Jackalope Theatre Company is proud to announce the schedule for the 17th Annual Living Newspaper Festival, August 20 - 24, at the Jackalope Theatre in the Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway. The Living Newspaper Festival is inspired by the 1930s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project that created stories based on recent events. Each night, the Festival includes five one-act plays inspired from recent news headlines. The running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. The performance schedule is Friday, Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. and Monday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for August 20 - 24 are $20 - $35 and are available at JackalopeTheatre.org or by calling 773.340.2543. 

The 17th Annual Living Newspaper Festival includes 

Picture Day 

By Madie Dopelt

Directed by Breon Arzell

Cast includes Miriam Lee, Niko Kourtis and Reilly Oh

Inspired by Epstein-Linked Rumors Ignite Panic Over School Photos in Coulee Dam

When Reddit users loosely link a school photography company with the Epstein files, parents in Coulee Dam, Washington express their concerns. As the school decides how to handle their upcoming picture day, the parents take matters into their own hands.

Let them East Cake

By Anelga Hajjar

Directed by Kaiser Ahmed

Cast includes Yourtana Sulaiman, Chris Chmelik and Claudia Quesada

Inspired by GLP-1 drugs are changing how Americans eat. Food companies are racing to catch up

It's Selma's birthday but the cake is uneaten and something seems terribly off. Can her mom and boyfriend get to the bottom of what's infected her? Let them Eat Cake, exposes the insidious consequences of our bodies being injected with public opinion. 

Fellow Mortals

By Aurora Real de Asua

Directed by Janyce Caraballo

Cast includes Sierra Phan, Katie Bevil and Z Mowry

Inspired by Mouse study shows repeated cloning causes grave genetic mutations

Three individuals, trapped in a cage. Who put them there? And why? And how the hell are they going to get out?

Turning 

By Netta Walker

Directed by Sydney Charles

Cast includes Jalbelly Guzman and Morgan Lavenstein

Inspired by Newly declassified FBI documents detail UFO sighting by Anoka officers — and one of them filmed it

2048. Post Civil War. On a forest creek bed, south of the Mason Dixon, a young woman flees a colony only to be confronted by a relic of the past.

The Day The Night Came Down 

By Ike Holter

Directed by Stephanie Diaz

Cast includes Laura Lodewyck and Pedro Jimenez

Inspired by Newly declassified FBI documents detail UFO sighting by Anoka officers — and one of them filmed it

After a life changing encounter with an unexplained aerial phenomena, a rookie cop weighs the cost of speaking truth to power. 

ABOUT THE LIVING NEWSPAPER FESTIVAL

With a history in the USSR and Germany in the early part of the century, the Living Newspaper was initiated in the United States in 1935 as part of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Its founders believed in the value of drama as an instrument of social change and the Living Newspapers became a highly effective new form, boldly producing plays that often brought to light social injustices, challenged ideals and criticized the government.

In response to the Great Depression, Congress appropriated $4.8 billion for work relief and created agencies to administer the funds, including the Works Progress Administration. Despite being allocated less than one percent of WPA funding, the Federal Theatre Project employed approximately eight thousand theatre professionals a year during its four-year run.

In an attempt to create new plays, the Federal Theatre Project often recruited new writers. One of the goals of the short-lived FTP was to create plays and provide training for aspiring writers, and the Living Newspapers fostered this on a grand scale. Even though insiders acknowledged that it is much easier to build a dam or teach a trade than it is to develop a playwright, the legacy of the FTP laid the groundwork for using theatre to invoke conversation on national themes.

ABOUT JACKALOPE THEATRE

Jackalope Theatre Company expands the definition of American Identity by engaging with communities to produce works that celebrate diverse perspectives. Jackalope is a premier home for new and exciting Off-Loop Theatre based in Chicago's Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. They are committed to cultivating new voices that contribute to an expanding American culture and mythology. Each season, Jackalope produces full-length plays, new play development programming and provides free classes in partnership with the Chicago Park District.