FALL 2019 PRODUCTIONS
NUEVAS VOCES: A 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL AND CONTEST
Founded by: Jim Blair
Directed by: Adam Goldstein
Opening Reception: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3
Performances:
7:30 p.m. Oct. 3-4
2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5
- 1st Place: "The Fear of Little Things" by Shannon Naylor - Prize of $200
- 2nd Place: "Live it Up List" by Emily Feldman - Prize of $150
- 3rd Place: "Frosted" by Ariel Notterman - Prize of $100
- Honorable Mention: "Too True to be Good" by Shamus "James" Jarvis - Prize of $50
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 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.
"how to hero, or the subway play" by Georgette Kelly
Produced in partnership with Filament Theatre
Directed by: Julie Ritchey, Artistic Director of Filament Theatre located in Chicago's Portage Park.
Performances: Nov. 14-16, 21-23
Drawn from ancient mythology and featuring music, play, and audience interaction, "how to hero, or the subway play" takes us on a heartwarming and magical quest for our most precious lost things. Grappling with the recent loss of their father, two adventurous young siblings, Webster and Rory along with their best friend Madison, take on the journey of a lifetime in the New York City subway tunnels in order to locate their dad’s words, loving memories, and the completeness that comes with the comfort of a parent’s voice. In this production, NEIU partners with Filament Theatre Ensemble, one of Chicago’s leading family friendly and immersive theatre companies to take audiences on a dynamic, moving, and interactive storytelling journey. In an experience unlike any other at Stage Center, audiences will travel with our cast through multiple spaces, into the underworld and deep into the center of the earth. Join us to meet the wondrous characters who light our path through loss and who lead us to discover something new, ourselves.
SPRING 2020 PRODUCTIONS
"NATIVE GARDENS" by Karen Zacarías
Directed by: Leslie Hull
Performance Dates: Feb. 20-22, and 27-29
“Good fences make good neighbors!” Or so Robert Frost once told us. But fences take on new meaning when our new neighbors are not the ones we expected, and often not the ones we’d choose. In one of the country’s most produced and most talked about new plays of any recent season, Pablo, a rising attorney, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, have just purchased a home next to Frank and Virginia, a well-established D.C. couple with a prize-worthy English garden. In the darkly hilarious backyard world of renowned playwright Karen Zacarías, cultures clash over seemingly nothing more than a small patch of land. Well-intentioned neighbors become feuding enemies as an impending barbecue spirals into an all out border dispute that unearths the complex layers of our perceptions of race, class, and privilege and examines the necessity for understanding, empathy, and commonality that must exist between neighbors to create strong bonds of responsibility to one another.
Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
"RESIDENCE" by Laura Jacqmin
Directed by: John Bliss
Performances: April 9-11, and 16-18
A layered, poignant, and vital examination of the fragility of our day to day lives, "Residence" is an exciting new work from Chicago favorite Laura Jacqmin. New mom Maggie returns to her medical sales job, checking into an extended-stay hotel in Arizona as she pursues the commission that will get her out of debt and back on track. When she befriends two hotel employees intent on making her visit a five-star experience, they discover that their lives are all on similarly shaky ground. A funny and sharply observed play about hanging on when you’re at the end of your rope – and the times when letting go might be the most responsible thing to do. Originally produced to great acclaim at the Humana Festival of New Plays in 2016, "Residence" presses us to find the ray of hope on the other side of crisis and to fill our broken spaces with true human connection.
Produced by special arrangement with Literate. Management/Production and Laura Jacqmin.
