Mickle Maher News

Stuart, 16, is making a movie: graphic violence, extreme sex, the walking dead. Of course it's also a love story. And it's all true. In fact it's more horribly true than anyone, even Stuart, can rightly comprehend.

Catastrophic is pleased to once again introduce Houston audiences to a fresh voice in American theatre. As it did with Mickle Maher (The Strangerer and Spirits to Enforce) and Miki Johnson (American Falls and Fleaven), Catastrophic will produce 2 plays by Mark Schultz in a single season, beginning with the world premiere of The Blackest Shore and ending with Everything Will Be Different.

The hilarious holiday favorite, The SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Mantello and produced by Cleveland Public Theatre, makes its return to PlayhouseSquare this holiday season, Nov. 28 - Dec. 21, starring native Clevelander Eric Schmiedl as "Crumpet."

Happiness was a huge hit at the Fall Fringe festival last year, and richly deserves this full revival; not only is Maher's ear for verse spot-on, you simply cannot ask for a better cast.

The hilarious holiday favorite, The SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Mantello and produced by Cleveland Public Theatre, makes its return to PlayhouseSquare this holiday season, Nov. 28 - Dec. 21, starring native Clevelander Eric Schmiedl as "Crumpet."

A new crop of local talent joins Goodman Theatre's artistic team for the 2014/2015 Season.

Having wowed Hollywood Fringe Festival audiences in 2012 with their acclaimed production of SPEED MERCHANT (OF VENICE), Action! Theatre Company returns to the 2014 Fringe Festival with the West Coast Premiere of Mickle Maher's comedy, THERE IS A HAPPINESS THAT MORNING IS. In partnership with Christina Keefe, Director of Rice University's Theatre Program and directed by A!TC Artistic Director, Tiger Reel, Action! Theatre Co. is proud to bring this beautiful and funny ode to love, sex and the poetry of William Blake to the Lounge Theatre.

The hilarious send-up of 1950s cold war repression and kitsch culture, '5 Lesbians Eating Quiche' was an original critically-acclaimed creation by The New Colony. This remount featuring the original off-Broadway cast is presented by the Chicago Commercial Collective, running today, May 1 to June 8 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Street.

The hilarious send-up of 1950s cold war repression and kitsch culture, "5 Lesbians Eating Quiche" was an original critically-acclaimed creation by The New Colony. This remount featuring the original off-Broadway cast is presented by the Chicago Commercial Collective, running May 1 to June 8 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Street. Tickets ($15 - $40) are on sale now.

Chicago Commercial Collective, which was formed to help Chicagoans discover the finest of its city's vibrant theater scene by showcasing the biggest off-Loop hits in the city, today announced that the company plans to give renewed life to two standout Chicago theater productions by staging remountings of the critically acclaimed productions.

First Floor Theater is thrilled to present the Chicago Premiere of THE RECKONING OF KIT AND LITTLE BOOTS (TROKALB), Nat Cassidy's rip-roaring metaphysical buddy comedy, directed by Gus Menary, playing tonight, February 8 - March 2, 2014 at The Den Theatre.

First Floor Theater is thrilled to present the Chicago Premiere of THE RECKONING OF KIT AND LITTLE BOOTS (TROKALB), Nat Cassidy's rip-roaring metaphysical buddy comedy, directed by Gus Menary, playing February 8 - March 2, 2014 at The Den Theatre.

A new crop of local talent joins Goodman Theatre's artistic team for the 2013/2014 Season. The four Chicago-based writers named to the fourth season of the Playwrights Unit-a year-long residency program designed to support and develop new works-include Andrew Hinderaker, Gift Theatre ensemble member; Mickle Maher, cofounder of Theater Oobleck; Anne Garcia-Romero, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists; and Laura Schellhardt, who oversees undergraduate playwriting at Northwestern University. A partnership with Chicago Dramatists, the Playwrights Unit meets twice per month with members of the Goodman's artistic team to discuss their plays-in-progress and provide feedback for one another. The program includes readings of the playwrights' works-in-progress at Chicago Dramatists in early 2014, and culminates in summer 2014 with staged readings of their completed works at the Goodman. Playwrights Unit alumni include Greg Allen, Alice Austen, Ike Holter and Christopher Oscar Peña (2012/2013 Season); Philip Dawkins, Nambi E. Kelley, Elaine Romero and Martin Zimmerman (2011/2012 Season); and Seth Bockley, Lisa Dillman, Laura Jacqmin and Rohina Malik (2010/2011 Season).

Chicago Commercial Collective is thrilled to announce The Off-Loop Tour, aiming to export the best of Chicago theatre to the rest of the region and beyond.

There is a happiness that is There Is a Happiness… Indeed, it easily could lead to crappiness Given how much it owes to poetry and rhyme, Arts rarely found on stage in our time. But writer Mickle Maher's play is full of wit Which he manages to pepper with touches of grit As he explores his characters of Bernard and Ellen.

When attending a production at The Catastrophic Theatre, I always know I am in for a journey. My favorite aspect of this group is that each and every one of their productions is a risk-taking endeavor, guaranteeing Houston audiences access to fresh, cutting-edge presentations of theatrical craftsmanship. Their current production, the World Premiere of Mickle Maher's THE PINE was commissioned by The Catastrophic Theatre and funded in part by a grant awarded by The MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Unfortunately, THE PINE wasn't to my liking, but the opportunity to see something crafted with this company in mind is reason enough for anyone to attend a performance.

Join a live studio audience on the set of a '70s-style sitcom as The Inconvenience, The New Colony and the University of Chicago's Theater and Performance Studies Program team up to co-produce the world premiere of B-SIDE STUDIO, co-written by Inconvenience Resident Writer Ike Holter and New Colony Co-Artistic Director Evan Linder and directed by Nicholas J. Carroll, Andrew Hobgood and Gus Menary. B-SIDE STUDIO is performed on Fridays and Saturdays at 9/8c (that's 8 pm in Chicago, meathead!) from tonight, September 13 - October 12, 2013 at The Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. in Chicago.

The Catastrophic Theatre is pleased to announce that the American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry 'Tony' Awards, is awarding the Company with one of the 2013 National Theatre Company grants.

The Catastrophic Theatre is pleased to announce the world premiere of The Pine, a new play by the author of past Catastrophic favorites There is a Happiness That Morning Is, Spirits to Enforce, and The Strangerer, Mickle Maher. The Pine opens Friday, September 27 and runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm through October 19 at The Catastrophic Theatre, 1119 East Fwy, 77002.

Join a live studio audience on the set of a '70s-style sitcom as The Inconvenience, The New Colony and the University of Chicago's Theater and Performance Studies Program team up to co-produce the world premiere of B-SIDE STUDIO, co-written by Inconvenience Resident Writer Ike Holter and New Colony Co-Artistic Director Evan Linder and directed by Nicholas J. Carroll, Andrew Hobgood and Gus Menary. B-SIDE STUDIO is performed on Fridays and Saturdays at 9/8c (that's 8 pm in Chicago, meathead!) from September 13 - October 12, 2013 at The Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. in Chicago. The press performances are Friday, September 13 at 8 pm and Saturday, September 14 at 8 pm.