In downstate Illinois, four men convicted of sex crimes against minors share a group home where they live out their lives in the shadow of the crimes they committed. A man shows up to confront his childhood abuser—but does he want closure or retribution? This gripping and provocative new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris zeroes in on the limits of our compassion as it questions what happens when society deems anyone beyond forgiveness.
Genre: Drama
Chlorine Sky
“Ok, so boom. / We ain’t friends anymore.”
Sky and Lay Li were always in sync. But now their rhythms are changing; Sky likes swimming, and Lay Li is all about beauty. Sky, basketball; Lay Li, boys. Things make more sense underwater and on the court. This adaptation of Mahogany L. Browne’s popular young adult novel, CHLORINE SKY, is an intimate coming-of-age story told in verse about two girls who are best friends—until they aren’t. Sometimes, growing up means growing apart.
Birds of North America
John and his daughter Caitlyn are birders. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds, years go by. Relationships begin and end. Children grow up and parents age. The climate and the world change in small and vast ways. BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA takes a close look at the relationship of a father and daughter over the course of a decade as they struggle to understand the parts of one another that defy understanding.
12 Million Footsteps
January 28, 2017. An executive order signed by the President sends three complicated and lost individuals wandering on their own homebound odysseys. As one searches for his lost father, another searches for his detained uncle, and another searches for connection to her faraway home. Searching for hope and for home, their lives become entwined with Homer’s ancient text in beautiful and life-altering ways.
Hoopla!
The fifth-grade talent show is approaching, and everyone at Baldwin Elementary is abuzz. Winston wants to win the show with his cheerleading routine and prove he’s more than the awful nickname everyone calls him: Fishboy. Introverted artist Gina wants nothing to do with the show, and she knows the overzealous (and unpleasant) twins, Randy, and Brandy, will probably win anyway. But with the persistence of Elliott, the school’s new kid and resident rebel, these unlikely friends form “Hoopla,” a dazzling hula hooping trio and help each other navigate the pressures of being a kid.
The Last Wide Open
This 2-hander play with music explores the multiplicity of the immigrant experience through the lens of an earnest meditation on love and the metaverse. Lina and Roberto’s lives intersect and parallel as three alternate realities unfold. The play renders the near hits and misses of two worn out restaurant workers and the mystical ways the universe conspires to bring us all together. Think: Groundhog’s Day meets Frankie and Johnny.
Funnyman
New York City, 1959. Fading vaudeville comic Chick Sherman, along with his long-suffering agent, tries to revive his career with a role in an avant-garde off-Broadway play. While his grown daughter searches for answers from her absentee showbiz father, a lifetime of private and professional struggles rise to the surface, cracking the polished public persona of the world’s favorite former “funny man.”
The Spoken Word
Germany in 1943. America in 2033. This charged play follows young adults separated by time and place, united by their resistance to the government oppression they’re surrounded by. In 2033, a group of protestors in hiding begin receiving cryptic text messages. Is it possible that they’re somehow being sent from 1940s anti-Nazi activist Sophie Scholl and other members of the famed White Rose resistance group? And if they are receiving these messages, why?
UnResigned
Alejandro has revolutionized student government at his Pennsylvania high school and changed it for the better, so when he unexpectedly resigns from being student body president halfway through his senior year, the entire school is shaken. Who will take over? Who should take over? This exciting play looks at the ways we contribute to our community, the power of the vote, and what it means to be a United States citizen.
Smile Lines
This groundbreaking and emotionally charged play immerses you in the fervor, intensity, determination, and selflessness of the Silent Sentinels protest at the White House in 1917. A century later, do we appreciate the sacrifices and convictions made by those brave individuals? SMILE LINES delves deep into the National Woman’s Party’s historic protests, connecting them to the ongoing struggle for all voices in today’s world.