Inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk and designed and developed for children, Jacked! fuses storytelling and poetry with hip-hop and break-beat music to encourage a dialogue about substance abuse and the overwhelming effects the opioid epidemic is having in our communities.
Ibsen in Chicago
The world premiere of Ibsen’s controversial play Ghosts took place in Chicago, performed by a group of Scandinavian immigrants: a little known fact. Grimm’s play spins a yarn based on this ‘great reckoning in a little room’ and explores the immigrant experience and opportunities for self re-invention against the backdrop of changing artistic and social […]
In The Upper Room
A play about family, secrets, and the power of the stories we grow up hearing. Meet the Berrys, a multi-generational Black family living under one roof in the 1970s. Their lives orbit around Rose, a strong-willed matriarch whose superstitions and secrets drive her relatives nuts. Through pointed wit and playful sarcasm, the family elders share […]
H*tler’s Tasters
Three times a day, every day, a group of young women have the opportunity to die for their country. They are Adolf Hitler’s food tasters. And what do girls discuss as they wait to see if they will live through another meal? Like all girls, throughout time, they gossip and dream, they question and dance. […]
Jabari Dreams of Freedom
10 year old Jabari loves to paint. With his Forever President Barack Obama as a guide, Jabari escapes the violent reality of an encounter with the police through his colorful paintings where he meets children from the past who teach him how to be fearless. He then meets his hero, Barack Obama, as a 6 […]
Foxes
Foxes follows Daniel, a young black man trying to keep up with his life in London’s Caribbean community while balancing his own goals with his family’s expectations. When his relationship with best friend Leon brings an unexpected change it creates turmoil, bringing a taboo into his family home that has the power to tear the […]
How To Steal A Picasso
A comic-drama set against the bankruptcy of the Motor City. The Smith family doesn’t agree on much, but when their son Johnny comes home for the first time in four years, they reluctantly reconvene to celebrate the father (a failed painter) winning the Yoko Ono Lifetime Achievement Award for Non-Objective Art. In fact, tonight, Sean […]
Les Deux Noirs
Set in the legendary Parisian café Les Deux Magots in 1953, LES DEUX NOIRS reimagines the meeting between Native Son author Richard Wright and essayist/activist James Baldwin. It explores the tension between Baldwin’s searing critiques of Native Son and Wright’s unbridled indignation in response—a confrontation between two mighty African-American artists, with echoes of a present-day […]
The Great Jheri Curl Debate
Veralynn Jackson knows hair, her neighborhood, and she also knows that the invention of the Jheri Curl marks the end of the world… or at least a career shift. When she takes a job in Mr. Kim’s Korean-owned Black beauty supply store, she’s in her element, until the posters start talking to her. For Mr. […]
Fourteen
WINNER of the 2021 Tennessee Williams One Act Play Contest In the near future, a robot named Laura has joined a high school to see if it can learn as humans do. Two girls, Ruth and Teri, decide that the superiority of computers would make Laura the perfect class president. When Laura helps Madison, the […]
Lickety Split
Women and men in outrageous shorts! This fast-paced rollicking collection of short plays featuring fantastically funny females and madly misbehaving men is a laugh-out-loud adventure for all. You’ll encounter women who are brilliant, baffling and know a conscience is what hurts when other parts feel sooo good. And you’ll find men who are confident, strong […]
Honey Sugar Lady Doll
Women in bodacious shorts! This sparkling and raucous comedy offers fast-paced tales about—and starring—strong and sassy females. Women who are intelligent, eccentric, mysterious, baffling, bullheaded and brilliant. As these short plays unfold, you’ll meet Vivacia, a Southern social media star, on a quest to elevate the mediocre standard of American funeral foods. Drop by a […]