Zoe Schwartz News

PlayMakers Laboratory will celebrate its 25th anniversary of arts education in Chicago schools with 25 Years of Students’ Stories, two public performances featuring stories written by Chicago youth on Monday, December 5 at 6:30 pm & 8:30 pm at the Neo-Futurist Theater.

PlayMakers Laboratory will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its popular sketch comedy revue That's Weird, Grandma with a free digital special on Thursday, August 5 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. PML will host an in-person viewing party at The Annoyance Theater, 851 W. Belmont Ave. (proof of vaccine required) in Chicago or guests may stream the show on Facebook Live.

Random Acts has announced several additional artists joining comedian Brittany Meyer at their #SafeSpace event on Sunday, April 22nd at 6pm. The fundraiser, which will be held at Mrs. Murphy and Son's Irish Bistro (3905 N. Lincoln) is Pay-What-You-Can, with proceeds benefitting Trans Lifeline.

In a play more than 2000 years old written by Euripides titled The Trojan Women, Dale Gutzman's Off the Wall Theater (OTW) reimagines their Women of Troy set in the 1920's. Gutzman worked several years to adapt the play inspired by a Don Taylor translation revealing the aftermath of the infamous Trojan War through a women's eyes, the prisoners and refugees shipped to another city. These were the women who survived when their brothers, fathers, husbands and sons were slaughtered by the Athenians, after the legendary Trojan horse 'birthed blood' that flowed into Troy's streets.

Barrel of Monkeys is pleased to bring back its popular weekend matinees with THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA: Revenge of the Winter Matinees, playing Sundays at 2 pm from January 8 - 29, 2017 at the Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. Bring the entire family to escape the winter doldrums at this line-up of safe, funny, heart-warming and perfectly weird stories written by Chicago Public School students and adapted for the stage and performed by Barrel of Monkeys Company Members. Tickets are available at www.barrelofmonkeys.org or call (773) 506-7140. The press performance is Sunday, January 15 at 2 pm.

Student-written stories inspired by politics, government, social change and the 2016 election will take center stage as Barrel of Monkeys continues its 20th anniversary season with more performances of THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA: It Came from the Voting Booth, directed by Artistic Director Joseph Schupbach.

Barrel of Monkeys celebrates the season with THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA: The Holiday Special Returns, a line-up of student-written stories inspired by the holidays, winter, elves, gift-giving and more, playing December 4 - 26, 2016 (Sunday at 2 pm & Mondays at 8 pm) at the Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. The press performance is Monday, December 5 at 8 pm. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the show!

Student-written stories inspired by politics, government, social change and the 2016 election will take center stage as Barrel of Monkeys kicks off its 20th anniversary season with THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA: It Came from the Voting Booth, directed by Artistic Director Joseph Schupbach.

“A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind,” quotes Eugène Ionesco, the author of the Boulevard Theatre's charming and provocative production Bald Soprano.. Ionesco, considered one of the forerunners of absurd/surreal theater, wrote the one-act play (90 minutes, no intermission) at the beginning of his career in 1948. A time in his forties when he first began dabbling in the “anti-play,” an artistic comment on cultural and social conversation and mores, seen from his French perspective that had survived the devastation of Paris and other European countries, including the Nazi invasions and regime during World War II.

The CHICAGO ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (#1MPF) returns with a twist: the sixth annual event will celebrate the works of all women and women-identified playwrights and directors.

The CHICAGO ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (#1MPF) returns with a twist: the sixth annual event will celebrate the works of all women and women-identified playwrights and directors.

Company members old and new will reunite as Barrel of Monkeys celebrates 15 years of its hit revue THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA with two special anniversary performances on Sunday April 17 at 2 pm and Monday, April 18 at 8 pm at its long-time home, the Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.barrelofmonkeys.org or by calling (773) 506-7140.

The CHICAGO ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (#1MPF) returns with a twist: the sixth annual event will celebrate the works of all women and women-identified playwrights and directors. The marathon evening of one-minute plays by more than 70 of Chicago's established and emerging playwrights and directors will play two nights only, Tuesday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets, priced at $18, are currently available at brownpapertickets.com.

Company members old and new will reunite as Barrel of Monkeys celebrates 15 years of its hit revue THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA with two special anniversary performances on Sunday April 17 at 2 pm and Monday, April 18 at 8 pm at its long-time home, the Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.barrelofmonkeys.org.

Boulevard Ensemble Theatre opened their 30th season at the East Side Plymouth Church presenting an absolutley charming romance Handle with Care. Award-winning author and playwright Jason Odell Williams' wrote a heartwarming comedy and intertwines several religious traditions when a young Jewish woman, Ayelot, travels from Israel to America with her Grandmother Edna to rural Virginia, and tonight of all nights, Christmas Eve, they land in the small town of Goodview.

 The summer fun never has to end! Barrel of Monkeys ushers in the school year with its revue THAT'S WEIRD, GRANDMA: Back To School, directed by Artistic Director Joseph Schupbach, playing Mondays at 8 pm from August 17 - September 7, 2015 at the Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. For tickets, reservations and information visit www.barrelofmonkeys.org or call (312) 409-1954.

Writers and performers Zoe Schwartz (pictured, left), Joseph Schupbach (pictured, right), and Laura McKenzie (not pictured) join forces this September to bestow upon you 'Totally Cute!' - a classic yet disturbing journey through improvised and finely hewn sketch. 'Totally Cute' runs tonight through Sunday September 19-21, 2014 at 7:30 pm.

Writers and performers Zoe Schwartz (pictured, left), Joseph Schupbach (pictured, right), and Laura McKenzie (not pictured) join forces this September to bestow upon you 'Totally Cute!' - a classic yet disturbing journey through improvised and finely hewn sketch. 'Totally Cute' runs Friday through Sunday September 19-21, 2014 at 7:30 pm.

Collaboraction's widely celebrated SKETCHBOOK FESTIVAL returns for its 11th year to the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., June 2 - 25. One of the most innovative and communal theater, music and video festivals in the country, this year's festival, titled 'SKETCHBOOK: Evolution,' features nine short plays and seven devised works, all eight minutes or less, inspired by the theme of ‘Evolution.' A different musical guest creates a unique soundscape for each performance, and the lineup of works will vary each night. Full music and play schedule available at collaboraction.org.