Many theatergoers remember a time when the summer sun would shine down on the Windy City and stages immediately went dark. It seemed only natural. Scorching rays blanketed the skyline, so locals got out their picnic blankets and headed for the beach. Today, however, thanks to air conditioning and an expanding audience, theater in Chicago during the summer months ranks right up there with baseball and al fresco dining.
Three of the hottest mid-year theater festivals highlight the city’s commitment to diversity and new play development. Prop Thtr Group’s New Play 2000 boasts its largest season to date, offering three dozen workshop productions, readings, educational forums, and visiting guest companies at various venues through August 13. Bailiwick Repertory’s Pride 2000, running through October 1, has made a concerted effort to include more works addressing lesbian, bisexual, and transgender-related issues in addition to its traditionally eclectic bevy of gay-themed plays. And Theater on the Lake, through August 13, brings back hit shows from a variety of theaters, thus giving sun worshippers a chance to catch dramatic rays, too.
TOP OF THE PROP
In 1997, Prop artistic director Scott Vehill and managing director Jonathan Lavan met with the president of the nationally-famous Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center to discuss the possibility of creating a midwest regional festival modeled on the O’Neill’s summertime National Playwrights’ Conference. One year later, Prop and the O’Neill decided to co-produce a regional festival using scripts from the O’Neill. During that inaugural year, 13 groups–hosted by both entities–gathered in Chicago to form the National New Plays Network (NNPN), a loose confederation of theaters from across the country committed to new play development.
Last year, the organizers received over 130 submissions, selecting five for workshop productions and ten more for public readings. From that group, five plays–a better than average number–have gone on to full productions at various theaters, including Donna Blue Lachman’s The Trouble with Peggy: Pieces of Guggenheim at the Blue Rider Theater in Chicago, Jamie Pachino’s The Return of Morality at Philadelphia’s InterAct Theatre (also a member of the NNPN), and John Sussman’s Nelson and Simone, opening in July at Live Bait Theatre in Chicago.
“Prop has been around for 20 years,” says managing director Lavan. “We have been in the forefront of pushing new plays. This year’s offerings range from historically-based to cutting-edge, counterculture works.”
New Play 2000 is divided into four segments, beginning with full productions, such as the premiere of Charles Pike’s and Nile Southern’s Now Dig This…The Terry Southern Show. The workshop segment features 10 new plays–selected from 180 submissions–including Aaron Carter’s Not What I Am, a modern take on Othello; Joseph Fedorko’s 18 U.S. Code 871, about computer hackers; Jim O’Connor’s Rosemary, which tackles the subject of Rosemary Kennedy’s mental illness; Paul Peditto’s depraved plunge into The Deep Abyss of Pauly Vegas; and Martin Furey’s Shot, a drama about photojournalism by local actress Maureen Gallagher.
The visiting playwrights category welcomes other NNPN members, including Los Angeles’ The Actor’s Gang, who will present The Four Roses, a meditation on Tennessee Williams’ women, and Fairy Tales, which imagines what would happen if Hansel and Gretel were queer. Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre brings Howard Shalwitz’s The Chinese Art of Placement, running July 13 through July 23; Guillermo Reyes’ one-man comedy Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown, presented by Tucson’s Borderlands Theater, running from July 27 through July 30; and more.
Finally, the Hot Spots category gives a platform to one-person shows, such as Paula Killen’s Big Goddess Pow Wow/Knocked Up!, and Kestutis Nakas’ My Heart, My President. Prop Thtr also incorporates a youth outreach program with Gallery 37.
New Play 2000 partners include the League of Chicago Theatres, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and Steppenwolf, Chopin, Mercury and Curious Branch theaters. For more information, call 773-486-PROP.
