STAGE CENTER THEATRE | 2021-2022 Season
Fall 2021
NUEVAS VOCES: A 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL AND CONTEST
7:30 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1
1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Oct. 2
Opening Reception: 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30
Prize-winning plays:
- 1st Place, Prize of $250: "Oh Snap!" by Alex Chicas, B.A., NEIU CMT 2020
- 2nd Place, Prize of $200: "Scared" by Wyn Thomas, Greater Community
- 3rd Place, Prize of $150: "The Better Life" by Mara Galeno, Current NEIU CMT major and Marketing minor
Founded by Jim Blair. Directed by CMT faculty member John Bliss.
Founded by alumnus and former Northeastern professor Jim Blair to create a platform at Northeastern Illinois University for new playwrights, Nuevas Voces is a thrilling launch point for new work from NEIU and its vibrant community. Featuring multiple prize-winning short plays selected from an extensive competition, Nuevas Voces reveals the complexity of our human experience through the many lenses that make up Northeastern.
"WATER BY THE SPOONFUL" BY QUIARA ALEGRÍA HUDES
Nov. 11-20, 2021
Directed by CMT faculty member Adam Goldstein.
Penned by the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning playwright and screenwriter of the "In the Heights" film, Quiara Alegría Hudes, "Water by the Spoonful" is the second in a trilogy of plays that track the re-entry of a Puerto Rican soldier from Philadelphia named Elliot into everyday life following his return from war. The winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, "Water by the Spoonful" paints an intimate portrait of both a family and the eclectic, yearning, members of an online addiction recovery community in an unflinchingly honest, beautiful, and touching look at the quest for redemption and connection as we live life day-by-day and spoonful by spoonful.
Spring 2022
"BABEL" BY JACQUELINE GOLDFINGER
Feb. 24-March 5, 2022
Directed by CMT faculty member Dan Wirth.
In the not so distant and not too dystopian future, science protects society against further damage from environmental and social conflict. We have perfected the art of genetic engineering and in turn the art of reproduction. It is required that all babies must be pre-certified in utero to ensure they have the purest genetic traits. Renee and Dani are expecting. Ann and Jamie are also expecting. When these two couples conceive and face their own child’s results, things begin to get a little messy. As the anxiety and trauma of the pursuit of perfection builds, and Renee seeks comfort and comic relief from a mythical (?) stork, Jacquelyne Goldfinger’s dark comedy acutely examines the moral and ethical questions of the human quest to weed out our flaws. This new play that swept the nation via the National New Play Network in 2019 begs the question, “how far will we go to perfect being human before we realize we’ve lost our humanity?”
"TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS" BY NIA VARDALOS AND CHERYL STRAYED
April 7-16, 2022
Directed by CMT faculty member Leslie Hull.
Based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, "Tiny Beautiful Things" dramatizes and embodies the questions and answers that the anonymous “Sugar” was weighing online at “The Rumpus” from 2010-2012. When, as a struggling writer, she was asked to take over the unpaid and unseen position of advice columnist, Strayed used empathy and her personal experiences to help those seeking guidance for obstacles both large and small. One of the most produced plays in the United States during the 2019-2020 season, "Tiny Beautiful Things" represents the perfect doorway to hope as we work through our collective pain, trauma, loss, and crises. It is a play about reaching when you’re stuck, healing when you’re broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions which have no answers and to revel in the uncertainty of being human.
