Re:working – Elements of Surprise: Specialized Design

When was the last time you gasped in a Chicago theatre? Chances are, one of these folks had something to do with it. Join Matt, Megan, Alice, and Ethan as we discuss their wide-ranging careers and visions around specialized designs that surprise and amaze audiences. Together, we’ll lift the curtain on their creative processes which span meticulous puppetry, sharp physical theatre and movement, exhilarating new music, haunting sound, and delightful wig/costume/makeup design. Alongside guest moderator Joel, we’ll be answering how COVID affected their creative ideas and career paths, their optimal spaces to design, how they would approach their career if they were entering the industry today, and much more!

Re:working Chicago Theatre is a new roundtable series to follow up on long-standing challenges faced by local creatives and forge ahead with renewed perspectives and solutions. This partnership between Pocket Theatre, The Understudy Coffee + Books, and American Theatre magazine aims to serve an ecosystem which finds itself at a crossroads and foster connections across specializations and companies. Each month, Gabriela Furtado Coutinho welcomes four theatre folks to The Understudy in Andersonville to confront distinct issues in a warm, community-driven setting. These guests are selected from a public nomination form, linked here.

Matthew Yee

Matthew Yee (he/him) is a playwright, composer, actor, and musician living in Chicago, IL. Much of his work focuses on the Asian American experience, and features actor-musicianship, movement, and puppetry.

His original musical Lucy And Charlie’s Honeymoon premiered at Lookingglass Theatre in 2023, where he is an ensemble member. His new play White Rooster, which transposes Chinese folklore into an Americana setting, will have its world premiere this spring at Lookingglass. Lookingglass acting credits include: Treasure Island, Moby Dick, and Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon. He has performed at Writers Theatre, Steppenwolf, Court Theatre, Paramount, Berkeley Rep, The Old Globe, Alliance Theatre, and on Broadway in Almost Famous: The Musical.

Megan E. Pirtle

Megan E. Pirtle is a Chicago based theatre artist specialized in wig, costume, and makeup design. Megan is passionate about using her art to tell stories, especially those that will engage diverse audiences and challenge society. As a designer dedicated to the collaborative art of theatre, she has studied many facets of theatrical production including costume construction, costume crafts, and prosthetics.

With these skills she has worked with many theatres across Chicagoland including Lookingglass Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Paramount Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Writer’s Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Raven Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Court Theatre, Albany Park Theatre Project, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Music Theatre Works, Lyric Opera, Haymarket Opera and more.

A graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in both Costume Design & Costume Technology. She is also a licensed cosmetologist in Illinois and a graduate of the Tricoci University of Beauty Culture.

In 2023, Megan was the recipient of the Michael Merritt Emerging Technical Collaborator Award

Today Megan continues to freelance, while also serving as an administrator for the Chicago Costume Community and adjunct instructor to Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design students at DePaul University.

For more, visit meganpirtledesign.com

Alice Da Cunha

ALICE DA CUNHA is a Brazilian/Portuguese actress, director and producer who has worked in Portugal, the UK and the US. She is a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Physical Theater Festival, an international contemporary, visual and physical theater festival that

happens in Chicago every year. Her past experiences working in festivals include: Marketing Director, CASA (London’s Latin American Theatre Festival); Producer/Presenter/Curator, Shortcutz London(weekly short film festival); Production Assistant, Todos Festival (an

interdisciplinary festival in Lisbon, Portugal); Hospitality, Chicago Latino Film Festival. A brief list of her acting credits include: United Flight 232 (House Theater) -Jeff Award for Best Ensemble & Midsize Production-, La Ruta (Steppenwolf Theater), The Clean House (Remy Bumppo) & This Much is True (Theater 503, UK). Recent directing credits include: The Crone Chronicles (Pride Arts Chicago; PhysFest NYC) and Co-Direction of The Dream King (Teatro Vista) – Jeff Award Nomination for Best Direction and POTUS (Loyola University). Alice is also an Artistic Consultant to Theater Unspeakable and Adjunct Professor at Loyola University.

Ethan Korvne

Ethan Korvne is a composer and sound designer from Akron, OH and based in Chicago. CHICAGO: Court Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Raven Theatre, About Face Theatre, Refracted Theatre Company, Northwestern University. REGIONAL: Kansas City Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Peninsula Players, Illinois Shakespeare Festival. UPCOMING: Feast! (Goodman Theatre). He is a four-time Joseph Jefferson Award winner and a six-time nominee. Ethan graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University with a BFA in Sound Design. He believes in theatre that draws a diverse audience, plays that challenge and thrill, and work that puts a spotlight on perspectives that rarely receive enough attention. Listen to his work and more at: ethankorvne.com

Facilitated by:

Joel Willison

Joel (he/him) is the Artistic Director for Pocket and the co-founding Artistic Producer of Freshly Brewed, inc., Direct Address, and Re:working. He is also a company member of Theatre L’Acadie and Playground Chicago and created the Chicago Artist Database.

Joel has built partnerships with The Neofuturists, Steppenwolf Theatre, Raven Theatre, Understudy Coffee and Books, Theatre L’Acadie, Goodman Theatre, Bramble Theatre, and American Theatre through programs he has created.

Recent directing credits include work with Jackalope Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Filament Theatre, Theatre L’Acadie, Definition Theatre, Refracted Theatre Company, The Runaways Lab Theater, Playground Chicago, Haven, Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble, Stage Left Theatre, and Chicago Dramatists. In 2023, he was selected for Directors Haven 6.

Nominate someone for the next roundtable here.