New SHORT COMEDY premieres at Yippiefest in Chicago on SATURDAY, August 16

World Premiere of The Side Effect (Or Fecal Attraction), about a desperate woman realizing she can relieve her disabling Crohn’s with an unexpected home treatment. And it works, until she notices some curious side effects.

This staged reading is the pilot project of HystericalFest: Women Act Out short-plays comedy festival proposed for next summer, about women and invisible disability. From Paula Kamen’s new Hysterical Productions.

The Yippiefest premiere is directed by Iris Sowlat and starring Pearlie Leaf and Steven Horn. Slot is 3:30 pm on Saturday, August 16 at the Chopin Theater. Tickets are $20 for a day of plays, or $30 for the entire weekend. All proceeds go to great charities, like Deborah’s Place shelter.

See nice plug here in Chicago Reader theater column by Kerry Reid.

Schedule here.

Tickets and other info here.

First scene of new comedy, GoFundMe, to appear in Chicago Dramatists showcase 3/22/25

The judge was Jeni Mahoney, founder and former Artistic Director of the Seven Devils Playwrights Conference. My scene is one of ten selected from Will Dunne’s Scene Shop Class. Director: Adrianne Cury. Program starts at 2 pm and runs about 90 minutes. It’s followed by a reception in the theatre lobby. Admission: Free. Location: Russ Tutterow Theatre, 798 North Aberdeen.

The line-up:

The Boom by Nina Dellaria

 

Snickers by Dennis Fisher

 

GoFundMe by Paula Kamen

 

No End in Sight by Lawrence Keller

 

The Marble by Chris Macdonald

 

Clean Sweep by David Neiman

 

Bad Guys Don’t Knock by Debra Rosenberg

 

Juniper Flies by Maria Pretzl

 

Tell Me About It by Andrea Trotenberg

 

Birds Sing in the Morning by Doug Van Hooser

For more information, se 23rd Scene Shop Showcase | Chicago Dramatists

Jane monologues published in anthology released on December 10, 2024

Two monologues of Micki, a Jane member who also was on legal staff for the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, will be featured in Frozen Women: Flowing Thoughts. Published by the Venus Theatre company, the longest-running regional feminist theater company in the the U.S. Jane had readings with Venus in DC in 2005 and 2006.

ORDER HERE: Frozen Women/Flowing Thoughts: Unmasking Womanhood- A Symphony of Monologues: An Anthology: 9798822948150: Amazon.com: Books

Reading of new comedy, The Pardoned, at Red Theater in Chicago Oct. 27

In person, at its monthly Readings at Red series.

At 7 PM at the Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 Bryn Mawr, the Kenmore Street side entrance.

About The Pardoned: A Punk-Rock Evolution:

Timely, reflecting current headlines of J.D. Vance’s former friends from back in the day being mystified of where he went wrong — with him now sacrificing his cool for the superior commodity of power.

This comedy explores the explosive effect on a group of old friends from the ‘90s underground Chicago music scene, when the former center of their world, Brad, sells out to be a MAGA operative. His close artist friend Madge, the main character, struggles to make sense of this puzzling evolution, stay loyal to Brad, and preserve his lucrative advertising connections, such as using her old Riot Grrrl street cred to sell hormone pills to aging Gen X Women via Madison Avenue.

Nothing has more rules than punk rock, and Brad is breaking every one of them.

Interview of Micki from Jane (and actor playing her)

Podcast interviewing the real Marie Leaner, 83, aka Micki in the play, the only Black member of Jane, and legal team representative for Bobby Seale during the 1969 Chicago Conspiracy Trial.

With my interview monologues from Jane play performed by actor Cat Evans, from 2013 Jeff-nominated production, playing Micki. On the Patreon page of Venus Theater Company, which will publish the two monologues in an anthology later this year.

Cart (0)