TimeLine Announces Inaugural ‘First Draft’ Play Festival Slate and Casting
Photo: TimeLine’s 2017 – 2018 Playwrights Collective members (from left): Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Maureen Gallagher and Calamity West. TimeLine Theatre Company has announced its inaugural “First Draft: A TimeLine Playwrights Collective Festival,” the culmination of the company’s latest two-year new-play incubator program offering residency to Chicago-based emerging and established...
Jackalope Enters Its Second Decade a Leader in New Play Development
Though still small and scrappy, Jackalope has become one of the most respected small companies in Chicago, and their cohort of collaborating artists are some of the most sought after in the off-loop scene.
Review: HINTER at Steep Theatre
Sasha Smith and Sigrid Sutter in Hinter at Steep Theatre. Photo by Lee Miller. By Bec Willett “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” This Margaret Atwood quote appears in my mind before echoing around the rustic cottage set of Calamity West’s...
First Drafts, Focus, and Faith: Getting Candid with Calamity West
An in-depth conversation with the boisterously honest and unapologetically opinionated Chicago-based playwright.
Four Playwrights Receive Two Year Residency at TimeLine
Four playwrights have been named to TimeLine Theatre Company’s Playwrights Collective, the company’s new-play incubator.
GIVE IT ALL BACK Explores Pressures of the Public Gaze
Calamity West’s new play, GIVE IT ALL BACK, explores that great conflict between art and success. In the arts, whether or not a public life is part of our intention, whether or not we’ve truly considered celebrity, a certain amount of success will grant you fame, and with it, a unique brand of widespread recognition.
Steep Theatre Commissions New Calamity West Play
Steep Theatre recently announced the commission of a new play by Chicago-based playwright Calamity West. The commission is a first for the 15-year-old theater and will mark the first time West and Steep have worked together. This partnership, according to Steep, “will be an exciting next step, as will Steep’s 16th season, scheduled to be announced in June, a season which will include the ensemble’s second world premiere in as many seasons.”
Female-Driven ONE MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL Takes Stage This Week
When asked what led producing artistic director and founder of the ONE MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (or 1MPF) to focus this year’s Chicago festival on female-identified writers and directors, Dominic D’Andrea said “over the past couple of years the climate of the festival has been more women-forward, just organically.