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Synopsis: Mimi's cousin Jeremy has a PhD in physics, a brand new time machine and a plan. He's sending Mimi, a professional thief, back to 1863 to change history by providing Harriet Tubman with modern day guns. Lots and lots of guns. Cast Size: Diverse Cast of 10 Actors “Audacious, hysterically funny, irreverent and joyful. Filled with humor and humanity it boldly encourages us to re-imagine our collective memories." -Suzan-Lori Parks • BEST OF 2013 • “Intelligently outrageous new comedy… Mish-mash of pop-cult parody and historical revisionism was a delivery system for a valid new perspective on history and the way we enshrine our canonized heroes.” —Time Out Chicago
5 Males, 4 Females The ball stops bouncing for everyone… eventually. When the heroes of Cleveland’s East Technical High School basketball team won the state championship in ‘55 the world was theirs for the taking. Thirteen years later, the ball has stopped bouncing and reality has set in. A funny, lyrical and mournful exploration of what happens to inner-city hardwood stars when the glory days are a distant memory. “A revelation… To miss it would be like bungling a free throw during the final seconds of overtime.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “Calhoun’s script shines brilliantly, etching clear and entertaining portraits of people who once shared something great.” —The Cleveland Scene “Funny, Gripping, Dramatic and Involving with a karma ending that will have you singing the praises of The Mighty Mighty Scarabs.” —Axs.com
Unusual Stories, Unusually Told celebrates some of the boldest contemporary American voices with seven plays from Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks. Spanning 2001 to 2019 and accompanied by artist interviews and reflections on the work, this anthology presents a vital survey of formally inventive 21st century playwriting, and is a perfect collection for study and performance. U.S. Drag by Gina Gionfriddo A serial killer named Ed stalks the city, luring his victims by asking for help. To protect themselves, a group of New Yorkers form SAFE, “Stay Away From Ed.” The first rule: don't help anyone. It's a matter of urban survival. Slavey by Sigrid Gilmer In which Robert and Nora, a couple on the r...
Synopsis: Stevie studies the Cryosphere. Her dissertation is not going well – the ice she studies is disappearing too fast – and there is nothing she can do about it. She goes home, searching for some comfort and falls through the ice. At home, Stevie faces the fragmented unit her family has become. Her mother is pre-occupied, battling against the rampant development that has transformed their town and her teen-age sister Bella is filled with alienation and angst. She’s selling drugs to get people to talk to her and her first crush has resulted in humiliation. She’s got a mind for revenge. When Bella commits her act of vengeance it forces this family to come together and face the reality of their crumbling world and the limits - and possibilities - of their actions. Cast Size: 4 Females, 1 Male
Synopsis: Howie has spent the last decade trying to forget the traumas of high school. But when an invitation to his ten year reunion arrives, he hops on a plane home to discover just what happened to the jocks, the prom queens, and the social outcasts- and whether anyone cares that he's a millionaire now. With wry wit and penetrating insight, Bekah Brunstetter's heartbreaking comedy takes us on a hilariously awkward and unexpectedly moving journey in which no one can completely abandon who they used to be. Cast Size: 3 Males, 3 Females
Part III, BABS THE DODO (Present): Despite a heart of 14k gold, Babs is over-the-hill and facing extinction as a top On-Air personality at the Home Shopping Network. Love appears from unexpected places as Babs fights to survive. This deliriously dark comedy sets Babs in the sale of her life as she grasps for love, happiness and sparkle. 2 Males, 2 Females. (Includes the bonus play "The Seven Categories." 1 Male, 1 Female.) From the Introduction by John Weidman: “Michael Mitnick’s voice-witty, compassionate, and humane-leading us through Babs the Dodo not unlike the Stage Manager leading us through Our Town.”
2 Males, 3 Females A spotlight on the cycle of shame and abuse in an American family. Boy and Sissy have built their own brand of family under the roof of their frustrated father and self-obsessed stepmom. It’s their one refuge, given Boy’s imprisonment in a cage and Sissy's job as his keeper. But when he makes a desperate attempt to escape, Sissy’s own longing for freedom threatens to destroy them both. “dark and murky, but with a streak of humor that compounds its visceral effect .” —Time Out Chicago “Boy Small is a look from the outside at the case of a brutally murdered boy to question how we can make sense of something so horrific.” —Chicago Theatre Review “Cozzola has a fundamental understanding of how people talk to one another and how certain kinds of talk lead to other kinds of talk.” —Chicago Stage Review
Synopsis: Imagine an island in hell where Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, and Queen Victoria wait… trapped in the memory of who they were. What happens when women's lib icon Anaïs Nin arrives to turn their afterlife upside down? Anaïs Nin Goes to Hell explores the question of whether Sartre was right and hell really is other people, or whether we carry around our potential for damnation or salvation within ourselves. Cast Size: 7 Females, 2 Males
Memory, history, and culture collide with the starlit rooftop dreams of a myth-inspired character as Soledad and her partner, Hailstorm, redefine family on their own terms after the death of their eldest son in Iraq. blu, steeped in poetic realism and contemporary politics, challenges us to try to imagine a time before war. Selected as the winner of the 2010 Yale Drama competition from more than 950 submissions, Virginia Grise’s play blu takes place in the present but looks back on the not too distant past through a series of prayers, rituals, and dreams. Contest judge David Hare commented, "Virginia Grise is a blazingly talented writer, and her play blu stays with you a long time after you’ve read it." Noting that 2010 was a banner year for women playwrights, he added, "Women’s writing for the theatre is stronger and more eloquent than it has ever been."
A key way to view Latina plays today is through the foundational frame of playwright and teacher, Maria Irene Fornes, who has transformed American theatre. Considering Fornes's legacy, Anne García-Romero shows how five award-winning playwrights continue to contest and complicate Latina theatre.