Displaying items by tag: on stage

Asian American Arts Chicago (AAAC) announces the Festival schedule and that tickets are now on sale for EVOLUTION: Asian American Arts Festival, Saturday, May 2 from 12 - 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 3 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at the historic Lookingglass Theatre’s Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St. at Michigan Ave. EVOLUTION: Asian American Arts Festival is a two-day celebration of the transformation and creativity of Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiians in Chicago and includes more than 125 artists and performers, from a variety of disciplines including dance, theatre, interactive art displays, film and music and a food and craft market representing the community. The complete festival schedule is now available at AAAC.art with tickets, $25 - $120, online, in-person and Festival Passes, are available at AAAC.art. 

Asian American Arts Chicago’s mission statement is to support and amplify artistic expression from the Asian American diaspora in Chicago, Illinois. AAAC produces festivals, performances and supports a database of Asian American identified artists to provide better representation, equity and opportunity.

“Chicago has the fifth largest Asian American population in America and we’re the fastest growing group in Chicago and nationally. Yet, as a Korean American performing artist for more than 25 years in Chicago, I wasn't given the same opportunities as my peers,” said Executive Producer Mia Park. “This Festival creates space for Asian American, Pacific Island, and Native Hawaiian makers and creators to showcase their work and connect. The aim of the festival is to amplify and celebrate these voices.”

Producer Seoyoung Park adds, “As an Asian-identifying female artist based in Chicago, I’m excited that this festival will bring together Asian American, Pacific Island and Native Hawaiian artists and audiences to celebrate creativity and connection. It’s an important step toward building a stronger, more unified community.”

Highlights of Chicago’s brightest talents participating in EVOLUTION currently include:

Saturday, May 2

Festival hours: 12 - 8 p.m.

Upstairs 

12 - 8 p.m. 

Vendor/Music: Henna Zamurd Butt

12:15 p.m. (60+ minute showcase)

Spoken Word Showcase: Lisa Low, Randy Kim, Sofia Javed

1:45 p.m. (30+ minute showcase)

Theatre Showcase: Catherine Yu, Zihan Xiong, Zachary Series, Aqdas Aftab, Tanima

2:45 p.m. (45 minute performance)

Performance Lecture: Olivier 

4 p.m. (30 minute performance)

Multimedia Dance: Noori, Wannapa P-Eubanks

4:45 p.m. (40 minute performance)

Theatre: Rusty Allen

5:45 p.m. (40+ minute showcase)

Standup Comedy Showcase: William Paik, Bok Joy, Yzzy Zarate, Jerry Tran

6:45 p.m. (55 minute showcase)

Films by KT Wester, Leena Kurishingal, Christina Seo 

Downstairs

12:30 p.m. (45 minute performance)

Live Music: Sona Umbra

2 p.m. (45 minute performance)

Live Music: Kay tear

3 p.m. (30 minute showcase)

Dance Showcase: Preeti Veerlapati, Vrisa Odedra, Mustafa Anwar 

4:30 p.m. (15 minute performance)

Performance: AiRos 頌恩 medill

5 p.m. (40 minute performance)

Live Music: My Little Realities

6 p.m. (15+ minute showcase)

Drag: Twinka Masala, Tiffany Miller

Audiences are encouraged to bring dollar bills to tip the performers. 

7 p.m. (30 minute performance)

Live Music: Ochin Pakhi

Sunday, May 3, 2026

Festival hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Upstairs

10:15 a.m. (40 minute performance)

Theatre Solo Show: Lauren Kee

11 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Pop-Up Book Workshop: Jaerin Son

11:30 a.m. (30 minute performance)

Theatre Solo Show: Huy Nguyen

12:30 p.m. (60 minute performance)

Theatre Solo Show: Kento Morita

2 p.m. (45 minute showcase)

Film Showcase: Hannah Ii-Epstein, Okyoung Noh, Asuka Lin

3 p.m. (40 minute showcase)

Spoken Word Showcase: Ada Cheng, Jeannie Hua, Ivy McPherson

4 p.m. (20 minute performance)

Solo Performance: Xiaolu Wang

4:45 p.m. (60 minute showcase)

Comedy Showcase: Becca Nix Tham, Mantra, Stir Friday Night 

Downstairs

Flashmob Dance: Ajumma Rising

10:15 a.m. (20+ minute performance)

Music: Treblemakers

11:30 a.m. (45 minute performance)

Music: Dawn Xiana Moon 

1 p.m. (40 minute performance)

Music: Steven Cristi Music 

2 p.m. (10 minute performance)

Tap Dance: Megan Davis, Martin Bronson, Tristan Bruns

3 p.m. (20 minute performance)

Dance: IS/LAND with Qū Jié, Olivia Lemmenes, Tuli Bera

4 p.m. (45 minute performance)

Music: Sierra Sikora Music 

5 p.m. (30 minute performance)

Music: SamaSama Project 

Highlighted performances include:

• Sierra Sikora is a 19-year old Filipino American guitarist and singer songwriter making huge waves

• Native Hawaiian Hannah Ii-Epstein is artistic director of Nothing Without a Company and presents her short film 

• Korean American puppeteer and artist Jaerin Son presents an interactive workshop teaching festival goers how to create their own pop-up books, and displays her handmade puppets

• Jerry Tran is a Vietnamese American comedian who produces and hosts comedy shows at First Sip Cafe, a longtime staple in Chicago’s historic Argyle neighborhood

• Twinka Masala is an award-winning drag king who hosts South Asian and Middle Eastern drag shows and facilitates drag workshops

• Kirin Kane is a queer multiracial AAPINH person who uses mixed media sculpture and installation to investigate the intricacies of cultural belonging.

2D/3D Art: Images of fine art will be displayed in rotation on a monitor in the upstairs lobby throughout the festival. Expect multiple images from these fine artists: Aireen Arellano, Kirin Kane, Bazigha Khan, Jenny Lam, Heather Marcum and Donna Noel.

Highlighted food and craft market vendors for EVOLUTION currently include:

• Food vendor Pink Mu makes fresh Korea kimbap, triangle kimbap and korean-style rice krispies daily

• Banato is a women-owned company making fruit based beverages and fruit based popsicles. Banato will sell out of their happy yellow food cart

• The Punk Rock Stitcher is Sam Riesmeyer who hand embroiders dragons using Chinese silk. Their designs are inspired by traditional Chinese art and contemporary tattoo artists

• Shayne Draws Food is craft vendor Shayne Chammavanijakul, a Thai-American food writer and illustrator whose work explores culture, identity, and nostalgia through the lens of food

• Henna Zamurd Butt is an East African Asian artist who sells small-batch functional and sculptural ceramics alongside a selection of cyanotype and hand-printed works.

*Performers, artists, vendors, etc. subject to change.

EVOLUTION: Asian American Arts Festival Ticket Information:

Limited tickets will be sold online and provide priority entrance to the Festival. All tickets include Festival souvenirs, access to live performances, interactive art displays and the food and craft market. If entry lines form due to venue capacity, online ticket holders will have priority entry. Walk-up tickets will be available as capacity permits. Guests may check the AAAC Instagram account story for live updates on festival admission at @AAArtsChicago. 

Online tickets

$120 VIP ticket includes handcrafted gourmet pastry, festival photograph, festival souvenirs, attendance to all performances, access to the food + craft marketplace and re-entry permitted

$65 One-day Pass includes festival photograph, festival souvenirs, attendance to all performances, access to the food + craft marketplace and re-entry permitted

$35 General Admission includes festival souvenirs, attendance to all performances, access to the food + craft marketplace with no re-entry permitted $30

Students ages 13 years and older with ID includes festival souvenirs, attendance to all performances, access to the food + craft marketplace with no re-entry permitted

$25 Children ages 5 - 12 years must be accompanied by an adult. Please note that there may be performances or art work intended for mature audiences. 

The EVOLUTION: Asian American Arts Festival Leadership includes:

Executive Producer Mia Park has been a polymath creative force in Chicago for over thirty years. Acting highlights include TV shows “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD,” “Shameless,” and “Empire.” Theatre credits include Goodman Theatre and Court Theatre. Music credits include Chicago’s only Asian American female rock band, Kim, The Miyumi Project and Panda Panda. Creative producing credits include founding A-Squared Theatre Workshop, producing the national Asian American Theatre Festival, APIDA Arts Festival, Covers for Cover music fundraising series and Old Town School of Folk Music programming. Park teaches taiji and yoga, is an adjunct professor at The Theatre School at DePaul University and teaches acting at the Second City Training Center.

Producer Seoyoung Park is an actor, theatre director, educator and producer of AAAC’s EVOLUTION Festival. Born and raised in Seoul, she considers Chicago her second home. Recent acting credits include Seattle Rep’s The Heart Sellers, Northlight Theatre’s The Heart Sellers (2025 Jeff nomination, Performer in a Principal Role), and TUTA Theatre’s Attempts on Her Life (2024 Jeff, Best Ensemble), Tom&Eliza and The Long Christmas Dinner. She directed TUTA Theatre’s Lab Performance Three Horse Men. She is a member of TUTA Theatre Company, an Artistic Coalition member of Artemisia Theatre and the executive director of Alien Theatre Company. She holds an MFA in acting from DePaul University and a B.A. and M.A. in acting from Chung-Ang University. 

Other Festival leaders include photographer and film documentary director Kelly Ngo from Chromatone, a creative studio that specializes in the commercial space, particularly in food and beverages. Ngo is a Vietnamese-American photographer, storyteller and creative director based in Chicago and draws inspiration from quiet observation, color and form and the emotional undercurrents of everyday life.

Aimee Alker is the vendor manager for EVOLUTION and served on the play selection committee for the APIDA Arts Festival. A Chicago-based writer and editor, she's spent years immersed in the Asian American arts community, performing with Circa-Pintig, A-Squared Theatre Workshop and the Nara Movement Project. She’s currently working on a writing project and is thrilled to champion fellow AAPI artists to help shape a festival that feels vibrant and deeply rooted in the community.

Anthony Nguyen is a Vietnamese American concert/live performance photographer who served on the Festival Selection Committee. He is a staff photographer for Riot Fest and Chicago Theatre and an attorney with entertainment and business law experience.

ABOUT ASIAN AMERICAN ARTS CHICAGO

Asian American Arts Chicago is a not-for-profit organization. The mission of the Asian American Arts Chicago Festival is to amplify and unify Asian, Pacific Island and Native Hawaiian artists in Chicago by showcasing their work at premier cultural institutions, providing greater representation, equity and opportunity.

By showcasing and bringing together the creativity and imagination of Asian, Pacific Island and Native Hawaiian, AAAC Festival envisions a strong and sustainable AAPINH arts community that is an integral presence in Chicago’s culture - evocative of our past, declarative of our present and innovative towards our future. The programming includes a self-populated artist directory, networking events and a festival dedicated to AAAC.

Filament Theatre, the Northwest Side's premier theater for young audiences, is delighted to present the world premiere of Farewell Opportunity from May 2-17, 2026. Commissioned by Filament Theatre in 2019 and written by local Chicago playwright Georgette Kelly, Farewell Opportunity tells the story of Halley, who visits the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and meets the Opportunity Mars rover. The two have something in common: a curious spirit and a shortened life expectancy. Halley and the NASA scientist in charge of the Mars mission find themselves transformed by an unlikely friendship—with each other, and with a rolling robot millions of miles away. With poetic language and magical realism, Farewell Opportunity explores the question "How do you keep on roving when you—or someone you love—faces a dust storm that threatens to block out the sun?"

Associate Director of Advancement, Julia Stemper, shares, "Filament is honored to showcase this gorgeous piece to young people. Communicating a message about life's temporariness to young audiences is both tremendously delicate and important. Georgette Kelly does this beautifully in her script – with wonder, magic, and creativity. We are looking forward to seeing the impact it has on both new and familiar families visiting Filament for this production."

Farewell Opportunity will be performed on Wednesdays at 10 AM, Saturdays at 11 AM & 2 PM, and Sundays at 2 PM & 6 PM.  Previews will be held April 25-April 29. All ages welcome, best enjoyed by ages 5+. School and community group pricing available. Tickets at www.filamenttheatre.org. To inquire about school field trips or group buy-outs, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Farewell Opportunity

By Georgette Kelly

Directed by Raquel Torre

ABOUT FILAMENT THEATRE: 

Filament Theatre, on Chicago's Northwest Side, has been creating innovative theater for young audiences since 2007, serving thousands of families annually, often at no cost, through theatre programming, camps, school residencies, and classes. The mission of Filament Theatre is to create a more equitable society by celebrating and amplifying the perspectives and experiences of young people through the performing arts. Creating immersive and site-specific theatre that inspires, empowers, and activates young people and their communities, Filament's unique production process welcomes young people into the room as essential collaborators.  Filament imagines a world where young people are the experts and adults are the allies working to build a more just world for all. As the only theatre of its kind in Chicago, Filament is a vital home for innovative artists and young people finding and using their power through the performing arts. Awards: TYA Artistic Innovation Award - FORTS: Build Your Own Adventure (2025), Chicago Tribune Best Off-Loop Theatre (2016), Illinois Theatre Association Award of Excellence in Theatre for Young Audiences (2020), Bayless Family Foundation Stepping Stone Grant Recipient (2022). 

Filament Theatre is partially supported by Mark Edelman Theater Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Arts Council, and more.

Her Story Theatre has announced the World Premiere of Kurt McGinnis Brown's two-hander THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY, to play March 28 – April 19 at The Den Theatre in Chicago. When young black journalist Xan Smith is assigned to interview the once successful, now aging white novelist, Henry Percival, the two form an unlikely bond during their contentious meetings. After Henry reveals something unexpected about his past, the two writers must consider the uncertain relationship of truth to storytelling in general, and specifically to the story of Henry's life. THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY will keep audiences guessing as they follow its plot twists, surprises, and suspect decisions. The drama, which was workshopped at Chicago Dramatists in 2017 and Art Lit Lab in Madison, Wisconsin in 2016, is the work of prolific playwright Kurt McGinnis Brown, who has had plays produced across the country, including in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. The Jeff Award-winner and former Artistic Director of Strawdog Theatre Richard Shavzin will direct. Press opening is Wednesday, April 1 at 7:30 pm in the Upstairs Main Stage of The Den Theatre, following previews on March 28, 29 and 31. It will play through April 19.

Veteran Chicago actor and Actors Equity member Gary Houston, whose many credits include GEM OF THE OCEAN and JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE at the Goodman Theatre, will play the septuagenarian novelist Henry Percival. Shelby Marie Edwards, seen most recently in Pegasus Players' YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL and RABBITS IN THEIR POCKETS at Lifeline Theatre, has been cast as the young journalist Xan Smith.
 
The production team includes Garrett Bell (Set Design), Sam Bessler (Lighting Design), Mary Bonnett (Costume Design), George Zahora (Sound Design), Wendye Clarendon (Actors Equity member, Stage Manager), Morgan Watkinson and Josh Hogan (Assistant Stage Managers), Steve Kruse (Technical Director), Tristan Predmore (Lighting Technician), Nora Brooks (Scenic Painter), Lucas Holeman (Carpenter), and Kaitlyn Hettinger (Carpenter, Scenic Painter).

Tickets to THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY are $40 for General Admission and $30 for Seniors plus taxes and fees) for regular performances; and $35 General Admission for previews. Students and industry members are $20 all performances, and group prices are $30 per person for all performances. Tickets are on sale now at www.thedenthreatre.comand The Den Theatre Box Office 773-697-3830.

IT’S TIME: ABOUT TIMELINE’S NEW HOME

Based on the novel by Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao follows neurodivergent and perpetually lovelorn college student Oscar as he fixates on the fukú – a generational curse he believes has haunted his family’s love lives for decades. Oscar’s college roommate and his sister Lola by his side, the trio journeys to Santo Domingo, uncovering more about Oscar and Lola’s family history and the fukú than none of them bargained for.

At the heart of the story is the trio of Oscar (Lenin D’Anthony Izquierdo), Yunior (Kelvin Grullon), and Lola (Julissa Calderon), who are as messy, spirited, and loving as three college kids can be. Their chemistry feels genuinely lived-in: the easy humor, the sharp edges, the quiet loyalties. Their dynamic perfectly captures the complexities of chosen family, blurred boundaries, and sibling devotion, all while keeping the audience constantly laughing. 

While often sharp and funny, Oscar and Lola’s mother, Beli (Yohanna Florentino), delivers the production’s most devastating performance. She embodies the tension of someone trying – fiercely, desperately – to do right by her children, yet repeatedly falling short. Florentino’s performance is astonishingly intimate; even in a full theatre, she makes it feel as though her pain is being shared one-on-one with each audience member.

The show – especially in its first act – is funny, self-aware, and unabashedly camp. Although set among college-aged characters in the 1990s, Director Wendy Mateo has made the show feel timeless and accessible to audiences of all ages. The script incorporates a significant amount of Spanish, most often through colloquial phrases and biting insults, yet the cast’s physicality and clarity ensure that no translation is required to follow the emotional stakes. It’s a compelling reminder that audiences don’t need to speak Spanish to fully appreciate bilingual storytelling when the performances are this grounded.

Where the production occasionally stumbles is in its visual storytelling, particularly once the setting shifts to Santo Domingo. The scenic design’s abstract, college-forward aesthetic serves the first half well, but meshes less cohesively with the production’s second act shift into heightened spiritual and video game-inspired imagery. This evolution also introduces more disruptive set transitions – unlike the fluid, almost invisible shifts of Act One, several Act Two changes require full stops in the action, interrupting momentum and dampening the pacing. At its best, the projections and gaming motifs cleverly mirror Oscar’s inner grasp of reality and the story’s mythic foundation. At their weakest, however, they overtake the truly human stakes at the center of the narrative.

One moment in particular – a key story from Beli’s past – is partially rendered through animation and projection rather than live performance. Given the emotional precision already established onstage, the stylistic shift feels jarring and unintentionally distances the audience from what should be an intimate revelation. The production’s reliance on heightened, game-like aesthetics resurfaces in later confrontations as well, occasionally pushing character choices toward exaggeration at moments that call for gravity. The result is a tonal imbalance that slightly undercuts the weight of the story’s final turns.

While the stage adaptation diverges in notable ways from the novel, the production stands strongest when viewed as its own interpretation rather than a strict retelling. That said, the emotional core of Oscar’s story remains intact and, by the final moments, the theatre is silent enough to hear a pin drop – a testament to the emotional weight the cast ultimately earns.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is running in The Goodman’s Owen Theatre through April 12th. Tickets are available at https://www.goodmantheatre.org/show/the-brief-wondrous-life-of-oscar-wao/.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.

Chicago theatre‑goers have one of those rare, golden weekends where three very different companies are all firing at full power—each offering a production that hits a different part of the theatrical appetite: the intimate and unsettling, the bold and idea‑driven, and the emotionally classic. Together, Morning, Noon & Night, Pot Girls, and Come Back, Little Sheba create a kind of unofficial citywide festival of what Chicago does best: fearless storytelling, muscular performances, and theatre that actually has something to say.

Shattered Globe’s Morning, Noon & Night at Theater Wit

Shattered Globe has a knack for plays that sit right on the fault line between the personal and the political, and Morning, Noon & Night is exactly that kind of pressure cooker. It’s a story about a family unraveling in real time—funny, raw, and painfully recognizable. What makes it worth your weekend:

• Shattered Globe’s ensemble brings a lived‑in authenticity that makes the play’s emotional turns land with force.
• Theater Wit’s intimacy means you’re close enough to feel every shift in temperature between characters.
• The play’s themes—identity, addiction, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive—hit with contemporary urgency.

If you want theatre that feels like eavesdropping on a family at the exact moment everything changes, this is the one.

The Story Theatre’s Pot Girls at Raven Theatre

Directed by Ayanna Bria Bakari and written by Paul Michael Thomson, Pot Girls is the kind of world premiere Chicago audiences love to claim before it blows up elsewhere. It’s smart, messy, feminist, stoned, and deeply theatrical—an intertextual riff on Top Girls that stands entirely on its own.

Why it’s essential this weekend:

• It’s a Chicago world premiere—the kind of bold, idea‑driven new work our storefront scene is known for.
• The ensemble is electric, with performances that swing from hilarious to gut‑punching without losing momentum.
• It’s in conversation with Raven’s Top Girls, making it a rare chance to see two plays talk to each other across stages, eras, and feminist generations.
• Ayanna Bria Bakari’s direction keeps the play sharp, surprising, and emotionally alive.

If you want theatre that’s playful, political, and buzzing with creative energy, Pot Girls is the weekend’s must‑see.

American Blues Theater’s Come Back, Little Sheba

American Blues excels at reviving American classics with a clarity and compassion that makes them feel startlingly present. Come Back, Little Sheba is no museum piece—it’s a bruising, beautifully observed portrait of longing, regret, and the fragile hope that life might still change.

Reasons to go now:

• American Blues’ signature naturalism gives the play a heartbreaking immediacy.
• The production highlights the emotional intelligence of William Inge’s writing, revealing layers often lost in more traditional stagings.
• It’s a rare chance to see a mid‑century classic performed with the nuance and psychological depth it deserves.

If you’re craving a production that’s emotionally rich and quietly devastating, this is the one that will stay with you long after curtain.

It’s a weekend that shows the full spectrum of what this city’s stages can do—new work, re‑examined classics, and intimate ensemble‑driven storytelling. If you’re the kind of theatre‑goer who likes to feel plugged into the pulse of the city, this is the weekend to lean in.

Tin Drum Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Southern Rapture at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., June 11 - 28, written by Eric Coble and directed by Jason Palmer. The preview for Southern Rapture is Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. and the opening night performance is Friday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 with $15 student tickets and may be purchased at TinDrumTheatre.com. 

In the heart of the Bible Belt, a local theatre company announces it will stage a play called Rapture in America—complete with seven seconds of male nudity—sending the city into a frenzy. Based on actual events, Eric Coble's Southern Rapture turns this civic eruption into a wickedly funny satire about artistic freedom, arts funding, the weaponization of civic institutions and what happens when conviction outruns common sense.

Originally commissioned by Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, Southern Rapture draws directly from one of the city’s most explosive cultural battles. In 1996, Charlotte Repertory Theatre announced a production of Angels in America.. The district attorney attempted to bring criminal charges, however, emergency court injunctions required the show to open. “Good Morning America” broadcast a train-wreck debate, turning a local arts dispute into a national spectacle.

Eighteen months later, county commissioners retaliated by slashing $2.5 million in arts funding, destabilizing organizations across the city. Although much of that funding was later restored, the interruption sent lasting ripples through Charlotte’s artistic landscape. Charlotte Rep won the Angels battle, but the controversy produced long-term consequences that cost it the war. Amid donor fatigue, mounting financial strain and leadership turnover, the company closed permanently in 2005.

The Southern Rapture ensemble cast includes Teddy Boone (he/him, Mayor Winston Paxton), Shannon Leigh Webber (she/her, Marjorie Winthrop), Michael Stejskal (he/him, Donald Sherman), Mary Anne Bowman (she/her, Allissa Marquand, Nyla-Jean Geisy, Julia Overmyer), Jenny Hoppes (she/her, Laverne Jackson, Pam, Clarice Paxton, Tina), Jordan Gleaves (he/him, Simon Larisher, Emmett Whipple, Nightline Host, Franklin McManus) and Andrew Bosworth (he/him, Mickey Stedman, Reverend Dupree, Anton Finewitz). 

The creative team includes Steve Needham (he/him, producer), Jason Palmer (he/him, director), Teddy Boone (he/him, casting director), Emily Nicholas (she/her, stage manager), Sil Rivera (they/them, asst. stage manager/scenic asst.), Kaitlyn Hettinger (she/her, technical director/scenic designer), Kasey Wolfgang (she/her, costume designer), Ellie Fey (she/her, lighting designer/master electrician), Zach Stinnett (he/him, sound designer) and Erin Alys (she/her, intimacy/movement director).

Content notice: Southern Rapture includes a brief nude scene.

ABOUT ERIC COBLE, playwright

Eric Coble is an award-winning American playwright whose work spans sharply drawn dramas, audacious comedies, and incisive social satire. Born in Edinburgh and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations of the American Southwest, Coble brings a distinctive blend of wit, empathy and theatrical boldness to the stage.

His plays have been produced across the United States and internationally, including on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at major regional theatres. His Broadway debut—The Velocity of Autumn, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella—earned Parsons a Tony Award nomination. Other widely produced works include The Giver (stage adaptation), Bright Ideas, My Barking Dog, Fairfield, The Dead Guy, Natural Selection and Southern Rapture, among many others.

Coble’s scripts have received a Jeff Award, the ATCA Steinberg New Play Award citation, the Governor’s Award for the Arts (Ohio) and multiple Edgerton New Play Awards. His work has been developed or produced by The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Class Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage and Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others.

Known for his sharp comic voice and his ability to illuminate the tensions and absurdities of contemporary American life, Coble continues to be a vital and provocative presence in the new-play landscape. He is a member of the Playwrights’ Center and a graduate of Ohio University’s MFA program.

ABOUT JASON PALMER, director

Jason Palmer is the co-founder and co–artistic director of Tin Drum Theatre Company, where he helps shape bold, conversation-driven work in Chicago’s storefront scene. He recently directed the 2024 world premiere of Winter Garden by Steve Needham and the 2025 Chicago premiere of Nick Payne’s Incognito.

A multi-disciplinary theatre-maker with over 30 years of experience, Palmer’s work spans directing, producing, performance, dramaturgy and design across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Ireland. Early in his career he served as literary manager and assistant director at Gilgamesh Theater Group and assistant directed Keith Reddin’s Off-Broadway premiere of Black Snow. In Chicago, his long association with the erstwhile Bailiwick Repertory Theatre included performing, stage management and coordinating several seasons of the Bailiwick Directors’ Festival. His performance in Nicholas Patricca’s Oh Holy Allen Ginsberg at the 2006 International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival earned a Best Actor nomination and an Honorable Mention.

Palmer has also worked with the Western Region of Actors’ Equity Association and the Directors Guild of America, giving him a strong grounding in theatrical and labor structures. His technical experience includes lighting design, set construction and stage management, and he is a multiple-time Irene Ryan nominee.

As co–artistic director of Tin Drum Theatre Company, Palmer is committed to developing new work and supporting Chicago’s next generation of storefront artists.

ABOUT TIN DRUM THEATRE COMPANY

Tin Drum Theatre Company exists to disrupt complacency and reassert theatre’s civic purpose. Creating theatre that asks something of its audience, moving beyond comfort to provoke conversation and critical engagement. Tin Drum believes community begins where audiences and ideas collide, and where dramatic disturbances are created.

Teamwork, bravery and fun are at the forefront of Splish Splash: A Day on the Lake, The Goodman's latest Theater for the Very Young (TVY) offering for theatergoers 0-5 and their adult friends and family.  Co-directed by Jamal Howard (The Lizard y El Sol) and Ellie Levine (Threshold's RAIN at Filament Theatre), this nautical adventure—recently extended through March 22—was developed in collaboration with Northwestern undergraduate students and 2- to 5-year-olds from Total Child Preschool in Evanston. Splish Splash: A Day on the Lake appears in The Goodman's Alice Center in an extended run over two more weekends: March 7, 8, 21 and 22. Splish Splash also appears at three Chicago Public Schools—Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy, Gregory Academy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Elementary School—March 9-13.  For tickets ($13 adults 18+; $18 kids 12 months-17 years; under 12 months free), visit the Box Office (170 N. Dearborn), call 312.443.3800 or purchase at GoodmanTheatre.org/Splash. The Goodman is grateful for the support of Wintrust Commercial Bank (Community Programs Sponsor) and Kirkland & Ellis, LLP (Arts in Community Sponsor).

When the moon tumbles into the lake and breaks into pieces, it's up to a brave crew of young sailors to help the Great Blue Heron and their friends—Crayfish, Beaver, Turtle and Yellow Perch—put it back together again. Through songs, puppetry and joyful hands-on play, little ones and their grown-ups will dive into an underwater world of wildlife, wonder and waves. The cast includes Kylie Anderson (BOOK UP!), Sonia Goldberg (Kokandy Productions' Amélie), Tina Muñoz Pandya (The Matchbox Magic Flute) and Michael-Forest (Mikey) Walden (Refracted Theatre Company's Tambo & Bones).

Previous Goodman Theatre Theater for the Very Young productions include BOOK UP! (2025), The Lizard Y El Sol (2024) and In My Granny's Garden (2023).

Full company of Splish Splash: A Day on the Lake (in alphabetical order)

Developed in collaboration with Northwestern University's Imagine U

Co-directed by Jamal Howard and Ellie Levine

Kylie Anderson...Splash/Teaching Artist
Sonia Goldberg...Splish/Teaching Artist
Tina Muñoz Pandya...Blue Heron
Michael-Forest (Mikey) Walden...Sailor

CREATIVE TEAM

Set/Props/Costume Designer...Jillian Gryzlak 
Sound Designer...Stephen Moore 
Line Producer...Jared Bellot 
Production Associate...Jojo Wallenberg 
Production Assistant...Lauren Westfahl
Build Assistant...Ellie Terrell
Build Assistant...Kevin Rieg

Devised in collaboration with Madelyn Cantzler, Laura Fajardo-Riascos, Grace Hall, Ani Lawit, Andrew McCarthy, Kennedy Naseem, Sophie Pong, Ajayla Self and Ella Waffner.

Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. 

ABOUT THE GOODMAN

Since 1925, The Goodman has been more than a stage. A theatrical home for artists and a gathering space for community, it's where stories come to life—bold in artistry and rich in history, deeply rooted in the city it serves.

Led by Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, The Goodman sparks conversation, connection and change through new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musicals. With distinctions including nearly 200 world or American premieres, two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, The Goodman is proud to be the first theater to produce all 10 plays of August Wilson's "American Century Cycle." In addition, the theater frequently serves as a production partner—with national and international companies to Chicago's Off-Loop theaters—to help amplify theatrical voices.

But The Goodman believes a more empathetic, more connected Chicago is created one story at a time, and counts as its greatest legacy the community it's built. Generation-spanning productions and programs offer theater for a lifetime; from Theater for the Very Young (plays designed for ages 0-5) to the long-running annual A Christmas Carol, which has introduced new generations to theater over five decades, The Goodman is committed to being an asset for all of Chicago. Education and Engagement programs led by Clifford Director of Education and Engagement Jared Bellot and housed in the Alice Rapoport Center use the tools of theater to spark imagination, reflection and belonging. Each year, these programs reach thousands of people (85% from underserved communities) as well as educators, artists and lifelong learners across the city.

The Goodman stands on the unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations—and acknowledges the many other Nations for whom this land now called Chicago has long been home, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten. The Goodman is proud to partner with the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum (Gichigamiin-Museum.org) and the Center for Native Futures (CenterForNativeFutures.org)—organizations devoted to honoring Indigenous stories, preserving cultural memory, and deepening public understanding.

The Goodman was founded by William O. Goodman and his family to honor the memory of Kenneth Sawyer Goodman—a visionary playwright whose bold ideas helped shape Chicago's early cultural renaissance. That spirit of creativity and generosity endures today. In 2000, through the commitment of Mr. Goodman's descendants—Albert Ivar Goodman and his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton—The Goodman opened the doors to its current home in the heart of the Loop.

Marsha Cruzan is Chair of the Goodman Theatre Board of Trustees; Diane Landgren is Women's Board President; and Kelli Garcia is president of the Scenemakers Board for Young Professionals. 

TICKETS HERE

With spot-on performances across a large cast, William Inge’s 1949 script for “Come Back, Little Sheba” is receiving a definitive production at American Blues Theater’s intimate Studio Theater. Those of us of a certain age had this work buried deep into our cultural formation by the searing film version starring Shirley Booth, who won the 1952 Oscar and a Tony for her earlier Broadway performance as Lola. 

This was my first time to see the stage version, and director Elyse Dolan goes back to Inge’s original script, which fits beautifully into this captivating 90 minute show (no intermission). The set by Shayna Patel closely tracks Inge’s intentions, right down to the telephone at the base of the stairs. Lighting by Brendan Marble and Sound Design by Thomas Dixon couple especially well in high throttle jazz interludes signaling scene changes or turning points in the plot. And those costumes (Lily Walls) were just what the playwright envisioned, right out of the end of the 1940s.

Cisco Lopez as the Milkman with Gwendolyn Whiteside as Lola.

Contemporary audiences may see ‘Come Back, Little Sheba” as a showcase of the reduced role of women in post-WWII society, their lives centered on homemaking and “keeping their man happy.” But it is something more, too - a portrait of two diametrically opposite personalities - Lola (Gwendolyn Whiteside is remarkable) and her husband Doc (Philip Earl Johnson is a portrait of seething restraint) - locked together in an unbalanced relationship. Inge subtly laces in the clues to their unhappiness. Doc’s ambition to complete medical school was cut short when he felt compelled to marry Lola at 18 after getting her pregnant. Her pregnancy didn’t come to term, and he quit his medical studies. Instead of a doctor he became a chiropractor, and took to the bottle.

Lola, who was a high school beauty queen, has given up caring about her looks under the withering abuse she suffered during his drinking days. But he joined AA, and has eleven months sober - but lives with an internalized rigidity while presenting a caring face to the world around him. Underneath it all, he is filled with resentment.

On the couch, Ethan Surpan as Turk and Maya Lou Hlava as Marie.

A shift has entered this couple's fragile homelife with the arrival of the sprightly Marie (Maya Lou Hlava is perfect in the role). This comely coed is boarding with them, studying art at the university. She has a hot jock boyfriend, Turk (Ethan Surpan is a study in self-assured youthful machismo). Marie also has another boyfriend back home, Bruce (Justin Banks), a well-paid young businessman on his way up.

Inge sends the clues through the behavior of Johnson’s Doc that he is crushing on Marie, and quite jealous of Turk. Eventually his sober resolve crumbles under his longstanding unresolved resentment - that he is not an MD, this new jealousy, and that he is stuck with Lola, who smothers him with attention and coaches him somewhat intrusively on his AA practices. It is also an early serious treatment of the AA 12-step recovery program, founded ion the 1930s. Doc's involvement in it is core the the plot and character motivation. 

Lola, for her part, expresses her longing for better days gone by with a fixation on her runaway pup Sheba. Though Sheba went missing quite a while back, Lola still dreams of her return, and periodically calls for her puppy from the porch. An eternal optimist, she is ultimately the likeable center of the action. Marie and Turk love her. To show Lola through others’ eyes, Inge gives us two other characters, Elmo the Postman (William Anthony Sebastian Rose) and Milkman (Cisco Lopez). Whiteside’s Lola is so lonely she tries almost too hard to engage them, but nevertheless, her open heart compels their empathy and she wins them over. Everyone seems to love Lola except the next door neighbor Mrs. Coffman (Joslyn Jones), who derides Lola over her unkempt house.

In the last third of the play, mayhem breaks loose, and you will be stunned, shocked and glued to your seat by the culmination of this stunning drama. As Tolstoy put it, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And “Come Back, Little Sheba” shows how true this is. Highly recommended. 

“Come Back, Little Sheba” runs through March 22 at American Blues Theater in Chicago.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.

FULLY COMMITTED, the one-actor tour de force comedy by Becky Mode, will play The Den Theatre March 13-28, 2026. It will be performed by Chicago actor Mike Newquist, playing nearly forty different characters. Newquist's many roles in Chicago theater include GOD OF CARNAGE with AstonRep, DESIGN FOR LIVING with Pride Films and Plays, and NICE GIRL for Raven Theatre. Derek Bertelsen, founder/artistic director of The Comrades and company member and co-artistic director for AstonRep Theatre Company, is producing and directing.

FULLY COMMITTED is a fast-paced, hilarious one-person comedy that takes audiences behind the scenes of New York's hottest restaurant. One actor brings to life nearly 40 characters—from desperate celebrities and ruthless socialites to frazzled staff —and at the center of it all, one very overworked reservationist. It's a razor-sharp satire of status, ambition, and customer service madness. This is the first time FULLY COMMITTED has been seen in Chicago in more 25 years.