Chicago Dramatists News

Jackalope's 12th season continues with the Chicago premiere of Fast Company, written by Carla Ching, directed by Kaiser Ahmed*, with the full cast and production team announced below.

Little Time Theatre Co. is pleased to present its inaugural production: the world premiere drama Clementine by Cameron Roberts, directed by Matthew Martinez Hannon, playing March 13 a?" 29, 2020 at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.littletimetheatreco.com. The press opening Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 pm.

Steep Theatre is extending the run of Isaac Gomez' The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys through March 14, adding eight more chances to catch this heart-wrenching and powerful play.

The Dramatists Guild of America has announced they will present the 2020 Horton Foote Playwriting Award to Lydia Diamond at the Dramatists Guild's awards presentations in July. The Richenthal Foundation is again sponsoring the award.

The Drama League (Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Director Bevin Ross) will present the 36th annual *DirectorFest, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing.

This January Otherworld Theatre proudly presents Generation Red, written by Alexander Utz and directed by Bec Willett. The play runs January 17 - February 2, 2020 at Otherworld Theatre.

Underscore Theatre Company will present its 6th annual CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL, created to showcase and support the growing field of musical theatre creators from Chicago and beyond. The 2020 Festival features full productions of eight new musicals, plus two pay-what-you-can staged readings and a showcase of 10-minute musicals. The Festival will be performed simultaneously on two stages from February 3 - 23, 2020 at The Edge Theater: the Broadway (5451 N. Broadway) and the Off Broadway (1133 W. Catalpa Ave.) in Chicago Edgewater neighborhood. Each full production will receive at least five performances during the Festival. Tickets are currently available at www.cmtf.org. The press 'Sneak Preview,' featuring a sampling of songs from the 2020 Festival, is Monday, February 3 at 8 pm.

Midsommer Flight has announced the five theater professionals who will participate in the inaugural session of the company's new 'Directors Flight' initiative. Announced in fall 2019, Directors Flight is a program with the goal of promoting, cultivating, and inspiring classical directing talent in Chicago. The announcement last fall included a call for applications to participate. Instead of a tuition-based model, Midsommer Flight has opted to pay each selected director a small fellowship stipend for their participation.

Raven Theatre will continue its 2019-20 season with a revival of Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece A DOLL'S HOUSE, in a vibrant and progressive new adaptation making its Chicago premiere. Directed by Lauren Shouse, the new work features translation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey and adaptation by Hanes Harvey and Kirsten Brandt. A DOLL'S HOUSE will play February 6 - March 22, 2020 on Raven's 85-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177. The press opening is Monday, February 10, 2020 at 7:30 pm.

Actors Training Center (ATC), the North Shore training center that has garnered a national reputation for training actors since 2007 is proud to announce a new educational partnership with Chicago Dramatics, the arts organization based in Chicago and has developed new plays and nurtured new playwrights since 1980. The partnership is focused on arts education with two classes at ATC in Wilmette starting Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. These classes utilize the skills and knowledge of Chicago Dramatist-affiliated instructors to educate ATC's students in the field that are relevant to them and offer an opportunity to increase skills needed to pursue a career in their desired field. 

The Drama League (Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Director Bevin Ross) announced today the acting company for the 36th annual DirectorFest, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing. Directorfest will take place January 10 - February 4, 2020 at various locations around NYC: The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thomson Avenue), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). For festival details and tickets, visit directorfest.org or call (212) 244-9494 x102.

Chicago Dramatists has announced its winter line up of writing courses, many of which are brand new to our curriculum. a??For the winter session, we are offering a 20% Partnership Discount to members of Broadway World. Use promo code PartnerWinter20 at checkout to redeem this offer. a??We hope you'll make use of this offer, and join us this winter in some of our warm and creative classrooms.

In Baraboo, Wisconsin, the ground is white with snow and the air is black with laughs. Valerie is the town butcher with an axe to grind. Her daughter Midge is a pharmacist whose clientele extends beyond the drug store. Over one cold February week, the town cop - who just happens to be Valerie's sister-in-law - will try to sniff out this family's secrets and lies.

The Drama League announced today the 2020 line-up of DirectorFest: The 36th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing. For its 36th year, the festival will include six fully-staged productions, a showcase concert of a new musical, a town hall, and conversations with directors including 2017 Tony Award Winner Rebecca Taichman (Indecent), 2014 Tony Award Winner and 2010 Drama League Founders Award for Excellence in Directing Kenny Leon (A Soldier's Play), and Intimacy Director Claire Warden (HBO's Mrs. Fletcher).

In the Athletic Director's office of a prestigious Division One athletic department, a reform-minded administrator faces down a coach who personifies the winner-take-all culture of college football when scandal threatens to derail the season.

Found Stages and Dunwoody Nature Center are joining to present the fourth play in the second annual 'Wine & Reading Series,' Gabrielle Fulton's SEED PLANTER on Sunday, October 13, 2019.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) Crowded Fire's Artistic Director Mina Morita unveiled the 2020 mainstage season lineup including two new plays that uphold the company's long tradition of collaborative work and boundary-pushing theater.

The Designated Daughter is being presented by The Marsh San Francisco as part of the Reimagine End of Life festival, a citywide exploration of death and celebration of life through creativity and conversation. Every family has one: the dutiful child who stays behind shouldering familial responsibilities. Podesta wasn't that daughter. However, when her elderly mother moves in a?" wreaking comic chaos, forcing a painful confrontation with a buried past, and prompting the search for the perfect pajamas a?" she has one last chance to build a bond of truth and love.

Court Theatre has appointed three new individuals to its staff. Regina Victor joins Court as their first-ever Associate Producer, while Andrew Berg will serve as the theatre's Director of Development, and Gabrielle Randle will conduct research in conjunction with Court's Oedipus Trilogy as an Artistic Fellow.