Chicago Dramatists News

Acclaimed Black Filipinx playwright and Kilroys List honoree Roger Q. Mason (they/them) is currently premiering their play The Duat with the renowned Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, presented in association with the Obie Award-winning The Fire This Time Festival and Watts Village Theater Company.

Based upon Roger Q. Mason’s Kilroys Listed play Lavender Men, this short film is a searing portrait of body dysmorphia, food addiction, and queer loneliness in the age of digital intimacy. 

About Face Theatre announced today that it is awarding grants to two local LGBTQ+ playwrights to support their creative work. Playwrights Hannah Ii-Epstein (she/her) and BeeBee Cooper Browne (they/them) will each receive $2,000 grant awards for use in their art-making processes. The grants are not tied to the creation of any specific work.

This Week's New Classified Listings on BroadwayWorld for 6/3/2021 include new jobs for those looking to work in the theatre industry.

Chicago Dramatists has announced its summer line up of writing courses!

While the theater field remains uncertain yet cautiously optimistic that 2021 will see a return to in-person performances, there is no uncertainty around the systemic inequalities that have been exposed and amplified during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic 'business as usual' will not be enough when theaters open their doors again.

Underscore Theatre Company today announced the appointment of Sebastian Fabál as its new Executive Director.

Chicago Dramatists has announced its spring line up of writing courses! For a limited  time, the company is offering a 20% Early Bird Registration Discount on specific classes, when students  select the Early Bird Registration option at checkout.

New York Stage and Film has committed $100,000 to their new NEXUS Initiative that brings together 20 multihyphenate artists to explore the question “where does story exist at the intersection of stage and film?” Each participant receives $5,000 and will take part in a series of conversations focused on new and expanded forms of storytelling.

Two of Chicago's playwrights are spreading their wings to show work in the virtual theatre format. Emma S. Rund and John Joseph Enright are two of seven playwrights whose plays are featured in an anthology of short plays from Future Publishing House.

Page 73 today announced its 2021-2022 group of Interstate 73 residents. The 2021-2022 Interstate 73 residents are Heidi Armbruster, Jahna Ferron-Smith, Dylan Guerra, Roger Q. Mason, April Ranger, Scott R. Sheppard, juliany taveras, and Max Yu.

Aurora's Paramount Theatre will present a free virtual reading of BULL: a love story, a new play about a young Mexican American man's path to self-actualization, written by Nancy García Loza, Thursday, January 28, at 7 p.m. CT.

Sideshow Theatre Company is pleased to welcome eleven new ensemble members and artistic associates. Ensemble members include Wardell Julius Clark, Greg Geffrard, Arti Ishak, Krystal Ortiz, Gabrielle Randle-Bent and Netta Walker. Artistic Associates include Patrick Agada, J. Nicole Brooks, Brynne Frauenhoffer, Jyreika Guest and Sarah Price.

Paramount Theatre in Aurora will launch next month The Inception Project, a new play development initiative designed to create artist driven, courageous, thought provoking new work in a radically inclusive environment. 

The League of Chicago Theatres has awarded the first Samuel G. Roberson Jr. Resident Fellowship to playwright Kristiana Rae Colón and Congo Square Theatre to fund a one-year residency for Colón at the theatre.

The Obie Award winning The Fire This Time Festival (TFTT), in collaboration with FRIGID New York, launches its inaugural Alumni Spotlight through a virtual presentation of four performance works written by award-winning queer African-American playwright/performer Roger Q. Mason (he/they) during their time as a resident of TFTT or shortly thereafter.

The Cunningham Commission for Youth Theatre was established at The Theatre School to honor the memory of the Rev. Donald Cunningham, a Chicago priest, playwright, and lover of theatre. The Cunningham Commission was established by an endowment gift from the Cunningham family and is presented annually. Playwrights from the Chicagoland area and alumni of The Theatre School are eligible to apply each year.

Chicago Dramatists has announced its winter line up of writing courses!  All classes this session will be held online, via Zoom, and we are offering an array of new classes.  

Page 73 has announced 13 semi-finalists for the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship. Page 73 has selected Bleu Beckford-Burrell, Lyndsey Bourne, Steph Del Rosso, Jahna Ferron-Smith, Marvin González De León, Dylan Guerra, Majkin Holmquist, Emma Horwitz, Jessica Huang, Roger Q. Mason, April Ranger, Andrew Siañez-De La O, and Haygen-Brice Walker.

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, presents two live, online readings of Alma, winner of the 2019 Blue Ink Playwriting Award, written by Benjamin Benne and directed by Ana Velazquez as part of 'The Room' series.