag Doll on a Bomb Site are $22 and are currently on sale online at ticketleap.events/tickets/trapdoor/rag-doll-on-a-bomb-site, by phone at (773) 384-0494, or by email at boxofficetrapdoor@gmail.com. Trap Door Theatre is wheelchair accessible, with free street parking available and nearby public transportation options including buses #9, #50, #72, and #73, as well as the Clybourn Metra stop.

Shelley Cooper is a two-time Off-Broadway award-winning solo performer and playwright, and serves as Associate Professor of Musical Theatre at Augustana College in Illinois. Her acclaimed one-woman shows — La Divina, Jenny Lind Presents P.T. Barnum, and Rag Doll on a Bomb Site — have been presented at the Hollywood Fringe, United Solo Off-Broadway, and international festivals. Her work has earned honors such as Best One-Woman Show, Pick of the Fringe, and Best Biographical Show. Rag Doll premiered in Bangkok and later in Hollywood, where The Hollywood Reporter praised the performance for “weaving a poetic spell.”

The Trap Open Series at Trap Door Theatre is dedicated to exploring nontraditional forms of playmaking while supporting the next generation of innovative theater artists. The initiative opens the company’s space to both ensemble members and guest artists to develop new work that falls outside the boundaries of a traditional theatrical run. These projects, which can take the form of workshops, installations, or cross-disciplinary collaborations, offer audiences opportunities to experience fresh, experimental work while giving artists room to take creative risks.

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