Displaying items by tag: theatre festival

Artemisia Theatre is proud to announce the return of the WeWomen Play Festival, its annual celebration of new feminist work. This year’s festival features six playwrights and a slate of directors bringing their work to life through staged readings.

The 2026 WeWomen Play Festival runs November 16–18 at Bramble Arts Loft. Each evening will feature two staged readings, along with artist talkbacks and networking opportunities designed to bring Chicago’s theatre community together.

This year’s announced playwrights are Zeyy Fawaz with The Tenants, Lauren M. Gunderson with Paradise, Samantha Hurley with COUNTESS JOSEPHINE AND LADY

PHILOMENA du BOURBON TRY TO HIDE A BODY, Sonja Lynn Mata with White Thorn of Color, Elenna Stauffer with Woman’s Work, and Brandy Victoria with Holy Smoke.

The 2026 festival directors are Dinah Berkeley directing White Thorn of Color, Julia Farrell Diefenbach directing Paradise, Kayla Menz directing COUNTESS JOSEPHINE AND LADY PHILOMENA du BOURBON TRY TO HIDE A BODY, Zoë Nisam directing The Tenants, Stephanie Mattos directing Holy Smoke, and Denise Yvette Serna directing Woman’s Work.

The WeWomen Play Festival production team includes Julia Farrell Diefenbach (Producer), Ema Kester (Stage Manager), and members of their Artist Leadership Coalition: Whitney Dottery, Leanna Gianoutsos Oliveira, Samie Jo Johnson, Abigail Karr, Jabari Khaliq, Candice Mason, Grayson May, Dionna Ndlovu, Seoyoung Park, Sydni Charity Solomon, and Jessica Swim.

The festival schedule has networking events starting at 6 pm, with readings and talkbacks starting at 7 pm. On November 16, Woman's Work by Elenna Stauffer then Paradise by Lauren M. Gunderson. November 17 will have COUNTESS JOSEPHINE by Samantha Hurley and The Tenants by Zeyy Fawaz. And finally, November 18 will end the festival with Holy Smoke by Brandy Victoria and White Thorn of Color by Sonja Lynn Mata.

The 2026 WeWomen Play Festival will take place at Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark Street, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60640, in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
Single-day tickets are $23 and three-day passes are $48, and may be purchased online at artemisiatheatre.org.

Access: Bramble Arts Loft is located on the second floor of the building and is accessible by an ADA-accessible guest elevator. Guests with specific accessibility questions or accommodation requests are encouraged to contact Artemisia Theatre in advance of their visit.

Visit artemisiatheatre.org for more information, including content warnings, and news of special events. Find and follow the company on social media @artemisiatheatre on Facebook and Instagram

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS

Zeyy Fawaz (The Tenants, she/her) is a multilingual playwright, actress, and vocalist. A community organizer and activist, Zeyy weaves her advocacy into her artistic expression. Her body of work spans film, television, theater, commercial, and voiceover productions. A firm believer in art as a powerful political tool, Zeyy is committed to centering activism in her work, contributing to numerous productions that spotlight pressing social justice issues. In addition to holding a degree in the arts, she earned a master’s in International Relations and Development, with a concentration in Languages and Diaspora Studies. It is this unique intersection of diplomacy and artistry that informs and propels her creative and professional pursuits.

Lauren M. Gunderson (Paradise, she/her) has been one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015, topping the list 4 times, including 2025/26. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theatre Award, the Lanford Wilson Award and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Her plays have been translated into a dozen languages and produced across the world, and her anthology, “Revolutionary Women,” is published by Bloomsbury. LaurenGunderson.com and @LalaTellsAStory

Samantha Hurley (COUNTESS JOSEPHINE AND LADY PHILOMENA du BOURBON TRY TO
HIDE A BODY, she/her) is a Maine-raised, Chicago-based playwright. Her debut play, I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire, premiered Off-Broadway at Nancy Manocherian’s The Cell Theatre to critical acclaim and a sold-out run, followed by its international debut at London’s Southwark Playhouse. The play is published by Concord Theatricals and has been featured in Teen Vogue, Interview, and Pleaser. Her second full-length play, RE(VULVA), was an O’Neill Semifinalist, Princess Grace Award Semifinalist, and Relentless Award Honorable Mention. Her plays have been developed at the Cell Theatre, Pocket VR/Theatre L’Acadie, Impostors Theater Co, Two Chairs Theatre Company, and Avalanche Theatre. samhurleywrites.com

Sonja Lynn Mata (White Thorn of Color, she/her) is an actor-creator, clown, and playwright hailing from the suburbs of Chicago. She graduated with a BFA from Ohio University and has completed the Professional Training Program at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater. She has worked with the National Theatre of Ghana in their nation's capital, Accra and has toured nationally with Theater Unspeakable. Sonja is a year-round cyclist, an avid connoisseur of pizza and is currently working on her solo show: ¡Abuela más panqueques, por favor! IG: @sonjathepayasa or www.sonjalynnmata.com

Elenna Stauffer (Woman’s Work, she/her) is a NYC based playwright and actor. Her writing has been produced or developed by Thrown Stone, Detroit Rep, UC Davis, Second

Act New Works, Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol, Pittsburgh New Works, and the New York International Fringe Festival. Macha Distillery, Pegasus, and SWTP Finalist and O’Neill, WP Lab, Lanford Wilson, Hidden River, DVRF, and Frank Moffett Mosier Semi-finalist.

HYSTERICAL! and THE AUNTIE NETWORK are published/licensed by Broadway Play Publishing, and monologues appear in Smith+Kraus Best Monologues compendiums. Proud member AEA, SAG/AFTRA, Dramatists Guild, Climate Reality, and the 2025 PlayPenn Playwrights Cohort. Yale (BA) and Columbia (MFA).

Brandy Victoria (Holy Smoke, she/her) is a playwright, essayist, and performance artist whose work has been produced by the Obsidian Theatre Festival, the Fade to Black Reading Series, the Barter Theatre, and the Abingdon Theatre Company. In 2023, Brandy was named a Hurston/Wright Foundation Fellow and featured as a playwright in the literary publication Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora. She graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia, earning degrees in Film and Media Arts and African-American Studies. Learn more at brandyvictoria.com

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
Dinah Berkeley (White Thorn of Color, they/them) is a Chicago-based theatre-maker, Arts Educator and Community Facilitator whose work is deeply rooted in the embodied practices of clown, mime, puppetry and dance. They seek out work that aligns with their values of centering authenticity, making space for curiosity, wonder, and awe as essential parts of process before product, and moving towards liberation through collective communal care, collaboration, and play. Directing credits include Everybody Thrashing The Cherubs program at Northwestern University, We Tell Each Other Stories, a workshop reading as part of A Red Orchid Theatre’s Incubator series, and they were a featured Director at Direct Address, produced by The Understudy Coffee Shop and Book Store. Additionally, Dinah has been a performer and deviser for over ten years; their work has been witnessed globally, from San Francisco to Edinburgh, NYC to El Bolsón. Dinah is delighted to be working with Artemisia Theatre for the first time during the WeWomen Play Festival. Take clown with them for free as part of the Healing Arts Chicago program, which seeks to bridge the gap between arts and health by providing free arts services across the city.
Julia Farrell Diefenbach (Paradise, she/her) is a director and dramaturg drawn to strange, dark, and unconventional stories. Recent directing credits include Kate Hamill’s Sense and Sensibility, The Haunting of Hill House (Twin City Players), and the sold-out Los Angeles production of One Exit (The Halogen Company). Other credits include work with Chicago Dramatists, Haven Chicago, Shattered Globe Theatre, Collaboraction, Midsommer Flight, and Citadel Theatre. Julia has a particular love for immersive work and for digging into historical stories to find what still feels urgent, messy, and recognizable today. She currently serves as Director of Marketing & Community Engagement at Shattered Globe Theatre and Managing & Marketing Director at

Artemisia Theatre. Julia is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and is a proud member of LMDA.

Kayla Menz (COUNTESS JOSEPHINE AND LADY PHILOMENA du BOURBON TRY TO HIDE
A BODY, she/they) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who primarily focuses in directing and intimacy directing these days. Recent directing credits include Radical Futures, The Sporting Life (Factory), The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents A Workshop Reading Of "Muffed: A Recounting Of Farmington, Maine's 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised By The Members Of The Meaningful Action Theatre Company" (Factory, 3Bros), Lavinia Andronicus is YOUR Spin Instructor (Meat Machine), and Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln (Impostors). They are a graduate of Cleveland State University and the directing apprenticeship program at Capital Stage in Sacramento. Connect with Kayla at www.kaylamenz.com or on Instagram @kaylabanana797.

Zoë Nisam (The Tenants, she/her) is very excited to work with Artemisia on this project! She is a recent graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she studied Theatre Arts and Nonprofit Organization. Originally from Minneapolis, Zoë has called Chicago home for 4 years and has fallen in love with the arts scene here. Her work spans directing, dramaturgy, stage management, and teaching, and she is an ensemble member with Sub Rosa Theatre Company. Recent credits include The Snow Queen with The Impostors Theatre Co. (Stage Manager), In Pursuit Of with Sub Rosa (Dramaturg), Pinto with TTS and A Red Orchid Theatre (Asst. Director), and she is a teaching artist and administrative assistant with Creative Root. Learn more about her work here: https://sites.google.com/view/zoe-nisam/home

Denise Yvette Serna (Woman’s Work, she/her) is an award-winning theatre practitioner in Chicago, Illinois. Credits include productions and new play development with Teatro Vista Productions, Lyric Opera of Chicago, MCA Chicago, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Neo-Futurists, Paramount Theatre, Bramble Theatre Company, Strawdog Theatre Company, Prop Thtr, and Global Hive Laboratories. Denise has facilitated international workshops, productions, readings, fundraisers, panels, and festivals to promote activism for racial equity, accessibility, climate justice, gender based violence, immigration, literacy, community collaboration, and collective joy. deniseyvetteserna.com

Stephanie “Stevie” Mattos (Holy Smoke, she/her) is an actor, fight director and combatant in Chicago and a member of the Society of American Fight Directors. BFA in Performance Arts - Acting, Western Kentucky University. Directing: Women of 4G (Asst. Director, Babes with Blades Theatre Co.), Lonely Hearts in Lockdown (Birch House Immersive), Twelfth Night (Midsommer Flight). Fight Direction: Do You Feel Anger (Here's The Exit Theatre Co.) Andy Warhol Presents: The Cocaine Play (Jackalope Theatre Co.), Black Cypress Bayou (Definition Theatre), A Lie of the Mind, Gorgeous, OAK and The Prodigal Daughter (Raven Theatre); Brothers from the Deep (Factory Theater), The Duchess of Malfi (Asst. Fight Director, Babes with Blades Theatre Co.). Film: Rent’s

Due, Go To the Body (Asst. Stunt Coordinator). Represented by Big Mouth Talent. Ensemble member of Midsommer Flight. www.stephaniemattos.com. IG: asmattering.

ABOUT ARTEMISIA

Artemisia produces plays that empower women, creating career-altering opportunities for ALL women theatre artists of all racial and ethnic backgrounds; sexual orientations and identities; economic status; ages and disabilities. We make women heroes of their own lives by sharing their stories and amplifying their voices. We invite anyone and everyone who wants to empower women to join us as artists and audience.

Artemisia aims to be at the forefront of the fight for women and their allies through outstanding performances that push the envelope. From world premieres to the virtual stage, our mission is and will always be to better our world for everyone.

Artemisia is led by a volunteer coalition of Chicago-based artists and administrators who are fully committed to the theatre’s mission and its core values of empowerment, diversity, and inclusion. The coalition creates a safe space for ALL Chicago artists while practicing pay equity, amplifying the voices of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, and engaging the community in plays driven by the idea that her story empowers us all. If you are interested in joining the coalition, email artemisia.org for more info.

Visit www.artemisiatheatre.org to learn more.

Curious Theatre Branch, with co-producers Chicago Danztheater Ensemble, Chicago Dramatists and Labyrinth Club, are pleased to announce the 37th annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, September 20 - October 26 at four venues across Chicago. The month-long festival of shows will kick off with a special “afternoon tea” edition of the Full Moon Vaudeville, this concert launches the festival on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave., headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth and other special guests. 

Throughout its nearly four decades, Rhinofest has endeavored to welcome as many participants as possible, both as artists and as audience members. To that end, artists pay no fee to apply or to produce their works at Rhinofest and all tickets are offered at pay-what-you-can pricing, with a $25 suggested price. Tickets and details for all upcoming shows will be available Sunday, Sept. 6 at Rhinofest.com.

Since its inception in 1989, as a single weekend of shows in the Wicker Park neighborhood, this unique and mutable fringe festival has expanded and contracted to fit the time and has become the longest running Fringe Festival in Chicago. Festival events will take place at four venues this year: Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. in Humboldt Park; Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen in River West, Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd. in the Irving Park neighborhood and Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave. 

The 37th Rhinofest will feature mostly original work from Chicago artists and companies, including new work from The Fat Theater Project, the 10th anniversary of Ira Murfin’s An Interview, a new work by Jessica Wright Buha, new work from Drinking and Writing Theater, and, of course, an evening of short works by The Curious Theatre Branch, Rhinofest’s host. New to the Festival in 2026 are partnerships with Chicago Danztheater, a beautiful space in Andersonville, featuring movement-based work and a creativity workshop called Maps, Guides & Legends: a generative writing and interdisciplinary art-making workshop on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

This year's festival will feature plays, music and performances from more than 35 companies and solo artists. Among the highlights are: 

The Full Moon Vaudeville

Facility Theater, 1138 N. California Ave.

Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m.

The annual bacchanalia headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth 

includes a variety of acts to inaugurate the festival featuring cool things as yet unknown and a rare afternoon teatime show.

Make Out the Words 

by The Curious Theatre Branch

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. 

Make Out the Words: two new short plays inspired by the unproduced writing of the late Matt Rieger, by Curious ensemble members Charlotte Lastra and Chris Bower. The show also features a performance of Rieger's own text by Beau O'Reilly. 

A strange encounter on a train leaves an aimless woman desperate for answers, and a flood with no explanation leaves a couple with a basement full of ruined Moby Dicks.

Drinking and Writing Theater: Miersten Wolf

Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd.

Thursdays: Sept. 24, Oct. 1, Oct. 8, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.

In this 70-minute musical, three stories are interwoven with 10 original songs. The stories include the truthful biographical information of the writer, the history of Chicago's problem/solution with its waste and, lastly, a fictional story of a crib keeper on Lake Michigan who dreams of a mysterious woman named Miersten Wolf.

Works in Progress

By Jeff Glassman, Mark Enslin and Susan Parenti

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m.

Works in progress include Radish is My Teacher by Jeff Glassman, a collection of scripts for puppets by Susan Parenti and a libretto by Mark Enslin about a stranded international volunteer incarcerated firefighter. Both Susan Parenti & Jeff Glassman have had new works produced here in Chicago and around the country over the last decade.

The Metamorphosis aka The Adult Show/I'm a Bug!!! aka the Kids Show

By Jessica Wright Buha

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Sundays: Oct. 4, Oct. 11, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 at 11 a.m.

This staged reading presents TWO works-in-progress that will happen at the same time (in two separate rooms). 

The Metamorphosis aka The Adult Show, is a five-actor immersive show based on Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis.” 

I'm a Bug!!!! aka the Kids Show, is a two-actor/teaching artist show for kids based on Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis.” This second piece will also serve as child care for audience members going to see The Metamorphosis.

Shaking the Beckett: 

The Magic of Lady M. and A Needless & Wasteful Requirement

By Fat Theater Company

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. 

These two one acts are both subjective and satirical interpretations of the works of two theatrical masters: William Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett. The Magic of Lady M. by Laura Scruggs reimagines the tragedy of “Macbeth” as a feminist political satire in a style akin to John Waters or “Ru Paul's Drag Race.” A Needless & Wasteful Requirement by Robert MacCrae follows two actresses awaiting the performance rights to produce Waiting for Godot, which becomes an existential absurd comedy in the vein of Beckett himself. 

An Interview

By Ira Murfin

Sunday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. at Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd.

Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

An Interview is an ongoing series of encounters between rotating pairs of participants, who meet across a table in front of an audience to first revisit an interview conducted during the previous installment and now to conduct a new, unrehearsed conversation. Every performance is specific, unique and unrepeatable, while each encounter is connected to all the others by the format and sequence that carries through the project’s 10-year history. 

Special Event: Maps, Guides & Legends

Led by Sherry Antonini and Jenny Magnus

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Maps, Guides & Legends is a generative writing and interdisciplinary art-making workshop. A writing and creativity day based on the idea that doing is learning, and experiments and games are an explosive way to try new things. Antonini and Magnus have been teaching together for 30 years, from the incredible Interdisciplinary Arts Department at Columbia College Chicago back in the day to writing classes at The School of the Art Institute and everything in between. This duo knows how to have fun and get ideas rolling. Anyone can get ready to begin, begin again or find a way through the middle of a project. Open to writers and interdisciplinary artists at all levels, this workshop will point to new project routes, productive detours and discoveries of what can be found along unpaved roads. 

About the Rhinoceros Theater Festival

The event that became the Rhinoceros Theater Festival began in 1988 as an offshoot of the Bucktown Arts Fest and in its first year featured just two days of performances, including work by Curious Theatre Branch co-founders Jenny Magnus and Beau O'Reilly. Curious went on to produce the Rhino across many neighborhoods and venues over the years, with events variously taking place in Wicker Park/Bucktown, Rogers Park, Andersonville and Avondale; at spaces including the Lunar Cabaret and Full Moon Café, the Neo-Futurarium, the Society for New Things, The Garage, The Firehouse, Remains Theatre and Prop Thtr. In the mid-2000s, Rhinofest settled at Prop Thtr in Avondale as its long-term base and Prop and Curious co-produced the festival among a shifting group of curators for many years. Following the closure of Prop's Elston Ave. space in 2020 and a year off during the height of the pandemic, Rhinofest now returns to its expanded form, producing shows by more than 50 artists at multiple venues.